Taisynn's Favorite Places to Shop in Second Life

Shopping events are the pinnacle of high society in Second Life. The most fashionable are often the most well off residents on the grid. It's not the easiest finding the best places to shop at the highest quality. As a fashion blogger since 2013, finding places to shop has been a learning process of both getting to know the fashion and getting to know the designers' work. Here are my Favorite Places to Shop in Second Life. 

+ -- Altair Mini Mall @ Cerberus Crossing -- +
Altair Mini Mall is home to the stores Altair, Quirky, Bubblepop, and Dreamsicle. If you're looking for cute Japanese Fashion, commonly known as kawaii "or super cute," this mini mall will suite your needs perfectly. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cerberus%20Crossing/216/45/2478 

It is hosted by the main store Altair and owned by Tsurine Resident. Altair specializes in accessories from hair bows and clips, to necklaces and rings, to cat and bunny ears, to a sweet variety of shoes. These items are 100% custom mesh, and can be the cherry on top to any adorable look. 

Bubblepop, owned by Morgan.Adamski, sells sweet, doll-inspired skins. Her skins support Slink Physique, Maitreya Lara, and Omega Appliers. if you're looking to create your avatar into a marionette doll, this shop is perfect to make your dreams come true. 

Dreamsicle, owned by Jade.Composer, sells poses and accessories perfect for your next adorable photo-op. Upon entering the store, I spotted a creepy-kawaii spell circle rug with poses, and a succubus themed pose set for those who like a sexier version of kawaii. 

Quirky, owned by Glitch.Grantham, sells accessories ranging from mesh-body applier wear, like slink nails and omega socks, to custom mesh purses, collars, and panda themed, mesh bento boxes. If you're anything like me, with a love for socks, you'll find your lindens drifting away just to wear them on your pixel legs! 

+ -- The Asylum -- + http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Asylum/131/20/37 

Asylum, home to the fun and quirky stores of Zanzibar creationZ and Kidz Clozet, the dark and gothic FORSAKEN and SongBird, and the home base of Epic Events, this twisted carnival meets volcano is any hellish darklings' dream. Upon entering, you'll be set upon by pits of lava, hell hounds, and tortured, twisted demons. Sounds like home, if you're of a twisted sort. 

Zanzibar creationZ, owned by Arora.Zanziban, is themed on whimsical and quirky delights for any good humored resident. Custom mesh wearable crab claws, mounted cat butts for your wall, and a ballsack necklace are just the tip of the iceberg. You can also find shoes, clothes, and accessories. 

FORSAKEN, owned by VincentVile.Desantis, is home to a variety of unisex and gender blind accessories, poses, and clothing for the dark, whimsical, and free. If you can dare to risk potentially falling in the boiling lava pit in the center of the store, you may find gas masks, shoes, and accessories inspired by "a cluster fuck of epicness." 

I have to mention, if you're on a budget, they have a fun little Spider's Bounty Hunt going on at the sim. By stepping on the spiders, you have the potential to win one of 147 prizes. Heck, you can keep stepping on the same spider to see what it spits out. 

+ -- The Little Sideshow and Boardwalk -- +  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nuvoletta/115/173/29
Home to the stores such as The Little Bat, Kita's Sideshow, Gothyrotica, Lil' Things, Freekz, and Salem, the Little Sideshow has a lot to offer. Actually, there is so much to offer, I couldn't actually describe them all in this one article. Its home to 13 main stores and 25 flagships, all of which participate in making Nuvoletta an amazing shopping experience. 

The stores cover everything from men's and women’s mesh Goth and grunge wear, mesh body appliers, cosmetics, and even dancers and pose shops. There's a little bit of everything for everyone here. 

The Little Sideshow is home to the On the Boardwalk Gacha Fair running from May 22nd to June 5th. All kinds of styles of gacha will be at this event, complete with 7Seas fishing for gift cards and fatpacks, carnival rides, and arcade games for everyone to enjoy. Plus, there are over 20 midnight mania and lucky boards on this sim, so this is truly an event rich and poor alike can partake in. 

+ -- Nouveaux -- +  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nouveaux/117/108/21
Noveaux is a colorful shopping experience of both magical and whimsical designs. Home to the stores Cosette, Oxi, Pipit, Neverwish, Soul Mates, Moon Amore, The Horror, Mynx, Pixicat, DearDeer, Evermore, Rabid Squirrel, and Daintree, this full sim can bring delight to any fashionista's fantasies. 

You'll be able to find magical dresses held up by birds, as seen in Moon Amore, or a gorgeous priestess' gown made by Pixicat. You'll find creepy kawaii planchette necklaces and eyeball hairbows made by The Horror, and Neon colored platform shoes made by Neverwish, and so much more from all the designers located on this beautifully decorated and scenic sim.

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Fashionable and Thrifty - Survival of the Broke - Taisynn Reporting

Is it possible to be fashionable and thrifty in Second Life, and is it reasonable? 

Second Life is a world filled with shopping events and the desire to create the most fashionable avatar on the grid. It is all too common for new residents to become overwhelmed with trying to create in trying to craft their own unique persona on a limited budget without being exiled to prim-laden attire from the pre-mesh era. 

The question of pursuing Second Life is often of cost. While our virtual world is considered a free simulator by the gaming industry, everything within it surrounds the value of the Linden. Not every person is able to upload $20US (the equivalent of about 4090 lindens) to have an updated avatar, and some question if it is even possible to play the game freely. 

Interested potential residents often do not know about the ever growing freebie fashion community which has made Second Life possible for many new players to play without looking amateurish. Groups such as SL Frees and Offers have an upward of 54,000 members, and popular blogs such as Fabulously Free bring in dozens of views per day for both women and men alike. 

They aid new residents in their ever evolving avatar be it in the form of skins, fashion, furniture, housing, or many other items that further the creative nature that exists behind Second Life. Indeed it is the free items that showcase what many designers are capable of and draw in new and old players alike to peruse their shelves in search of bigger and better to truly craft their avatar to be something special and unique to them.

The methods creators use to offer these freebies often surround generating store traffic in exchange for these free items. It takes time and friends to successfully freebie hunt, but there are entire groups dedicated to helping members become successful. 

 

The first and most popular method which creators use are group gifts. Second Life groups allow creators to advertise potential customers of new releases. The more members that are in the group, the wider their audience and potential of making a sale is. In exchange for members staying in the group, they are offered a gift or two every month. 

However, there are methods that don't take up group space, considering there are thousands of groups in Second Life, and our avatars are only allowed to participate in 42 of them. One of these methods is the lucky chair or board. 

A lucky chair is a chair with a letter connected to it. The letter, after a certain amount of time, will change to another. Using the first initial of a resident's legacy name, an avatar with a name beginning with that letter is able to sit down and obtain a prize in the chair's vault. There is another variety called a lucky board that doesn't require a resident to sit in it, but rather just click on it to obtain the prize.

Depending on the countdown on each chair, this can be time consuming. Considering there are 24 letters in the alphabet, and with residents able to have numbers in the beginning of their legacy name, there are 9 numbers mixed into each chair, and one wildcard round symbolized by a question mark. Waiting five minutes for each letter to pop up, praying it's your initial, is a game of luck and time.

Residents use groups such as SL Frees and Offers to call the letters out to other freebie hunters. This allows them to make the letters rotate at a faster pace, and increases their chances of having their initial pop up. 

The next method used is a midnight mania board. This method involves a board with two sets of numbers on it. It is a ratio of how many residents have clicked the board to how many residents are needed to lock it down. If the board locks down, at midnight all the residents who clicked obtain the prize. Midnight Mania boards are less time consuming, but involve worrying about your instant messages capping if you've gone to bed before midnight. 

While the first three methods above are the most popular methods of obtaining freebies, they are not the only ones out there. New methods continue to pop up, such as puzzle games and chairs that require you to sit in them for ten minutes to an hour. It is all up to the creator and what method seems to appeal to them the best. 

 

For Avatars looking for more exclusive gifts, some creators charge a fee to enter their groups. These groups provide VIP access to free store credit for new releases every month, discounts, and group gifts of superior quality. There is also a method called 7Seas fishing that allows people to fish for clothing given by creators. Of course, you also obtain prim fish you can breed and trade, but many use this method to get clothes they can trade between fellow fishers. These methods are costly, costing anywhere between 50 lindens and above, but often give nicer quality gifts.

In the end, with all the possibilities of obtaining free items, residents can fashion their avatar at little to no cost at all. Second Life is a very charitable and fascinating world, and is entirely playable for those looking for something for free to occupy their free time.

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