Sunday, November 6, 2011

Sim Crossing - Azure Island (Part 1)

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Every couple of weeks (RL-willing), I drop in on a Second Life sim -- one square on the grid -- just to see what's there.  And every couple of weeks, I find a treasure or two.  One never knows what one will find in an unknown region!  This feature details the results of my explorations.  




I would recommend not landing right in the middle of Azure Island via the World Map.  This region is very built up (which is why it caught my eye in the first place), and you will land underneath the Dirty Souff Shopping District.  I teleport again to the northwest corner, landing on the surface.  Much better!

In spite of the idyllic name, Azure Island has a distinctly urban feel to it.  With many, many shops lined along clean paved streets, this seems to be the upscale shopping part of town.  It is densely built with stores.  It will take hours to look at everything for sale, but I decide to make a goal of shopping for a new outfit.  I'm not sure what yet.  It all depends on what I find.

The first shop I step into, Zentro, is a tattoo store.  These are highly detailed tattoos, in the 150L to 300L range, with the first floor devoted to men, the second for women.  Not bad, and I make a mental note of it, but a new outfit does not necessarily need new ink to go with it!

I head south, pausing to cam into a TrendStyle Reseller.  This is a fine little boutique for club gear, but I'm a bit more curious about Bella's Boutique next door.

There is more club gear at Bella's, this time for men as well as women.  Some interesting stiletto heels are also available, not to mention two gift bags.  One is for women, the other for children.  I will take a look at them after this exploration.

Continuing south -- I am walking the perimeter of the sim before I tackle the interior -- I find Jewelry of Truth.  Ranging in price from 150 to 1000L, this shop features colorful, even shiny, bracelets, earrings, rings and pendants.  The designs are fairly simple, but there is cuteness to be had in Hello Kitty section.

Next door is Fiend Made, an Authorized Ubu Reseller, which features some nicely textured men's clothes.  Very sporty!  Just south of that is Demon Kitties, which is very grunge-oriented.  Lots of hats, shoes and accessories here, though there is a bit of apparel for women, too.  Out front, two free Halloween hats are available.  I look forward to trying those on!

Before I trot into the Boys and Girls store, I note that this is a busy sim, already with some activity this early in the morning.  I have voice on, and I'm hearing a small group of people chatting and playing gestures.  While not laggy, this is by far the most frequented sim I've visited so far in Sim Crossing!

Okay, on to B&G!  This is big enough to be an anchor store, with the space equivalent of perhaps three of the previous boutiques, and a second floor besides, though that is vacant.  It offers mostly footwear, ranging from sneakers to stiletto boots, but also has shades and watches for sale.  I am looking for a good fauny outfit, so shoes are definitely out, but I like the look of the sunglasses.  There are bling warnings on the vendors, but that can be toggled with a touch.  So I purchase a pair of purple shades for 100L, and decide to move on with the next shop!

At this point I turn off voice chat.  Wow, this is an active sim!  I don't really want to listen in on other people's conversations, not that I was paying much attention to them.  The next store is Fashion Cents, and I'm getting the impression that if I were to get back into clubbing, this would be a great mall for shopping for the appropriate clothing!  This is a store of women's apparel, and it includes sheer minidresses and lingerie.  There is a formal gown that looks promising, though.  I do pick up a pink cam freebie to try on later, and move along to La Rosa.  There are women's casuals here, too, and shoes.  Yep, this is a clubbing oriented mall so far!  A pair of casual jeans catch my eye, but they are summery and I am in an autumn mood.  I still make a mental note to revisit the place.

Feisty is next.  More mini-dresses here, some apparel for men and children, and there's a dollarbie for men just inside the door.  Then comes Le Beau, a spare shoe store with vendors that don't really seem to be working.  Odd.  The Bad Bitch has raver pink apparel and accessories for sale, and Sassoon Bodies Shapes is elegant if self-explanatory.

Now I'm ready to turn the corner and head east.  It looks like there are some bigger stores on this side, the size of the B&G.  Revamped, the first, sells colorful, tight-fitting clubby clothes, and {X0} is more colorful yet, and with sassy casuals and minidresses for adults and kids.  (Is the presence of child avatar clothes why this sim is G-rated?)  The tattoos on the second floor of {X0} are interesting!

Next is Desirable Skin.  Textures are taking a while to load for me this morning (Apologies for fuzzy storefront pictures!) and the ones in here are no exception.  The Liana Skin looks pretty, though, so I buy a dollar demo to test out.  The skins, at 250L each, are not at all badly priced, and there is a freebie available out front.  I will try that, too!

Swagg Exclusive sells men's casuals, mostly, but also has two black skins for men that do not look to be shaded Caucasion skins.  I don't think.  Urbanwear has casuals, good for clubbing, and some stylish bags for the accessor-inclined.  There are also some cheerfully hostile t-shirts, and two shapes upstairs.  A freebie outfit is available near the front, and apparently contains a casual top and shorts.  I will have a lot to try on before this is over.

EminencE has two floors-worth of male casual outfits ranging between 250 and 300L.  There are some great looking plaids, and everything manages to look urban here.  I believe the next store is called So Sickness, though it may also be Boo Jhetto.  The storefront does not make that clear.  A hip-hop sound clip greets me as I step in to find club-oriented apparel, accessories and gestures for sale.

I am ready to turn the corner to check out the east side of Azure Island.  I haven't had any inspiration in terms of new outfits yet, but there's still so much to see.  I am not even halfway through!  The first store on this side is /CS/, where one can purchase sport caps and jerseys, casual shoes and apparel, including three pop culture hoodies.  Batman, Superman and… Mickey?  Nice!

Moving along, Swag On Deck has some fun, colorful tees and tanks marked to women.  I particularly like the shirt and vest combos, and if I can find just the right skirt to go with them, I will have to come back this way and pick a color.  This is my favorite store here so far!

After that is Baby Girl Swaggerlicious Exclusive.  I'm pretty (but not 100%) sure they have kids' clothes there, so I wander on to Body Wear Jewelry.  In addition to the aforementioned jewelry, there are silks and skimpies for sale, which would indeed help show off some of the goods.

Diamond Air Fationz, next door, offers shredded jeans and sleeveless tops for women, but what really catches my eye is the leopard-print carpeting.  Its neighbor, Hot Whips, is not the S&M store I expected to find, but rather an auto shop, with a playful assortment of cars!  I did not even know cars with Kool-Ade paint jobs existed, but they do.  They are pricy, so I won't be buying one of these on a whim, but they look wonderful!  I can at least daydream about tooling around in a Trix car.

Suave CEO sells casuals for men, and club gear for women.  You know, I guess I should clarify my usage of the phrase "club gear."  I used it to refer to clothes that tend to be on the skimpy side, the sort of thing I've come to expect to see at a typical dance club, worn by patrons or, more likely, staff.  I have nothing against it.  It's just not the sort of thing I typically wear, and I have a difficult time describing in detail.  That being said, there's more of it at Brooklyn Wave, so I move on to Level 5 Toxic.  There are some cute vans and retro cocktail dresses, but I particularly like the geeky t-shirts.  I pick up one for 25L.  It will look great with blue jeans, I think.

The last store on this side is 302 Unlimited Stylez.  It's club gear here, and I still haven't found a good knee-length skirt to go with that vest I liked.  Maybe there will be one on this last side of the Island, though!

No luck at the first store on this side, Glam-Or-Us.  This one is clubby.  There is a free blue jumpsuit offered.  It seems to be a tank and a miniskirt from the picture, but the tank looks promising, so I pick it up.  Medaking, nearby, has men's casuals, mostly t-shirts, and CM Designs, which is shockingly yellow, offers club gear for women.  There is a free gift near the front.  T.T.G. Casuals proves to cater to guys.  The texturing on the jeans looks great, in any case, and guy jeans can still look excellent on female avatars, and are less likely to expose one's crack.  Sinnful Desire sells women's shapes with heavy emphasis on big hips and small waists.  Skins and club gear are also available, as well as a male child shape out front, which is free.

Total Knockout is a men's clothing store.  Really, the men's clothing selection at this mall isn't bad when it comes to casuals.  The name of the store is literally a boxing reference, I think.  The interior decor really does make me think of a boxing ring, with its dark textured floor and two red stripes running along the wall.  The second floor offers more of the same, plus sports jerseys and and t-shirts.

Killa Customs is the last store I come to on the perimeter of this region.  Two stories, it is primarily guy-oriented and casual, though there is club gear for women on the second floor behind the spiral staircase.  There is a free baseball cap out front, though you may have to derender its case if you want to purchase it.

At this point, I need to take a break, and you may want one.  I will have to split this sim into two or three posts, I think, as I still have to explore the interior stores, and try on my souvenirs.  I will show you my favorites when I do!

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