To celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride, Jackalope is throwing a 50% off sale, and they are also holding a Pride Hunt. The hunt items are free and you do not need to join the Jackalope store group to get the individual hunt items, which all together make up a complete rainbow outfit!
Everything Vanity Fair is wearing in the pictures below—the fishnet crop top, skirt, badges, earrings, bracelet, the wonderful combat boots with rainbow socks, even the Bento pose and the backdrop!—is a hunt prize from the Jackalope Pride Hunt.
One of the free hunt prizes is this wonderful, colourful backdrop! The collection of balloons to the left and right are separate items and you could easily reuse them for other celebrations such as birthday parties:
Now, I should caution you that many of the hunt prizes are rather fiendishly hidden all around the store (including the ceiling!). If you get frustrated, here’s a pro hunt tip from Auntie Ryan 😉 …in the Firestorm viewer, if you press Ctrl-Shift-R, it will turn on wireframe mode (which is essentially X-ray vision). Press Ctrl-Shift-R again to toggle it back off. (If this feels like cheating to you, then don’t use this tip.)
Sahara eyes by Avi-Glam (free gift from the SL17B Shop and Hop; more information here)
This next Pridewear freebie is from a store called 28LA, and it is a doozy! Teleport to the store, and click on the rack of clothing outside, and you will receive a Pride collection of apparel, with designs for for both male and female avatars! The male clothing comes in sizes to fit Belleza Jake and Signature Gianni mesh bodies, and the female clothing is designed to fit the Belleza Freya, Slink Hourglass, and Maitreya Lara mesh bodies.
The Free Pridewear Collection from 28LA
Finally, we have the Pride Festival in Second Life, which runs from June 24th to 28th. Most of the vendor booths at this event have free gifts (you will have to join the free Pride Festival group to get them). Here’s a look at three of the many gifts:
this colourful eye makeup from ALMA (system/Bakes on Mesh, plus Catwa, LeLutka and Omega appliers);
the Proud Lips by Dotty’s Secret (system/Bakes on Mesh, plus Catwa, Genus and Omega appliers);
As promised, here are a selection of some of the wonderful freebies you can pick up as part of the Second Life 17th Birthday celebrations (more details here), which run until now until July 12th, 2020.
First, a pro tip: before you visit the Shop and Hop event, visit the SL17B Gift Boardwalk first. Why? Because many of the Shop and Hop vendors have also wisely made their gifts available here, as well as their booths at the Shop and Hop event. Trust me, you will find it much easier to get into these two sims than try to pry your way into the crowded, laggy Shop and Hop mall sims, which seem to be limited to 45 avatars each at a time, maximum. (Then again, so do the Second Life 17th Birthday sims where the Boardwalk is located.)
The SL17B Gift Boardwalk: Start Here
UPDATE June 20th, 2020: You should also know that there are a lot of gifts here at the Gift Boardwalk that are only available here, such as this striking, geometric design gown by Blue Rose Creations:
In this blogpost, I will be providing exact SLURLs to the locations at the Shop and Hop mall sims (not the SL17B Gift Boardwalk). Like I said, start at the Boardwalk first, and then, only if you cannot find it there, try to get into the Shop and Hop sims (I would strongly urge you to wait until July. The gifts aren’t going anywhere.)
I do apologize to you for using a pose stand for many of the following pictures. It just made going through all the gifts (well over 200!) a much less tedious process. I also tended to rely heavily on vendor photos of the gifts in the mall to decide what I wanted to unpack, wear, and show you in this blogpost.
Store Credits
First, pick up the two store credit offers available at the Shop and Hop event, which mean you can pick up whatever you want from the store later!
(UPDATE June 20th, 2020: I mistakenly had written that Blueberry was among the stores offering a store credit at the Shop and Hop, but that was back in March for their birthday, and I had even blogged about it then. Please accept my apologies for the mistake, and a thank you to Brinlea for pointing this error out to me in the comments!)
Bumblebee is offering a L$300 store credit here (just attach the HUD and click on it), and Addams is giving away L$500 in store credit here (just click on the sign at their booth).
My Favourite Clothes, Shoes, Jewelry, Hair, and Eyes
I don’t usually blog about eyes, but I will make an exception for these absolutely gorgeous Sahara eyes by Avi-Glam, available at their booth here. They come in both classic system and mesh versions (Catwa, Genus, LeLutka, and Omega). I just may be wearing this pair for a little while!
Blueberry is, once again, being extremely generous with her gifts! She is giving away a fatpack of lace-trimmed tops, plus a fatpack of bow slippers! Christmas came early, kids. (Speaking of Christmas, the pink leggings are an applier from Baby Monkey and were an Advent calendar gift from last December.)
AlaFolie‘s free gift is the Floralie Happy dress, trimmed along the bottom in black lace, which comes with a HUD with four different patterns (and you can also change the texture on the black top part of the dress to match the rest). You can pick it up here (and there are another four patterns of this dress available if you join the AlaFolie store group, which is not free). Here I have paired it with the long, wavy hair that Sintiklia is already well-known for! This is the Ruby hairstyle, which comes in 17 different colours and includes a styling HUD to wear each side forward or back as you desire (get it here).
There are some rather nice hair gifts available at the Shop and Hop mall, and this is another one: a neat and tidy, top-bun hairstyle called Kristen from Ade (here), which comes in a full fatpack of colours. The slate-blue floral tied shirt is the gift from Pixicat (here).
Lybra is offering two gifts that can be worn together as shown or separately: the top comes with two HUDs with solid colours and floral patterns, and the micro-miniskirt in matching colours and patterns (which thankfully includes panties to preserve your modesty!). You can get it here.
The hair shown below is yet another SL17B Shop and Hop freebie, the Candice hairstyle by Doux (here), which also comes in a fatpack of colours.
Bella Moda‘s genrous gift is this entire outfit: a gold and red party dress, shoes, and jewelry! This is the Celebrazione Crimson dress (available here), and all the little details on each of the pieces are examples of some truly lovely craftsmanship:
Here’s a closer look at the top of the Celebrazione dress, the necklace and the earrings:
Next up is yet another hairstyle fatpack, this one by Love, called (of course!) Lovely hair (available at their booth here), along with a sexy minidress from Pulse, which features a cutout at the back (not shown here).
The dress is sized for Maitreya Lara only, but it comes in no less than eight different colours: red as shown below, plus army, black, blue, blush, plum, white, and wine! The chain belt you see is optional and comes in four choices of metal: gold, silver, rose gold and onyx. You’re all set for the nightclub in this outfit! You can snap it up here!
(I know for a fact you can also pick up this dress and this hair at the Gift Boardwalk.)
Finally, we have the Be Mine floral headband and a moon collar from Tentacio (available here; please note that the creator has mistakenly switched the labels on the included HUD for the collar—Metal should be Leather and vice versa!):
This headband is completely adjustable in various dimensions (a feature I wish more accessories creators offered), and it comes in four different versions, with pink, red, white, and blue roses.
There are literally dozens of other gifts at both the Gift Boardwalk and the Shop and Hop mall; this is just a sampling of things which I particularly liked. There are also many home decor freebies available this time around, and tons of shoes, which I have not covered here except for the Blueberry and Bella Moda gifts.
Here’s a list of all the Shop and Hop sims. Again, I would caution you to wait a week or two until the crowd dies down and you can browse and wander in peace. The 200 participating vendors are also offering discounts on a selection of their merchandise, plus a few special items only during the SL17B celebrations!
Happy freebie shopping!
O.K., back to my vacation from the blog… 😉
UPDATE June 20th, 2020: I forgot to mention one more fabulous freebie, this beautiful deep purple and brown medieval/fantasy gown by Silvan Moon Designs! This is the Iona Destiny Elven gown in amethyst:
The set comes with a separate brown leather jerkin and arm-guards, which are one piece, in case you suddenly need to ride off to battle! The detail, as always, is delightful.
Now, I regret that I did not remember to save the SLURL for this last gift, but it is on the Gilded sim. Just look for a small suitcase on a fireplace mantel inside the store, to the right from the entrance.
This is the simple but elegant Dress Gown Black, which comes with an optional flexiprim jacket:
Gown #2: Romantic
The romantic Niellys dress in a soft pink colour consists of an applier top and a matching mesh skirt with optional flexiprims:
Gown #3: Dramatic
And if you are looking to turn heads, look no further than this stunning mesh gown, the Dress Dreams Charms in red! This is truly a gown that makes a statement. Something with such a wide, sweeping skirt would be completely impractical in real life, but you can certainly rock this look at your next big function in Second Life!
This beautiful golden Nefert choker in the bottom picture is a free group gift from Poison Rouge at the current round of the Très Chic shopping event (you can join the Très Chic group for free). Note that this choker is also a simple but elegant fix if you happen to have an avatar with a slight skin tone mismatch between the head and body!
Little Black Dress (*LBD*), which tends to specialize in retro and vintage fashion, has always been one of those generous Second Life stores that give away some freebies, even back in the old, pre-mesh days. I decided to pay a return visit today to see what freebies were now available, and I was very pleasantly surprised by what I found.
In the blue store on the left (exact SLURL), you can pick up a lovely black-and-white gingham dress (which you will see below), plus a completely free Bakes-on-Mesh Ruth 2.0 mesh body for female avatars!
In the brown store on the right (exact SLURL), you will find:
a shelf with many group gifts (the Little Black Dress group is free to join), including another copy of the free Bakes-on-Mesh Ruth 2.0 body, plus some skins, dresses, and jewelry;
on the wall are three panels with three complete classic, system starter avatars (these are long-standing feebies that have been offered for years by *LBD*);
in a bag nearby is a very useful item: a set of free Bakes-on-Mesh/system alpha layers to wear with clothing (this is a Godsend of you are using the Ruth 2.0 body, as there is no included alpha HUD to alpha out your body underneath outfits);
there’s another bag on the floor with a free gift of Zebra-patterned shoes for Maitreya, Slink and Classic Meshbody feet (they don’t work with the Ruth 2.0 feet).
In the picture below, everything you see is a freebie from Little Black Dress, except the mesh head, hair, and shoes!
This avatar is wearing:
Mesh Head: The Bento Bakes-on-Mesh Ciara mesh head by Dream (more information here).
Mesh Body: The *LBD* Bakes-on-Mesh Ruth 2.0 mesh body (free gift from Little Black Dress); the separate Bento hands come with or without nails (long purple nails which cannot be changed); the separate feet come in three heights: flat, medium, and high, and appear to be Slink-compatible (although your mileage may vary).
Mesh Eyes: The *LBD* Mesh Eyes group gift (includes a HUD to change the colour).
Skin: *LBD* Omega and System Skin group gift (comes with separate eyebrow and retro makeup tattoos).
Glasses: *LBD* Colour Change Glasses group gift (you can click on them to change the colour of the front, arms, and glass; they are also resizable and would work well for either male or female avatars).
Jewelry: *LBD* Onyx Jewelry group gift (necklace, earrings, and bracelet)
Strapless Dress: This dress is one of the group gifts, in a bag accidentally mislabeled “*LBD* Onyx Jewelry group gift”! It comes in a size and with an alpha to wear with the Ruth 2.0 body, as well as one for Maitreya Lara bodies.
Shoes: The free Sonnet pumps from Hilly Haalan (the feet appear to be Slink-compatible, although the included foot height shape for the Sonnet pumps makes the base of the feet turn white on this Ruth 2.0 mesh body, so I had to set it aside and then just adjust the shoes by hand to fit).
TOTAL COST FOR THIS AVATAR LOOK: FREE!
Here’s a look at another free dress from Little Black Dress, the black-and-white Gingham Retro Backless dress, which comes in a wide variety of sizes to fit most mesh bodies. (The skin used here is an Advent gift from last December from 7 Deadly S[k]ins, called Elvira in the maple skin tone.)
