The Block is Back

My friend Prima introduced me to The Block a while back and it has since become one of my favorite shopping areas in Second Life. With its gritty urban-Neko theme and creative store elements, The Block is simply cool. So, when the new sim opened a couple of days ago, I rushed on over to check it out.

Not wanting to look square, I assembled the following look of urban loveliness. The hair is ETD sideswipe in Chestnut Brown, one of the excellent almost-freebies available at the ETD main store. The leather jacket is part of the Heiress suit by Last Call and has excellent buckled cuffs. I added the top from the Embla Sirianne sky blue dress (free at Ivalde) for a touch of color. I mirrored the buckled on the jacket with my French Spirit Buckle boots. My G.L.A.M "Silver"skinny jeans in charcoal, the new Aitui dark denim messenger bag, and PuNk Couture's "Slave to the Music" necklace (LOVE) finish off the polished street look that would turn the haughtiest Neko's head (IMHO).

The first think I noticed is that there is a lot more space for new stores. This makes sense as it had probably outgrown its old sim. The Block is a great place for urban, Neko, and Rockabilly fashion as well as the largest collection of high-quality men's stores I've seen in one place. The Block features such great stores as Gritty Kitty, Jeepers Creepers, Artillerie. With so much room and such great stores already in place, The new Block is certain to become even more of a fashion destination.

My favorite store from The Block is Sinistyle, a grungy urban clothing store for both men and women. While some of their designs focus on urban warfare(bloody items and trash armor), they have some really great trench and military coats.

Fashion is not the only market in The Block. Urban themed "stuff" of all kinds can be purchased here, including grimy furniture and guns. While this is of no interest to me, It is an intriguing aspect of the SL economy for the curious to peruse. Perhaps I should pick up some particle mace?

If you need a quick respite from the streets, you can enjoy the warm atmosphere of Caffeine. Caffeine has plenty of seating, coffee available, free t-shirts, and a decent music stream. It is a nice place to take a break from shopping and chat with friends.

The Block has retained its urban style. The new sim is surrounded with brick tenements placed cleverly to take advantage of forced perspective. The taller building and facade create a deep inter-city feel that was somewhat lacking in the old sim. However, I was very disappointed to see that the Neko-themed area had not been recreated. While there is still construction going on, I could see no place that seemed reserved for its later recreation. Where is the Groomers, the sushi bar, the movie theatre that served kitty snacks? Other atmospheric detail are missing as well. Where is the crane with the swinging wrecking ball?? I sincerely hope that more details will be added in the future as they set The Block apart from other urban sims. It will be a sad day if the most remarkable element of The Block is a Japanese bus stop.

So, The Block is bigger but, it seems, not better. At least not yet. It is clear that shopping at The Block will only improve, but hopefully not at the expense of creativity and soul.