Finding Clothing and other Freebies in Second Life

I have had a little time to play again in Second Life. So far I have not spend any money. My main priority was to get out of the generic jeans and change my hair .

I did some research offline and was able to find some SLURLs that took me to a shopping area with a particular freebie area (Phat Cat). I also teleported back to the Public Help area (just search for “Help” in the Map window). I found a pretty spring skirt as well as some different kind of hairstyles. It is a great way to get started to play around with the inventory and appearance.

I also explored the Library and my Inventory list that comes with every free account and according to my “Official Guide to Second Life” book, with every new update, receives more items. I started playing around with all the different kinds of clothing, hairs, shoes, etc. I am trying to organize this area, so I can add to it without loosing the free items I am finding while wondering around in SL. I am still trying to get a handle on creating a full new “outfit” vs. a completely different looking avatar with different hair, skin, etc.

So far, I have also not understood what allows to make changes to some items through the appearance menu with the sliders and others not. Is it in the script when the items are created? Or do I need to place the freebie items in a certain area/folder in my inventory in order to lengthen or shorten the skirt for example?