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| Original picture from rarasuperstar.com |
People often claim that Lolita is an abnormally expensive fashion build on Haute Couture-priced brand dresses from Japan, and on top of that, we have customs and shipping stealing our money right out of our wallet too! But hold on, it is actually possible to be a Lolita without being a millionaire's daughter or starving! You just have to know where to look. Welcome to the world of the Budget Lolita!
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| Picture from www.markosweb.com |
Shop Second Hand
There are lots of places online where you can buy brand, off-brand or pretty much anything else Lolita for a cheap price! In this case, it just means that someone else has worn it first. Some people are creeped out by that thought, but they're missing out on lots of great deals on dresses with pretty much no wear orr tear! Good places to keep an eye on for second hand items are Mbok, Closet Child, Yahoo Japan, the EGL Community Sales on Livejournal and even Ebay (just stay away from cheap dresses with too much scratchy lace). You can also look up Lolita Sales in English on Facebook, browse Etsy, or buy directly from people in your local community!
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| Picture from Clobbao.livejournal.com |
Alternatives to Brand
If you don't care much about what the label in your dress says, you can look up some of the cheaper alternatives to brand! There are lots of great Taobao brands to choose from, like Rose Melody, Infanta, Dear Celine and Surface Spell, just to name a few! There's also the very affordable japanese store Bodyline that many lolitas can vouch for, as long as you are aware that some of their stuff is not quite up to par, quality and/or design-wise. You can also choose to support our community's independent seamstresses by diving into the world of Indie Brands, though they are often on the slightly more expensive side of brand alternatives.
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| Blouse from Forever 21. A little bit of lace at the cuffs, and it would be pretty much perfect for Lolita! |
Off-Brand
If you keep your eyes open, you will soon notice that there are quite a few diamonds-in-the-rough to be found in even mainstream clothing stores! Blouses with ruffles and lace, full skirts, cameo accessories.. With a little bit of luck loli-able things can be found in stores where you wouldn't ever expect it! You can also go thrifting and maybe find a "Grandma-blouse" or five for cheap that you can then turn into a true jewel of your closet if you...
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| Picture from the movie Kamikaze Girls |
Learn to Sew
Sewing is a very handy skill when it comes to Lolita! Something as simple as being able to sew some lace onto the cuff of a blouse you found in a department store or sewing a button back on a JSK, are practical skills to have, not to mention being able to alter a skirt that is a tad too large or small! Also, sewing your own stuff, apart from solving your problem with brand being too expensive for you, will give you a lot of pride in the end (seriously, is there anything more amazing than Lolitas who sew their own unique clothes?) and you get a fun new hobby!
Those would be my tips for surviving Lolita as a person with limited funds.
Do you guys have any tips that you would like to share?
Great summary of tips and helpful article!
SvarSlet