Being Lolita without spending too much money.

We all know that lolita is very expensive, especially brands like Angelic Pretty, Moi Meme Moitie ect.
As if that’s not enough the Dutch Lolita’s have to pay so much money for custom taxes.
I don’t know how it’s like in other countries...
(Every time when I order something in Japan or somewhere else, I have to pay so much tax, I think the customs don’t like me :P) The tax makes the clothes even more expensive!

Is this the tragic faith of a Lolita? Or can we do something about it?
Of course we can! Just being creative can make the difference !
I don’t talk about making all your clothes yourself :P

Buying second hand items :

Most of the second hand items are less expensive than new items.
 Don’t be ashamed for buying (much) second hand items!
 You don’t have to buy all your Lolita clothes brand-new!
Many lolita’s don’t wear Lolita very often, sometimes is  a dress is only worn once.
So you can still buy brand items and maybe you can buy more items when you buy it second-hand. (depends on what you want to buy) People won’t see it if you wear second-hand items, as long as the item can’t talk your are save. xD

Making your own clothes:
That will save you lots of money.
You have to learn to sew, not everyone can make her own clothes but everyone can learn that.
You just need patients!
Here in Holland you can find lots of cute and Lolita like fabrics. Fabrics don’t have to be expensive and good lace isn’t that expensive either.

Bodyline & Taobao:

Not everything they sell is that amazing.
It’s more cheap than brand, and if you search well you can find lots of interesting stuff. ^_^

Offbrand:

Some normal shops sell clothes or accessories which are very suitable for Lolita.  Like I said before if you search well you can find some nice stuff.

The H&M sell very often Lolita like blouses and dresses, the H&M in Amsterdam has most of the time interesting shoes. ( When I go to Amsterdam they always sell ‘Lolita’ shoes)
Nearly every H&M has a child’s department,  Sweet lolita’s can find there lots of cute stuff. For example: hello kitty things, cute head bows, socks (sometimes in the right size), bags ect.
The Claires sells hello kitty stuff and other cute stuff, my experience with things from there isn’t that well. The price and the quality isn’t right I think..
You can go to V&D for stockings or tights and accessories only it depends on what’s fashionable in this season.
Zara is also a good example for finding  ‘lolita’ clothes depending on the season they sell umbrella’s and in their collection you can find some dresses, blouses and skirts.
I visited a Zara store in Den Bosch on saterday and I found some blouses, I didn’t bought one because I have enough Lolita blouses :P
And I found a cute skirt which was very Lolita like, only a little bit too short.
So.. all those shops sell Lolita like clothing and other stuff, please don’t be angry with me because you can’t find something at your local store. It always depends on the city/country and the fashion of the season.

I have bought most of my Lolita jewelry at ‘offbrand’ stores. I think most of the Lolita jewerly is too expensive, I don’t want to pay lots of money for a plastic bracelet of neckless, of course there are exceptions. Most of the bigger villages or cities have some jewerly boutiques ( I don’t mean those very expensive ones ^_~)

Vintage is also a good example if you want to use offbrand clothing in your Lolita closet! Most of the vintage store sell cute dresses/skirts/blouses, ok sometimes you have to change something but then you have a very unique piece of clothing. I don’t know much about vintage so I can’t tell you more about it L

Markets have very often fabrics and other stuff to make your own clothes, some also sell socks, jewerly, false eyelashes/nails and other make-up. Most of the time it’s very cheap.

This was my little tutorial for finding Lolita clothing and other Lolita stuff for less money , I hope it’s useful! I like to write about this, so I want to tell and show you more about this subject. My next post is going to be about offbrand Lolita co-ords. ^_^ ( Hopefully I can post it today ^^)

Aaah no picture this time, I hope this post isn't too boring without a picture :P

See you next time! :D