Design a complete, shopable, coord for under $100 (1)

Doing a full, shopable Lolita coord on $100 (which is about £66) is a challenge in itself – it’s absolutely doable, but it’s still a challenge. However, at first I wanted to make this an extra special challenge by using at least the main pieces that I own already. Sadly, the dress I had in mind for my Sweet Lolita coord (Bodyline’s Sweet Macaron, or L249), is no longer being sold, and my only Classic Lolita main piece is brand, so wouldn’t fit there anyway. Therefore, I’ll have to stick to things I can find within the depths of the Internet. I’m also only doing two options, Sweet and Classic, because I don’t feel confident/knowledgeable enough about Gothic to even think of something good, but also because those are the two styles that I go for (with a fairly strong preference for Sweet). The rule I’m following while assembling these outfits is that as well as being complete and shopable they have to be something that I’d personally wear – or at least would be ok wearing, even if some bits aren’t quite my cup of tea.

What I’m not including in this challenge are petticoats and shipping prices. Pettis because this should be an investment, so that it lasts you as long as possible and goes with the majority of your wardrobe – that would make me run over the budget of $100 if I included it. As for postage, that can always add up quickly, especially when you’re ordering things from East Asia, so again, a potential for spiking the prices here. However, $100 plus shipping, which usually isn’t that much, especially if you’re willing to wait, is still quite cheap for Lolita, so nobody should be put off by the whole coord (minus petti) being a bit over that.

Sweet Lolita

Items:
| Bodyline L579 JSK, navy ($52.20) | offbrand blouse, sax ($5.64) | offbrand tights, baby blue ($3.55) | offbrand heels, black ($9.02) | Decoration Pony replica bag, sax ($15.98) | offbrand unicorn headpiece, sax ($9.99) |
Total = $96.38

I wanted to accentuate the sax tones in this navy JSK in an OTT kind of way, which is mostly why it came up to so much. Had I gone for a white blouse or simpler accessories, it would’ve been significantly cheaper. The replica handbag is also a splurge here, even though this is the cheapest I have found that one on the internet for (an actual bargain compared to $30-40 odd and more for other replicas!). If you decided to forgo the handbag, you could probably afford an actual Lolita blouse in sax, like Bodyline’s L315 for $14.  Using the removable bow on the dress as a headpiece is another way of making this look cheaper. You can get this JSK for about $40.00 if you’re willing to buy the one with a misprint, saving you another few bucks (the misprint is just some mirrored writing which shouldn’t be noticeable when worn). I went for black shoes, as I couldn’t find ones in navy that’d be within this budget, but if you can, I’d definitely go for navy over black, although this pair is pretty cute. Jewellery is up to you, I personally would’ve used pieces that I have already, either in navy/sax colours or around the unicorn theme, but I’d narrow it down to earrings and a ring or a bracelet – the focus should remain on the dress.

Classic Lolita

Items:
| Bodyline L571 JSK, sax ($42.29) | offbrand blouse, off-white ($13.46) | offbrand tights, cream ($3.55) | offbrand Mary Jane heels, pink ($17.49) | offbrand/handmade headbow, sax ($6.17) | offbrand purse, pastel pink ($5.06) |
Total = $88.01

The reason why this is a cheaper look is because Classic Lolita doesn’t need too many accessories (in fact it’s more elegant when kept simple), and I feel like you need a lot fewer pieces to make the coord work – although with fewer items you do want to make sure that they’re better quality. And probably especially for this JSK, which is quite elegant in and of itself, it’s a good idea to keep things simple. Although I’m not big on pink and tend to avoid it, adding some pink here in the form of shoes and purse brings out the details on the print. There’s so much sax that just a headbow in sax will do, any more and things would start to feel out of balance. In my opinion the blouse has to be in cream or offwhite, since the ruffles on the dress are in that colour, again to keep the balance between different colours and because it’s more mu style, but a pink one is also a great option. I picked an offbrand top, just to show that there are pretty loliable clothes out there, however, you can invest in a Lolita blouse; Magic Tea Party has a pretty one for $24.60 ad there’s a stretchy and ruffly Bodyline one, the L523, for just over $24. In fact, going for a Lolita one means that you already have a blouse for future coords – but the decision is up to you. Some pearl jewellery, especially earrings and/or a bracelet, will complete the look nicely; you definitely should be able to get some for cheap on the high street, or you can borrow some of someone (mums and grandmums are a good first port of call).