I’ve actually already done this
topic before, although that was before I officially joined the Lolita Blog
Carnival community and at that time the coords were entirely hypothetical.
Since then not only I became able to showcase a coord whose total actual cost
comes within that price that, but I’ve also learnt a lot about what is and
isn’t Lolita, meaning that what I can showcase now will be a better example to
newbies as well as a better representation of my style.
As I live in the UK, I don’t really
shop in USD and have little idea of the worth of a US dollar (only in as much
as it’s worth against the British pound). But I do sometimes buy things in USD,
as the exchange rate is usually favourable for me. To make this challenge a
little bit more interesting, I have set myself a no-Bodyline rule as well. Everybody
already knows how great Bodyline is for affordable Lolita and while I’m not
trying to diss Bodyline, because it is a great place to get Lolita on a budget,
I wanted to show that your options aren’t limited to Bodyline. By carefully
utilising the big markets that are Taobao and the second hand sales, where you
can get absolute bargains, you could even have an all-brand coord for under
$100 (well, maybe for under £100 at a push) if you were a careful enough
shopper. At the moment, the cheapest all-brand coord I could do would still be
over the budget set, but I may do some cost-based coord posts in the future.
Finally, as always shipping and any other fees are not included in the prices.
 |
| | Magic Tea Party blouse ($10) | Magic Tea Party Bears Paradise skirt ($33.99) | AP Ladder Ribbon OTKs ($14.94) | Offbrand Oxford shoes (approx. $22.50) | Chocomint ring ($3.30) | Star clips ($0.41) | Pearl bracelets ($0.41) | Total = $85.55 |
Brown and mint is a classic combo
and although this coord is very much not made for this season, I could’ve quite
easily thrown on a mint cardigan (thus adding approximately another $6.25) to
make it at least ok to wear indoors. And I have to say, it came out a lot
better than I envisioned it in my head. I like the balance of colours and how
simple, yet indistinguishably Sweet this whole outfit looks. It’s casual enough
to wear whilst going about your day, yet at the same time easily dressed up to
cute minty biscuit OTT ensemble (although going that route would definitely
make me go over the budget set). Plus I’m really utilising the skirt here, as
the bow clips used as hair accessories were taken from the hem of the skirt –
all they need is a hair pin to actually stick them on your head! This is
definitely something that I’d wear to a meet or maybe even around the house
since all of these are perfectly washable Taobao pieces, and when it gets a
little warmer I will try to wear this somewhere.
I hope that this has shown to
someone that whilst calling Lolita fashion affordable is a bit of a stretch, it
certainly doesn’t have to be expensive to the point of literally making your
bank account bleed. Shop around and shop smart, don’t be afraid of getting
things second hand and remember that Taobao is just as nice quality, often
nicer, and with a bigger variety of designs than Bodyline for similar prices.
Keep those things in mind if/when you’re on a serious budget and you might even
scare yourself how much a wardrobe can grow with little money input.
Don’t forget to check out the coords
that other bloggers have made. When trying to dress in Lolita fashion for
cheap, there is no such thing as too much inspiration:
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