Create a Coord Under £100

The Lolita Blog Carnival is back with another round of the coord unde X prompt. The original did say $100, however I’m amending it to be £100 instead. In the past I set myself additional challenges, such as not using Bodyline or literally going for the cheapest things I own. This time I’m not adding any extra hurdles – it’s simply a coord that cost me less than £100 of actual money I spent.

| Bodyline L262 JSK (£22.50) | New Look blouse (£8) |
Metamorphose OTKs (£18) | Bodyline heels (£20) | Cutie
Creator headbow (£7.52) | offbrand rose clips (£1) |
Madillustration brooch (£14.95) | After Midnight necklace
(free) | offbrand rings (£1) |
TOTAL = £92.97

As you can see, I did go for a Bodyline dress, my very first lolita dress no less. Every time I do one of these cheap coords I like to use a different piece to show that there is variety to be had. When I purchased this dress, the exchange rate was much better for me, although it was cheap to begin with, couldn’t have been more than ¥2999.

When looking through what I have, to try and get something nice, I remembered this top I got from New Look during sale. Pink and red is such a romantic colour combination and it gave me an idea for this Sweet-Classic coord. Definitely something I’d wear with my hair curled and some more pinky-nude makeup with a softer red lip (maybe using a tint rather than lipstick).

 

Maybe half of the accessories used here were bought offbrand and really cheaply. One of the rose clips was a gift, while the other I got in Korea in Naughty Cat, which is like very cheap Korean Claire’s, on some kind of 3 for 1 offer. The necklace was a Secret Santa gift and the rings are from Primark, which were purchased as a pack of 5, which works out at something like 50p per ring.

The socks and the shoes were the most expensive part other than the dress. Well, for a pair of lolita shoes that lasted this long, the £20 or so that I paid isn’t actually that much, it’s just that on a budget like this it works out as 5^th of the whole price. And the socks were purchased brand new directly from Meta during their sale.

 

In my opinion, even when you’re on a strict budget, there are some things that make a big enough difference to justify spending a little more on. It’s all about how you dress it. So if you’re going for a cheaper main piece, especially if it’s very popular and recognisable like Bodyline prints are, spend a little more on accessories. You can wear a Bodyline dress like everyone, with plain tights or Bodyline’s knee high socks, or you can spice things up by picking up nice printed socks or tights from brands during sales. Similarly, even if your base set is all common items from Bodyline, jazz it up with jewellery and hair accessories from elsewhere. Just because you’re dressing on a budget doesn’t mean that you have to look like you’re on a budget.

Looking at this, it’s definitely an outfit I’d wear out. It kind of gives me Valentine’s Day vibes with those colours and the romantic styling, plus it’d be easy to layer up for February, so maybe then? Might not be able to wait that long though…

Want more ideas on coords for under $100/£100 mark? Check out what the other participating bloggers have done!

Gravelvet
 The Bloody Tea Party
 Gyokuro and Orchids