Crimson Reflections

When I first looked at this week’s Lolita Blog Carnival topic, my very first thought was “the petticoat is going to either suck, need to be skipped, or take up half of the budget”.

That said, you can get some really cheap petticoats out there. People recommend Victorian Girl Dress on Ebay, but looking at the photos, it looks cheap and it looks like it’s probably not going to be the ideal smoothness and shape. There is also Maco Modes 582 (will run you about $50 USD), but that’s not perfect either. You can get a Classical Puppets A-line one from taobao for about $30USD (before SS fees and shipping), and that’s one of the ones I have an use a lot, but apparently, their quality dropped and a lot of people are seeing fraying / tears at the tiers in that one. If you need something quick in the US, the Black Ribbon sells some for $55 USD. Bunny House, another indie brand also makes petticoats that run around $48 USD before shipping.

Then I remembered that I had heard of an indie brand that made good petticoats really cheaply. That indie brand is MeLikesTea. MeLikesTea is based out of Brazil, so their prices are in Brazilian Reals. Like many non-english countries, they use a comma and not a period in their prices to denote the line between dollars and cents. So for PT10H – #10 made with Hard Tulle, which is listed at R$50,00, the price is only about $16.50 USD.

If you are trying out lolita for a convention, or don’t plan on wearing it much (2x a year), a hard tulle petticoat is probably ok, as long as you store it very carefully. If you want to wear the fashion in earnest, I’d suggest upgrading to the Organza material she offers. It costs more, but it lasts a lot longer. Hard Tulle petticoats are only stiff because the tulle is stiff, and very quickly deflate.

Writing this blog post pretty much confirmed for me that you would have a very hard time making a cohesive coordinate from scratch on only $100. I did not include shopping service fees or shipping, though I did try to source at least some things from local stores, or online shops with cheap or free shipping options.

Coordinate 001 – Sweet Lolita Shiro Coordinate

• Bodyline JSK L329 –  ¥2,999 ($24.75 USD)
• Bodyline Blouse L527 –  ¥2,999 ($24.75 USD)
• Target Women‘s Premium Control Top Tights – $5USD (on sale)
• Bodyline Shoes SHOES291 – ¥2,999 ($24.75 USD)
• Ebay Elegant New Flowers Bridal Wedding Headdress – C $4.65 ($3.80 USD)
• MeLikesTea #10 Petticoat Hard Tulle –  R$50,00 ($16.50 USD)

Total: $99.55 USD

This isn’t an ideal hair accessory for this coordinate; I simply rand out of money and did the best I could. If you already have a petticoat, shoes and/or tights, splurge a little on a nicer headpiece. To wear the headpiece shown, you would have to do some sort of updo with your natural hair, and then pin in the hair comb.

Also, bodyline makes other shoes that are cheaper and I’d prefer, however, they are out of stock at the moment.

To upgrade this, add a pearl bead necklace and bracelets, and a nicer headpiece.

Coordinate 002 – Berry Bitter Sweet Lolita with Second Hand Metamorphose

• Used Metamorphose Skirt on Yahoo!Japan Auction – 3,000 yen ($24.70 USD)
• Used Metamorphose Blouse on Yahoo!Japan Auction – 2,900 yen ($23.88 USD)
• Bodyline Shoes SHOES178 – 2,999 yen ($24.69 USD)
• MissA Colored Oversized Beaded Bracelet – $1.00 USD
• MissA Mimi Polka Dot Bow Set (6 Piece) – $1.00 USD
• MissA Mimi Polka Dot Bow Set (6 Piece) – $1.00 USD
• MissA Candy Polka Dot Bow Headband  – $1.00 USD
• MeLikesTea #10 Petticoat Hard Tulle –  R$50,00 ($16.50 USD)
• Women’s Semi Opaque Color Tights on Amazon – $1.99 USD
• Etsy Jumbo Strawberry Pendant – $2.99 USD
• Etsy Necklace Chain – $0.50 USD

Total: $99.25 USD

This was a hard one because I really like using more accessories for something like this, but the budget doesn’t allow for it. The headbow shown is only a dollar and it looks it. A small black bow should be placed beside it if you have light hair. If you have dark hair, you can skip the black bows all together and put that extra dollar towards getting an oversized beaded bracelet in black. The other black bows and the red bows can be clipped on to the coord. Clip one red bow above the button on each sleeve of the blouse. Black bows can be clipped between the buttons of the blouse going down the front as embellishments.

If you have the money, upgrade to a nicer headbow that is lolita specific. Alternately, you can braid your natural hair and use hair ties with little strawberries on them, or red bows.

There was not a good necklace at the size I wanted in the price range, but this pendant from etsy can be put on a plain dark chain like the one shown. A red bow can be clipped on as well depending on the thickness of the pendant.

AP Style Sweet Lolita

• Bodyline Shoes SHOES178 – 2,999 yen ($24.69 USD)
• Bodyline OP l396 – 2,999 yen ($24.69 USD)
• MeLikesTea #10 Petticoat Hard Tulle –  R$50,00 ($16.50 USD)
• MissA Colored Oversized Beaded Bracelet – $1.00 USD
• Target Women‘s Diamond Control Top Tights – $5.00 USD (on Sale)
• Sweet Mildred Circus Girl Ribbon Headband – $15.00 USD
• Chocomint ラブリーリボンプラスチックリング(赤) (ring/red) – 690yen ($5.68 USD)
• Chocomint ハートパールブレスレット(ブラック) – 450 yen ($3.71 USD)

Total: $99.98 USD

Going with an OP over a skirt + blouse or JSK + blouse combo is cheaper for a single coordinate, but more expensive in the long run because you can’t mix and match as much. A larger head-eating bow could be paired with this as well and Sweet Mildred does sell some, but she only had samples in pink photographed that I saw.

The tights have a subtle diamond pattern in them to match the OP, which I thought was cool, but solid white or pink tights would work as well.

I started out with the thought that this would be easy and I’d just do a bunch; after all, I buy dresses second hand for under $100 USD all the time. However, when you have to buy everything (petticoat, socks/tights, accessories, shoes), it really does add up fast. Once you have a good petticoat, some tights and some shoes, new coordinates are a lot cheaper to make than if you have to pay for all of those things at the same time.

To make the whole coordinate come out to less than $100 USD, you have to get the blouse, dress/skirt and shoes under about $75. That means $25/each, or a $50 OP + $25 shoes. And then, you don’t have much left for everything else after you pay for the petticoat.

I would say that $100 really isn’t enough to create a cohesive lolita coordinate. I would suggest someone budget closer to $200 for their first coordinate (to get a good petticoat, and pay for shipping and shopping services). I realize that is a lot of money, but lolita isn’t a cheap hobby, even when you try to buy things on the cheap.

Other blogs participating in this theme:
♥ Marionette Cemetery ♥ Art du noir ♥
♥ Pépins de Pom & Co ♥