Tips and Tricks: How to Shop to Expand Your Wardrobe

So as this tittle suggests this post is all about How To Shop To Expand Your Wardrobe and not to inhibit it!

Basically what I am trying to say is that so much of us Lolitas funnel money into our hobby that it makes sense that we would try to capitalize on this and also cut corners where we need to!

However if you are anything like me it might seem like a daunting task to try and form a wardrobe of lolita clothing that you can wear as often as you want. The daunting part being that you are not used to actually forming a wardrobe out of nothing. You (like me) usually buy what ever muggle clothing you like and it kinda all goes together anyway. But we look at lolita and we see that it will not be this easy, mostly because of the cost of everything.

So this "small article" will be a continue of my past Tips and Tricks and will go smoothly with new Tips and tricks that will come out later.

I know that some of you will think this a lot like my past Tips and Tricks, and that's okay! I will admit that it is, since I will be saying most of the same thing, stick to your colors and accessories are your best friends!

At this moment I will be using me as an example!

It was Easter time and I wanted to wear a special outfit of course! And I started to put it together, and while I think I have a pretty okay closet I started to feel constricted. The outfit I had in my head was completely different than the one I could actually come up with. I was lacking accessories and I had an epiphany!

SO HERE IS THE SECRET THAT FINALLY HIT ME IN THE HEAD AND I WILL SHARE WITH YOU

Buy tons and tons of accessories, invest in socks and shoes and necklaces and different head wear or head wear you can mix and match.

I don't know about you... but myself, I love the dresses and the JSK's that come out, so those are the things I buy mostly, that is where 90% of all my lolita money goes.

AND THAT IS ONE OF MY ISSUES IN LOLITA (my personal issue that is, let me just vent for one sec and we will be back to scheduled helping) THAT I ONLY EVER BUY THE DRESSES SO THAT WHEN I WANT TO MAKE A COORD ALL I HAVE IS IS IS STINKIN' DRESSES! YOU CAN'T FEED PUDGE TUNA CAUSE HE IS A FISH!!! oh wait! hahaha wrong vent....

Sorry I had to add it in here!

 Okay! So this is a big problem! So I am here to warn you all that unless you want to be in my position where I have plenty of dresses which is kinda nice but then I have to struggle to pull a coord out of thin air because I lack accessories; make sure that you have plenty of different accessories. 

No really if you have one dress you could have at least enough accessories to coord it two completly different ways, so it might be the same dress but a whole new look each time you wear it!

One more time, the more accessories you have the more outfits you will be able to make with limited clothing, the easier it would be to be a lolita on a budget. Accessories can completly change the look and feel of the dress, so it feels like you have two dresses instead of the one!

This is what I am learning now! Though I am still having a hard time not buying my jsk's, seems I am working backwards, buys all the dresses and then goes to buy all the accessories so that I never actually wear my clothes until I get the accessories! Trust me that is just a sad feeling looking at your clothes and then feeling like you can not wear them!!!

So here is the quick tip/ exercise:

Lets say you have your first outfit down, these are the items you have purchased besides your foundation items like your petti and bloomers (We will be talking about bloomers vs. shorts in one of the next tips and tricks articles)
Of course before buying your items (which you have to buy usually one at a time cause you are not made out money) you decided that pink and cream (or off white, near the same color family) are the two colors that you have decided to buy around. You choose these colors because you want to be a sweet and classic lolita and you figure using these two colors with help with that decision.
Here is what you have:

So here we have just the dress and NOT the blouse that is pictured... oh and FYI Click Here for The Dress

Click Here to see this Really Really Cute Blouse

I would highly suggest against getting this color way for this blouse, the lace trim is snow white while the blouse is almost a dusky yellow... it just looks a little strange. I included it here because realistically we all make mistakes, like not paying attention when buying, consider this a "mistake you made in purchasing". You didn't realize that the lace didn't match the shirt. Later you would probably buy the off white colorway of the shirt up above (which I suggest instead of this one) but here is the link anyway!

You can check out these socks here!

This headdress is perfect for both sweet and classic because of the color and than the lace and roses! But here in this simulation we don't usually tie it under our chin unless we are going for a innocence look! We usually tie it behind our neck under our hair. Click here for headdress!

I chose these shoes for us because they are cute but are more grown up looking so would also match really well with a more classic look, it is also a lighter of the pink colors for this reason. Click here to see the shoes and stuff.

Out of what is above think about how many different outfits you can make? Two right? One for each different color way of the blouses. Even if you take off the sleeves or put the on its still only two outfits that feel a little bit different.

So now you are getting ready to buy a new dress! I mean after all you have all the basics down right!? And this way you can have 2 different dresses with 2 outfits each... so 4 whole new outfits! But take a min and step back and think about this for one sec, yeah you could buy a  new dress and have the best of both worlds I mean it is your money! But think about it you might keep buying new dresses for awhile and just that... well than you are stuck with only two ways to ever coord your dresses and that gets boring after awhile.

What I suggest is that instead of buying your second dress straight away get some more accessories!
Like....

Cardigan Here

Socks here!

A cardigan+socks

Same cardigan as above

Cardigan Here!

or Cardigan+ another cardigan 


or just more knick knacks in general!
This way you than have 3 (or 4 for 2nd option) to 5 (or 8 for the 2nd option) outfits to choose from and that is just by buying a cardigan or 2!

So when you finally do buy that new dress you have so many different items to match with it that it doesn't get boring! This way you can really mix it up and it isn't limited to one pair of socks and two blouses!

At the end of the day you have to think about like one of those really annoying math problems, if Jose has 3 shirts and 3 jeans how many outfits does Jose have?

We actually have to think like this to make lolita worth the buck sometimes! We have to go if I have 3 tops and 2 caridgans and two dresses and 3 socks and two pairs of shoes how many outfits can I make?

This right here is why you stick in your color group in the begging! So that you can make the most of your dollar because EVERYTHING SHOULD MATCH!

I hope with this thinking I did today I can try to put the Jsk buying behind me and focus on getting some more accesrotries to make my outfits pop!
I hope that this has helped you too and you learn from my mistakes! And more importantly how to make the most out of your hopefully budding wardrobe!

Till next time!

Cookie~
 

Shoe Wish List

One of my last post had to do with my wish list for my Lolita dresses, and well I also wanted to do a shoe wish list too!!! Because I love shoes and a list will help me save and knock them off of my list, if I still want them. So I hope you enjoy my weird taste!

So these shoes are just my staple shoes I want to complete the wardrobe I've been working on. They are also in order of what I want to buy first to last.

Bodyline Shoes I want in a matte black to match with my wardrobe, also I think it would be harder to scuff in this color way.

Platform Converse That I saw on Tumblr forever ago, but didn't have the money to get, these are must on my list in black.

Jeffrey Campbell x Wildfox Ballerina Platforms that have been on my list of things I have wanted FOREVER, but because they are way more expensive the the two above it, these got pushed down the list because I need those shoes to complete my atheistic.

UNIF Hellraiser are the shoes I want next because they are flats which are great for the summer here, but also because look at them! *Sighs dreamily*

UNIF Hellbounds are also on the list because they would make me so tall~ hahah sike! More like they look so cool and that solid black color would match most of my clothes.

Jeffrey Campbell Litas Also in black, these are such good staple shoes, they would go with so much and really help make a look.

So those are some of the shoes that are on my wish list, I used to have more but I already bought some! So yay for that! Don't worry you will be seeing them soon, promise! What do you think? Do you think I am a proper weirdo yet? Hahaha
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed

Cookie

Tips and Tricks: Lolita, Starting Your Wardrobe (part 2)

As promised in this post, I am going to continue on with this series! I am doing this, once again, because I want to help you out with your first steps in Lolita. Where I only had some things from the internet, I want you to have the inside story. So you don't make the same mistakes I did. I want you to get the bang for your buck, and know what might happen so you are not surprised when you get packages.

As in the last post, these are some suggestions with my own examples to help. You could choose a huge variety of different things for your wardrobe, or do your wardrobe in a different way, but maybe this could help you and I hope it does. This time we will focus on the last two things, that you might really really need before you get your dress, blouses and shoes! This post will be mostly about how you can profit from my mistakes, and I made a lot of them when it came to the blouses and shoes. So on we go!

Blouses:

Please, please, please remember your colors when doing shopping for blouses. It is really important to have blouses that match the color scheme for the begging of your wardrobe. If you remember, I choose the simple colors of black and white. (However, these don't have to be the only colors to choose. You could have chosen other colors for your wardrobe.) Some things to remember, if you don't have the money, don't worry about buying brand.

My first blouse, may you not be as dumb as me when getting a blouse and not spend all the money.

Some things to look for when buying your first blouse it to diffidently make sure that they have detachable sleeves. This way you can wear that blouse one of two ways, which will get more wear and more bang for your buck. ( I will talk more about this when we start talking about coords.)

Some other things to also make sure to remember when you are getting your new shirts, besides the colors and detachable sleeves that is. Make sure you don't go to extravagant your first time around, I know that that flowy chiffon shirt would be perfect for your classical coord, but could you wear that during the winter? Would that also match your other clothes? By focusing on colors and simple dress ideas you expand the use of your wardrobe by a whole lot more, so keep it simple and don't worry too much about the lolita sub-styles. After getting a good handle on your wardrobe than you can branch out and buy the flowy stuff, the extravagances that you didn't need in the begging. (Unless you really really want that shirt and it is going to be a huge piece in your wardrobe. What I am saying is don't make snap buying decisions. Get the stuff that can really help out your wardrobe early on.)

Shoes:

Once again, before you jump on to the bandwagon of hot shoe shopping in lolita, I would highly suggest looking through the shoes you enjoy wearing in everyday life. If you love wearing 4-inch heels than you can do that. If you love your tennis shoes more than anything (well you might want to do that more for causal lolita but they are your clothes) you can do that, like if you like your tennis shoes or flats because they are comfortable and close to the ground lolita has shoes that can fit those needs. If you like platforms (flatforms or whatever... you know what I mean), punk shoes, gothic shoes, steam punk shoes... lolita can fit those needs as well! There are tons of styles to look from and use in your lolita wardrobe. But remember to stay with in your colors, and stay with what you like or would normally wear and you are good to go. (click links for examples of the shoes.)

My most worn shoes next to my brown ones! These are perfect!!!! Easy to walk in, something I am used too, and comfortable to boot. Say yes to the shoes people!

 Some helpful tips though. When buying white shoes remember that you will be wearing them... so they are going to get dirty and scuff... If you don't want to really worry about that look into getting darker color shoes that will easily hide that better. 

Also, sometimes the shoes will be uncomfortable, especially if you are used to wearing tennis shoes and flats all the time. Keep the shoes you wear everyday in mind when shopping for you lolita shoes, if you are used to tennis shoes get the flats because they will hurt your feet less, and you can wear them for longer with out worrying about your feet falling off.

Because this has no ankle support I don't wear them much, my feet just fall out of them. They are also the most uncomfortable lolita shoe I own, just because it  is cute doesn't mean it will be fun.

Make sure you get the right size and fit. Or what I mean is that they are structured for you to walk. This means making sure you are getting the right size and making sure the straps will keep your foot in the shoe. (Something I messed up in.) Definitely make sure that the straps are placed so that your feet won't fall out while walking. 

Watch out for the accessories that come with the shoes. Some shoes you will buy will come with detachable bows or the like. These can easily get lost, make sure you remember that when going out and whether or not you want to keep them on when going out. You can get replacement bows or what not that you lost, but that just ends up costing extra money.

Off brand shoes are made with the same material as brand shoes. That is right you read me. So when buying your shoes, unless you want the brand item because it is X brand, don't worry about spending all that money. In the end you pay less for the same stuff when buying lolita shoes. Try not to pay too much more. I mean we are on a budget right?

Fasten your lolita shoes once and never fasten again. So unless you are like me (I can be slow on the up take sometimes...) you might have not known that most lolita shoes come with an awesome secret. When we were younger we had to always do the long fasten thing in our dress shoes right? Where we would have to hook it through the hole and it would take a long time, right??? Well you might have guessed by now that the shoes come with these buttons, so once you fasten the shoe to the right size, you never have to do it again. You just button and un-button to get in and out of your cute lolita shoes. Don't waste your time and un-fasten and re-fasten when you first get them, that is what the buttons are there for!!

So those are just some tips and tricks I have for buying your first blouse and shoes, remember all the basics you learned as well from other sources like the forums and what not....(Avoid bad lace...etc.) And you shall do great! Hope my idiot mistakes mean you don't have to make them!!! If you have anymore tips about blouses or shoes just leave them below! See you soon.

Cookie

P.S. Next Tips and Tricks for you Lolita Wardrobe will be the JSK's, OP's, and the skirts.