How To Get The Most Out Of Your Lolita Wardrobe

I am a strong believer in getting the most wear out of your clothing.  Some people like to forget about that when focusing on saving money, the amount of times you are able to wear an item is just as important as the initial price.  Think about it this way, if you buy a $30 plaid glittery skirt and wear it only twice because you have nothing to wear with it, that is $15 per wear.  If you bought a second-hand solid colored JSK for $100 and wear it 12 times, then it is $8.33 per wear. That is $6.67 difference in amount per wear, but $70 difference in initial price. If you spend most of your money on basic staple items, that may cost a lot more initially, but you can wear several times you will be better off in the long run.  I believe there are two main ways to do this with a lolita wardrobe: getting items that you can wear outside of lolita fashion or getting versatile dresses that can fit within several lolita styles.

            First I am going to show how you can take lolita items into mainstream outfits.

  I will refer to each outfit using numerals 1-3 going left to right.

I choose a basic sax blue blouse that someone could easily find at any high street shop 

1. I made a basic sweet lolita outfit and used the blouse to bring out the blue in this Milky Chan skirt. I like how the monochromatic tights add to the sweetness of the outfit without overpowering the Milky Chan skirt.

2. I find that blouses work really well in punk coordinates.  A lot of punk fashion is about balancing tailored and masculine details with distressed and feminine details. This blouse is tailored and feminine with its soft pastel color and tasteful use of ruffles. To add some more punk detailing, I paired it with a square necktie, paint splattered cut off shorts, and quirky blue combat boots. Wear it with a pair of black OTK socks, a staple in most lolita wardrobes, to lengthen and cover your legs.

3. This outfit looks like it came straight out of The Jetsons! I have noticed a lot of designers are making dresses that mock wearing a sweet heart dress over a blouse. I personally love the give-and-take sexiness of pairing the two together. This may take a little more experimentation to find what dresses look good layered, but I guarantee that the effort is worth it, if only to get more use of your clothing. I decided to put the outfit with a pair of plastic peep toe shoes to play up the futuristic aesthetic.

Now I will show how you can expand your lolita clothing into other lolita sub-styles.

 

I will refer to each outfit using numerals 1-3 going left to right

I used a black floral print dress from Angelic Pretty, but you can find a similar style dress from other brands and off-brand sites.

1.  I tried to make this dress have a more classic feel to it. I used a grandma style blouse, lace up booties, and a black feathered hair fascinator to give the dress more of an old-time aesthetic. I would personally pair this with ringlets to play up the Victorian feel to it.

2.  I tried to bring out as much black as possible to make this rather classical-sweet-hime dress delve into the darker styles.  I used a very gothic style cape from H. Naoto to cover the abundance of bows on the bodice. A coffin shaped bag, lacy tights and criss-cross leather straped rocking horse shoes complete the punky goth look. I would put my hair into two sausage curled pigtails to poke out of the hood.

3. I went for a lighter hime look and brought out the pink accents within the print.  I used a floral head piece, pink floral tights, off white ruffle booties, and a short sleeved cardigan. This would be perfect paired with a hime poof and luscious curls. This would be perfect for the spring and summer months.

I hope this tutorial has been helpful~