Flea Markets Are Your Friends!

 As someone that loves to save a buck while remaining stylish, flea markets are my heaven. So much of my lolita wardrobe is composed of vintage and second hand finds. Even my go to hyper poof petticoat was found at a local flea market. I find that most lolitas are eager to go vintage shopping, but they have idea what why to go about it.  I composed a few tips and tricks on how to score at your local flea markets.

-Keep your eyes open. So many of my "conversation starter" items could have been easily over looked by the common flea market consumer's eye.

-Don't set your ideals too high. Sorry to break it to you, but you will not find an Angelic Pretty skirt in your lolita-able flea market expedition.  You might not be able to find a head eatting bow that looks like it came directly from BTSSB, but you may be able to find some miner goggles from the early 20th century or a retro-tastic pillbox hat (I've found both!) to add some quirky flair to your outfits.

 
veiled pillbox hat found at a local flea market

-Be prepared to alter and tailor. Nine times out of ten, if you buy some sort of clothing item it at a flea market it will need to be altered in someway.  Also keep in mind (especially in plus sized or over sized items) that you can also make something completely different out of the fabric.  Even if it isn't a lot of fabric you would be surprised how little fabric you need to make bows or even a tote bag.

-Don't be afraid to make an offer! Most of the times the sellers of items are just as eager to get rid of their items as you are to buy them.  Sometimes even by buying one item you can get several items from the same person included (this was how I got three tiaras and Marie Antoinette wallet for less than $5).

Items that you can sometimes find at flea markets:

Classical/Steampunk-
steampunk style goggles
pocket watches
antique and cameo jewelry
handmade dollies (for brooches and other crafts)
Sweet/OTT
children's clothing (for making bows and other items)
children's toys (for deco)
children's' accessories (little clips and bows)
dainty vintage hats
Gothic/Punk
cross and rose jewelry
studded belts and accessories (use with discretion)
dark veiled hats
vintage leather apparel
Generic
petticoats (usually square dance petticoats, but you can roll up the waist band for a more cupcake shape)
vintage shoes
odd crafting supplies

I hope you enjoyed. I wish you luck on future flea market expeditions~!

One Item Three Ways Thursday #7

This week I chose a cute color blocked jumper skirt from Alice and the Pirates. I love how versatile the tarot card pattern card is. On to the coordinates~!

One Item Three Ways: Tarot Cards by MandaPlz featuring suede boots
numbered 1-3 left to right

 1. For the first coord I went with the first thing to come to my head and out came this elegant and subtle classical outfit.  I paired the dress with cream tights and a bolero to give it more of a classical kick.  The shoes are. just. to. die. for. so they don't really need more of an explanation.  Keep the hair styled simply with a rose clip to keep the focus on the dress and awesome shoes.

2. I took a darker themed dress into a much sweeter and softer light with this coord. I think that card prints in lolita will always remind me a bit of Alice in Wonderland (note the adorable bunny bag~).  Use bow encrusted socks, simple matching mary janes and wrist cuffs to add more sweetness. Top this off with a curly spilt wig and a giant bow and you are ready for anything your sugary heart desires!

3. I decide to let this gloomy print do it's thing in this outfit. I covered the red bodice with a punky jacket to bring out the darker colors in the jumper skirt.  Although some think that black striped socks and tights are ita-tastic, I think they can easily work as long as they coordinate with your outfit (like so). Wear it with some black lace up booties and a circular head dress to polish up the look.

For those that haven't seen, I recently submitted a polyvore set to a the blog The Elegant Wardrobe, 

, a local lolita (and awesome blogger). I would love if you would all check out her blog and support her!.

Also for those sick of my polyvore coordinates, I am presently writing up some tips and tricks on scoring loli goods at local flea markets for a future post~ Well that's all for now!

One Item Three Ways Thursday #6

I made all of my looks into one image this time around to make a less cluttered looking post. I chose a dress from Modcloth which specializes in vintage inspired clothing. This is also going to focus more on outfits outside of lolita.

One Item Three Ways:modcloth by MandaPlz featuring a sheer dress 
numbered 1-3 left to right
1) The design on the dress personally reminded me of much darker Sugar Pansy. You should use pastels to really lighten up the dark dress for this sugary sweet look. I used a very soft and airy cardigan,worthy of Sugar Pansy, over the dress for modesty and to bring out the yellow in the print.  Use a simply styled rose colored wig to add elegance and matche the floral theme of the dress.

2)This is the way I would most likely wear it in my everyday life. It has an edgier fairy kei feel to it (I use fairy-kei very loosely). The pastel leather jacket and floral doc martens add spunk to a rather prim and proper dress.  The OTK socks and knit scarf are for added warmth and coziness. I think this would look best with loose fluffy curls~

3)I played up the natural floral print of the dress in a mori girl coord. I paired the dress with subtle floral mid calf socks and navy lace up boots. The blouse and aged denim jacket have a cool vintage feel to them and are perfect for mori girl. The hair is styled simply with a single pink rose hair piece and tied into two braids. 


I must apologize for not posting last week due to the awesome that is Tekkoshocon. Despite how small the hotel was for the number of attendee, I still made TONS of new friends. A group even cosplayed my favorite kpop group SHINee and preformed their song 'Lucifer' at the masquerade. I. literally. died.