Lolita on a budget
Now,
many lolitas will tell you that Lolita is a very expensive hobby to
get into and that usually cheap items means cheap quality. However
there are some great places to get Lolita clothes that won’t break your
budget entirely, and by following some of these ideas you can spend a
small amount of money getting some nice clothes compared with spending
the same amount and getting yucky clothes.
Second-hand clothes:
One thing that many new people to the fashion over-look is
the world of second-hand shopping. If you’ve done any second-hand
shopping before you know that when you look in the right places you can
find some amazing bargains.
Because Lolita is such classy and expensive hobby you’ll
find that most people will treasure their Lolita clothes, and that most
second-hand items will be beautiful cared for, and free of
imperfections. Usually in auction listings and sales posts if an item
does have an imperfection such as a tear, or a stain the seller will
usually provide photos and the price of the item will be reduced
dramatically. (A great way to buy if you don’t mind the odd tiny stain,
have a bleach-pen or are handy with a needle and thread!)
So this wonderful world of second-hand clothing is waiting
for you, but where do you go to get it? Here are some auction sites,
and sales communities that sell second-hand clothing:
Lolita Fashion.org Forums
http://forums.lolitafashion.org/viewforum.php?f=11
That’s right, this very website has sellers selling
second-hand and new items. We have a special ‘buy, and sell’ section so
you’ll never be without a place to buy or sell your Lolita clothes.
Buying and selling on the forums doesn’t need to be risky either, the
mods are always on the look-out for scammers, and there’s also a
‘feedback’ section on the forums so you can check who you’re buying
from / selling to.
Elegant Gothic Lolita Sales
http://community.livejournal.com/egl_comm_sales
Many of you may be familiar with this community, it is
the sister sales community to ‘egl’ on Livejournal, and a fantastic
source of new, and second-hand items. Although you need a Livejournal
account to post, with as many as 5 posts per day you’re sure to find
what you’re looking for here. Because of the rules on this community
regarding reposting there’s nearly always something different, and
you’re almost always guaranteed an item of good construction.
Yahoo! Auctions Japan
http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/
Mbok
http://www.mbok.jp/
Japanese auction sites are gold mines for lolitas on a
budget, but due to the fact that they’re of course in Japanese this may
be scary territory for some.
But fear not! There are many useful tools out there to help you navigate these places:
RikaiChan
is a fantastic add-on for Firefox if you have it. After installing the
add-on when-ever viewing a Japanese-site you just click the RikaiChan
button in your tool-bar, and then when you hover over a Japanese
character it is translated into English. (This becomes especially
useful when checking the measurements of certain items.)
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2471
Babel Fish
http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn
This is a popular translator, and can translate many languages into English, and vice versa.
Google translator
http://www.google.com
Both Yahoo! Japan Auctions and Mbok can be translated
into English by searching for ‘yahoo japan auctions,’ and ‘mbok’ and
clicking the ‘translate this page’ section when you have the search
results. The translations may not be perfect, but they’ll be reasonable
enough to tell you the information you need to know in English.
Yahoo! Japan Auctions and Mbok require the use of an
ordering service to bid on your items on your behalf if you live
outside of Japan. Please read the ordering service guide for more information.
Yahoo! Japan Auctions, and Mbok are probably one of the
cheapest places to get your second-hand Lolita clothes if you’re
willing to use either, even with the cost of an ordering service, and
shipping.
Closet Child
http://www.closet-child.com/
Although Closet Child does sell second-hand items it sadly does jack-up the prices a lot for their sales. 
So
Closet Child isn’t recommended that much if you’re looking for a
bargain, but it can’t hurt to look! One thing in Closet Child’s favour
is the fact that they will point out any garment imperfections and they
always provide many photos of the items they sell.
Besides having an online store Closet Child also has walk-in stores in Japan.
Alice Fururun
http://www.fururun.com/
Although fairly unknown, Alice Fururun does stock some
wonderfully cheap second-hand clothes, and does sell-out fast so if
there’s anything you want be sure to grab it quick.
Although in Japanese, just like the Closet Child website
it’s fairly easy to navigate with everything split-up into sections
such as ‘dresses,’ ‘tops,’ etc. etc. Alice Fururun also provide many
photos of any item that they stock so you can see what you’re buying
easily.
Alice Fururun requires the use of an ordering service to
buy the items on your behalf if you are located outside of Japan.
Please read the ordering service guide for more information.
Indie-brand clothes:
With the increasing popularity of Lolita in the west the
number of indie stores has increased, with greater demand for easily
accessible and cheaper Lolita clothes. Here is a list of a number of
indie Lolita brands:
Anna House
http://www.annahousefashion.com/
Located in Hong Kong, Anna House is probably one of the cheapest stockists of indie-brand Lolita 
clothing
for the quality you’ll receive. Anna House is highly recommended for
beginners not wishing to spend a lot of money, because their items are
made some fairly nice-quality materials without loads of scratchy lace.
Before you look at the prices, and freak out saying ‘what?! $610 for a
dress? How is that cheap?!’ Keep in-mind that these prices are listed
in Hong Kong dollars, and you’ll need a currency converter like this
one:
http://www.xe.com/
to convert the prices into your local currency. Say we
take that above dress listed as $610 HKD, and we exchange into USD it
becomes $71. Much less scary, and as you can see, amazingly affordable.
Another great thing about Anna House is that they stock a
nice range of sizes, and if a size is listed as ‘bespoke’ it means
that an item can be custom-made to your measurements if you require.
You can also buy from Anna House directly using their easy to follow English instructions.
In The Starlight
http://www.inthestarlight.com/
ITS is run by a U.S.-based Lolita named Leah who makes
all of the items herself. Being based in the U.S. is one great
advantage to ITS as it makes their items that more accessible to many
lolitas, and shipping much cheaper. Although ITS may not have a huge
range of clothing, Leah is more than happy to do custom items if you
send her your specifications for a minimal cost.
ITS offers two types of fabrics for those that may want
to save a little more money, and are happy with a slightly thinner
fabric. Many of ITS’s items also come in a range of colours, and sizes.
ITS also offers an alteration service if you wish to have an item re-sized.
Fan + Friend
http://www.fanplusfriend.com
Fan + Friend stocks a wide range of Lolita, and
aristocrat items in various fabric designs, colours, and sizes. Sadly
most of the items in the Fan + Friend are not their own designs, as
they steal many ideas from brand sites and other designers but are a
cheap alternative if you don’t mind something that isn’t brand-quality.
One thing to keep in-mind when buying a dress, or skirt
from Fan + Friend is that quite often they make their garments far too
long and that you may receive an item that is shin-length, and not
knee-length. If you are getting a custom-sized Fan + Friend garment be
sure to specify how long you wish the skirt to be. Another recurring Fan
+ Friend problem is their choice of fabrics; you may receive an item
that is very shiny or the wrong shade of the colour you wanted. These
problems can be avoided if you take a hard look at their fabrics and
ranges before buying.
The fact that Fan + Friend have many photos of their items
will also help you ultimately decide what you want to order.
La Dauphine
http://www.ladauphine.net/
Although very new, and only stocking skirts at this point
in time La Dauphine is an easily accessible website run by a U.S.
based Lolita.
We hope to see great things from them in the future.
Candy Violet
http://www.candyviolet.com/
Another U.S. based store Candy Violet stocks a small
number of dress sets, tops, accessories, and skirts in a variety of
designs and colours. Candy Violet is a great place to go if you’re
looking to buy a skirt / dress and a petticoat, because they offer to
sell the two together as a set, and the petticoat comes at half the
price you would normally buy it on its own. Candy Violet also offers
wholesale opportunities for businesses who are interested in stocking
their clothes.
Miwitch
http://miwitch.com
Miwitch is a shop based in Singapore with an auction
site, and an in-stock shop. You navigate the shop by either clicking on
the rabbit with ‘Usagi Works’ which takes you to their Yahoo!
Singapore Auctions page or the cat with ‘Neko Works’ which takes you to
their in-stock online store.
All prices are in Singapore dollars so you’ll need to convert to your local currency with a converter such as:
http://www.xe.com
All Neko Works items are hand-made, and their items are
reasonably priced for the quality of their garments. How-ever a lot of
the designs in their store are brand replicas, and although they do use
some photos from other brand stores they do credit their original
sources. So its best to be fully aware of what you’re buying before you
buy it.
Neko Works stocks a variety of garments in various sizes,
and they are willing to do custom sizes if you request them as well.
Sweet Rococo
http://www.sweetrococo.com/
Sweet Rococo is a new U.S. based store run by only two
people. Their web store is unlike any other in the way that you can
design your own clothes online, and keep them in your online 'closet'
until you're ready to order. This is a fantastic way for you to be in
control of the outfit, and decide exactly what you want. If you have a
small figure they offer a 15% 'petite' discount, due to not having to
use as much fabric. Sweet Rococo stocks blouses, dresses, bloomers and
other assorted accessories.
Commissioning:
Another alternative to buying Lolita on a budget is to
get something commissioned. Depending on the item you could commission a
replica, or an entirely new item of your design for much cheaper than a
new brand dress.
Talented tailors, and seamstress' are fairly easy to find in
the Lolita community, and making a ‘wtc’ (want to commission) post
somewhere is bound to bring them out of the wood-work to show you what
they can do. As with buying any other item be sure to ask to see photos
of a seamstress' work; this allows you to judge the quality of their
pieces and see if they would suit the work you require. Asking how long
it would take to complete the commission is also a good idea.
Sewing your own clothes:
If you’re handy with a sewing machine you may consider making your own clothes.
By making something yourself you’re only paying for the cost of the
materials to make a piece of clothing, without paying for someone
else’s time or shipping, etc. etc. This also allows you the freedom to
experiment with your own designs, and use your own fabrics. The Gothic
Lolita Bibles are full of craft ideas, and sewing patterns to help
lolitas who wish to make their own clothing. (I recommend the two
Gothic Lolita Bible ‘Extras.’ They’re packed-full of craft projects,
sewing patterns, and useful how-to photos.)
How-ever if you have some problems understanding Japanese
sewing patterns you could always make your own pattern out of any
existing Lolita clothes you may own (Or you may be clever enough to
draft your own patterns.) or use some Lolita-friendly patterns from
your local fabric store. Avant Guache has a large list of
Lolita-friendly patterns here:
http://www.avantgauche.co.uk/