A Complete Classic Lolita Wardrobe for [just over] $500

So a little ways ago I made this post, outlining one way you could buy a complete sweet lolita wardrobe for under $500, with the definition of complete being that you could wear a pretty unique outfit every day for a week. I love hypothetical wardrobes, so I undertook to do the same thing, using the same guidelines, to make a classic lolita wardrobe, and here we have it!

 The wardrobe consists of the following items:

1 OP, 1 JSK and 1 Skirt:

I’m lumping all these together because, though it doesn’t matter which is which, I think you need to have one of these in a plain colour, and the other two should feature a patterned or printed fabric, preferably with one being more elaborate than the other. Here I’ve used all F+F pieces; a solid red OP [$75], a floral striped JSK [$80] and a rather fancy skirt [$40].

1 Neutral Blouse with Detachable Sleeves:

There are two keywords to remember here – neutral and detachable. To get the most bang for your buck this is the best way to go for a blouse. I found the perfect off-white blouse with detachable sleeves on Bodyline [$47] and it even has a detachable jabot for even more options!

1 Contrasting Blouse or Cutsew:

This piece is to add versatility to the wardrobe, but I had real trouble finding something that would fit within the budget! So instead of going for a different solid colour, I went for a cute blouse with brown detailing [$40] from Infanta.

2 Outerwear:

Though these are terribly unspecific terms, I think having something “structured” and something “pretty” are two good choices for outerwear such as, for example, a full coat and a light bolero, or a military style jacket and a ruffled cardigan. Both my outerwear choices are from Bodyline; a more structured yet cute red sailor jacket [$27] and a more elegant white bolero [$20].

2 Headpieces:

Something unquestionably lolita, either a headbow or a rectangle headdress if you like the old school look, and something else that suits your personal style – a floral crown, a full sized hat, a miniature hat, a beret, whatever. The cream Bodyline bow [$7] is the typical headbow, and the gorgeous bonnet [$22] from F+F is actually of the same fabric as the JSK.

2 Pairs of Shoes:

You could get away with just one pair of incredibly style neutral shoes but having two different pairs makes a wardrobe that much more complete. I’m a huge shoe person so I know I’m biased here but I really don’t think you can be totally stylish with only one pair of shoes. Both from Bodyline the red kitten heels [$40] are the more elegant option while the brown shoes [$33] are cuter and more casual.

5 Items of Legwear:

Only five? Like shoes, socks and tights are one of those things I never think you can have too many of. But for the purposes of keeping versatility while limiting amounts I think you need two pairs of tights, one that’s a solid colour and one that’s either patterned or printed. Then there are three pairs of socks – plain neutral OTKs, a more interesting pair of knees highs and a pair of ankle socks. With these selections you’ll have something for your legs from the height of summer to the depths of winter. For the tights I chose are red pair from F+F [$6] and crochet tights from eBay [$9]. In classic lolita I consider brown to be a neutral colour, hence the F+F brown knee socks [$3]. The more interesting knee highs [$7] are from Secret Shop and the ankle socks [$1] are from Bodyline.

1 Petticoat:

I haven’t put a picture of a petticoat in the collage because really, there’s no need to. There are also lots of differently shaped and priced petticoats, so I’m factoring it into this equation the petticoat as costing $50.

Total Cost: $507

So we ended up slightly over budget...ooops. It would be easy to trim it back if we ditched the bonnet in favour of something like a red floral headdress, but the bonnet is just too perfect to pass up! I own it and love it ^_^

Again, I’ve deliberately left out accessories, jewellery and purses because most women already have these things, and I hate the thought of dictating what amount of accessories and what style of purse someone should have. Some things in fashion are personal ^__^

But enough rambling, here are a week’s worth of sample outfits.

Lots of red with gold and cream accents.

Country lolita! How cute would this be with a basket full of flowers for a photoshoot?

A fairly simple, lightweight outfit perfect for spring outings.

A warm and cozy coord.

Cute but with a fair amount of detail, this coord could be ver uversatile.

I would wear this. I would wear this so hard.

To my mind, the most elegant outfit of the lot, making use of a lot of different textures.

A few endnotes on pricing:

I deliberately avoided “buying” from Taobao via a shopping service for this list as different services charge different fees and I didn’t know which one to quote, so my Infanta and Secret Shop “purchases” came from Clobba. Also, all these listed prices are exclusive of shipping. Lastly, Bodyline tends to change prices seemingly on a whim, so today’s cheap dress may be tomorrow’s abuse on the wallet.