Recent loliable finds

Recently I've felt the need for some retail therapy, but have still been trying to keep my actual expenditure low. So I turned to eBay (and later Kmart) to get my fix while not spending too much and since I'm pretty impressed by what I managed to find I thought I'd do a quick offbrand lolita haul post.

First up, my miscellaneous stuff from eBay: two collars, some pearl hair decorations and the same bag in three colours. I already had the faux fur collar in brown and thought that white would be a nice wardrobe addition. I may end up changing the ribbon to a white one but for now I like the contrast the black one has. The mori style lace collar is very pretty and it was only around two dollars so I couldn't resist getting it even though I'm not sure how much I'll use it. The hair decorations are the ones you stick into updos, which are going to be great for photoshoots and lolita alike.

And the bags. My goodness, the bags. The bags are so cute! I haven't used any of them yet but they seem quite sturdy for a cheap eBay bag and are just the right size for carrying around your phone, wallet and a couple of incidentals.

Also from eBay (and excuse the awful photo, my phone just couldn't cope with today's sunlight) were these two tops. Neither are brilliant, but they're not too bad either, and I'm hoping to work them into some more casual lolita looks. The only issue is the the green lace top is no finished on the hems, the lace has just been trimmed. But I'm thinking of getting some velvet ribbon or something and binding the edges, though I'm not sure how well that will go since the lace fabric is stretchy. We'll see, and if any of my readers have any tips for how to finish those edges advice would be very much appreciated!

Lastly, my finds from Kmart, and yet another photo where my phone just gave up. The pink t-shirt was exactly what I was looking for for casual lolita coords; the lace pattern makes it interesting but the overall cut is very simple. They have it in other colours and depending on how much use I think I'll get out of it I may go back and get more. The two-way flower clips I already have in two colours and decided to get in every other available colour. They're not the best quality, but they're cheap and give me more options. They'll be very good for bulking up hairstyles when mixed with my better quality clips from taobao.

So there you have my most recent lolita wardrobe additions! Do you have much offbrand in your lolita wardrobe?

Loliable Shops #2: Ally

A couple of weeks ago I took myself shopping to an actual  physical shopping centre. It was a decidedly surreal experience. I went with the intention of finding some loliable tops, but given that our Australian Autumnal trend seems to be for disgusting knitwear coupled with randomly placed spikes and lace inserts, I didn't have too much luck. However, even though a lot of things weren't to my taste, there were several pieces in Ally that could be worked into a lolita wardrobe.

Dramatic floral? Dramatic floral ^_^

  Patterned tights are all the rage, in and out of lolita. And monochrom eis always fun.

I love this fabric!

Of course, those dresses are a tad on the short side for lolita but shorter girls would have no problems, nor would those of us who can do a bit of modification. I can just see the dramatic floral dress with a few inches of nice lace at the hem and a ruffle of lace at the neckline ^__^

Loliable Shops #1: Tree of Life

Today [technically yesterday, but I haven't slept yet, therefore it's still today] James and I had a fabulous date day of sushi, waffles, spur of the moment massages and some impulse buying. After all the nommables and a new pair of black wedges [because you can never have enough black heels] we popped into the Tree of Life store and walked away with a fabulous medieval fantasy dress in white for the model wardrobe, and while we were there I was surprised by how many things looked like they could work in a lolita wardrobe. Normally I look in Tree of Life to satisfy my not-entirely-buried inner hippy so it was great to look at certain items with new eyes.

There were things we saw in store that I couldn't track down on their website, but here are some of the things I could:

These two dresses are very obviously rockabilly, but on a shorter girl or with a lengthening underskirt I think they could make for some cute casual lolita outfits! There always seems to be a fair bit of cross-over-ability with rockabilly/lolita to me. In store there was also a super cute and very full skirt out of the blue fabric which would be more easily loliable.

How cute are these? I was very tempted by the dress but it's a little too....pink....for my tastes. Again, a bit on the short side, but workable nevertheless.

There were a whole bunch of cute skirts that looked full enough to create that cupcake silhouette that for whatever reason are not listed on the Tree of Life website or facebook. Ah well. Just means I'll have to head over to the shop again in person soon. Such a trial....