Week 18: Tips for adding Offbrand to a Lolita Wardrobe

This shall be my first post as part of the Lolita Blog Carnival & I'm so happy with the topic...BECAUSE...Before, I could barely afford brand items, so I was constantly mixing offbrand into my coordinates...& I still do ^_^

First of all, Blouses are a must have for Lolitas...to either wear with a skirt or wear under a jsk ;)
Things I look for:
1) Peter Pan Collar: This gives that nice vintage~y doll look & is perfect with sweet or classic.  
2) Ruffles or some kind of lace embellishment or embroidery: This adds the frillyness to an outfit & can be good for any style, like sweet, classic to even kodona.
3) Cute decoration: This would be ribbons, bows, a cute print, design...& it's even better if the sleeves are slightly pouffy for that girly feel.
4) Blouses with a high collar: perfect for a more Gothic look ^^

Here are a few examples of what i've found:

 Peter Pan collar top from Lands End found at Goodwill (not including brown top...i keep it that way in my closet ;P )

and a cute white ruffly top from Sears: Brand: South Pole

 And here are 2 chiffon tops from Forever21 since Chiffon is one of the latest trends in Lolita ;)

I just LOVE these b/c I can still wear long sleeves &not melt in it ;P

 Along with the peterpan collar top, I found this beautiful blue one during one of my trips to Goodwill & a friend even thought it was a Brand blouse ;)

Next, I like to occasionally wear pretty socks or stockings with my outfits and I've managed to find some pretty nice ones at places like Payless, Icing, Forever21, Charlotte Russe & even Hot Topic ^^

 Things I look for: I personally like the Lace-up look...as well as cute prints: bows, hearts, lace

And lately,patterned tights are becoming very popular to wear with Lolita clothing ;D

My 3rd offbrand find has been footwear & i've managed to get away with mainly wearing mary janes or cute pumps with my outfits...I'd like to get a nice Brand pair of shoes one day XD

Things I look for: rounded toe, mary jane style with the strap going across or even tstrap shoes look nice.  Also, boots are always good, either knee high, ankle length, zip-up or lace-up ^^

 From left to right: My AMAZING find @ Goodwill: ivory victorian style boots...I was so happy when they fit ^_^

One of the best items payless had: VW look alike flats ;)

And a nice classic pair of mary janes(from Sears i think)...I actually have a few of these & various pumps and also, Oxfords can make for a nice kodona/school girl look ;D

Finally, last, but not least: ACCESSORIES!!

A lot of the time, i'm too lazy to actually style my hair & or wear a wig, so I usually wear some kind of hair accessory.

Things I look for: bows, lace, pearls or other fancy embellishments in the styles of Headbands, hair clips, any berets & mini hats.

I was super into the mini hat trend, so I bought a bunch of them...all from Icing ;D

Also, even though a beret is plain, it's easy to embellish it ^^

The ivory beret has a red bow I took off from another headband...& I clipped on the Chocomint stars clip to my black somewhat punky beret.

I also LOVE wearing rings with my outfits ^_^

Things I look for: bows, cameos, and anything else that might match a print I own (example: my cross ring matches Hymn print Perfectly ^^

And this thinking is used for other jewelry items as well: necklace, earrings, bracelets.

Also, Icing has a nice selection of gloves & even wrist cuffs ;)

And now, here are some examples of my outfits where I used some of these offbrand items ;D

 For a lot of these, the brand i'm accenting is Bodyline, since that's all I could afford for a while...
Now, I have more main Lolita Brand items, but I still like to incorporate offbrand into it ;)

 Brand: IW camisole; Kidsoyo beret /Offbrand: blouse, socks, shoes, skirt(handmade)

 Brand: Bodyline jsk, hairbow, bag/ Offbrand: turtleneck top, cardigan, socks, shoes

 Brand:Bodyline skirt, socks/ Offbrand: beret, blouse; Wholesale or ebay: bag & shoes

Brand: Bodyline skirt, socks/ Offbrand: blouses, shoes, gloves(vintage)/ Everything else is either handmade or thrifted & embellished ^^

Brand: AATP JSK; Bodyline sleeves(detached from blouse)/ Offbrand:necklace, rings, tights, boots, bag(from ebay)

Brand: MMM JSK; Bodyline socks; Montreal shoes/Offbrand: blouse, gloves & bag

 Brand: IW JSK, bag, (ears made from iw fabric); Bodyline socks(i think) /Offbrand: blouse, teddy bear bag, shoes

And now, here are some other LBC members with their tips:

jessiedressesup

RambleRori

ImaPrincess

eglcommunity

artdunoir

derpie.me

lace-a-la-mode

geishababy

tangled-lace

thebloodyteaparty 

minimalistlolita