Buying 2nd Hand Lolita wear

[Clueless Case]

I love buying 2nd hand stuff since A) most sites don't ship over seas B) it's cheaper. I usually buy from ppl I know and online communities/ebay. I've been looking over some Y!J listings. With all the fees of the bidding service, is it worth it? WHat company do you use?

I also remember there was a store that sold 2nd hand lolita stuff in Japan. Does anyone remember what it's called?

[penny_dreadful]

Sorry, don't know any online Lolita stores (I've been looking, too)... but I've been trying to find this site that sold Japanese street fashions for, like, two years. If anyone can think of any of those, I'd love it if you could point it out to me.

--PD

[anihilteru]

well, not second hand, but there is always cosmates.jp and as for just regular street fashion (regular western clothes w/ a twist) onatoko.com... i think.

[Miako]

But... it's soooo expensive. *sigh* Looking for people selling from online comms seems best to zero in on what you're looking for.

[Clueless Case]

I totally forgot about the seamstresses on ebay who do knockoffs.

[DeathOfSoul]

Every time I go to the thrift stores (once in a long, long while), I always find Lolita-type stuff! It's awesome! (and cheap XD). It just sucks that most of the stuff is too small for me :bigcry:

[honeysaliva]

There's Closet Child (http://www.closet-child.com/) (death shipping, but I believe it's EMS and well... it IS in japan) which is a 2nd hand lolita store. You can often find good deals. They don't take paypal right now, but soon they will.

For ebay, I suggest fan+friend. Pricey shipping of course, but they're good quality. I believe they do commissions or can at least alter the clothing a bit? There are a few others which you look at here (http://community.livejournal.com/loligoth_dbs/742.html) with reviews and all. That community can be helpful on where to buy some non-japanese brand name clothes too.

There's actually a poll on cosmates site because I guess they may find another brand to sell on their site. Right now it's bodyline and possibly a chinese one? I vote for MM and Putumayo since Btssb, Meta, Bodyline and MMM can be bought online already. XD

And thrift stores rule. :)

[AZNPRDE420666]

Try looking at your local thrifty shops. I found a perfect lolita dress that I didn't have to alter at all for ten bucks!

Also, most items from these stores can be altered at your discretion.

Cheap online shops:

Very cheap second hand and sometimes new items.

http://www.velvetgarden.net/index.html


http://www.chateaubizarre.com/chambers/reviews/chambers.php?iCat=130&iLmt=13,13

This site has many links to lolita shops.

[DeathOfSoul]

^Thanks for the links ^^

[wonderland-chan]

http://www.clothing-drop.com

it's a american biased lolita second hand online store, good prices and the clothing is good quality

[VivaLaNinja]

Yeah. Closet Child is where I got my dress, and it's a "Baby" dress. I love it to pieces! <33

I do want to get another though... so I'll check these sites out :]

[novaraven1]

random tip. any cute sundress plus lace and cute buttons equals loli wear. You can hem them shorter. Go buy them when they're on sale at the mall and lolify them yourself for a custom look. Get creative or copy the designs you see online. If you truly can't sew even a button invest in a hot glue gun. It sounds foreign and hard, but it makes life sooo much easier. These are sold at all craft/art/hardware stores.

When you truly can't find your dream for under 100$, put in the time and make it yourself. Having time to do it yourself substitutes for having money every time. Even a few minutes every day can add up to an awesome outfit!

[lolita*neko]

random tip. any cute sundress plus lace and cute buttons equals loli wear. You can hem them shorter. Go buy them when they're on sale at the mall and lolify them yourself for a custom look. Get creative or copy the designs you see online. If you truly can't sew even a button invest in a hot glue gun. It sounds foreign and hard, but it makes life sooo much easier. These are sold at all craft/art/hardware stores.

When you truly can't find your dream for under 100$, put in the time and make it yourself. Having time to do it yourself substitutes for having money every time. Even a few minutes every day can add up to an awesome outfit!

That's easily some horrible advice. Your very rarely going to find a dress that suitable for lolita at the mall. Most skirts/dresses are too short for the style these days let alone full enough to fit a petticoat under, believe me. And hot glue gun + clothing =/= quality nor does lace = lolita. Sewing is easier than most think it is, but if you don't want to or simply can't sew lolita clothing because you don't have a machine you either buy your clothes or get a seam dress in the community to do it for you. There are plenty of them out there that give you the bang for your buck, I know that for a fact.

[chupachan]

even though it's not 2nd hand, bodyline is very reasonably priced, they are having a sale on shipping right now, and they have more than just lolita to offer

[celticfreefall]

Many, many Japanese clothing brands ship overseas. There are a ridiculous amount the cater to the overseas market as compared to when I started wearing lolita. Here (http://www.lolitafashion.org/brand_list.php) is a large list of sellers, though easily listed as the most popular brands that also ship overseas are Metamorphose (http://www.metamorphose.gr.jp/english/), Angelic Pretty (http://www.angelicpretty.com/), Baby the Stars Shine Bright (http://www.babyssb.co.jp/), and Innocent World (http://www.innocent-w.jp/). Moi Meme Moitie (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/jpop/essentials/mmm/index.html)is also available through CD Japan, and tons of second hand brand can be available through either Closet Child (http://www.closet-child.com/index.html) and the LJ EGL Comm Sales (http://community.livejournal.com/egl_comm_sales/). There is a tutorial on how to order from Closet Child (http://community.livejournal.com/egl/6682930.html) in the EGL Memories. Personally, I'd recommend either buying from the community sales or going with something like Anna House (http://community.livejournal.com/egl/10623183.html) or Bodyline (http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/) (lower end and lower priced yet mostly good quality) for your first item. Avoid Cosmates, like the plague, all they're selling is marked up Bodyline when you can just order from Bodyline directly for much less money. Just for reference, here is another massive and comprehensive list (http://community.livejournal.com/egl/8678713.html) of Japanese webshops.

[lethalbanana]

If you're looking for prints and such I recommend using auctions. The fees add up but I've gotten some pretty amazing deals. If you're looking for basics and plainer starter pieces I'd stick to the comm_sales or commissions or Bodyling and Anna House like celticfreefall mentioned.

If you're interested in auctions these posts on LJ is incredibly helpful:
http://community.livejournal.com/egl/5243513.html
http://frozen-yjapan.livejournal.com/567.html#cutid1

[AsukaDomo]

Thanks for all the links guys! Personally thrifting is easy but its a grab bag and you have to do a lot of searching to find one good peice. then again maybe it's just the area I am in. I haven't visited one but I hear that Consignment shops as well ahve nicer items even though they are a bit more pricey than a regular thrift store depending. *shrugs*

I want to sew my own lolita outfit, does anyone know any good pattern websites or tutorials I can look at and then just wing it/alter it to fit what I want in my dress?