[coord] cheapest or handmade coord challenge

I finally got some free time to wear this otome dress I made a while back when I was first getting back into lolita after a hiatus, and I decided to go all out budget lolita and wear the cheapest things I owned. It was pretty fun! I even wore the cheapest makeup I had, too, lol.

I made this dress from toile cotton fabric I bought from a friend, decorated a hat with ribbon and fake flowers, wore a blouse I commissioned, got out off-brand everything else! Here is the breakdown!

Hat: Daiso, $3

Flowers: Michaels, $5

Ribbon: Michaels, $2

Hair flowers: Forever 21, $2

Wig: Daiso, $6

Necklaces: Forever 21, $12

Bracelets and Rings: Daiso, $6

Blouse: commissioned, $20

Purse: TJ Maxx, $7

Socks: Yesstyle, $2

Shoes: Bodyline, $25

Dress: handmade (fabric cost $15, about 3 hours at the most to make, so $75?)

$165 for a complete head to toe outfit! That's how much I pay for a secondhand brand dress lmao

Here is the coord with the hairbow I made, wishing I had more light blue accessories. The wig is very fluffy, more like doll hair than real hair, but works just fine for lolita. And short sheer socks are starting to grow on me, I always thought they make your legs look stubby, but perhaps with a shorter skirt like here. Now, your turn to make a complete coord with the cheapest possible items!

[resources] Style and Fashion and Sewing Blogs

For my own reference, here is a list of style blogs I currently follow that have updated within the past 6 months, since a lot have been abandoned probably permanently and I keep forgetting which ones. 

Blogging is hard work and I have nothing but admiration for every blogger out there working on a single topic blog, keeping them updated at a reasonable timetable, especially females who are criticized for having "opinions" or who are also raising a family but continue to pursue their hobbies somehow. Even if it seems like easy work to write about something you love and that you are sometimes fortunate enough to make a little money writing about, it is equally easy to fall off schedule due to real life or run out of things to talk about or get overwhelmed by critical comments or other things. I hope these fashion bloggers continue their posting, because I personally appreciate long and thoughtfully written posts with information and opinions and links just as much as I appreciate a series of beautiful photos, if not more. I mean, Instagram and Twitter have their uses, but I follow just enough people (on Twitter anyway) to not know where I stopped reading my feed if I miss even one day. Who knows how many insights and updates I never saw. A blog is something easier to catch up on... especially if updates are like twice a month lol.

Lolita: Sewing

http://dixmacabre.blogspot.com/

http://lefashionablecupcake.blogspot.com/

http://lotvdesigns.tumblr.com/

http://lifessweetessentials.com/

http://mylolitahandmade.tumblr.com/

Lolita: Style

http://buttcape.blogspot.com/

http://marietuonetar.blogspot.com/

http://sanakanin.tumblr.com/

http://shadow-walk.tumblr.com/

http://fannyrosie.tumblr.com/

Hime/Gyaru and Western Style and Cosplay

http://emiiichan.blogspot.com/

http://www.extrapetite.com/

http://cationdesigns.blogspot.com/

[coord] Bribery Bakery and High Tea with Emma

We drove to Austin the other weekend to visit my friends, eat at a fancy small bakery as well as watch Emma at the Alamo drafthouse during their high tea event! It was a very hot day, as all summer days are in Texas lmao, so I ended up wearing a short sleeve peter pan collar blouse and over the knee socks instead of a long-sleeve or high neck blouse and tights like I planned. But I still wore a long wig and dark colors, so welp, I sweated anyway. Here I am rewearing Angelic Pretty's Cameo Window!

Angelic Pretty: JSK and bonnet and socks, Innocent World and Metamorphose bows, offbrand blouse, Taobao shoes and purse, Forever 21 and H&M jewelry.

My favorite part about this look is rewearing the bonnet and JSK but with a darker color scheme (chocolate brown instead of cream) thus creating a very different look. The socks were a pretty good match (from the Regimental series) that I was going to save for another coord. Anyway, I thought this was one of my better coords, I wish I hadn't sweated the heck out of the blouse and socks and dropped lemon curd on my skirt, doh.