Lolita on a Budget

The Wonderful World of MBOK

/ lolitaland / 3 Comments

You can find some great deals on Mbok! Mbok is a Japanese online auction site that has a wide variety of items. There are lots of great J-Fashion (including lolita!) items there: you can find dresses, shirts, skirts, pants, jewelry, hair accessories, bags, novelties, and more. If you are not a resident of Japan, you need to use a shopping service to bid on Mbok items. The shopping service I used is Japonica, but there are other shopping services out there.

Searching for specific items on Mbok can be time-consuming, since you have to scroll through different pages, but it is pretty easy to find good deals on brand (and offbrand) items.

I would recommend using the Google Translate extension if you have the Google Chrome web browser. If you do not have Chrome, copying and pasting the Mbok URL into Google Translate works too. Google Translate is not perfect, but it works well enough to help with Mbok navigation.

Check out Mbok’s Alternative/Punk section for lots of lolita items! This is where you will find Angelic Pretty, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, h.NAOTO, Emily Temple Cute, Jane Marple, and more. This section houses lolita, gothic, punk, and other alternative styles.

You can also search for items from a specific brand on Mbok by looking at the brand category. Here are some great links to lolita brand items on Mbok:

Innocent World

Baby the Stars Shine Bright

Angelic Pretty

Metamorphose

Putumayo

Here are links to some great brands that may carry loliable items on Mbok:

Axes Femme – This brand has great cutsews and cute blouses! There are some nice skirts, JSKs, and OPs too (but not all items will accommodate a petticoat). An Axes Femme item was one of my first Mbok purchases!

Liz Lisa – This is a popular Gyaru brand that has some loliable blouses, cardigans, and cutsews.

Tralala – I’m not too familiar with Tralala, but it is one of Liz Lisa’s sister brands. You may be able to find loliable stuff here too!

Jesus Diamante – I’m not too familiar with this brand either, but it’s a popular Hime Gyaru brand and I’ve seen lots of cute loliable coats from them! They also have really cute parkas/sweatshirts.

If you are interested in Gyaru fashion, check out the whole Mbok 109/GAL section. I have not extensively explored this section yet, but there are tons of brands and lots of cute and cool clothes!

If you want to use Mbok’s search feature, here are a few terms you can try:

ロリータ or ロリィタ-  Lolita

姫  –  Princess (Hime)

ワンピース – One Piece (OP)

福袋 – Lucky Pack (Fukubukuro)

Find many more helpful search terms from this EGL post by Kyomu.

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If you have any questions, feel free to let me know! I am not an expert, but I can try my best to answer your questions. I hope someone finds this post helpful!

Have fun browsing and shopping~!

Taobao Experience

/ lolitaland / 5 Comments

I just received my Taobao package!

I’ll be posting reviews of the items soon. Maybe I’ll even post a video of me opening the package? >w<

In any case, I used Taobaospree as the shopping service to order from Taobao. I did a lot of research on various shopping services and Taobao stores before placing my order. The agent who worked with me spoke fluent English and was very helpful. She answered my questions clearly and promptly. At first, communication seemed slow, but it was because of the time difference. I started checking my email around 11 pm to 1 am, and usually I would receive responses around that time. (Night time here is day time over in China, I presume.) Taobaospree was a great shopping service, and I will definitely use it again if I ever make another Taobao purchase. If anyone is curious, the shipping I used was EMS. I had no problems with it – no issues, it didn’t take too long, no customs fees. I know some people use DHL, but I’ve never used DHL before. This was my  first overseas purchase, so I’m in no way, shape, or form an experienced shopper, however, I thought maybe someone will find this useful.

My Taobao shopping experience was pleasant. Although also difficult because there are so many wonderful items on Taobao that I wanted to purchase.

My Taobao shopping process:

  1. I browsed through Lolita Taobao shops. Here’s a list that I found really useful: http://egl.livejournal.com/15204857.html
    (Also, feel free to check out these Lolita items from Taobao; I posted items that I found cool/cute/nice but not all of them are still in stock: http://xiaorawr.tumblr.com/tagged/taobao%20wishlist)
  2. I emailed myself a list of products I liked. I narrowed it down to things I thought were great deals (cheap, but seem to be good quality). I added a staple (a Classical Puppets petticoat). Then I decided to browse cosplay-related items to see if I could find some deals (since I’m a cosplayer too) and decided to purchase two sets of false eyelashes (they’re so much cheaper on Taobao than in the US!) and a few wigs (also so much cheaper than wigs from the US!).
  3. I researched the companies that these products came from. I read reviews, both specific product reviews and general company reviews.
  4. I narrowed down the list further.
  5. I emailed my order form (an Excel spreadsheet) to Taobaospree.
  6. I received a response. (Sadly, some items were out of stock by this point. But the agent gave me recommendations and I looked into them.)
  7. I confirmed the order. Taobaospree accepts payment through Paypal, which makes things a lot easier. 🙂
  8. And today, I received the package! 😀

To be honest, I’d love to order from Taobao again… but I don’t think I will any time soon because I currently can’t afford it. Maybe in 2 years? (I love how cheap items are on Taobao, but the international shipping fees are REALLY expensive… I still think my order was worth it though. But I won’t be making another overseas order anytime soon)

I hope someone will find this helpful! Feel free to ask me any questions.

Slowly building my Lolita wardrobe… and saving money for Lolita.

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My strategy right now is:

  • constantly staying on the lookout for cheap loliable items (mainly at thrift stores)
  • stalking the EGL Comm Sales and the Lolita sales on Facebook in case I see a wishlist item or great deals
  • checking for brand sales in case something is worth getting
  • thinking about what kind of wardrobe I want and trying to find cheap basics that I can build on
  • saving money and reminding myself to THINK OF THE LOLITA

Speaking of saving money…

I’ve been avoiding smoothies and milkshakes. Unless there are free ones. I used to buy Coolattas from Dunkin Donuts or Frappucinos from Starbucks (or milkshakes; I love sweet drinks) maybe once every two to three weeks, but I stopped because I realized that these drinks add up. $2-$5 per drink, right? If you avoid buying these drinks for a few months, you’ll be saving some money. If you buy them, that’s less money you could be using for more important things (bills, textbooks) and also less money to save for Lolita fashion.

Whenever I feel the urge to buy something, I resist because I think of what I could do if I save the money… For example, I have not purchased any manga or non-academic books in over a year; every time I want to buy a book, I tell myself that I can borrow it from the library if I want to read it. The only books I’ve purchased are the textbooks for classes, and even so, I purchase used books so I can save more money. I used to love buying books because I like the feeling of owning books. It’s hard to explain, but I like having books on my bookshelf. But books are expensive! $5 – $20 per book for most paperbacks. And manga are usually at least $10 each. I love books, but I also love the library. So I think borrowing books to read is great because I can save money and also save space. (And since I’m in a college dorm, I have to share my space with my room mate, so it works out better this way.) I’m even trying to sell my manga and some of my books to make more space. I’m not having much luck with sales though. XD; I only sold 3 manga so far.

Here’s a list of things I wanted to buy but resisted the urge because I wanted to save up for lolita:

  • a new laptop (I’m currently using an old laptop; it’s actually the first laptop that my family purchased, and my mom and I originally shared it but now it’s mine for school. I wanted to get a new one because this one is so slow… but instead, I decided to be patient with this one since it’s not dead yet. It’s slow, but it works …most of the time.)
  • milkshakes (I just love milkshakes, but I have resisted the urge to purchase them.)
  • a shelf/case to organize things in my dorm room (I decided to be creative and use plastic bags and old boxes instead… and of course, I think I’ve become a bit messier since finals since I have many things strewn across the floor. I better clean up before my room mate returns!)
  • a poster of The Hunger Games (I reallyyy love The Hunger Games and I saw a poster that was on sale for $3 I think. And I wanted to buy it but I thought about it and decided that I didn’t need to fill up my wall even though it looks so empty compared to my room mate’s wall. And even though it was “just $3,” every dollar counts when you think about it. And if I can help it, I’ll save up. It’s a sort of determination. There’s a Lolita that I met last semester, and she told me about how she saved up for such a long time when she fell in love with Lolita fashion. I miss her because I felt like I just met her then she graduated, but what she said about saving up really stayed with me. She told me about how some people assume only rich people can afford Lolita, and sure, rich people can afford it, but there are also a lot of average and below average people who make it work. I’m determined to be a Lolita even though I am on an extreme budget. Whoops, this was sort of a long tangent…)
  • DVDs (I wanted to buy Ip Man and Ip Man 2 on DVD because they’re such amazing martial arts movies… but I resisted. DVDs are really expensive when you think about it. And Lolita is even more expensive. I can survive without DVDs. Speaking of DVDs, I can survive without CDs too. If I want to listen to new music, I can use YouTube or Pandora radio.)
  • a bonsai tree (I’ve always wanted a bonsai tree, but they’re really expensive, and I thought about buying one… but then I decided that I am happy with the ivy plant that I got at the beginning of the school year for free. Bonsai trees are also pretty high-maintenance plants. So, I decided to not buy a bonsai.)
  • pajamas (I saw these cute pajamas and wanted them… but decided not to buy them. I usually don’t wear PJs anyways; I just wear a t-shirt and sweatpants and sometimes a sweatshirt on top to bed. And I still fit in the warm pajamas I got a few years ago when they were on sale.)

There are probably other things I resisted buying as well. I’ve been trying my best to be aware of how I’m spending my money so I don’t overspend or spend on things that I don’t need.