the past few years I got a few questions asking how I could afford my hobbies (and especially that Japan trip back in 2014/2015). But let me tell you, I am actually a really super cheapskate. When I go shopping for food I always buy the cheapest or the things that are on sale. The same for my business work clothes. I never buy full price but wait for offers. My favourite brand for business clothing is Orsay and if you are a member you sometimes receive a minus 20% voucher. A few years ago sale was only after Christmas and during summer but it shifted and now we also have pre-sales a few times a year. I try to not buy dresses and shoes over 20€, tops and bottoms over 10€ and accessories over 5€.
The same system is not always working with my Japanese fashion hobby, but if you know where to search you can really get great offers. And here I talk especially about second-hand communities on livejournal and facebook. For lolita I try to spend no more than 150€ for an OP, 100€ for a jsk, 30€ for a blouse and shoes, and not over 10€ for the rest likes socks and accessories.
Gyaru is a bit different here. Jsk, op, and shoes should not be more than 30€, blouses and bags no more than 20€. I try and not buy shoes second hand from Liz lisa because the quality is not that great.
This reminds me of this production triangle:
The first item I got was a dress from my dream dress list.
It's the long version of the flora jsk by Innocent World. I bought it over the second-hand lolita community on facebook. The jsk was 85€ and I had two shipping options. I took the expensive tracked option for 17,99€. So all in all I paid 102,99€ for the dress.
The next item I bought over a friend. It was more pricey than my limit but I don't mind spending more money at friends' sales because I know that most of them need the money. I know it sounds arrogant but I hate the friendship sales. If you are a true friend you should pay the full price and support them.
The cardigan is from Angelic Pretty and was 40€. No shipping costs here. That's also a very useful tip. Buy local. Meet up with the buyers (if you can) and you won't have to pay for the shipping.
The third and fourth items were bought over a second-shop in Japan. Normally I try to avoid those shops because not only is the shipping expensive, there also may be a possibility that I have to pay taxes for it.
The shop is called Pretty Japan and it was not the first time I ordered something from them.
Facebook - Online shop
The items are super cheap and they sometimes have sales and/or free shipping.
I ordered two dresses when I got the mail that there was another free shipping option.
The other dress is from the brand L'est rose. It's an (onee)gyaru brand.
The dress was 1.500Yen.
So all in all I paid 2.000Yen for two dresses and no shipping. This was about 19,19€ and thus still under the free import. Hooray! So no taxes either.
The fifth item is an old Liz Lisa dress. The girl had posted it on the Liz lisa second hand sales community on facebook and two girls before me didn't message her any more so I got the dress.
It was 30€ and shipping was another 9,99€. No taxes added because the dress was sent from another European country.
But I love the ballerina shoes and bow stitching at the hem.
The sixth and final dress is not from a Japanese brand but from a British one. I'm a sucker for white (or in this case cream) coloured dresses with lace and pearls.
And the dress was so cheap, how could I not buy it?
The dress was 8 pounds and the shipping another 8 pounds. So 16 pounds at that time were only 20,54€.
So this was my shopping spree from January/February.
Which item do you like best?
Aurîs
No comments:
Post a Comment