Lolitable Offbrand find: Flower pins, rosettes, and tights!

[joyeuxcherie]

Cross posted from my blog WanderingDuchess.blogspot.com

Who doesn't love inexpensive and wearable off brand accessories? Especially if you're changing your style or looking to add extra flare to your coordinates. These little finds will make your day, especially if you're like me and use off brand items to supplement your wardrobe so you can buy and save for Brand items.

Arguments can be made on both sides that an Alice and the Pirates flower corsage can be be made by finding materials at your local craft store or why would anyone spend $50 on a headpiece, where they could make it themselves. It's all relative, if you want to buy that Angelic Pretty headdress or choose to design your own, it's your money, your wardrobe, and your choice.




The following items were all purchased at my local Shopping Mall. The stores I went to were Claire's, H&M, and Belk (department store). They were mostly all on sale or were part of a special at the store. My goal was to get floral pins that match my dresses that had a variety of usages.

I got damn lucky and I high fived myself Liz Lemon style for this haul.
The total for everything was $67 and change.




Here are photos of the haul. Most of these are all alligator clip pins, a few of the flowers have pin backs to also wear them as a brooch!




All from H&M and Claire's.




Construction was decent, I did spend time going through all of them on the rack to find the ones with the best petals. Fabric is very much a cotton blend. - I thought about finding more white ones and dying them other colors.




Detail of the larger flower, this one was of my favorites.




Look at that color!




Velveteen headbow, it's made pretty well too. From Claire's.




Hue Tights from Macy's that were all 80% off. 4 all match the pattern of the ivory tights, the green is a raised stripe.

Basically my reaction when returning home with all these goodies:



I did good, girl.
It's important when shopping for inexpensive offbrand items that it'll be hit or miss but don't be discouraged, keep hunting and researching shops and stores.  The shopping mall is a great place to find these items, especially if you need them in a certain time frame for a meetup or convention. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty and make your own accessories too.
Saving money in Lolita is definitely my priority and gives me more room to have my 'treat yo self' purchases - because who isn't waiting for "the dress" to pop up on Yahoo Japan Auctions or Lace Market that they want to snag, but with your offbrand purchases you have a little extra surplus to get it.



What are some of your favorite offbrand finds and brands?
Which accessories do you perfer to purchase offbrand over Brand?