Everyday Elegance

Many new Lolitas look for ways to add a bit of ruffly elegance to their everyday life, it is an easy way to feel connected to the Lolita fashion when you have neither the funds nor the nerve to start up a Lolita wardrobe and start wearing it daily. A few extra fancy pieces added to your everyday wardrobe is a good way to slowly work your way into Lolita. Not only will you be adding your first Lolita pieces to your wardrobe, you'll also start to feel more at home in frills and finery so when you finally do take the plunge into full-blown Lolita you won't feel like you are wearing a costume. These are all pieces that can very slowly be added to a normal wardrobe of jeans and tees!

• Accessories- An easy elegant addition to a jeans and tee wardrobe is a few pieces of cute jewelry. Faux pearls, chains with sweet pendants, even chunky plastic jewelry can usually be easily worked into any future Lolita outfits you might have.
• Tees- Keep an eye out for fitted tees with cute prints in your ideal Lolita colors. If you normally wear over-sized and faded band tees, switching to fitted tees is a big step towards the Lolita aesthetic. Cute fitted tees can also be easily integrated into a Lolita wardrobe. If you are having trouble finding Lolita themed tees, check out Candy Violet.
• Blouses- An obvious choice would be a few ruffly blouses. These can be found just about anywhere. While you're probably not going to find a perfect peter pan collard, princess sleeved cotton blouse at Walmart, you can easily find a few cute blouses with lots of ruffles and Lolita-esque details. These blouses will also be very useful in whatever future Lolita wardrobe you might have.
• Pants- If you typically wear jeans, at least make sure they are nice jeans. Better yet, skip the jeans altogether and go for a few nice pairs of formal pants. If you end up going for Aristocrat, Boy Style, or a Moitie filled wardrobe, a nice pair of black pants is a great addition!
• Skirts- I'm not talking about Lolita skirts, but nice formal skirts are an essential part of an elegant wardrobe. If you are not used to wearing skirts before getting into Lolita, a cheaper (than brand!) skirt is a good way to get used to them. These can really be any kind of skirts, don't think they have to be lolitable at all. This will most likely be the only part of your wardrobe that isn't going to be able to fit in with your Lolita wardrobe. While you can, of course, wear a brand Lolita blouse with a pencil skirt, you certainly wouldn't call it Lolita.
• Shoes- Cute shoes that suit Lolita can be found just about everywhere! You can easily find cheap pastel flats or pointy gothic heels.

Above are 2 simple everyday coordinates made with either lolitable, or brand Lolita items. On the left is an outfit that could be made from a Gothic or Classic Lolita's closet. A patterned Metamorphose blouse is paired up with a pair of slim black jeans. An outfit like this is a great way to wear any brand you might have acquired that has been sitting around in your closet, waiting for you to work up the nerve to wear! On the right is an all offbrand outfit that is more suited for a Sweet Lolita. The blouse, shoes, and all of the accessories can easily be mixed into a future Sweet Lolita wardrobe. But until such a wardrobe is acquired, it's still a very cute and elegant outfit that can be worn most anywhere.