Bodyline, The Lolita's Walmart Part: 2, How To Wear Bodyline Without Looking Like You're Wearing Bodyline

Part 2 of my Bodyline, The Lolita's Walmart series is one for intermediate Lolitas. Part 1 was for the Lolita beginner, someone looking to buy their first piece, but not sure enough in Lolita to do it without some help. Part 2 is for the intermediate Lolita, someone who knows enough about Lolita to be able to pick through Bodyline for the good stuff, but, for whatever reasons, can't take the plunge into brand or even high quality commissioned pieces. If this is you, you want to get the most bang for you're buck and Bodyline is going to do that for you. The problem is, you don't want it to look like most of your outfits comes from Bodyline.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with wearing Bodyline, you obviously should not be forced to feel ashamed for not being able to buy $300 dresses willy nilly. But maybe you don't want to be just another girl in Bodyline. There's no shame in wanting your wardrobe to look a bit more glamorous than it really is either!

Bodyline wardrobe Dos and Don'ts

• Don't buy the same pieces everyone else is wearing. If everyone is wearing a handful of particular Bodyline pieces, everyone else is aware that they are Bodyline. Look for the pieces that are a good design and quality that everyone else isn't wearing. You want people to go "Oh! That's Bodyline?!" when you tell them!
  
• Don't buy Bodyline's custom prints. Bodyline's custom prints are very obviously from Bodyline, just because of the fact that they are a distinctive print, it has nothing to do with the prints being "less cute" than brand prints. Stay away from Love Nadia, that one with the lolly pops, Lovely Poodle, and their music note stuff, just because everyone knows that those prints are from Bodyline.
  
• Don't buy replica prints. For the reasons in the above 2 don'ts. Everyone else probably already has them, and if they don't everyone knows that no one really has the original AP Fruits Parlor.
  
• Do go for their classical floral prints. Finding a cute solid color dress or skirt on Bodyline is pretty hard, so instead look for very pretty classical florals. Floral fabrics have been seen in nearly every Lolita brand.
  
• Do keep it simple. Look for very basic looking pieces, and try to avoid anything over the top or with some kind of unusual detailing such as asymmetry or distressed fabric.
  
• Do some modifications if you have to. Removing a few bows, changing the lace, or even adding some details are all things you can do to make a piece unique.
• Do buy pieces you can mix and match in interesting ways. If you wear Bodyline in an interesting way or in a unique coordinate, you're going to make the outfit be even more you and less off-the-rack Bodyline. I like to use boleros or cardigans in a accent color to make plain outfits a little different.
  
• Do mix in some offbrand pieces in your coordinate. Yes, something even more offbrand than Bodyline! Especially if you don't feel confident enough in your color coordination skills to mix and match a unique coordinate, use some offbrand pieces in your outfit so it's not head-to-toe Bodyline.

A couple examples using these Dos and Don'ts

Here is a coordinate using all Bodyline pieces. I've used the blue from the print in the shoes and the bolero. The print and simplicity of the JSK don't scream "Hey! I cost $50 from Bodyline!" combined with a slightly out-of-the-ordinary 3-color color scheme (offwhite, white, and pale blue) makes sure this coordinate doesn't look like it came directly off the rack and onto you.

Here is another example, again using a rather plain JSK, but this time with some offbrand pieces. The shoes and the cardigan give the dress a very vintage 1940's look.

In the end, always buy what you want and will be happy wearing. But these are a few tips to keep in mind if you want to both wear what you want and maybe even impress some people. After all, if we only ever wore want we wanted, most all of us would be living in sweat pants and over-sized hoodies!

A little blog update: I'm trying out a new commenting system that lets people reply to individual comments, sort of like how they work on Live Journal. Let's hope I set it up correctly, because I would really like to make the comments a bit more interactive than they were. I try to respond to each comment, but, with the old method, all I was pretty much doing was leaving a new comment, and replies go unheard that way.