Bodyline, The Lolita's Walmart, Part 1: Bodyline for Beginners

As most any thrifty Lolita will tell you, Bodyline just isn't what it used to be. And oooh boy are we lucky for that! Bodyline used to be known for their cheap lace monster maid cosplays, but in the past couple of years they have really turned around for the better. Bodyline is a great choice for all sorts of Lolitas, either those just getting into the fashion and want more bang for their buck, for seasoned Lolita looking to pad her wardrobe with some basics, or just because everyone can use a cute $30 skirt every now and then. I was originally going to make this into one post, but it got a little too long, so instead I'll be splitting it into a few parts, one for newbies, one for Lolitas looking to pad their wardrobe, and maybe another one or two for a few miscellaneous things.

Tips for the beginner Lolita looking to make their first purchase from Bodyline

I really wish Bodyline was as great as it is now back when I just getting into the fashion *old fogey rant*. Back in my day all we had was Fan+Friend, and their prices really aren't all that cheap, plus they always messed up the sizes. For some reason Fan+Friend seems to assume that their customers are always lying about their measurements and assume you are 7 feet tall and 50 pounds heavier than you really are. Bodyline is a much cheaper, quicker, and easier shop for new Lolitas to buy their first pieces from, but there are a few things you should keep in mind, especially if you are looking to make your first Lolita pieces something of good quality and of a design similar to what big name brands sell.
  • Look for reviews of the specific piece you want. While most of their pieces now are of good quality, they still have a few pieces from the old days that are of questionable quality and might use really stiff and cheap lace, thin fabric, or a weird cheap fabric. It's better to look, or even ask, then to get something you weren't expecting.
  • Keep it simple. The best pieces on Bodyline are relatively simple pieces, a solid or simple print dress with only a few decorations. Most of the Bodyline pieces that fail are filled with too much stuff, wacky hemlines, too much lace, zippers in crazy places, that kind of stuff.
  • Stay out of the "separates" section. "Separates" in Bodyline talk means 2 or more pieces, usually a dress set of some kind such as a blouse and skirt sold together. For some reason, whenever I see new Lolitas asking about opinions on what to get for their first Bodyline purchase they always want something from the separates section, my guess is because they think they are getting more for their money since they are getting a whole bunch of different pieces. Except for the fact that things in the section are usually more expensive and not versatile pieces at all. Most of the pieces in the separates section are actually meant to be Lolita costumes not everyday Lolita.
  • Don't be afraid to do a little bit of modification. I'm not suggesting that you take up sewing classes and learn out to completely change an outfit from Bodyline. I'm talking about simple and small things like removing bows. Sometimes Bodyline goes a little crazy with the weird looking bows, all it takes is a few tiny snips of thread to take them off.
  • Use common sense. Especially when shopping in the separates section, you might think that you will be able to make 3 outfits out of one dress set, but can you really make 3 different outfits, or 3 outfits each featuring purple glittery plaid and batwing hems? Besides that does anything about the outfit seem off to you? A weird cut, kind of blah pattern, or something else about it that doesn't exactly look like something your favorite brand would do? While many Bodyline pieces are fantastic, there still are a few throwbacks from the old days.
Examples of "good" and "bad" Lolita on Bodyline

Examples of "good" dresses from Bodyline
These are all relatively simple dresses. They each have a very traditional Lolita cut and shape, only a few details, and the prints are very pretty and not loud or awkward.


Examples of "bad" Lolita dresses from Bodyline
These are all very busy and Cosplay-ish pieces. The first one just has too much stuff going on, neon plaids, pearls, music notes, cat ears, bows, a sailor collar, a "gothic" cut to the jacket, you name it and this outfit has it, and honestly it just looks like a hot mess. The second outfit is actually an Angelic Pretty knockoff, a very poor Angelic Pretty knockoff. The gingham is huge and the details look half-assed and awkward. The third dress could almost be good, but it still looks just too messy with the asymmetrical hem and the lace details, like it's trying to merge a few different Lolita details but failing. The final dress is just all sorts of wrong. It's not even a proper shape, it's boxy and weird. These 4 pieces demonstrate 4 of the things Bodyline tends to fail, too much "wacky" stuff going on, bad knockoffs, something almost right but ending up awkward, and something that's just not the right shape at all.

In the end, you should buy what you like, not what other people tell you to buy, but when it comes to Bodyline, because of their hundreds of different dresses, they are sometimes hit-or-miss if you are going for genuine Lolita.

28 comments:

  1. Omfg hahahahaha that Mr. Yan pic xD

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yikes! D8 Oh,...er hi Mr. Yan.

    That´s a very helpful guide. d^_^b

    The only thing you might add is that the girls modeling Bodyline´s clothes are at the very most 1,65m / 5,4ft tall.
    For example a seemingly waistlong cutsew would already be too short on me. ( 1,68m / 5,5ft )

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aw, that third "bad dress" example looked really cute in the orignal drawing (it was submitted for one of Bodyline's design contest and "won."). Trust Bodyline to screw it up so royally.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just wanted to let you know...that yellow cherry dress you have listed on the "good" dresses section really isn't that "good." haha. I actually bought it myself b/c I couldn't tell from the stock photo that the lace is actually horrible on it! I made a post at sew_loli about removing the lace on it and replacing it with nice, eyelet lace. I am not sure if I would have bought the dress knowing the lace would have been so bad, but I almost don't regret it b/c I don't mind seam ripping and cutting off bad lace to put on new stuff. But IDK about beginner lolitas...it might be out of their comfort zone lol.

    Link to my post: http://community.livejournal.com/sew_loli/1022015.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Another thing for the common sense: if you ask yourself if a dress is lolita enough, it probably isn't. :P

    ReplyDelete
  6. haha I don't mind their over the top stuff maybe they aren't very lolita but they kinda remind me of a mix between visual-kei,anime and lolita and I just happen to like those three things. I actually like the cat outfit for what it is. It's not that busy but kinda cute. I guess I just have different opinion than you but that's okay

    ReplyDelete
  7. Seperates are my guilty pleasure. They are usually pretty nice quality, but, they definately aren't lolitz! Save them for the cons!

    ReplyDelete
  8. besides Bodyline, a really good place to get lolita clothing is the website
    http://www.milanoo.com/wholesale-Lolita-Clothing-c634
    Their clothing is very good, and the things I ordered fit perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was attempting to buy the dresses from Bodyline. However, thank you for sending the website.

      Delete
    2. Milanoo is a notorious scam site.

      Delete
    3. Yup, that's right. Milanoo is far from trust worthy. They are no where near genuine. Most of their reviews are fake and, if I'm not mistaken, a lot of their images of products are stolen stock photos from other companies.

      Delete
  9. Hello! thanks a bunch for posting this on your blog!!!!! for reals!!!! x3 because im about to get a loli dress but i wasn't sure if it would happen because the loli outfits are usually EXPENSIVE! but i finally got to know about this! x3, and also, THANK YOU for giving out the guide for the beginners! x3

    ReplyDelete
  10. thankyou so much! I have been lurching over Bodyline forever and I was always hesitating what to buy. This helps ^^

    ReplyDelete
  11. now im a bit scared to buy the one item from the seperate section that i want,this is why i usually dont buy things from the net unless they cant be screwed up.im now wondering if i want to take the dive and buy this item or not, hope i decide before its sold out

    ReplyDelete
  12. What if you find something really cute in the separates section? I saw a casual skirt and long-sleeved cutsew which I could pretty easily work into my everyday wardrobe. It might be cute with a casual-loli coordinate, maybe paired off differently. http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/showProduct.asp?id=4393&pageNumber=1&pageStop=stop_5&noSubType=N I'm a starter, so I want something simple. ^^"

    ReplyDelete
  13. That actually looks really cute! And it does look like something you could easily use the separate parts from.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yay! I've been putting aside some money in case something nice pops up, so, I'll set my sights on that one!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I wanna tell you, but I heard from my friend Jessie-Kate, who is very well versed with Lolita, said that Milanoo isn't good at all, it's just evil. She hasn't that much remarks about Bodyline. So Milanoo will haze.

    ReplyDelete
  16. well i've heard that milanoo are complete scammers and ive even seen some terrible reports from upset customers
    EGLsales on livejournal is currently boycotting them

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh yep they are D: They sometimes leave comments on my blog spamming their links, as well as copy and paste my blog articles onto their spam blogs, and I try to delete all their posts but I must have missed this one!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Yikes! D8 Oh,...er hi Mr. Yan.

    That´s a very helpful guide. d^_^b

    The only thing you might add is that the girls modeling Bodyline´s clothes are at the very most 1,65m / 5,4ft tall.
    For example a seemingly waistlong cutsew would already be too short on me. ( 1,68m / 5,5ft )

    ReplyDelete
  19. I just wanted to let you know...that yellow cherry dress you have listed on the "good" dresses section really isn't that "good." haha. I actually bought it myself b/c I couldn't tell from the stock photo that the lace is actually horrible on it! I made a post at sew_loli about removing the lace on it and replacing it with nice, eyelet lace. I am not sure if I would have bought the dress knowing the lace would have been so bad, but I almost don't regret it b/c I don't mind seam ripping and cutting off bad lace to put on new stuff. But IDK about beginner lolitas...it might be out of their comfort zone lol.

    Link to my post: http://community.livejournal.com/sew_loli/1022015.html

    ReplyDelete
  20. Another thing for the common sense: if you ask yourself if a dress is lolita enough, it probably isn't. :P

    ReplyDelete
  21. Omfg hahahahaha that Mr. Yan pic xD

    ReplyDelete
  22. I have a question, how can you get your shoe size in our sizes to theirs to order shoes off bodyline?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Actually, in my opinion, the top dress in the "bad examples" set could work for a Punk Lolita outfit, though with some modifications. Lose the ears, take off the sailor collar (it could be kept as fabric to make a bow or two, whether for this outfit or another, or even BJD clothing), and a few other things to the wearer's taste. I myself actually plan to buy a dress that some would probably say is an Ita thing, then fix it up to make it true Lolita. I love to customize my clothing and make it OOAK. I of course plan to ask experienced Lolita friends of mine for advice and ask them to help me make sure it does become a true Lolita dress, though. I've been doing my research.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Thanks a lot for the information! I have been wondering about buying classic dresses online, and now I've the tools and hopefully the guts to complete it.

    ReplyDelete
  25. 8 years later so glad the lolita elite are all fat and dead. Let people wear what they want.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...