Ball-Joint Doll Style Tights

To continue my theme of "things I have been obsessing with over on Tumblr", I'd like to talk a bit about these ball-joint doll styled tights that have been popping up quite a bit lately!

Dangerous Nude's "Nude Sox"

Lolita has always had a bit of a connection to both the slightly creepy side of things (of course, not all Lolita in general, but it's undeniable to say that for some Lolita styles and trends "creepy" is as much a part of the fashion as is "elegant" or "cute"!) as well as dolls, so it's not really an uncommon occurrence when trends or stylings pop up that are heavy on the creepy doll aesthetic! So, just in time for Halloween, I am all about these BJD style tights!

Tableau ball-joint tights. Buy them here, if they're in stock!

According to what I can dig up on Google, and through translated sites, the original pair that started the trend are made by the small indie brand Tableau and are sold via Selfer (Potentially NSFW). The originals are made in small batches by an independent artist (I believe the artist is Koh Ueno) and are typically pretty difficult to get their hands on because of that.

Quite possibly even more difficult to get your hands on, because of the whopping ¥3,990 price tag (that's just over $50 at the moment) and the fact that I don't believe you can order them internationally (see their shop-via-blog page) sinceI've only seen them on their blog, are the Dangerous Nude ball-joint tights. However, if you're willing to spend a bit and hunt down a shopping service their own sock line called "Nude Sox", and DN has a plethora of stunning ball-joint styled tights to choose from! Just check these out:

Not only do these feature ankle and thigh joints, but they come in a variety of options! The "plain" pair comes not only in white but in "Dolly Pink", and the other two are grunged up in a couple of different ways, Google translate tells me that's "Resident Evil" up there in the middle, and "Steam Punk" on the right!

If either of these pairs are out of your reach, all hope is not lost! If you're desperate for a pair of BJD tights (and I know you are, I certainly am!) there are a number of other, more easily obtainable and cheaper, options for you! If you're even a bit crafty, there are a couple tutorials out there how to make a very similar pair yourself. The best part about making these yourself is that you can include the ankle join that's missing from the originals that sort of irks every BJD collector out there, or even switch from black to a dark brown for a more naturally shaded look.

If you're looking to make a pair just like the Tableau pair, check out this semi-tutorial. It's all pictures, but the pictures are pretty self explanatory if you're capable of using stencils and an air brush. If you're not so handy with an air brush, here's a somewhat easier tutorial over on FairyTale a la Mode. The acrylic paint ones don't look so pretty off your legs, but they look just fine worn, and acrylic paint is often used to customize your tights.

Beadborg's custom airbrushed tights.

If you're in search of another shop that sells these, because let's face it, like any of us are ever going to get to our craft to-do list, you also have a couple options. Lockshop is currently running a preorder for a subtly styled pair of ball-joint tights here, and the Etsy shop Beadborg offers a more intensely painted pair of air brushed BJD style tights here. I'm actually really loving the Beadborg pairs, because of their custom color options and the detailed paint job! Unfortunately, the one thing the Beadborg tights lack is the back ball, but I've messaged them to ask about it, and was told that for $10 more, to cover the extra work, they can add it. However, if you want more up-to-date BJD tights (as most BJD's in production now rarely have a visible front knee ball) you can pretty much just wear them as-is backwards if you ask for an elastic channel to be painted on the joint.

If you really don't have the room in your budget for ridiculous doll tights, and really only just need the look for a costume (Halloween is right around the corner, and "creepy doll" is definitely a perennial favorite for the lazy Lolita!) there's an old cosplay trick I have heard of that basically just involves a number of black rubber bands of various sizes worn around the joints, see what I mean:

No idea who this is! It's a Shinku cosplay that's been floating around the web for years!

It looks convincing and is cheap and easy, just remember to take them off after a while so you don't end up losing circulation!

If you want to check out some more looks with these stockings, punch in 球体関節ストッキング to Google and you'll end up with a ton of results! I have noticed a weird trend of wearing the tights backwards, with the elastic slot in the front. As someone who has a number of BJDs, this is sort of irritating to look at, because I know that the vertical slot means that's the channel the elastic goes through to bend, meaning that their legs bend backwards! So if you do manage to either make or purchase your own pair of these and jump on this trend, remember that the vertical line on the ball joint goes behind your knee!

What do you think of this trend? I think it's currently a love it or loath it sort of thing due to the high creep factors. Like I've raved about this whole post, I'm seriously in love with the look! I'm a big fan of ball-jointed dolls, and of being sort of creepy, so these are definitely a trend I'm loving!

Bunka Dolls

Bunka dolls are sort of my current obsession. I just can't get over their vintage style, cute side-glancing eyes, and great big bonnets! While they may look like the perfect Lolita, this style of doll was actually very popular in the early to mid 20th century in Japan. Although I am sure many of the modern Bunka dolls draw inspiration directly from the Lolita image, as modern Bunkas tend to look a bit different than than vintage ones. There are a number of emerging Bunka doll artists, and the Bunka doll image is making a come back as a symbol of cuteness and finding it's way into fabric prints, jewelry, and anywhere else a touch of cute is needed. Baby, the Stars Shine Bright has even released a Bunka doll complete with one of their most famous prints.

I can imagine Bunka dolls scattered throughout a Lolita's room. Dressed to match whatever your favorite style is. A couple resting on the bed and one sitting on the vanity, among a collection of pretty perfume bottles. Or maybe three lined up on a shelf, one in Classic, one in Sweet, and a final one in Gothic Lolita!

Where can I find more of these?

Bunka dolls are a bit hard to find here overseas, but there are a lot of places to look online if you just want to browse galleries full of Bunkas and dream about them. There are a few places scattered around who will make you custom, one-of-a-kind, Bunkas though, Pink Gun Dollhouse being one such place. Besides occasionally finding a real vintage one on Ebay, you're probably going to have to hunt around or learn to make your own if you are interested in a Bunka doll of your very own. The internet is, sadly, pretty much devoid of good bunka tutorials and patterns, besides this one Japanese tutorial. Or you can pick up a Japanese book that includes a pull out pattern as well as some fantastic Bunka photography. If you just need some good eye candy, there is a Bunk doll pool on Flickr filled with all sorts of different kinds of Bunka cuteness, from vintage, to hand made, to Bunka inspired art.

Big Bunka and tiny Bunkas by Chizuru.

An adorable Bunka by Natsukashii Araka.

PinkGunDollHouse makes adorable Bunkas on commission.

Tanpopo0118 on DA makes beautiful Bunkas!

From Dolce Bunka by Gyanax.

As I have said, I'm pretty much completely smitten by these adorable little dolls! I even got a hold of the Japanese book I mentioned in this post and have been staring at the patterns in the back! I think when I get a few more sewing projects and experiments out of the way this is definitely what I want to try out next!

And just so you know, Intravenous Sugar recently did an interview with me! So check that out if you want to hear me babble about things like how I keep loosing bloomers and stuff like that XD. Since it's been a whole week since my last post, in this time I've also been interviewed over at Lolita Weekly!

BJD 101: Ball Jointed Dolls For Beginners

I'm going to deviate away from Lolita a bit with this post and do a little bit of talking about ball jointed dolls, or BJDs (sometimes abbreviated as ABJD which means "Asian ball jointed doll")

Before I start with this post, let me make it clear that you do not need a BJD to be a Lolita. Some people who are new to both BJDs and Lolita who seem to think it is a requirement, but it's really not. It's just a hobby that overlaps nicely with Lolita, as BJDs are cute, fancy, and are pretty much the perfect person to twin with. If you are interested in dressing up your BJDs in Lolita, check out this post for some places to buy Lolita clothes for dolls. I am not making this post because I am claiming you need a BJD to be called a Lolita, I am making it because many Lolitas are interested in getting one, and I just really like them myself and have been collecting them for a few years. This may seem like a lot of info to take in if you are a BJD newbie, but hey, BJDs are a big investment, I think it's worth spending a few minutes learning about them before you buy one.

Okay! Now that that's out of the way, onto the dolls! First thing's first and that is:

Proper terminology

Much like how Lolita's don't approve of using the term "Gothic Lolita" to cover every style of Lolita, BJD enthusiasts don't usually call all BJDs "Dollfies". "Dollfie" is a brand specific name, referring to various different types of dolls produced by the Volks company. Despite this, we still use the terms SD (which stands for Super Dollfie) to mean a BJD of about 60cm and MSD (Mini Super Dollfie) to mean a BJD of about 44cm. It really isn't a big deal if you call BJDs "Dollfies" it's just a bit confusing if you are talking about a BJD that isn't actually from Volks. The BJD hobby has even more terms and abbreviations than Lolita, nearly every doll company, of which there are hundreds, has one and I certainly won't be going over each and every one of them in this post! But there are a handful that you really should know.

Face-up: The paint job on the face. Even if your doll isn't going to be wearing "makeup" your doll will still need a faceup to give the head mold realistic details such as natural blushing, defined shadows, and eyebrows.
Resin: What BJDs are made of. It's like a very hard, dense plastic.
SD: Short for "Super Dollfie" which, as I said above is a specific brand of doll, but the abbreviation is also used to refer to dolls that are around 60cm in height, or the size of Super Dollfies.
MSD: Short for "Mini Super Dollfie", the smaller version of Volk's Dollfies, it is also used to denote the dolls approximate height, MSD being around 44cm tall.

BJD basics

If you collect BJDs you pretty much never stop learning about them, there are always new sculpts and companies coming out and just so many different techniques for customizing your doll, but there are some basic things you should know about BJDs before you are ready to take the plunge

• BJDs are expensive. This is something everyone is aware of XD The first time you find out how much one of these dolls cost, you kind of do a double take. The average larger BJD, which is about 60cm (or 24") will, on average, set you back about $500, smaller BJDs of about 44cm (or 17") will cost about $300. Of course, just like everything, there are some that are cheaper, and some that are more expensive. It is possible to find a large BJD for around $300 on the second hand market, but, at the same time, there are some BJDs that will cost several thousand dollars.
  
• BJDs are not like Barbies. That is to say, unless you buy a full set, which are usually limited editions and very pricey, you are not going to be able to just pop one in your shopping cart, open it up when you get home and immediately be able to play with it. Most BJDs are sold nude and unpainted without even eyeballs or wigs. You're going to have to buy all that, as well as clothes separately. On average, if you are looking to get a hold of good quality accessories (and you should, you are already spending a ton of money on a doll, there's no reason why it should wear dresses made out of old socks), you're going to be spending around $100 for all the basic stuff you need for your doll.
  
• You get what you pay for. As Lolitas, we know this very well. Just like with frilly dresses, sometimes prices can be too good to be true. There are bootleg BJD sellers out there, and this is no where near acceptable as it is with clothes knock-offs, bootleg BJDs are often made out of very fragile and sometimes toxic resin. You're still going to be spending hundreds of dollars, even on a bootleg BJD, but it's most likely going to be made out of completely garbage materials that are very likely to break or even make you sick. As long as you do a bit of research about what company you plan on buying from, and try to avoid buying from auction sites, you're most likely not going to accidentally end up with a bootleg. Besides obvious bootlegs, there are a few companies who produce very cheap dolls. While a cheap doll may sound like a good idea for beginners who don't know if they are ready to drop big bucks on one doll, remember, that you are still getting what you pay for. Some cheap dolls have a certain "look" about them that is from a sculptor not being very talented. The eyes might be too far apart, the facial proportions might seem a little "off", or the doll might pose very poorly. A lot of cheaper doll companies seem like they are just jumping on the bandwagon and trying to make a few quick bucks by pumping out very rough dolls, and that's not really going to lead to very attractive dolls, certainly not something you would want to drop a couple hundred bucks on. But, of course, not all cheaper BJDs are "ugly", it's all a matter of personal taste. I'm just saying don't limit yourself to a very low budget, because you might not like your options. If all you can afford at the moment is something from a company you feel looks a little weird, or isn't the kind of doll you want, keep saving up. Only $100 more can usually buy you a doll from a whole new level of quality. I hope this doesn't come off as sounding BJD-elitist XD but it's true that you shouldn't buy something of lesser quality just for the sake of having it.
  

How to find the perfect doll for you

I, of course, can't tell you what the perfect doll for you is, I couldn't even begin to give you recommendations without knowing what it is you are looking for, but I can show you where to go to educate yourself on all the different kinds of dolls out there. The first step would be to join Den of Angels, DoA is a massive BJD forum and it's going to have, somewhere on it, pretty much everything you need to know about BJDs and choosing the one for you. Once you have signed up for DoA I would suggest lurking the Gallery or Database sections of the forum and just do some window shopping for a while, soon enough you'll start coming across dolls that you like. Do a bit of searching for more of the same sculpt owned by different people. You may find yourself loving one person's doll only to find out that what was really doing it for you was all in the photography and the way it was customized. You'll soon come to realize that the same sculpt can look dramatically different depending on what the owners do to it.

Once you have a vague idea of what kind of doll you want there are a few questions to ask yourself before you take the plunge, especially if you are on a tight budget.

• What is my spending limit? One of the most important questions is how much you are willing to spend on a doll. Don't cut your budget short, if you don't think you can only afford a very small amount, start saving up now and try to surpass that goal, because like I said before, you get what you pay for. Don't forget to think about things like clothes, wigs, shoes, and eyes for the doll. You might actually want to consider buying the little things before you even get the doll, so it's not going to be sitting around naked, bald, and eyeball-less for a while. Having a few pieces of doll accessories around, before you even have a doll, is a good reason to save up faster! Be careful though, because not all clothes will fit all dolls, just doing a little bit of researching or asking will save you time and money.
• What size do I want? There are a few sizes you can pick from, all the way from little BJDs that are hardly more than 10cm tall to ones that are a whopping 90cm. The typical sizes though are about 44cm and around 60cm, so those are the sizes you're going to have the easiest time buying clothes, shoes, and wigs for.
• How much work am I willing to put into the doll? BJDs are very customizable, and that's often half the fun in owning one, but if you don't feel like you are up to the task of doing things like face-ups, body blushing, or modding the doll, it's best to either pay the company you bought the doll from to do the aesthetic work, or to find someone on DoA who you can commission to do it for you. In addition to aesthetic work, there are other things to consider like eye color, eyeball type (glass, acrylic, or silicone!?), wigs, clothes, shoes, and accessories. Unless you are already skilled at sewing small things and doing delicate paint jobs I would advise against going gung-ho for your first doll and doing everything yourself. If it's your first doll, spoil it a little bit by buying it with a face-up and buying a nice set of clothes for it to wear in case you discover that you are not so good at working on such a small scale.
  
• What kind of character do I want? It's always best to have an idea of what kind of doll you what before you buy one! Do you want your doll to be sweet and innocent or sultry and seductive? Because obviously some molds are going to be better than others for certain looks. A baby faced doll with big innocent eyes is going to look a bit weird in a PVC dominatrix outfit. If you fall in love with a certain sculpt that doesn't quite fit the character you have in mind, try to find a look that works with the sculpt instead of forcing a look on your doll that just doesn't suit it.
  

What about Obitsus?

Obitsus are great! I finally got one of my own and I just love her and am really looking forward to adding more to my collection. But, Obitsus are not BJDs, even though they share a similar aesthetic, and they even make 60cm Obitsus. When it comes right down to it, they are not made of resin or ball-jointed, so they are in an entirely different hobby, a hobby that I am not too familiar with. But, they are still very similar to BJDs in that you typically buy Obitsus nude and without a face or hair (actually, you usually buy them without a head!) and you go about customizing them yourself. But in the case of Obitsus, they are much cheaper than BJDs, around $30, but this is because they are much smaller, about Barbie size, and are made of a much less expensive material, vinyl. But they are a perfect hobby if you really are interested in the painting, dressing up, and posing aspect of BJDs. If you want to learn more about Obitsus, check out this page, it has just about everything you need to know!

I am using the word "Obitsu" to mean any of the small, poseable, action figure-like dolls,t because that is the company you see the most, but there are a few other companies that make similar types of dolls.

What about Blythes, Pullips, and other dolls with great big heads?

Just like Obitsu, Blythes, Pullips, and other similar dolls are another great hobby to get into if you want to customize, dress up, and pose cute dolls. For these kind of dolls you can usually more often find them sold in full sets, I actually don't think Blythes or Pullips are sold as nude dolls. They are also a bit more expensive than Obitsus, running around $100. I know even less about these kinds of dolls than I do Obitsus! I actually am looking to buy my first Pullip sometime soon, I've been really eyeing their h.NAOTO collaborations.

Contrary to popular belief, BJD owners do not look down on other kinds of doll owners, and Obitsus, Blythes, Pullips, and others, are not seen as "less than BJDs" they are simply a completely different kind of doll that not all BJD owners might be familiar with.

My Own Dolls

I have quite a few dolls of my own! I am the proud owner of 11 BJDs, 1 Obitsu, and 2 Hujoos, who are almost all dressed up in either Lolita, Dandy, or other fancy frills. I don't take too many photos of them, but I'd like to share a few with you now. Click for larger pictures.

This is my little Hujoo. Hujoos are like a weird combo between Pullips or some other big headed vinyl doll and a BJD. Hujoos are tiny little vinyl dolls, 24cm high, but they are ball-jointed. They are not everyone's cup of tea because they have such big goofy looking heads. I love them though, I think their expressions are so unique and full of character!

This girl is Alma, one of my MSD sized dolls. She is another girl with a rather unique look, she's from a now defunct head sculpt company called Plastic Flower, her head sculpt is Ma-u, and if you couldn't tell from her little horn, she's a unicorn girl.

Alma has a sister named Bathsheba, from the same company, a sleepy eyed Nia. Bathsheba is the only closed-eye head I have, it's kind of nice not having to buy eyeballs for a doll XD Alma and Bath are kept dressed in white with pale wigs. Bath, because of her sleepy sculpt, is usually kept in one of a couple fancy bloomers pajamas.

This girl was my first BJD, her name is Max and she's had quite a few looks, I usually keep her in pastels, with long pink hair, but recently I've changed her to a more natural look.

This girl is my Alice in Labyrinth Chloe named Asiadeh. She is another girl with a unique look, I love her heavy eyelids and big pouty lips. I'm just a sucker for melancholy dolls!

Well, I hope you didn't mind this little foray into blogging about dolls. I had been getting a few questions from Lolitas about BJDs, so I figured that would be a good excuse to ramble about it for a little bit!

Lolita Dolls: Pullip x Innocent World

Last summer, Pullip teamed up with Angelic Pretty to make some OTT sweet and pink and ruffly dolls. This summer, Pullip has teamed up with Innocent World. Each of the girls comes with a miniature version of an actual Innocent World dress and purse. The details are amazing! It's so cool to see famous prints shrunk down to mini size.

These dolls will be released around mid July and will cost around $150. You can pre-order them directly from Innocent World or through Qcute.

Now, let's have a closer look at each of these cuties!

Pullip

Pullip wears a classic green floral dress and over dress. The dress is lovely and rarely seen bright green covered in decadent floral designs. Honestly, Pullip is my least favorite of the girls, her sculpt is too plain for my tastes, but her dress is probably my favorite of the three. The coat and parasol is sold separately for around $50.

Dal

Dal is more my type of doll! She's grumpy and chubby cheeked and just too cute. She comes dressed in a beautiful tiered dress with a matching bonnet. The lace detail on this dress is just so lovely. She carries one of Innocent Worlds famous violin purses.

Byul

Dal may be a cutie but Byul is really my favorite! There's something about her sculpt that I just love, she's grumpy and sleepy and really retro looking. She has a similar look to some Blythe dolls, only she doesn't have the harshness that Blythe has that always scares me away. She comes with Innocent Worlds recent deer print, and a matching deer capelet. The print looks amazing so tiny, but I would honestly like it a lot more if it came in a different colorway.

Lolita Craftaton Part 1: Felt Cakes. Plus A Few Pictures of My BJD

If you've been keeping up with me on Twitter, you might notice my constant craft tweets! That's because I have about a month (now considerably less!) to make enough cute crafts to fill up a vendors table. Today I just want to show off one of things I have been making, one of the more useless things I might add, but they're very fun to make, none the less. I'm talking about felt cakes.

My goal is to make 8 pieces, so that I have a whole cake worth of slices! So only 5 more to go. Do you think I can do it? I'm not too sure if I can, or even if I can think up 8 different kinds of cake to make! I do have the urge to make mini cake top hats. Tacky, yes, but they look really fun to make! And I really like making felt whipped cream dollops, they are just really satisfying for some reason.

Other things I have been making, which I will probably make separate posts about about are rings, brooches, sweets charms, rose hair clips, and a few veiled fascinators. Maybe even some small bound books if I think I have the energy to do that XD I am trying to focus more on making cute stuff for the convention. After it's over I'm going to focus more on Gothicky and Classic accessories.

I am also trying to think up ways to set up a table. If I was mostly selling Gothic stuff, I would be all set. I would take one of my lace table clothes, put a tapestry or two over it, and use some of my collection of antique books to display things. But that might look a little out of place, so I will probably go for something a little simpler

Finally, because I was messing around with my new camera, a few BJD photos. I have a rather large collection of ball jointed dolls, and most of my girls wear Lolita clothes. This is my Alice in Labyrinth Chloe, my current favorite. She's wearing a Dollheart blouse (to hide the fact that he head is heavily blushed and her neck... not at all blushed), under a Dollmore dress.

I love me some hip and "artsy" off center photos.

And sometimes I even bother taking pictures of her whole face. I love her sleepy eyes.

I'm awful at posing this girl. She's on a Dreaming Doll body, which is completely useless for posing, but it's beautifully sculpted. So she just sits around looking pretty most of the time.

Lolita clothes for BJDs

I told you I wouldn't be able to stay away from talking about BJDs for long! This time I'll be talking about the different places you can get Lolita clothes for ball-jointed dolls. Good Lolita doll clothes are sometimes rather difficult to come by. Most places will sell Lolita inspired clothes, but they are usually a little off, they'll either be too sexy, too J-rocky, or just too damned ita. When shopping for doll clothes, you sometimes have to be willing to spend a lot of money to get something that looks good. Or, at least, a lot of money for something so darned tiny. While the sites I've listed here are not the only places to buy Lolita clothes for ball-jointed dolls, they are some of the better places out there, with higher quality products, and an idea of Lolita that is pretty much spot on with what actual Lolitas wear.

If you want the absolute best for your doll, you're probably going to want to hunt down some official Lolita brand dresses for you doll. Volks will on occasion release limited editions of dolls that come with a Baby, The Stars Shine Bright or h.NAOTO complete outfit, these usually sell for over a thousand dollars. Sometimes they will also release limited sets of clothes, while much cheaper than buying them with a full doll, you can still look to spend about 300 dollars per set. These sets can be pretty difficult to come by, so you're most likely going to have to look on the second hand market for them, and because of that, expect to pay a bit more than their new price, although I have found a few deals on just the dresses alone (they tyically come with shoes and purses and other accessories), and have seen some of them go for less than $200. I'm not actually very well versed on Volks and the things Volks does, and I've had very little desire to spend 300+ bucks on my dolls clothes, so I'm not the best person to ask about these collaberations. Take a quick peek at this list of Volks collaborations with various Lolita brands.

Besides impossible-to-find ultra-expensive brand pieces, Volks puts out their own doll clothes, some of which are Lolita clothes. The quality is usually very nice, comparable to the brand pieces they put out, and is usually a lot easier on the wallet. Volks dresses go for about 50-100 dollars, most of them being about $60. On the second hand market I've picked up several Volks Lolita dresses for $30.

The indies Lolita brand Milky Ange sells doll sized versions of all their clothes. While these are rather easy to pick up, Milky Ange ships to the US and there are always a lot of different styles in stock, they are still rather pricey. Just a little cheaper than their people-sized versions, Milky Ange's doll clothes will cost you between 100-230 dollars, most of which are about $140.

DollHeart is well known for putting out beautifully made, detailed Lolita outfits and shoes. They are usually released in limited quantities available for pre-order only, but they are not difficult to get a hold of at all, it's mostly just the month or two wait that kills me. Their outfits are usually around $100, but are well worth the price as they are usually made up of several pieces, typically a blouse, underskirt, petticoat, overskirt or dress, and accessories, that can be mixed and matched with whatever else you have.

Arcadia Dolls is a shop selling a variety of doll clothes, many of which are Lolita or very Lolita inspired. Their clothes look to be of excellent quality and are priced at around $70 per dress. Sadly, this doesn't include things like bloomers or socks, but some of their designs are just amazing!

Kon'D has a few choice Sweet Lolita dresses. I've never bought from them, but their pieces look to be rather good quality and their designs are just too cute! They are a much cheaper alternative as well, their dresses costing around $50.

Cotin Doll World is another great place to buy teeny tiny Lolita dresses. Prices range from 60-100 dollars. I've not yet bought from this store, but their pieces do seem wonderfully made and come in a variety of very cute designs.

Honig Doll sells a whole lot of incredibly cute Lolita pieces for a really great price, about 35-60 dollars. I've not bought from them personally, but a friend has, and they are all great quality pieces.

Dollmore is a site that sells tons of doll clothes, and scattered around the hundreds of different outfits they sell are a few really great Lolita pieces. Their clothes come from various places, so the prices and quality range quite a bit, from 30-100 dollars. But for the most part you can pick up a really great quality Lolita dress from Dollmore for around $50. You just have to do a lot of hunting for a good dress on their site, because there are quite a few pieces that look okay at first, but are way too short or just not as cute as they looked on first glance.