For budgeting, like mentioned above, figure out what your monthly expenses are going to be, food, gas, any bills, and then go from there. Set aside money left over from each paycheck to use building your wardrobe.
Decide on the style you want to go with. A lot of people buy their dress first, and this is perfectly fine. But you want to make sure that you have all the items to make up your coordinate (and your petticoat, very important) before you actually wear it. I kind of suggest going with your dress first because then you can pick out items that go with it and pick a proper petticoat for the shape of said dress.
As a general guideline your color coordination is safest going this route:
sweet: white
classic: cream/ivory
gothic: black
And you'll want to get a blouse, socks or tights, and if you can afford it, a very simple, generic shaped back that matches. Simple is easier to start with, but you can add items that eventually go with specific dresses (jewelry or socks that match the dress) if you'd like.
Shoes and headwear usually match the dress for basic coordination, but you can also start out with white, cream or black depending on your style and start adding other colors down the line.
With every new main piece (dress or skirt) that you add, at least you have something that is bound to go with it. That said, all those colors go with any style TBH, it just depends on the colors in the dress itself.
What I like to do when I build my wardrobe is add a new color and legwear (or shoes) that goes with dresses in my closet. I'll go on a little buying spree for awhile focusing on that color, and then move onto the next. Add new main pieces into the mix, especially when they will work with other items I have easily.
And then it just becomes rinse and repeat. I find this way makes it pretty easy to expand into different styles because once you get the white, cream, and black covered you can add a dress of another style into your wardrobe and you have things to wear with it. A lot of the colors I have work in different styles so I can go from super sugary sweet to very mature and refined looks.
But honestly the speed at which you acquire things entirely depends upon your disposable income. The more money you have to throw at lolita things, the faster you're going to build up a cohesive wardrobe. When you start out, you may have to begin with cheaper options (at least in parts) to get the ball rolling, but you can eventually sell and replace items for nicer ones later on.
legnanellaf5
Now a days, people dont just use egl sales comm, but there is lacemarket, fb sales and the other japanese 2nd hand sales sites. So keep your options open. For egl sales, your first thing is to get a feedback page (you have to look up how to do that). Then its like any other sales platform, you browse through what is posted, make a comment or pm to buy.
Eehh, I still find it useful. I've purchased a few things from there recently (including a dream dress) that weren't listed up on the other western sales comms. It's still worth browsing.