Welcome to Gaia! ::

Edit-> Made this a little more clear, I really don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers.

Anyone who would give you a hard time about a well-made handsewn dress wasn't worth your good opinion in the first place. Try not to worry about it, the worrying would only make things worse.
The only thing you might want to consider if someone starts talking about your outfit is to figure out if they're offering advice or just giving you a hard time. ("I know this site that sells acceptable petticoats for only thirty-five dollars!" is advice, "You're doing it wrong." isn't.) If it's the latter, disregard them as best you can. I know that's easier said than done, but it rather needs to be said to be done.

But I might also go with a thrift store skirt or blouse, depends on if I feel like I can pull off brown. See, my other stuff is mostly brown based, with blue, pink, purple, gold, bronze, and patterns to match brown, especially since I've been buying, soldering, and sewing like crazy ever since I discovered that steamloli is serious business. *serious face* O^O

HOWEVER, tomato red hair and BROWN don't look so good together on me. I'm waiting until after the convention, when my hair will finally be mint green, to wear most of them. The black takes the orange quality out of my hair, looks like a sharper red, looks nicer overall, which is why I might go with the mostly bodyline ensemble.

I can't change the hair color either cause it's gotta match my 4 ft long extensions for the cosplay the previous day. Joy. <3

Now, despite changing a thing or two to up the quality on these items, and throwing in hand made stuff and wingtip style heels from payless, I'm still going to be a cheeeeeeeeeap cheap bodyline lolita. SOMEONE is BOUND to recognize the blouse or skirt since I'm not changing them to look different, only to look nicer. Will that be a problem?

They're just jealous because they can't make their own clothes and aren't confident enough to wear off brand clothing and work it the way you do. :3
Shove all your Bodyline stuff down their throat and laugh because they had to pay up the butt to look as good as you do. lol

*facepalm* gonk

I don't understand why people who don't own any brand are so afraid to interact with those who do.

I'm sorry dear, but get over it. People are people, and there will always be mean people who will make fun of your Bodyline wardrobe; but more often than not there are NICE people out there who don't care what brand you're wearing as long as you look nice!

Do I seem like an intimidating person just because of what's sitting in my wardrobe? I don't think so! I have a random assortment of brand, Bodyline, and stuff I've made myself.

I just wonder where this common fear among newbies has come from. neutral

Oh, and Ren-chan, How about you shove it up yours? There ARE people in this community who own brand, and I am one of them. Owning brand and spending the money on it is a personal preference. I can sew very well thank you, and my entire wardrobe was handmade and thrifted until I got a job (at 16) to save for lolita clothing.

Just because I own some brand doesn't make me jealous of anybody's "sewing skills", and frankly, I'm insulted by that sentiment. I've been sewing for 12 years, but I still chose to buy brand because you can't get the same prints or materials in stores. They're simply not comparable.

On top of that, there is something called an opportunity cost. Every hour I spend sewing instead of working, I lose $9. A dress I make myself and spend, say, 10hours working on will cost me $90 on top of the cost of materials which is usually about $60 for good quality materials. I would rather put my money toward something recognizable. So if you actually value your time, brand clothing may actually be cheaper when you consider alternatives and opportunity costs.

Mouse, that outfit will look adorible. And you shouldn't let the big brand wolf scare you. Haha I made a funny. XD

If I lived anywhere NEAR Seattle and not Washington, D.C. I'd totally hangout with you and tell you how awesome your hair is and I wish mine were like yours. XD

Okay, I think this thread got out of hand. Please, ladies, let's stop. I'm pretty sure Ren only meant that about the girls who would say something rude about my outfit (rude comments tend to stem from jealousy, or some other negative emotion), and not ladies who buy brand in general. At least that's how I understood it. I don't think anyone here thinks badly about anyone who buys brand just because they buy brand. That's ridiculous. I'm in this forum because I like lolita, brand included. I didn't mean for this thread to get anyone riled up. If it's a problem, please let me know, and I'll ask for it to be locked or something.




My worries are based on experience.
There will always be mean people, in any fashion, anywhere. I'm an adult and I deal with them. I also know many brand lolita who really appreciate my thrift and handmade stuff and don't care that it's not big brand. If I thought brand lolita were stuck up or rude, I wouldn't be in this forum. The issue is the general sentiment towards Bodyline and the complete lack of brand.
For example, ladies at work have said things that translate to, "it's cute but kind of a shame. Maybe she's poor."
What I'm asking is if that sentiment has changed. If not, I'm not really interested in the panel. However, from the responses I've gotten here, it seems that it's not much to worry about, so I might give it a shot, but I would still like to hear from someone who has had experience at a panel either wearing, or with someone who was wearing Bodyline.

Also, I would like to clear up, because I really don't want it to be misinterpreted, my comment in the original post about priorities. I do not mean that buying brand means you're priorities are out of order. I mean that if I were to buy brand before I publish my novel and buy a house, then I would be going against my own, personal priorities. Key words here, Me, My, I. Nothing wrong with saving up and buying brand. If you worked and saved for it, you deserve what you want. I'm just saving for motorcycles and a house, is all, and I can't justify buying brand until I buy the things I consider more important to myself. Especially since I love having LOTS of clothes, and LOTS of brand would reeeeeally dent my spend-thrift funds.