Let's Do The Fairy Kei 30 Day Challange! (Day 5. Favorite Places To Buy Fairy Kei! Mini Store Reviews)

Dear Sweetie Shorts, 

Just a quick little post to get back into the 30 day challenge! I've been sick for about a week now, but I recently got some good news that really brought me out of that funk, I was accepted to the Lolita Blog Carnival! Yay! So expect posts related to that very soon.

As for this entry I am covering only places I have bought or acquired Fairy-Kei. It would be slightly unfair to talk about places I would buy my Fairy-Kei if I could. I should instead tell everyone where I actually do get my Fairy-Kei! <3 Let's Go! 

☆ Day five: 5 of your favorite places to buy your clothes.

(I suppose this counts as a mini store review. I'll do full store reviews on some of these places soon also!)

Bodyline

I love Bodyline! It is perfect when you wear both Fairy-Kei and Lolita, like me, and when you are on a budget! Sure they did have a raise in price recently, but they often have a 10 dollar fixed shipping rate which will usually make up for the price a little. I've heard of people buying overseas being hit with shipping up to 50 dollars! I could buy an entire dress on Bodyline for that! Bodyline also tends to have fairy quick shipping, I once had an order arrive overnight! Many of the Bodyline Panniers are not well suited for Lolita, but are perfect for Fairy-Kei! They offer extremely cheap Fairy-Kei tutus that are absolutely wonderful. 

This is a tutu I have in light pink, but want in every single color! This is a perfect example of a Fairy-Kei tutu AND in my own experience this has worked for me as a Lolita "Petticoat" without ever deflating. I just had this pink one layered with a darker purple one of the same design. It has worked great for me in both Fairy-Kei and Lolita and has been a wonderful investment. I think it may have been 13$ or so when I bought it, not it is at 17$ and I would still say buy(If you like it that is)!http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/showTBPic.asp?name=/bodyline/photos/pan013-2.jpg?11/13/2012%209:23:00%20PM You can find it in the Bodyline "Pannier" section!

This isn't one I have, but it is one I want! They don't currently have this one in the store, but I think they may come back in stock. The first one I listed has been out of stock then came back, that's how I ended up with a dark purple one instead of another pastel colored tutu. (The reason I have this picture is because everything I list is coming out of my "Fairy-kei things I want to buy" folder!) I like every color combination of this one! So cute! From http://www.bodyline.co.jp/

This one I doubt I would buy at the current price and I wouldn't buy every color combination here. I would likely stay away from the ones that use darker colors, and the price is currently listed as 20. I may wait for the price to go down a few dollars before I go for this one, unless your in love! This one is sold out in many colors, but it is also listed under panniers of you want to take a look! http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/showTBPic.asp?name=/bodyline/photos/pan034-2.jpg?11/13/2012%209:36:06%20PM

Now this is one that I really really want! This particular one seems to be off the site right now, but it could be back and I do see it show up in the sales comms every now and then. It is usually under Jumper Skirt on Bodyline if you would like to keep an eye out for it's return! From http://www.bodyline.co.jp/

Bodyline also sells very nice wigs in a wide variety of colors! I hear very good things, but I have a Bodyline wig and can speak from experience! 

I have this wig in "lpik", which is light pink. I actually bought mine from a seller online, but that color is also available on the site still! I love this wig and wear mine all the time! If you were thinking about buying it, go for it! It's a great wig for a very reasonable price. The wigs are located in "Cosplay" then "Wigs" http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/showTBPic.asp?name=/bodyline/photos/w035-2.jpg?11/13/2012%209:49:22%20PM

Shoes are some of Bodyline's most popular items! I have this pair in pink and also reviewed them on an earlier post. They are 40 dollars and very cute!http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/showTBPic.asp?name=/bodyline/photos/shoes256-2.jpg?11/13/2012%209:56:30%20PM Don't forget the fairy-kei-able shoes located in the "Punk" section! They usually have cheaper shoes like adorable 7$ sneakers perfect for Fairy-Kei! Right now they don't seem to have them, but they could always come back in stock or you could check sales comms. 

Once you have your big items in your cart, if you have a few more dollars to burn you can add in some accessories. They have fake eyelashes for 1$, cute bow headbands, and may kinds of accessories located in "Sundries". You may want to buys tights, leggings, and socks elsewhere unless you fall in love with a pair or find some that are cute and reasonably priced! There you have some of, but not all, my Bodyline Fairy-Kei picks, but don't just rely on my list, go pick out some things you love for yourself and have fun! 

Walmart

I recently reviewed Walmart.com very positively! The reason for that is Walmart is a very good place to find some cheap Fairy-Kei items. The downside is that it is usually only helpful to those who can fit in kids clothes, though if you can't all is not lost! You can still find cute accessories and buy shirts to use for the design. Cut it off in a design and put a lace borderline, then attach it to a plain shirt that does fit you. You could also use the cute material to turn into bows or anything you wanted. If you can fit into the kids clothing it can be very easy to find Fairy-Kei gems at Walmart! I recently found a Rainbow Brite shirt there for just under 7 dollars. Check out my Walmart.com post if you would like to see my latest haul and stay tuned for a post about "Fairy-Kei at Walmart" where I will go into detail about this. 

Goodwill/Thrifting

I think this may be my post used method for finding Fairy-Kei items! It is also the most fun. You never know what your going to find and it can be a complete Fairy-Kei wonderland at times! Goodwill can be a bit pricey for a thrift store, but is still cheap as cheap gets usually! I actually found a lot of items for Fairy-Kei at a local thrift store that sold everything between 25 cents and 5 dollars usually. I found perfect items that I picked up for around a dollar. I won't get into too much detail, because I will be doing a more in depth "Fairy-Kei at Goodwill" tutorial later! Goodwill is usually where I find my Fairy Kei shoes. I wait until they have something cute in my size then I pounce! My favorite thrifted pair of shoes cost around 7 dollars and I wear them all the time! 

Locally/from a seller 

When buying from someone in your local Fairy-Kei or Lolita community! Since you live close you save a bundle on shipping when you buy from someone close. You can arrange a time to meet and just exchange money for an item, exercise caution when doing this! If you aren't a member of a Fairy-Kei or Lolita community, then search Live Journal or Facebook for one. If one does't exist, make one and hope for the best! When buying from a seller that isn't local there is still shipping, but if they are in the US and are selling you something at a reduced price that they bought overseas, the shipping will be significantly less and will barely matter thanks to the reduced price. I recently bought a Bodyline wig (mentioned earlier) in perfect condition for 15 dollars shipped, it is listed as 17 on Bodyline without shipping. Buying from sellers can be very beneficial! 

Rue 21 Discount Rack 

Rue 21 is not the best place to buy Fairy-Kei, but they have sales and discounts that can't be ignored and are worth a look! It can be harder to make Fairy-Kei outfits out of things bought at Rue 21, but the challenge is half the fun! I have a post on Fairy-Kei at Rue 21 in the works also that will show how I use things I bought at Rue 21 in my Fairy-Kei wardrobe so stay tuned for that soon (Fairly soon)!

I missed you all while I have been sick and I'm looking forward to coming back with a bang! This post ended up being longer than I thought it would be which makes up for the fact that this is only one Fairy-Kei Challenge question. See you next time! 

Healthily (mostly) Yours,

Skiteanna LaSweet 

Let's Review Walmart.com! (Store Review Episode 2)

Dear Sparkling Wishbones,

I just received my order today from Walmart.com, it's been a very excited day! I ordered from them because a few cute T-shirts caught my attention and they were one of the few stores I could find that took a bank transfer. (I actually think yesterday Paypal finally fixed the issues with my account.~) Let's get started shall we?

The Packaging 

This is the bag my order came in, not unlike Bodyline bags I've received. It was really touch to open and I ended up stabbing it with a pencil to open it, but at least you know your items won't fall out. It was very well sealed. 

I'm not really sure why this piece of paper was really crinkled, it was just in the bag that said what was in my order. 

The Order!!

Is that not a beautiful looking pile?

Let's start with the one I really did open first, Rainbow Brite! 

I have to mention how neatly everything, but this top especially, was folded. It looked better than when you get them directly from the store. It was so soft and I was in for a surprise I wasn't expecting also. 

This is the super cute front side they have pictures of on the website, and; 

Look at the adorable back print that I didn't even know about! <3 It was such a nice surprise. 

This one fits very well, maybe the best of the bunch! The sleeves are made a little longer than these 14/16 Walmart shirts usually are and that is the main problem I have with most shirts I get at Walmart. Here is a picture of this shirt worn, the skirt I bought is worn with every shirt so even though I haven't reviewed the skirt yet, I will very soon. 

Just a little snap of me wearing it (plus the skirt) I have on my night clothes under it (a thick tank top and night shorts) I wanted to be able to change in the room~

I had to snatch up this Rainbow Brite shirt, it was such a cute 80s inspired fairy kei find! I couldn't believe they had her actually, is Rainbow Brite making a comeback in mainstream culture? Still available on Walmart.com and I believe in select stores also. (Mine is in a size 14/16 Girls) 

On to the next one I opened!!

This one wasn't folded as good as the flawless Rainbow Brite shirt, but was still folded very nicely! 

This shirt was the second very pleasant surprise I had. I almost didn't get this one because the darker shade of pink (I was looking to buy more fairy-kei-able shirts, so light pastels and 80s characters) This shirt stole my heart ever since I took it out of the package. I knew I made the right choice spending the 5 extra dollars to buy this. The chick is adorable with her glasses and her little bow and the message is perfect. That's what fashion is all about, expressing yourself. So I know think I was silly to consider not getting it, it's perfect for Fairy-kei despite the darker shade! (Plus the chick reminds me of a line of characters I designed for my Fairy-Kei clothing line I'm working on! <3) This shirt also fit very well, the second best fitting of the 3 shirts. (Rainbow Brite fit the best as I mentioned earlier.) This shirt is a girls 14/16 and I believe is still available online and possibly in select stores.

The bulges that look awkward are just from the thick tank top that I mentioned I was wearing underneath.

Next we have that skirt you keep seeing! 

This one couldn't really be folded as perfectly as the shirts because of the ruffles, but it still felt so nice and fresh when it came out of the bag! <3 

I'll admit right now, I love the majority of things Walmart puts out with Hello Kitty on it. It's not just because I like Hello Kitty (Who doesn't?) Sanrio type things tend to be made in a way so compatible with Fairy-kei. The light color along with the layer with tulle and stars under another regular skirt layer just makes it look so sweet. I actually have another Hello Kitty Walmart tutu similar to the start material. The star pattern looks about the same, but the other one is a hot pink while this is more of a baby pink. (I will have pictures in my post about shopping for fairy-kei at Walmart with pictures of the skirt I'm referring to.) I really like this skirt and you can see pictures of it in all of the pictures on this article because this skirt was the only bottoms I had in the order so I just wore it with all the tops for worn pictures. This skirt is being sold on both Walmart.com and in select stores I think and it is a size 14/16 girls. I wasn't sure if it would be too big but it fit my waist fine and has plenty of elastic still. My waist is about a 24 around I believe to give you an idea. 

Last, but not least! (In fact I opened it last because I was saving my favorite for last!) 

I was so excited I forgot to snap a separate picture of this one sitting in the plastic. 

This shirt was the sole reason I ordered from Walmart.com in the first place. I saw it in our local Walmart and when we went back I wanted to get it, but it was gone! I decided once to look for it on the site and was able to find it and saw the advertisement for 97 cent shipping! I found they took bank transfers and not just Paypal and I was sold. I found a few other gems and made my order. I knew by looking at it these sleeves were made shorter so I wasn't surprised when this one fit the worst of the three, just in the sleeves mostly. No matter who wears these shirts the sleeves look short so I think it's just a design some Walmart shirts have. This shirt is exactly what I wanted. Something cute, pastel, and with an adorable design on the front. I actually had the pink Moshling on Moshi Monsters I believe (that's the game the characters on the shirt are from and it's one I play.) This shirt was the favorite with my friends, though my aunt really loved the Rainbow Brite shirt. (Who could blame her that one is so cute!) This shirt is one I've been very excited about and it lived up to my expectations well! The color on the website and the color in the actual shirt match very well. Walmart has done a great jobs with the color on the stock photos of the clothes I received. I can't wait to wear this shirt with fairy-kei coords, but I don't think I'll put it through the dryer, I'll just let it air dry. Here is this one worn; 

I'm not a fan of the look of the shorter short sleeves on me, but I can easily pair this with a cute open jacket or something.

This is what I was left with in packaging when it was all opened. Not too bad. 

Well that's my review! I give Walmart.com a 4.7 out of 5 for my experience today, the little I took off is for the weird short sleeves they do on their T-shirts, but that is my only complaint. Shipping was fast and cheap and everything lived up to my expectations completely. I am very happy with my order and if you have any individual sizing questions feel free to ask me. I will cover more about Fairy-kei at Walmart in a future post I've been planning.~ My next store review will be on Target.com I had a gift card and I already have something in the mail! See you next time Pretty Princesses (and Princes and everything else!) 

Sweetly Yours,

Skiteanna La~Sweet