Starting with lolita fashion? My story!

When I was just a 'beginner' in lolita fashion, I wasn't planning on wearing dresses at all! I looked at the cute cutsews and told myself I was going to wear them with my normal clothes. So my first items were a cutsew from Angelic Pretty and a cardigan from Baby, the stars shine bright. Because they were so old, I can't find a stock picture now, but the cutsew was white and the cardigan pink. 

Soon I discovered a website that sold slightly cheaper items: Bodyline. I was hooked! I thought by myself "These skirts look soo cute and if I don't wear them, not too much money is lost". I ordered these skirts: 

In blue

In blue

In pink

I do not think these were bad choices at all. I recommend Bodyline to every lolita, "beginner" or not. In fact, I am  a bit sad that I sold the first two skirts and made the last one shorter to have a more gyaru like look. The important things you should pay attention to when you are new and buying from Bodyline, are:
♥ Is the length of the dress/skirt long enough? (You can take a measure tape and see if it falls on the knee or below. A few cm above is ok, but not too much)
♥ Is it made from good quality material? Cotton is always good. 

Now, my second purchase was a dress from Angelic Pretty - cosmetics jsk - that didn't fit. Too bad! I sold it. It was then, though, that I discovered the joy of dresses. I thought they were too fancy at first, but they can be toned down by a cardigan if you wish. Jumperskirts (sleeveless dresses meant to wear with a blouse) and especially onepieces (dresses with sleeves that you can wear on its own) are comfortable, easy to create outfits with and flattering since they automatically fall on your true waist instead of too low (unless you are very tall or short, but Bodyline offers dresses for taller girls as well, also Innocent World and Metamorphose, and Angelic Pretty is often better for shorter girls).
My second dress was a blue onepiece by Angelic Pretty. I wore it a few times. I loved it, although I wasn't completely satisfied with it, because it was a bit warm. But now I'm sad I sold it as well. I also think I sold it because I wasn't good at coordinating.

 Photo is from the museum meet in 2011, and is made by the boyfriend of Rooz, one of the fellow Dutch lolita's.
I wore a blue dress with dark grey tights, a black faux leather bolero and black plateau shoes by Metamorphose (not visible) which I later sold as well. There is nothing terribly wrong with this coordinate I think, especially because I'm re-discovering the idea of combining pastels with black, to make a different looking sweet outfit. But, this outfit could definitely be improved by a white or blue blouse, headbow,  kneesocks and shoes. 
Now, on to my worst lolita outfit!

I still cringe when I see this photo. Not only because it wasn't my best looking outfit, but also because dying the pink cardigan shown black - and then trying to bleach it again - was the worst clothing related mistake I've ever made. You don't want to see the result.
Anyway, back to the outfit! I was not wearing a petticoat that was full enough to avoid the flattening effect from the cardigan, the combination of black/pink was not enough balanced (too much pink on top, too much black at the bottom) and my arms were very plain, with no bracelets or something.

This was how I started out with lolita fashion. I hope it was a bit helpful for beginners.