What has Jfashion and Cosplay taught you about being a consumer?

>>9348949
>For me;
It's taught me that as a consumer in a first world setting I am responsible for how I choose to spend my money. There will always be a better "deal" out there and that when I choose to buy a thing I am saying that that product has reached a standard I am satisfied with. And also that life is random; there is absolutely no way to predict what will or will not be available in the future, so I need to decide on a case-by-case basis if things are at my standard and if a "better" thing shows up later I should never beat myself up over it; because how could any human predict that?

Example case:
>Buy the version of a brand dress I would be "very happy / content with" with this pay period's "fun money".
>The "Ideal / Perfect" version of brando dress shows up on same secondhand site three days later after my package has shipped.

When I was younger, I would have shut a brick over this; but now I realize what I said above. So really, in a weird weird way, Lolita has taught me to be calmer.

>>9348949
Lolita (and jfashion in general) taught me the value of a small, workable wardrobe made out of quality pieces. It also got me into shopping second hand as a sustainable choice as a consumer.

I'm one of those bleeding heart liberal types, whose also really into planning my finances so anything that 1) is better for the environment 2) isn't made with sweatshop labor and 3) saves me money is my shit. I think lolita got me thinking that way.

>inb4 preachy
I don't care what other people do with their money, I'm just happy when I can control where mine goes

>>9348974
Yeah, Lolita taught me also that I was spending too much on fast fashion. I'm not into trends, but I used fast fashion stores for my casual wardrobe and wanting to get into Lolita fashion taught me that I was spending too much on clothing I wasn't emotionally invested in. Why pay $70 for jeans from a sweat shop that I don't deeply care about, when instead I could buy jeans from the thrift store and then use the saved money to own something I genuinely care about?

One thing I've always found puzzling is the second hand fashion market in Japan. I can see why lolita items would retain their value over the years better but apart from that a lot of second hand clothing seems quite exorbitantly priced compared to what you'd get in the West.

>>9349022
who pays $70 for jeans, what?

With the rise of Chinese commissions it's taught me equal parts you get what you pay for and higher price tag =/= better quality.

I learned what things actually go for. That person doing a "cusom" FMA army cosplay for $60 is probably gonna be crap quality, but that person charging $300 is probably no better than the person charging $120.

It's also taught me that not enough people appreciate how much time/effort goes into cosplay. When someone is more surprised that I spent $200 on materials rather than I spent 25 hours making it, it annoys me because my time is worth more that $8/h.

>>9354973
People who buy designer jeans, though jeans from stores like H&M can easily hit 50 USD depending on the style and material.

>>9354963
Where do you live? In the Netherlands, there are tons of secondhand shops that sell the same boring shirts for 20 euro, often these shops even look dirty. There are "real vintage" shops where you pay 200 euro for a dress, and there are charity shops where you can buy normie stuff for 1-10 euro.

>>9348949
An ambivalent experience here.
For one side, I learned that is better to be commited and pay more for what you want, rather than an unfocused stream of small purchases for things that barely do the job (small ebay/taobao shit), which at the end sum up for a big expense that could be intimidating, but more effective.
On the contrary, a big purchase is not an investment, as the market cannot be predicted and money now has more value than reselling a dress that may or may not be popular in the future (money later).
Now I am more careful with the dresses I choose and I go for things I like and will use often.
The first sentiment has influenced other areas of my life, for example in buying electronics.

At first I used to treat my expensive items as a precious thing that should never be used, and never used it/enjoyed it.
Now I value more using an item, even though it may lose value when reselling it. If I don't use something, I sell as soon as possible. I can understand how some new Lolitas get crazy about wearing brand blouses or washing them, but now I have no feelings.

>>9348954
>because how could any human predict that?

This very much.

I never thought I'd be interested in currency but nowadays I find myself checking the value of the dollar/pound to yen daily.

>>9354963
Japan's secondhand clothing is usually carefully curated, i.e. they travel overseas to look for stock (many vintage stores do this). This the price reflects the cost involved in sourcing.
There's always like Book Off or Treasure Factory if you want cheap

>>9354973
OMG, gals around here pay several HUNDRED for their jeans, have them tailored, wear expensive boots with them and carry an LV bag. Add chunky blonde highlights, a blow-out and a weekly gel manicure, it's practically a uniform.

On topic: Lolita has taught me that I like unique niche fashion over high street fashion of the same cost/quality. Lolita is much cheaper than designer fashion but just as unique in many ways.
I've watched the cost standard decline with so much Taobao stuff and I'm not sure I'm in favor of it, generally. Being able to afford burando, even used, used to set a certain standard. I like that. Nothing in the fashion compares to getting and wearing a new brand release that I love right when it comes out! I really like wearing a dress I just recently saw in a magazine! Hunting second-hand dresses is economical but not as fun.

I've also learned that I'm often happier with buying my second choice in a cut or colorway right now if it's taking too long to find my first choice. I've bought my second choice and then bought my first choice later when it came along, selling the other one afterwards.

>>9354987
I live in the UK. Secondhand consigment shops aren't common at all (I'm not including charity shops), most vintage shops outside of London aren't massively expensive. I was mostly referring to things like ebay/second hand apps, the prices in their Japanese equivalents seem much higher on average.

>>9354998
Same, just replace dollars with pounds.
Speaking of which, apparently the pound is supposed to go down once Article 50 passes, do any gulls here have a plan for that? I was considering exchanging some pounds into yen and putting that into a separate account to use for online shopping as I have a pretty good idea of what I'll want to be spending money on, but I'm not sure if that's even feasible

>>9355024
The secondhand prices are actually pretty great outside of lolita, I got an Ehyphen Bonbon skirt for ¥500 including domestic postage.
Not to mention the condition of Japanese items is usually much better than it is here in the UK.

>>9348949
Lolita made me way the hell more comfortable with buying clothing secondhand, and also underscored how much we settle for as US consumers in terms of quality of items. In terms of mixed blessings, it really screwed up what I consider expensive and inexpensive nowadays.

And yeah, I've also hit the point where I want to have nothing to do with fast fashion due to a host of reasons, several of which points back to lolita and jfash.

>>9348949
That globalism is actually an amazing thing because it lowers the price of goods. Also tariffs are fucking awful.

>>9355279
And that trade is a great thing!

Lolita taught me the power of my money, that I don't spend enough on clothes and to be a more sustainable and minimalist consumer.
Sure I could make bi weekly clothing purchases with my friends from cheap internet sites or fast fashion stores. Wear the clothes once or twice, then dump it. Or buy things I likely won't wear because they're cheap and cute.
Every dollar I spend contributes directly to another persons wallet. This means I have to choose who I buy from because it defines what I stand for and my contribution to the world.
I'm more content to wait a month or two to buy a single t shirt or purse now. Lolita helped me to slow down and see fashion for the farce it is.
We don't need to be paying less for more, we need to be paying more for less.