What is Pre-order?

It generally means that you are purchasing a product that has not been produced yet.

The payment usually splits into two parts: a deposit and the final payment (money remaining due). 

After the deposit is paid, the manufacturer will start to produce according to the order quantity. Only after the final payment is made, the manufacturer will ship the finished product to you.

However, the pre-order items in our store are all full payment. You only need to pay once (including the shipping cost) for those pre-order items on Devilinspired. All that is left for you is to wait patiently, we'll send the shipping notice to the customer's e-mail(the one you give us when you ordered) before shipping. We will also update the latest order information for you through [email protected]. 

The Checkout Page when you are ordering:

Or you can have an account on Devilinspired. It's convenient for you to check order information, or receive coupons/store credit if you log in. Any questions or concerns please e-mail [email protected].

Why those items are pre-order?

In Lolita Fashion, Pre-order is an often used sale tool that let Lolita indie brands or stores charge customers a deposit or full payment to reserve products. So that the manufacturer will produce products according to the order quantity and customers can order a loved Lolita dress in advance.

As we know, Lolita Fashion is a niche subculture from Japan. For the manufacturer, pre-order is the perfect way to reduce production costs. In addition, this design of your favorite Lolita Fashion designer may not appeal to you. So the designer uses this method to check out whether the new design is able to have enough orders to put into production.

Will the dress I received exactly the same as the pictures?

The dress you purchase is produced after the pre-order ends. Fabric pieces will be cut, sewn, and made according to the original paper pattern sample. And the manufacturer will do quality control after the dress is made. So the dress you order will be exactly the same as the picture.

The Processes of Pre-order Items

In order to get a better understanding, here are the processes of making a pre-order lolita garment from our store.

1. Clothing Structure Design

As you can tell from the image below, the designer will draw all the details of a garment on a design sketch first.

1.1 Paper Design Sketch

1.2 Clothing Structure Design

Details like the lace types, fabric types, trimming requests, and so on will be added to the sketch so that you can see a full clothing structure design.

2. Fabric and Trim Sourcing

After finishing the clothing structure design, the designer will source the fabric and trim details. Confirm what kinds of main fabric and accessory fabric(lace, ribbon, etc.) the designer wants to use to make the garment.

The manufacturer will use the fabric and trim information the designer gave for the garment sample making. 

2. Source Fabric and Trim According to Clothing Structure Design

3. Pattern Making

Break down the paper design above into 2D pieces.

According to the designer's intention — the clothing structure design, the garment is broken down into pattern pieces. Those pattern pieces are called paper samples, which include the body pattern, the sleeve pattern, the collar pattern, etc.

3.1 Break down the paper design above into 2D pieces


3.2 Paper Pattern Cutting


3.3 Paper Pattern Checking

4. Sample Making

The paper samples are examined and then placed on the fabric, cut into garment pieces according to the outline of the paper samples, and then the garment pieces are sewn and made into garments.

4.1 Cut Fabric according to the Paper Pattern Sample


4.2 Sew the Fabric Pieces into a Garment

5. Try the Sample → Adjustment the Patterns → Sample Making → Get The Final Sample

The samples are sewn individually and used to test whether the patterns need adjustments. This process will continue till the garment sample is perfect.

In the end, we will get the final adjusted paper pattern and the final garment sample. The final adjusted paper pattern will be used for manufacturing the products after the pre-order ends. And the final sample will be used for mannequins or model display.

5. Adjusting the Garment Sample Till it Perfect

6. Shoot Pictures for Advertising

After getting the satisfying garment sample, the indie lolita brands will use the sample to shoot mannequins or model pictures for advertising.

6.1 Mannequins Display Pictures

6.2 Model Display Pictures

7. Put on Sale 

Customers can only purchase a pre-order item within a limited time. The limited time on our websites is usually a month.

*You can Click Pre Order (devilinspired.com) to find more pre-order lolita fashion items.

8. Manufacturing After the Pre-order Ends

The indie brands will produce items according to the order quantities.

The processing time needed to manufacture the items depends on the complexity of the designs. It will take a longer time to produce if the item has more complicated designs.

9. Quality Control → Packaging → Delivery

The quality checks will happen during the manufacturing process and after the production is completed. This part will make sure you will have the exact adorable lolita dress shown in the display pictures.

After the finished items have been reviewed, the order will be delivered to Devilispired's warehouses.  And then be delivered to the destination.

So your total waiting time should be: From Now to the Deadline of pre-order ends+Stated Processing Time(includes manufacturing time and shipping time from manufacturer to Devilinspired's warehouse)+ Shipping Time from Devilinspired's Warehouse to Destination

The Total Waiting Time for Pre-order Items

To sum up, Devilispired doesn't have any stock when we start to accept orders of pre-order items. There is a limited time(which you can check on the page of a pre-order item, usually a month) for you to buy a pre-order item. We accept orders during this limited time. The indie lolita brands will produce the pre-order item according to the order quantity we get. 

The processing time stated on the page of these pre-order items is usually based on this indie lolita brand's estimated time. This is why different pre-order items have different processing times and will not be so accurate.

Therefore, customers who want to get the item should make orders within a specific period of time. And the total waiting time for your pre-order items should be:
    From Now to the Deadline + Stated Processing Time + Shipping Time from Devilinspired's Warehouse to Destination

For example:

This page displays that this pre-order item ends in 20 Days 13 hours 22 minutes, only customers who place the order before the deadline will get the item successfully.

The stated processing time is around 2 months after the pre-order ends.

So the total waiting time is ultimately around 3 months estimated.