June, 2025

I just got this underskirt/petti from Mercari and am really excited to pair it up with coords for a bit of musical flare >:) It has a scalloped edge with notes bunched up at the bottom. At first, I was worried that the bunched up effect would not do me any justice in creating a 'seamless' edge effect to my dresses. However, I will most likely pair the skirt with another petticoat underneath to even out the fluffiness and give the illusion that it is connected to the main skirt/dress piece.

I was curious to know more about the brand it had come from as upon looking at the Mercari description, it came from a shop called "Doll in High Heels", which I had never heard of! Upon doing a quick google search (ドールインハイヒール), I found some very cute pics of the shop and was drawn in from then on. I'm sure there is someone out there who knows that this brand exists but even so, I want to shed some light on this now defunct girly brand.

Upon looking at products both from the pictures and from existing pieces for sale on Mercari, it seems the brand did not specialise in lolita. Still, the shop very much had lolita-inspired and loliable pieces, ranging from head bows to petticoats and lace parasols. The brand in a way reminds me of a mixture between the mori-kei brand "Wonder Rocket"and the fairy kei brand "Nile Perch", but with a touch of whimsy which draws on vintage items and nostalgia.

According to one blog, "There is a wide variety of items, including lingerie, accessories, household goods, loungewear and shoes, antiques, vintage items, remade items, etc. And yet, the store is unified in macaron pink color, so it may be a favorite for those who like this world".

There are only three websites from which I have gathered all my information, one being their Ameblo blog, another from a retail and food store update website and another from someone's diary titled "fashion bible". They seemed to only have had two storefronts, opening on the 13th December, 2006 and closing down on the 28th of March, 2010.

As quoted from fashion bible: "I went to the opening of "Doll in High Heels," which opens tomorrow. It's a select shop produced by "AmonaVie." The shop's concept is the world of the "pin-up girl," a nostalgic, desirable image of a woman". Below are illustrations, which would have advertised the brand.

Overall, the brand sported a LOT of prints: gingham, polka dot, to leopard print, all tying back to inspirations of the traditional american pin-up girl.

It's strange as despite the evident 'sex appeal' of the pin-up girl, the store does not seem to radiate that whatsoever. Dresses are around knee-length, the staff donne haircuts reminiscent of sweet egl styles and there are toys strewn everywhere. It seems to me that Doll in High Heels rather took the traditional 'girliness' of the pin-up and catered it to the kawaii boom of Japan's 90's to early 2000's.

Overall, a very interesting dive into a very obscure brand I don't believe is as relevant as I have made it out to be. Nevertheless, the cuteness of the store definitely deserves some more attention and it's such a shame that it eventually faded out of existence (╥﹏╥).

Bonus: The way the shopkeeper and designer of Doll in High Heels brought their brand mascots around Tokyo and took pictures of them everywhere really reminded me of how I take pictures of my figurine Mobius (from Loki) on random adventures. The intricacies of adulthood aren't really that complex I guess ahaha.