From: http://strangegirlblog.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-is-dolly-kei.html
Dolly Kei is a Japanese fashion inspired by vintage and antique dolls, vintage and antique clothing, Grimm's fairytales, the Victorian era, gypsies, romance, goth, and very old clothing styles from eastern Europe. I would say you can even see bits of rococo and Alice influences in it.
While there isn't set list of Dolly Kei "rules", the look is characterized by layering and volume (think "more is more"), patterns, mixing of textures, fur, embroidery, tapestry, lace, flowers and accessories which tend to be on the large and creepy side. It's not uncommon to see Dolly outfits accessorised with large crosses and other religious relics, vintage toys, or even bones and doll parts. So far as colour-palate is concerned, there's seems to be two schools: light and airy whites and pastels (akin to mori girl and cult party), and deep dark jewel-tones and black. The over-all look is unusual, very striking, creepy, cute, and hauntingly lovely.
In relation to lolita and other Japanese substyles:
Dolly Kei is probably closest related to Mori (forest) Girl and Cult Party. Like Mori and Cult Party (and unlike a lot of japanese fashions), there's less focus on brand as the style relies almost solely on vintage and antique pieces, and items that are hand-made and reconstructed. Unique and one-of-a-kind items are very encouraged. It could also be said that Dolly Kei is related to lolita, in that you do see a lot of influence from victorian, doll and "days of yore" fashion. But unlike lolita, there is less focus on "kawaii" and youth, and the pieces and clothing in a Dolly Kei wardrobe look much more battered, worn and distressed. You want your Dolly Kei pieces to look old. Also, unlike lolita, there is no set hemline. You can have your dresses and skirts mini all the way to floor-length. The same goes for heel height on your shoes. As I mentioned before, Dolly kei doesn't really rely on rules where lolita is steeped in them.
