It's time I finally introduce my Halloween costume from 2022. For the last few years, I've enjoyed making doll-themed outfits and costumes, and this is the first one that really got the ball rolling for me. I based this look off of a 2006 Licca doll that was released in collaboration with Mister Donut (a popular donut chain in Japan). The doll is very 60-70's-inspired, my favorite fashion era, so I had a blast putting this costume together. I'll ramble about Licca and Mister Donut a lot here, and of course I'll talk about the patterns and materials I used.
This post is going to be a bit long, but I hope it will be coherent and interesting to those of you interested in dolls or Japan!
I didn't know much about Licca dolls until I stumbled upon an exhibit while traveling in Hyogo In July 2022. I had always admired the dolls from afar, but I didn't know much about Licca except for what I had seen in doll sewing books in Japanese bookstores and online.
The exhibit (at the Tooyoka City Museum of History) started with the history of Licca and had a TV featuring a long loop of Licca commercials from over the years. Most importantly, though, the majority of the exhibit consisted of rows and rows of dolls on display, both new and old.
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| The exhibit had a fun area where you could take a photo in a room modeled after the original Licca dollhouse. |
I'm including some photos of my favorite dollies here!
For those unaware, I'd say Licca is Japan's version of Barbie. She was born a little later, in the late 60's rather than the late 50's, but fills the same role as a ubiquitous and inexpensive plastic doll with a seeming endless array of career options and clothing choices before her. Like Barbie, Licca has a family, home, and friends, all available for purchase. She's had collaborations with major brands and has been turned into Happy Meal toys (even as recently as April 2025).
Similarly, collectors are quick to snatch up and save pieces of Licca history, which is how I was able to complete this project! While I don't remember seeing the Mister Donut doll at this particular exhibit, the seed for future Licca inspired costumes had been planted in my brain.
After spending some time deep in Google images, I happened upon a picture of the Mister Donut Licca doll. In 2006, Mister Donut was celebrating its 35th anniversary and released a few Licca dolls as a result. Here's the one I chose!
She's wearing an orange and white ensemble with matching boots, dress, and diner (soda jerk) cap. Included in the box is a doll stand, serving tray, tray placemat, plate, pitcher, donuts, and glasses. Her dress is color-blocked with "Mister Donut" written down the right side. Her boots have orange soles with a single orange stripe up the side. And last, her hat is white with orange trim.
I believe this uniform was worn in the early 1970s and is consider the "first-edition" uniform (初代ユニフォーム) for Mister Donut. If anyone has more information on this specifically, please let me know!
The dolls were released on a limited run of 7000, and there was an application lottery to win the dolls.
This past week I was lucky enough to win her on Ebay! So these pictures of the doll below are my own.
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| This ad explains the application process to win a doll. |
Subsequent searches on Mercari and Yahoo Auctions led me to discover the vast amount of collectibles that were released as a part of the Mister Donut collaboration. Besides the doll herself, keychains, collector plates, tote bags, and even a watch were released. I ended up collecting quite a few these items over the years to commemorate this costume with! I have consistently been surprised that I keep finding more items related to this doll at random. Some of this stuff came from Mercari Japan, but I found the Licca glassware at a Second Street down the street from my apartment in Japan.
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| This is my personal collection of Licca x MisDo stuff I've found! |
Last year I realized there's a DS game that includes this dress! I bought the game for cheap on Ebay recently, but sadly haven't played it yet. If you're interested, I found a forum post from ten-ish years ago that has more information. I will update this post later if I feel the game is more relevant.
Next, Ill talk a little bit about how I actually made the costumes.
I used the French Dart Shift Dress pattern from Maven patterns as a starting point for this dress. It was the perfect starting point and is near identical to the Licca dress, so
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| Link to the dress here! |
I made version A and simply slit the pattern on the front and back to create the orange white color-blocking on the dress. I also chose to keep the sleeves just slightly longer than the pattern would have had me hem them. Other than that, I didn't make any modifications to the dress. The pockets were drafted well and fit very nicely into the side seam. Due to the lack of zipper or other closures, this dress sews up quickly and without too much exertion. I found the sizing to be relatively true-to-size, and the dress is comfortable when worn. That being said, I did panic a little bit when I tried this dress on after adding the sleeves. Despite having made a muslin beforehand, it fit a little tighter around the chest than I expected. However, in the end, I'm glad the dress is more fitted. I wouldn't want to sacrifice the more structured fit for a looser dress.
As there are no zippers or other closures on this dress, the collar and neckline is somewhat large (which isn't a bad thing- I only mean it's large in comparison to the smaller standing collar on the doll). I was worried the collar might actually be too wide to work with the costume, but in the end, I'm happy with how it looks.
As for the hat, I used a vintage flight cap pattern from Mrs. Depew on
Etsy. It was easy to sew and figure out; it's the kind of pattern that could be completed in a day. I made my own orange bias tape from the leftover dress fabric (more on that below!), and was happy with the structured look of the final outcome.
I'll add some more detailed photos of the hat I made here if I ever find them! This costume is currently at my parents house (and I now work in another state), and I somehow can't find any of the older photos on my phone.
This style of hat is also known as a soda jerk hat, and if this exact pattern doesn't suit your fancy, there are a couple other options available to you. One is the Charm Scout hat available
here on the Charm Patterns website. Unlike the flight hat version above, this pattern makes use of piping as a decorative detail and is based on vintage boy scout hats. I actually created this hat first as a tester (it's free!), and although it turned out okay, I decided bias tape was a better fit than piping.
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| the Charm Scout Hat |
The second alternative is a Simplicity pattern that has gone out of print in recent years. It's Simplicity 3847, a car hop waitress uniform pattern available in both adult and child sizes. Included with the waitress uniform is a poodle skirt and petticoat for more 50's inspired options. Although this pattern is now retired, it was printed for many years in the late 2000s through 2010s and is still available in ample supply online. I actually have this pattern in my stash back home in the US. I would have tested the hat out if I was at home!
Fortunately, I was able to finish both the hat and dress in good time. There was actually enough time and materials left over before Halloween that my friend had enough time to make a version for himself. In preparation, I quickly drafted a pattern one afternoon from a mens bodice sloper pattern. This involved widening the neckline a bit and drafting a rectangular collar to be cut on the bias. I used the same width for his collar as the one that came with French Dart dress.
That's essentially it for the sewing explanation. In the end, I omitted the orange rectangle on the front of the dress, partially for simplicity and partially because I forgot about it once I started sewing the rest of the dress. I wish it was there, but oh well.
As for fabrics, I used some pretty generic polyester gabardine. Love it or hate it, this kind of polyester gabardine sews up easily and holds up well for costumes. It's a good weight, so it looks structured but isn't too heavy to work with. It's actually the same fabric I used for the
red bear maid dresses for Halloween 2020 (though not much partying happened that year..). This fabric was easy to find at Craft Heart Tokai at the time- RIP to the Hyuga location near my Japanese house.
The Mister Donut logo was created with a pretty generic printer transfer fabric I found on Amazon JP. If you have a Cricut or a sublimation printer I'm sure this process could be much easier for you! I downloaded the Mister Donut logo png and edited the color in Illustrator to match the doll.
My friend and I wore these costumes out and about in Osaka on Halloween night, so I didn't actually end up with that many photos (but that's okay! I'd rather have the memories.) I got my nails done to match, and I wore some off-white boots from Circus by Sam Edelmam (I chose not to paint them so I could rewear them in the future).
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| | I ended up giving out the donuts throughout the night! They were, of course, from Mister Donut. |
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As always, I love for my nails to match my costumes, so here's what I chose to get done! Shout out to the nail artists of the world and their craftsmanship. Japanese gels can't be beat.
This is one of the most fun projects I've ever completed! My friend and I still talk about this lewk all the time, and I'm honestly so happy we had the chance to do it. Also, I discovered that there's still one remaining Mister Donut in the US- it's definitely going on a future travel plan list.
As always, if you have any comments or questions, please leave them down below!
To see more of my Halloween sewing projects, please click here.
To see more of my projects using indie sewing patterns, please click here.
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