While waiting for my auction to arrive to and be shipped from Crescent Shop, I’ve been completely fixated on dolls and doll accessories. I’ve browsed the wig section of every major ball-jointed doll retailer. I’ve overloaded my internet browser with tab after tab of meticulously photographed doll outfits…most of which are out of stock anyway. I’ve scrutinized the measurements of every “MSD”-sized shoe, wondering which would fit on my incoming doll’s chubby little feet. My person suffered through discussion after discussion about the “right” kind of items for the doll who wasn’t even in transit yet.

Finally, I couldn’t resist any longer, and I placed an order with Volks USA. Not for another doll–I’m definitely not at that kind of stage yet–but for supplies and accessories.

I always wished I had a restringing tool for Claudia. Rosette School of Dolls ships their dolls with the elastic very loose, to avoid damage during shipping. They clearly state that the doll will require tension adjustment, and the guidebook specifies an amount to shorten the elastic by. However, Rosette does not knot their elastic in the head–they knot it in the torso, hidden by other pieces of the body’s engineering. This made it very difficult for me to tighten her elastic; I never managed to get it to a less-floppy tension.

Although I know that many people excel at restringing a doll with all sorts of non-standard tools, such as shoelaces, pipe cleaners, crochet hooks, and ribbon, I was constantly frustrated by my lack of a proper tool. I want to be able to adjust the tension for my doll when she arrives–and I want to be able to completely restring her if there should be a need to do so. I know that it can be done without a dedicated restringing tool, but I very much wanted one and thus decided to order it from Volks.

Additionally, I wanted to enable her to have better poseability. I know from reading information from other Volks doll-owners that some kind of process to provide friction in the joints greatly improves the range of positions possible for the doll to hold. I considered hot-glue “sueding,” sueding with pilver, and the use of Volks KIPS (or other silicone washers). I decided on KIPS because they are inexpensive and non-permanent. If I don’t get results I am satisfied with I will have to try something else, but at least it won’t cause damage. (And obviously I will have an opportunity to use a restringing tool if I am installing KIPS, as it requires the doll to be unstrung.)

There was one dress in the MSD-size on the Volks USA website that I really thought was cute and perfect for a little girl–and it was still in stock. I feel like it will be nice if she has something to wear besides a school uniform. (And how much better if it is a cute little dress!) The dress is a white fabric with violet floral pattern and an attached pinafore.

I also ordered a wig. It is their “cream” colour, which is a lovely pale brown/blonde that makes me think of milk tea. I absolutely adore that colour~ Sometimes when I’m in the Japanese market I see hair dye in the shade “milk tea” and wish I were a little bit more adventurous and would use it on my hair! The wig itself is a long, slightly wavy style. It won me over when I saw another Nagisa in Preschool wearing one in a different colour for one of the Volks promotional images.

I feel a little guilty for buying so many things, but my quest for cuteness propels me forward.

There’s also a raincoat set coming from a different seller. I hope everything fits her and suits her when she’s finally arrived. This little doll hasn’t even arrived and she’s heading towards being quite spoiled by me! I wish I had more people to talk about doll-related things with, but at least with the way things are I don’t have to listen to lectures on what “responsible adult women” spend their money on.