The setup from Rosette Doll is one in which each doll arrives with a specific wig, specific eyes, a specific body, a specific outfit, and a specific faceup. This is not common among ball-jointed dolls–most dolls arrive with random eyes and a random wig, naked and unpainted. Sometimes they can be purchased as a “fullset,” where the doll should arrive as shown in the promotional images–usually a limited edition. Although Rosette Doll does issue limited edition dolls, even the basic dolls are fullset.
While there is something fulfilling about receiving a doll exactly as shown in the promotional images, part of the fun of ball-jointed dolls is customization.
The doll that I purchased was a limited edition Violet. Fitting of her name, she arrived with a violet eyes. Her wig was a lovely pale brown and ivory blend, styled with curls and pulled back from her face. However, those eyes and wig, although beautiful, did not seem correct for the doll I wished to own. When I first noticed Violet’s face sculpt, I envisioned her with dark brown eyes and blonde hair.
Based on the measurements provided on the Rosette Doll website, I purchased two blonde wigs from DollHeart. The particular proportions of the dolls meant that even though she is taller than a typical 45cm MSD-sized doll, she wears a 17cm wig that would fit a Yo-SD-sized doll. However, my doll is a young lady at Rosette School, not a baby as most Yo-SD-sized dolls are depicted. It took careful searching to find wigs in such a small size that also looked at least somewhat mature.
At DollHeart, I found two~ One caught my eye immediately, because it seemed perfect for a young Victorian girl. The wig features a ponytail of curled ringlets, eyebrow-length bangs, and two thin ringlets to frame the face. Ringlets are very prominent in hairstyles around the Victorian era, especially so for girls. The ponytail, however, gave the effect of a more mature updo–and certainly a single ponytail is more adult than pigtails.
However, the second hairstyle was not at all suitable for an old-fashioned young lady–it was a twisted, pinned up ponytail with two thin braids coming from the back of the style. However, I couldn’t help thinking that I would be able to take the ponytail down and brush it out, allowing her to have an “unstyled” wig for more casual events. Now, restyling a wig is not easy, and sometimes it cannot be done. Wigs are not human scalps, so the hair is often omitted in areas if it cannot be seen, as it reduces bulk. Luckily for me, my suspicion was correct, and it was possible to unstitch the ponytail and slice out the braids. The wig does have a few odd spots under the top layers of hair where the fiber in a specific area has been trimmed extremely short, but overall it is more than functional.
When my doll finally arrived, the blonde wigs were waiting for her, but she still had the same violet eyes. I really wanted to replace her eyes with dark brown eyes from SOOM similar to the kind she already wore. However, the colors that I was looking at were sold out in the size that she wore. I was lucky enough to find out that another member of Den of Angels had received a bonus pair of 14mm dark SOOM silicone eyes with the student version of a doll who had been ordered during the Christmas present period. In the meantime, my doll seemed a bit listless, despite being rather lifelike. There seemed to be something wrong because her eyes just weren’t the right color.
The new eyes arrived the other day, just two days after I paid for them. As soon as I placed the first eye in her faceplate, I knew they were perfect! Her entire faceup seemed enhanced and lively, accented by the dark eyes. I keep thinking that perhaps I’d like to get a different shade of brown, to see what they’d look like, but her eyes right now are gorgeous~! I’m so glad that I was able to get a pair for her so quickly!