Earlier this year, I had an idea to have a meetup at Calling All Dolls in Cobalt, CT. Calling All Dolls is a unique doll retailer who also specializes in doll restoration. The owner has dolls and doll accessories that are not available in most stores. There is an extensive collection not only of American Girl dolls and their accessories, but also antique dolls, vintage dolls, clothing (a lot of which the owner makes herself), rag dolls, and character dolls. Pre-owned dolls are also available at a discounted price. 

When I asked the community what time of year we should have this meeting, Sarah said that we should have it in March, to commemorate the Japanese holiday Hinamatsuri. Hinamatsuri, also called Dolls Day or Girls Day is celebrated every year on March 3. It celebrates the health and happiness of young girls and women. Families put out elaborate dolls that represent the emperor/empress and their attendants to help attract heath, wealth, and happiness to their daughters. Dango, a Japanese dumpling made of rice flour and glutinous rice flour is a popular dessert served on this day. If you've ever seen a food emoji with 3 balls on a skewer that are pink, white, and green, that's dango. This dessert is often served with some kind of sweetener like sugar, red bean paste, syrup, or other sweeteners. 

For the meeting coordinate suggestion, it was simply, wear colors that you associate with wealth, health/happiness, or anything that makes you feel especially happy. I split the meeting into two parts. First we would go to the doll shop, and then we would go out to ION Restaurant for Sunday brunch in Middletown. It's Only Natural is 100% vegan, but you would never know--the food is so good!!!

Pixie and I got to the Doll Shop first. It was an exceptionally cold and windy day for March, so we decided to get in as soon as possible and hope that Morgan and Sarah just rang the door bell when they arrived. The shop is packed from ceiling to floor with dolls. Let me show you!

Calling All Dolls was part shop, part museum. Renee, the owner told us about several restoration projects and all about the shop. It was fascinating. Sarah found that some of the doll clothes that Renee made actually fit her Kumya Pochette (small bear bag from Baby the Stars Shine Bright), so she got it some bloomers to wear that match dresses she already owns for it. To note though, do not wear a significant petticoat while in this shop. I must have knocked over something at least 4 times just by turning my body very slowly and carefully. 

For Hinamatsuri, I really wanted to call in the ideas of health and wealth, so I incorporated gold and green into my coordinate. I also am wearing pieces from several different brands mixed together. I started with the Shirring Princess JSK in Ivory from Baby The Stars Shine Bright. This is a very famous Japanese brand that creates beautiful sweet style dresses. Most of the time, my bust measurements are too large for this brand without alteration, but the Shirring Princess has plenty of stretch! My version is a much older model (from 2007?) that did not come with a detachable waist bow. There were matching waist ties, but I purchased it used, and they did not come with it. Then I layered a blouse from the Miss Point demon hunter series that has gold embroidery along the buttons as well as gold wrist buttons on the arm cuffs under the Shirring Princess JSK. To add length to the JSK, I wore a cotton underskirt from Miss Point as well. Over all of this, I wore the Nocturne Tulle Cardigan from Atelier Pierrot in the green color way. I had other ideas for my head piece and shoes, but when the weather was below freezing with windchill, I threw on an ivory beret and velvet brown and ivory booties. (Originally I was going to repeat the ivory/gold again in my headpiece and shoes, but the weather was just so uncooperative. In fact, my beret even blew off my head when we walked to the restaurant!)

Morgan and Sarah didn't make it to the restaurant, but it's okay, because we had Marisa and Caro join us for brunch. It's Only Natural Restaurant was a recommendation from Marisa. She goes to it frequently and had lots of good suggestions on what to order from the menu. 

I had such a fun time celebrating the health and wealth of my fashion community around the holiday of Hinamatsuri. It was such an incredibly good idea and I am glad I got input as well from other community members as far as the where and when. I don't own any dolls myself, but I was really inspired by Sarah's bag, so I ordered a posable teddy bear bag that is large enough to wear doll clothes. This bag will appear at a future meeting, so be on the look out for her!

For Valentine's Day this year, we really went all out. The local Romanian restaurant, Transilvania, was having a special Vampire Masquerade themed Valentine's Day menu along with a live band playing popular monster music as well as jazz inspired dance macabre. If you remember our Nosferatu fits from January, this gave us a second opportunity to dress like vampires and have a good time. 

To show we were a vampire couple, we made sure we both wore purple and black. This dress is from the Japanese brand Atelier Pierrot. It had been on my wish list since I knew it existed, but I wasn't so sure if they made it in my size. It turns out that this design, the Bustle Corset JSK was so incredibly popular, the brand released it in a series of three additional plus sizes. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted the purple color way as well. (There's a joke that purple is the overseas favorite, because what the brand has found is that almost everyone who buys the purple color way does not live in Japan).  Was it possible for me to find the Bustle Corset JSK used in the purple color way in Size 2 in a price I could afford? Luck hit me mid August when I was browsing Lace Market (a used marketplace for EGL clothing and accessories) and someone had a reduced price simply because their body size was going to change and needed it desperately out of their closet. It may have been delivered in a beat up cardboard box inside of a trash bag, but it was absolutely the real deal and included the matching underskirt.

The Bustle Corset JSK is pretty lux. It is made of shantung and ruffled chiffon, with a bodice featuring original Atelier Pierrot designed lace. The fish tail skirt has bustles on both the front and back of the skirt. The back has shirring as well as a corset ribbon lacing, for the perfect fit no matter what your body type is. 

I am also wearing a blouse that I purchased from Atelier Pierrot. This blouse is simply called Shirring Princess Sleeve Blouse, and it's usually always available in a few color ways on their website. It is the most popular off the shoulder blouse that they sell and pretty much goes with everything they design. It includes a double lace collar, shirring from the front and back collar to the waist (and on the sleeves), and dramatic princess sleeves that spread in a fan shape. I had to pre-order the black blouse in October (because it was out of stock) and it came in December 2024.  It's definitely a great blouse. I would love to get another one in the bordeaux, navy, or beige at some point, but used, preferably. 

The headdress I'm wearing is a customized gothic rectangle piece from Junvyette on Etsy. I added bat hair clips on top of the satin black bows for the vampire theme. I am also wearing black and white lace printed tights and black pointy boots with silver buckles. The jewelry is silver and red or silver and gray/black. And of course I had to wear a masquerade mask. I tend to pick the lightweight fabric ones that allow you to wear your spectacles over or under it, if you're crafty enough at application.

Pahl is wearing a lightweight pair of black trousers with a black blouse, black lightweight waist coat with silver buttons, black heavier weight tail coat with silver buttons, and a black wool cloak that he has tied to one side to act like Dracula's cape. He is wearing black leather riding boots as well as a purple silk cravat that cleverly matches the shantung fabric on my dress. (The cravat was another birthday gift from me. I was hoping it would match my dress and I was very happy that it did!!) And of course he is wearing a mask! This one is something he bought and I believe it is a metal mask. There are only a few pictures of him wearing it as well, simply because we were at a restaurant and he couldn't eat with it on!

Pahl has a tradition of making Valentine Day cards for each other. Even though I'm an artist as well, I didn't go to an ivy league graduate school for Painting like Pahl did, so I always try to do something a little outside of the box. You can tell Pahl's card is masterfully designed and took him several hours to add line work, painting and other small details. I decided to put my tiny adult hands to good use and make swan origami where it is made of as single piece of paper. The archway that they are floating under is three hearts. I went way back into my elementary school art supplies to pull out the oil pastels and doilies to accent the rest of the card. It's relatively simple looking, but the origami was somewhat complicated with many steps and many small folds. I was proud of myself for also making it 3D and something that could lay flat in the card or be displayed open. 

I had bemoaned the fact that I was just about finished with the pound and a half chocolate bar that my friend had picked up at Trader Joes for our Christmas party in early December 2024, so Pahl made it his mission to fill up my chocolate stash. The chocolate inside the metal Godiva tin did not last long...but the rest of these bars (in order of darkness right to left), certainly have. As of the time of this entry, April 2025, I still have 3 of the bars left. 

I had so much fun dressing up, going out to dinner, and dancing to a live band for a little while. I hope the restaurant continues to put on fun themed events like this one! And I noticed that in general people that happen to be at the same place/event have also noticed that our outfits are real clothes---not just costumes!  We get a lot of questions about where we acquire things, so don't be afraid to ask if I somehow don't write about it here.