A Bodacious & Buxom Adventuring Outfit


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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Pathfinder and Adventuring

A paper doll adventuring outfit with a belted tunic over a shirt, leggings and boots. She also has a sword.

A paper doll adventuring outfit with a belted tunic over a shirt, leggings and boots. She also has a sword.

I play a fair bit of Pathfinder. It’s a d20 based RPG which has so much in common with Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 that people joking refer to it as Dungeons and Dragons 3.75. I started playing when I moved to Alabama, because it was a way to meet new people.

Plus I like spending my evenings killing imaginary monsters (and also sometimes, there’s pie.)

When you start out as a first level character, you get an outfit of clothing. The book is pretty vague on what this clothing actually consists of, but I was thinking about it recently. I always try to decide how my characters dress, because clothing is a physical manifestation of their social and cultural values.

(If you want to see an amazing version of this on screen, watch Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. The costuming is fabulous. The show is super weird and wonderful.)

Today’s paper doll is my version of what a beginning adventurer might wear. This isn’t someone who can really afford a super nice set of armor yet and they’re still kinda just figuring things out. So, we’ve got a tunic with a vest over it, a bit of armor, leggings and boots. There’s no lavish decorations.

There’s also a sword.

I figure any good adventurer probably has some famous sword to carry around, so she’s got one too. Maybe it’s magical?

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday. Next week, there will be a whole week of Mini-Maiden paper dolls.

Need to get a Bodacious & Buxom paper doll to wear these fabulous clothes? Pick one out here.

A Fitted Dress from 1956 for the Ms. Mannequin Paper Dolls


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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Vogue 8972, A Sewing Pattern from 1956A paper doll dress based on a pattern cover from 1956 for the Ms. Mannequin paper doll series in grape purple.

A paper doll dress based on a pattern cover from 1956 for the Ms. Mannequin paper doll series to print and color.

I’ve written before that part of what I like about drawing from fashion magazines is the simplicity of it. You see a shirt. You draw the shirt.

Thanks to the Vintage Pattern Wiki, I can apply a similar feeling to drawing vintage historical paper doll clothing. There are hundreds of vintage pattern covers in the Vintage Pattern Wiki, so if I feel like drawing 20th century clothing than I find it doesn’t take a lot of energy to track down something I like and draw it. I just pick a decade and start looking.

I’ll openly grant that this isn’t exactly the best research practice, but it’s fun and I like picking out things to try to recreate.

Today’s dress from 1956 comes from Vogue 8972. The Vogue pattern company began as a feature in Vogue magazine. In 1909, Conte Nast bought Vogue magazine and the pattern company was formed in 1914. This was around the same time most of the other big name pattern companies were getting started as well.

It might be confirmation bias, but Vogue patterns, even today, seem to be more couture styled than others.

When I chose to draw Vogue 8972, I thought it was an afternoon or dinner dress, but the pattern isn’t specific. I chose to make my a grape purple, because I like purple.

I am a little concerned that I might have made the skirt a bit shorter than it should be, but fashion figures have such freakishly long legs it can be hard to tell where the skirt actually stops.

There’s a few other patterns from the mid-1950s with similar narrow skirted silhouette are McCall’s 3461Vogue S-4627, Simplicity 1678, McCalls 4615 and Advance 8368. There are dozens of others, but those were a few I thought shared traits with today’s paper doll dress.

Well, what do you think of the 1950s? It is a favorite fashion period of yours? Let me know in a comment.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick out a Ms. Mannequin Paper Doll Here

A Printable Paper Doll Princess Ball Gown for Marisole Monday & Friends


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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Fantasy Gowns
A fantasy princess paper doll ball gown to print, color, and play with. One of hundreds of paper dolls to print from paperthinpersonas.com.

Today’s Marisole Monday post is princess paper doll ball gown with a full skirt and double puffed sleeves. It’s pretty over the top, though not the most over the top thing I have ever drawn.

I love drawing what I think of a traditional princess paper doll ball gown. You know the type with big skirts and puffy sleeves. The kind of gowns you imagine being worn only in cartoon movies with musical numbers and never by actual people in the real world who need to get through doorways.

All paper dolls are about fantasy to some degree. After all, much of the armor I draw wouldn’t protect you very well and plenty of the gowns I draw would be hard to walk it or move in, but I still draw them. I do care about some levels of realism. I like the for my paper doll clothing to ‘make sense’ in so much as, I want them to actual be able to exist.

It matters to me that layers layer properly and such. Fabric looks like fabric. You know, those sorts of things.

But practicality belongs somewhere other than in the realm of paper dolls.

This dress went through three color schemes or so, before I decided I like this yellow, blue and orange option.

One of the other color schemes, is up on the Patreon page for my patrons. So, if you’re a patron hop over to see it and if you’re not, consider joining. It’s a fun time.

As always, I love to here what you all think in the comments.

Need a Marisole Monday & Friends Lady Paper Doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick One Out Here

Summery Printable Paper Doll Clothing for the Mini-Maidens


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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: What I see in the Summer Fashion Magazines
A pair of sleeveless tops and a pencil skirt with booties for a printable paper doll in black and white for coloring. Free from paperthinpersonas.com.
So, for today’s paper doll clothing I created a skirt and two sleeveless blouses for the Mini-Maiden’s printable paper doll series. The designs are straight from the fashion magazines that seem to pile up on my coffee table while I’m not paying enough attention.

Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of summer. I dislike the heat and I really dislike the humidty. I never felt this way until I moved to Alabama and now I’ve learned why people don’t like summertime.

I do, however, enjoy looking at the seasonal fashion magazines though and seeing different clothing ideas. Flipping through fashion magazines always seems to make me want to draw. I see all sorts of things I’d like to try to recreate for my paper dolls.

Today’s pair of sleeveless tops and skirt all come from different fashion magazines. I tend to use Instyle and People StyleWatch most often. They have very easy to see photos of clothing.

In the magazine, the paper dolls booties were heavily decorated with cut outs. When I tried to draw the cut outs, they ended up looking really odd. So, I have omitted them from today’s paper doll.

You’ll just have to imagine cut outs.

Love today’s paper doll clothing? Hate it? Let me know in a comment.

Need a Mini-Maiden paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Mini-Maiden Paper Doll Here.

The Poppet’s Printable Paper Dolls New Dress from 1923


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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Children’s Fashions 1900-1950 As Pictured in Sears Catalogs
A 1920s doll dress from Sears catalog designed to fit the Poppet's printable paper doll series. The drop waisted blue dress with white medalions around the skirt that feature flowers in the center. The dress has a dark blue sash and white collars and cuffs. White shoes with knee high socks complete the outfit.

A 1960s inspired vintage paper doll outfit with a jumper over tights. The jumper is over a puffed sleeved blouse. The jumper is trimmed in piping and the shoes have cross cross straps. Sized to fit the Poppet paper doll series.

First up, I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words on Monday. I meant a lot to me to hear from you.

So, I promised myself that the next batch of 1920s clothing for the Poppets paper dolls, I would make sure to note where each dress came from. Today’s 1920s doll dress is from a 1923 Sears catalog. Children’s Fashions 1900-1950 As Pictured in Sears Catalogs provided the reference image for today’s 1923 paper doll dress.

Sadly, the Children’s Fashions book is out of print. I wish there were more good reference works on children’s historical clothing, but that’s a different problem.

The original 1920s dress illustration was in black and white, as most of the illustrations in catalogs were in those days. The description just says a crepe dress which really doesn’t mean much.

I decided on a monochromatic blue color scheme, because I wanted to do something a little unexpected. I tend towards traditional when I think of flowers, but I love how this came out.

Meanwhile, you can see all the other 1920s Children’s Wardrobe Collection dresses and see what else your 1920s Poppet needs. I just bought a new book on the 1920s, Montgomery Ward Fashions of the Twenties, so there will no doubt be more of this series as I look through that one for inspiration.

If you have a moment, think about becoming a Patron or liking it on facebook. It really does help.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.

Marisole Monday In Some Leather Armor and an Announcement


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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Armor and Things

A printable paper doll with brown hair is a braided style. Her armor is chainmail with leather armor over it. She also has leggings and brown leather boots. Her accessories are an axe, a sword and a knife.

Paper doll Dress. Printable paper doll series from paperthinpersonas.com.

Today’s paper doll is Marisole in some leather armor over some chainmail. I wanted her hair to both be lady-like, but also practical. Every paper doll needs some weapons as well.

But there’s bigger news today than this paper doll, I gotta say.

When I set a goal, I tend to reach it. I don’t stop until I meet my deadlines. When I say there will be five posts a week, than by gosh there are going to be five posts a week. This can be a great trait, but it also means sometimes I need a swift kick in the rear to realize that I have to set realistic goals.

As some of you know, I am starting a graduate program in the fall while also working full time. Originally, I planned to create 60 paper doll posts for August, September and October.

Except I couldn’t do it. Every time I picked up my pencil, I felt intense stress. What if I didn’t make enough paper dolls? What if I failed? What if I let people down somehow?

I want to enjoy my hobby and be realistic about what I can or can not get promise my readers. I can’t keep up the current pace of production, work full time, be in grad school, and have any time for anything else.

The big news is this: The blog will be switching to a three day a week schedule- Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

There maybe an extra post here and there when I feel like it, but no promises. I am contemplating different changes as well, such as doing a Marisole Monday post every Monday, again, but truthfullly I haven’t decided quite yet what exactly the future will look like.

For now, I hope you enjoy today’s paper doll warrior. There will be a new addition to the 1920s Poppet series on Wednesday.

As always, I love to hear from you all in the comments.

Need a more outfits for today’s Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here

Expressing My Love of Punk Music Through Paper Dolls, Like You Do


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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:1970s Punk Music, plus this picture, this picture and this picture
A black and white paper doll outfit coloring page. The outfit is inspired by 1970s punk and consists of a leather biker jacket, torn shirt and mini-skirt. The paper doll's wig is styled into a mohawk. The shoes are a leather knee high boots.
Here’s a fact most people don’t know about me. I love 1970s classic punk music.

It is not at all uncommon to hear me singing along loudly to the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, the Clash or Blondie while driving in my car. So, when July’s theme- Musical Genre rolled around, I knew from the get go that I was drawing a classic punk outfit for the Collaborative Paper Doll Project that myself, Boots, Miss. Missy and Julie have taken on.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t settle on punk at first. At first, I thought I would do jazz with a 1920s get up, or maybe country music (another love) with a banjo and a cowboy hat. But as I sat in my living room listening to the Ramones, I realized that I really should embrace one of my first and strongest musical loves. So, Punk it was.

(In case you are wondering, here’s a link to my favorite Ramones’ song.)

Once I settled on punk, I also knew I wasn’t going to do contempoary punk fashion or the punk fashion of my own adolsence. I wanted to draw a 1970s punk outfit.

That meant drawing what might be my first biker jacket, heavy duty boots and a mowhawk. I added buttons to the jacket and lots of spikes. The tiny mini-skirt and torn up shirt seemed to fit the aesthetic.

There’s lots of pictures of Punk attire on my Punk Fashion pinterest board, but this picture, this picture and this picture, all from the 1970s, inspired today’s punk look.

This month’s Paper Doll Collaboration theme was “Musical Styles” and obviously, I chose punk. Head over to Paper Doll School, Popculture Looking Land and Miss. Missy’s Paper Dolls to see what other folks are creating.

Need a doll to wear this stylish outfit? Grab the Doll here. 

Summer Time Paper Doll Fashions for Ms. Mannequin


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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Spring and Summer Fashions
Summer paper doll clothes from paperthinpersonas.com. A dress, tank and a pair of shorts.

Summer paper doll clothes from paperthinpersonas.com. A dress, tank and a pair of shorts.

I’ve been wanting for a while to take the Ms. Mannequin printable paper dolls back to their roots a little. So today’s post is contemporary spring and summer fashions. Contemporary fashion was what I originally designed them to be all about. Personally, I think today’s summer paper doll clothes are what a fashionable girl might wear to a picnic.

A super fashionable picnic- the kind with champagne and tiny sandwiches. I have never been to one of these.

I really wanted to play around with pastels this time and embrace soft smoky colors. I was particularly excited with how the blue dress came out. It really reminds me of blue linen, though I have no idea why.

Perhaps I am fantasizing about linen, because summer has finally come to Alabama. After a blessedly cold spring, we are now hitting the heat and humidity we’re known for. I very much dislike the summer in the South.

I think I would dislike it less if my office weren’t always freezing. Books like 65 degrees and 40% humidity. People are not so keen on those temps, so I wear a cardigan to work every day and swelter in the jaunt from my car to the office.

Still, it is more important that my collection is happy than it is that I am happy. I will suffer for my historical papers, as any good Special Collections librarian should. (This is also why I once draped by coat over a book in a sudden unexpected snowfall to protect it and froze walking back across campus.)

And now that I have managed to fill today’s post with complaining about the weather, which is basically the sport that rivals college football in Alabama, I would love to know what you think of today’s summer paper doll clothes. Leave me a comment ad let me know.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick out a Ms. Mannequin Paper Doll Here

Mini-Maidens’ In a Medieval Fantasy Paper Doll Dress Coloring Sheet


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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: 12th Century Clothing, Sort of, but Not ReallyA beautiful fantasy paper doll dress coloring sheet with a Lord of the Rings style fantasy gown and shoes. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com.

When I just feel like “generic fantasy”, I tend to fall back a lot on medieval looks. Sort of Lord of the Rings inspired, really. I think knights, castles, princess, dwarves, and dragons are all things I associate with classic fantasy.

It’s also a style I was asked for more of by several of my Patrons. I like to draw it as well, so I am happy to oblige.

I gave her a book as an accessory, because every paper doll should have a book. Besides, as a rare book librarian, I love drawing historical looking books.

Mini-Maiden paper doll dress coloring sheets I think are more fun if there is some pattern involved. While this might not be the most complex pattern, I really thought it added some beautiful depth.

The shoes are vaguely based on some from the book Stepping Through Time which is a wonderful book on historical footwear. It’s arranged by type of shoe construction which makes it a little confusing, but it is an amazing work.

Anyway, the shoes aren’t from any specific period. I just wanted to mention that book, because books about historical footwear are oddly hard to find.

Tomorrow, there will be some Ms. Mannequin designs and then on Friday, there’s this month’s paper doll collab 2017 outfit. Be prepared for spikes.

Need a Mini-Maiden paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Mini-Maiden Paper Doll Here.

Poppets Paper Dolls Vintage Inspired Jumper and Tights


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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: 1960s Betys McCalls designs, like this and this

A 1960s inspired vintage paper doll outfit with a jumper over tights. The jumper is smoky blue, the blouse is yellow and the tights are a paler yellow. The jumper is trimmed in orange piping and the shoes are orange to match. Sized to fit the Poppet paper doll series.

A 1960s inspired vintage paper doll outfit with a jumper over tights. The jumper is over a puffed sleeved blouse. The jumper is trimmed in piping and the shoes have cross cross straps. Sized to fit the Poppet paper doll series.

I finished a commission a few months ago for 1960s paper dolls, and I had a lot of fun dabbling. During that time, I drew this Poppet’s paper doll dress. I was spending a lot of hours with 1960s fashions in my research. Betsy McCalls 1960s designs, such as this set from 1965 and this set from 1964, inspired today’s paper doll set.

The commission was for Costume College, by the way. They were a dream to work with. If I was on the West Coast, I would treat myself to their convention which starts this Thursday. I wish I could go, but being in Alabama does have disadvantages.

Anyway, I don’t plan to do a whole slew of 1960s inspired kids clothing, because a girl can only draw so many a-line dresses. I just don’t feel the same love of 1960’s children’s clothing as I feel for 1920s children’s clothing. My love of 1920s children’s clothing is eternal and intense, as demostrated by my 1920s Children’s Wardrobe Collection. I have a new batch of those done, by the way- 2 dresses and a coat are forthcoming.

Now in the interest of full disclosure, I should note that there is nothing historically accurate about today’s paper doll outfit. It’s not like I poured over tons of 1960s primary sources to put it together. It was more like, “I like this and I want to draw something like it.”

The color scheme was my attempt to do something that wasn’t traditional. I tend to associate girls clothing with bright pinks and teals. Colors I am naturally drawn too, but I loved this combo of orange, yellow and a smoky blue.

It also feels kinda 1960s to me.

Clearly, I was channeling my inner Betsy McCall. Everyone should have an inner one of those, I think.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.