Bodacious & Buxom Archives • Page 2 of 7 • Paper Thin Personas

Sorceress’ Element Dress for Air

July 20, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Tang Dynasty Hanfu, Sort of…

Today’s paper doll gown is for the curvy B&B paper dolls. It’s part of my Sorceress Gowns Project. My goal with the Sorceress Gowns Project was to create a series of gowns for a sorceress, as one might imagine. I started with the classic four elements- earth, air, fire and water. The element of Air inspired today’s paper doll gown.

For a series of gowns based on the elements, most of the Sorceress gowns were pretty easy to design. I created Water, Fire and Earth. Earth was the hardest, but only because my sister is a geologist and I feared judgement if I didn’t get it right.

Air was hard, because air is transparent. So, unless I wanted to post a blank image and declare it an Air dress, I needed to come up with some way to give Air some form. So, I went with flowing garments and soft drape. Her staff references a bird’s wing and the swirls on her dress are meant to be the breeze.

Traditional Chinese dress from the Tang Dynasty influenced this paper doll gown. I saw things like this and and this being labeled as Tang Dynasty. Now, I realize these have about as much in common with actual Tang Dynasty dress as this does with actual Italian renaissance dress. Intrigued by these outfits, I did a little more research and found this painting and this painting. Again, I have no idea how accurate most of this is. My knowledge of Chinese clothing is distinctly Qing Dynasty. And even that era, I know only the most surface of facts.

Still, I love the shape and the drape of these garments, so they heavily influenced today’s paper doll gown.

The chose to use colors I associate with the sky at dawn. I didn’t know exactly what colors would symbolize Air, but I thought pale pastels made the most sense to me.

As always, I love to hear what people think in a comment.

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B&B Russian Fantasy Outfit

July 12, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin and kosovorotka shirts

Personally, I blame my fascination with all thing Russian on growing up in Alaska and reading The Hunt for Red October at far to young of an age. I hope you all will interperate today’s paper doll outfit as an expression of love for the art of Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin and not a statement on current events in the United States.

(I’m not really sure what a fantasy Russian outfit would be saying about current events, but that’s neither here nor there.)

I’ve loved Russian fairytales for most of my life. Well, I love all fairy tales, but the Russian ones I think resonated with me more than a lot of the others. Perhaps it was growing up in Alaska where there was a lot of Russian culture still or perhaps I saw in Ivan Biliban‘s illustrations a landscape I recognized- over grown forests and snow.

In fact, I sometimes think my fondness for flat color and heavy line is in part because of the exposure to those illustrations. At the time, those things were a limitation of the printing medium, but Biliban took advantage of them to make incredible works of art. It really was the golden age of children’t book illustration.

Anyway, today’s set of printable paper doll clothing consists of a traditional Russian style blouse, a corset, trousers tucked into books and a big fur hat. Everything is better with a big fur hat. The blouse is based on a kosovorotka which is a side fastening men’s shirt.

See? I did some research.

Questions about today’s paper doll outfit? Thoughts on other wonderful classic children’s book illustrators? Let me know in a comment!

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B&B in Some Patriotic Clothing

July 4, 2017July 4, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Stars, Stripes and All Things 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

I didn’t really design this paper doll clothing set to be 4th of July themed. I just wanted to do red jeans and a shirt with stars on it. Somehow once I was coloring the set, the patriotic theme seemed inevitable.

The truth is that I tend to forget most holidays. I think I have all the time in the world and then suddenly they are upon me and I panic. The entire Mini-Maiden series owns its existence to my holiday panic.

Despite that I want to do holiday themed sets. I just seem to forget a lot.

Maybe the thing to do is start planning for Halloween today and then I might not end up scrambling. I’ve always admired Liana’s October themed months. I need to some up with an idea for the month or maybe just something for the 31st.

I hope everyone in the United States has a great 4th of July. I plan to spend mine playing board games, eating barbecued chicken and peach pie.

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B&B Curvy Paper Dolls Visit the Groovy 1970s

June 19, 2017June 19, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: 1970s and Platform Shoes and Afros and People Whose Blogs I Admire

Years ago, Debbie of Black Doll Collecting asked for a 1970s fashion inspired black paper doll with a huge afro. It’s one of those ideas that has been percolating for a long long time.

But I super respect Debbie as the authority on black dolls that she is. She has opened my eyes to examples of early black dolls that are super rare like Cynthia from the 1950s and these early Effanbee dolls.

So, I decided that my ignorance was no excuse to not give it a go. I did some research on 1970s black culture and set to work on creating today’s paper doll.

The 1970s were an interesting era for black culture. The Black is Beautiful movement was in full force bringing with it respect for traditional hairstyles like the afro and dutch wax print fabrics. There were even Black is Beautiful paper dolls produced in 1969, another thing I learned from Debbie’s blog. Black owned toy companies, like Shindana, were bringing out black dolls for children. Meanwhile, blaxploitation films began flourishing in Hollywood when Shaft came out in 1971.

Now, that we’ve all learned about the 1970s, let’s talk today’s paper doll.

Her hair is the first afro I have drawn that I am actually pretty proud of. It’s a little big perhaps for the 1970s, but maybe not? There is that famous scene in Foxy Brown where Pam Grier pulls a gun from her afro.

Her dress is from McCall’s 2316 sewing pattern from 1970 and her shoes are both from the early 1970s as well. Both shoe designs were taken from 20th Century Fashion by John Peacock.

Normally, I steer clear of brown shoes on brown skin, but I actually really liked how the shoes colors (from Peacock’s book) coordinated with the paper doll’s ebony skin-tone.

In my research, I watched Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair, which wasn’t very helpful about historical black fashion, but it was a fascinating window into a world I know nearly nothing about. It also made me feel super cheap for complaining at how much my hair cuts cost. If you haven’t seen it and you’re interested in fashion or culture, I strongly recommend it.

Meanwhile, I’d love to hear what you think of today’s paper doll in a comment. I love to hear from y’all.

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An Earth Inspired Sorceress Gown for the B&B Printable Paper Doll Series

June 13, 2017June 13, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Earth!

Today’s B&B paper doll gown is part of the Sorceress Gowns Project in which I am drawing gowns for sorceresses (a fact that might be obvious from the name). The theme for this project was chosen by my Patrons. I’ve started the series with a doll and the four elements. This is the element Earth. I’ve also done Water and Fire.

You can see all the Sorceress Gowns and Dolls under the Sorceress Gowns Project tag.

Earth was a surprisingly easy dress to conceive of. I knew I wanted to focus on rocks rather than plant life. The pattern on her under-gown was inspired by the layers and veins in rocks.

The bottom of her over gown is supposed to look like mountains. On her staff, I put a faceted crystal, because I wanted to capture more rock imagery.

While this was one of the easiest of the various Sorceress gowns to draw, it was one of the hardest to color. I went through three color schemes. I will confess I am still not completely satisfied, but at some point you have to say, “Well, I’m not redoing this again!”

There is an Air gown forthcoming, of course, and then another Sorceress doll.

After that, I’m not sure what I’ll do next. I do have an idea for an arctic/snow themed gown, so maybe I should do a desert/sand themed gown to counter balance it?

Decisions, decisions.

Let me know what you think about that idea in a comment or what you think about today’s gown.

Tomorrow there will be a new installment in the Fairy Tale and Nursery Rhyme series for the Poppets.

Several folks have let me know that there was a problem with the PDFs. I think I have it solved, but if anyone has a further issue, please clear your browser cache and refresh the page. It should solve the problem.- Rachel

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

A Princess or Hime Lolita Dress for the B&B Printable Paper Dolls

June 1, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Princess Lolita Or Hime Lolita Dresses

Today’s paper doll dress is my first attempt at Hime Lolita or Princess Lolita, because a Patron asked for it and I believe in doing what my Patrons ask for. Princess or Hime Lolita dress is even more over the top than regular Lolita and is often accessorized with crowns, gloves, and that sort of thing.

I decided for my foray into Hime Lolita to keep it a bit sedate. A lot of the dresses designed for this style feel a bit 18th century to me, so I designed this dress to have the look with flounced sleeves and a false stomacher. I chose yellow for the roses, because I liked how it looked with the teal dress. I’ve always had an affection for yellow roses. I based today’s dress on this dress and this dress.

Like most street styles, Lolita is rife with nuance and narrow variation.

Nearly everything in the world is more complex than it seems on the surface. Years ago, I was good friends with a guy who worked in a record store, back when such things still existed.

He was a huge fan of metal music, so one day I confess that I knew very little about metal music and asked him to explain the genre to me. I discovered, to my surprise, dozens of sub-genres that I had never known existed. It was actually totally fascinating.

I feel the same way about Lolita fashion. I’ll probably never “get it” as much as an insider would, but I’m always up to the challenge of learning something new.

My question for all of you is, what do you love that has nuances in it that might surprise people?

For me, I can wax for hours about historical books. I love the tiny details. I realize most people don’t get super excited by goffered edges or booksellers stamps, but it makes me happy.

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The Bodacious and Buxom Girls Get Pajamas

May 23, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Sleepwear!

At the end of 2016, I asked all my Patrons for requests for 2017. A patron who chose to remain anonymous asked for pajamas and a teddy bear. Well, who was I to argue?

Plus, I’ve noticed that I have done very few sets of pajama’s over the years. I do have a nightgown tag where you can see the few nightgowns I have done. I probably should change that tag to something like sleepwear, since this isn’t a nightgown, but there you go.

In fact, now that I mention it, I think this might be the first pair of pajama’s I’ve ever drawn. Hmmm… I could go through the archives and try to prove that, but I’m not sure I feel like it.

I will confess that I think the sheep on these pajama’s look a little deformed, but then I’m not really a sheep expert.

Personally, I think her mug is full of coffee, but it could be hot chocolate or whatever other brown liquid you might like. I am super proud of the teddy bear. I think he’s darling. I don’t draw toys enough, because I struggle with them. There were three deformed teddy bear versions, before I ended up with one I thought was cute.

I went back and forth on the color scheme. I wanted something girly and kinda cute. So, I settled on lavender and aqua blue trimming.

What do you think of today’s pajamas? Cute? Strange? Would you wear them?

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A Curvy Retro Inspired Space Alien Paper Doll

October 3, 2023May 9, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Retro Space Aliens and Pink Boots

I like retro sci-fi. I like all sci-fi really. I’m loving Dark Matter at the moment and I have a deep spot place in my heart for Star Trek and Star Wars. Still, as much as I enjoy Dark Matter, I don’t really enjoy drawing the “gritty” sci-fi aesthetic.

There’s only so many pairs of black pants you can draw for a paper doll.

So, today’s sci-fi paper doll is very retro inspired. She’s blue skinned and her dress is very much of the 1960s retro feel. She’s got pink boots and shaggy hair. Now, my only major regret about her is that to make her hair “work”, you really need to print two, cut one’s head off and paste the head over the first head, because the drape of the hair would cover the high neckline of the dress.

Almost makes me wish I used Boot’s separate head method of paper doll creation.

Anyway, the pink dress is designed to wrap around the dolls legs and be visible from behind. There’s something kinda Jane Jetson going on with the dress. Maybe a bit to sexy for Jane, but you know what I mean.

If you think she needs some more sci-fi inspired clothing here’s another foray I made into retro sci-fi or some candy colored cyberpunk looks might be more your style. Also, if she needs a friend, here’s my other retro inspired alien girl from earlier this year.

So, what do you think? Fun? Do we need more fashions from space! Space fashions. Spashions, you might say.

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B&B’s Paper Doll Sorceress Gowns Continue!

May 5, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Tridents, Water and Ancient Greece

So, back in early April, I posted the first part of my Sorceress’ Gowns Project (I always come up with the most creative names.) In that intro post, I explained that I had a variety of potential long term projects, tossed them out to my Patrons and this was the winning idea.

I had kinda been hoping Space Princess would win the poll, but you can’t have everything in life. And nothing is stopping me from embracing Space Princesses as a future plan.

Anyhow, today’s sorceress gown is based on Water, just like my last gown was based on Fire. I wanted to pair fire and water with a similar ancient Greek influence. Mind you, this a very Hollywood idea of Ancient Greek clothing owing more to Xena: Warrior Princess than actual history.

I wanted to capture the shades of water I tend to think of which are not light blues. I tend to associate water with such a dark teal that it looks nearly black which is what I remember from Southeast Alaska where I grew up.

Her magical staff is based on a trident which is a nod to Poseidon, the Greek God of the Ocean. It’s probably not a very functional trident, what with the center prong being a jewel encrusted thing, but there you have it.

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A Curvy Fire Slinging Sorceress & The First Dress of a New Project

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Fire & Ancient Greek Fashion

You know what every paper doll needs? Sorceress outfits!

As some of you may recall, I posted the first part of my creatively named Sorceress’ Gowns Project on April 10th. You can read that post here.

My first four gowns (three of which are done) are all based on the elements- fire, water, air and earth. I have fire, water and air all finished. Earth is… well, giving me some trouble.

I have faith I will finish it eventually.

Each gown has two accessories- a staff to channel magical power and a pair of boots.

Today’s fire gown was inspired by ancient Greek dress. I start most of my paper doll creations with a thumbnail doodle and I did the same here. Then I expanded the doodle into a full on paper doll dress.

I share my doodles mostly on Patreon, but once in a while one appears on Facebook, usually after I’ve shared with it my Patron’s first.

Think about becoming a patron or following the facebook page if you want to show the blog some love. And who doesn’t want to do that?

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