Dames & Dandies

A Tiered Evening Gown For the B Pose Ladies

An evening gown for the B Pose paper dolls based on a design from the Marchesa Pre-Fall 2016 collection. The gown has a deep v neckline and a tiered skirt. There is a matching clutch.

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I thought it would be fun to end the week with a fancy paper doll gown since I posted my paper doll tuxedo last week. So, here’s an evening gown for the B pose ladies based on this evening gown from Marchesa’s Pre-Fall 2016 collection. I loved the shape of the original gown.

In case you are wondering, the low cut neckline of the gown is possible because of the skimpy underwear of the B pose ladies. Without those handy leaves, the neckline on this dress wouldn’t be possible. That’s why I tend to draw such skimpy undergarments for my paper dolls. I don’t want to be limited in my neckline options.

Today’s gown isn’t a perfect reproduction of the Marchesa Pre-Fall 2016 evening gown. To start with, my gown isn’t made from lace and the skirts are a lot fuller. I wanted this to feel like a confection. The sort of light weight floating thing that would move beautifully when you walked if, you know, paper dolls could walk.

Marchesa is one of my favorite designers. I adore the elegant evening wear the line produces even though I don’t think I’m skilled enough to draw most of it. The highly detailed textiles they use are hard to render in ink. I think perhaps I just need more practice.

Secretly, I also like drawing evening gowns, because they tend to be complete unto themselves. I don’t have to think about tops and bottoms. I can just draw the gown and maybe a matching bag. They feel like less work than separates and, unlike cocktail dresses, I don’t feel a strange need to always draw two. One evening gown will do.

So, I guess you could say I also look at evening gowns as a lazy option.

I did draw a version of this dress during my #100dressesproject on Instagram. It was dress 41. I also shared the sketchbook page on Instagram back in July. Follow me there if you want more sketchbook pages or join Patreon if you want to help keep the blog on the internet and see behind the scenes stuff and get a totally different color scheme for today’s down. 

Need a clothing for today’s paper doll? All the B Pose Dolls & Clothing.

A Foray Into Goth Paper Doll Fashions

A set of goth paper doll fashions for the A pose paper dolls from paperthinpersonas.com. The set includes a black picture hat, scull covered leggings, a t-shirt with a coffin on it and a black tunic with a corset belt. You can print them in color or black and white for coloring.

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All fashion styles (main-steam and not) go through evolution. The goth fashion of my teenage years is not the goth fashion of today. Sure, there is some similarities- lots of black, references to death, and corsets. However, like all fashion, it has trends like anything else. When I was younger, goth fashion was a lot of long flared skirts, corsets, crop tops to show off belly-button rings and boot-cut vinyl pants.

Today’s goth fashion (as far as I have observed) is a lot more leggings, tunic tops and large picture hats.

So, I wanted to capture that when I was designing today’s set of goth paper doll clothing. The first challenge was the leggings. A lot of Gothic style leggings are heavily patterned. I chose skulls (something I’m not great at drawing) and roses to go on mine with a background of polka-dots. Conceptually, I wanted the shoes to feel a bit Victorian boot like, but I’m not sure I succeeded in that. I think I should have made them more chunky.

The blouse is based on several I saw online, primarily this one. The hat comes from images like this and this. I wanted it to be clear that the corset belt it part of the blouse, not a separate piece, but I’m not sure I succeeded. Frankly, this whole set is one that I feel like I could have done better on.

The red shirt with the coffin was really my attempt at a gothic t-shirt that wasn’t a band reference, a pentagram (I have several pagan friends and I try not to depict religious symbols in my art that aren’t my own) or a sarcastic saying. Lettering is challenging at the scale I tend to work at.

I made the shirt red, so I could make the coffin black. Otherwise, you can’t really tell it is a coffin.

And on the coffin is a wee little skull.

So, that’s how I ended up with today’s goth paper doll fashions.

All right, so how did I do with my goth fashion attempt? Are there any goth fashion affection-adios out there who can tell me if I am totally off the mark? Let me know in a comment.

And if you love the blog and want to support it, I’m always happy to get more Patrons. You can sign up here.

Need a doll to wear today’s paper doll clothing? All the A Pose Dolls & Clothing

A C Pose Knight in Armor (It may or may not be shining)

A set of paper doll knight's armor to print and play with for the male paper dolls from paperthinpersonas.com. Great for kid's birthday parties or just fun to color.

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Full-plate armor like today’s paper doll outfit is always a bit stressful for me, because I want it to be functional and I know pretty much nothing about how actual armor works. I mean, I get the basic idea- wear metal on your body so you don’t get hurt when swords try to stab you- but I’m not exactly fluent in the nuances.

Still, it doesn’t bother me much when I design things that may or may not be practical (this armor comes to mind), so I guess I shouldn’t worry about it too much.

If you’re interested in seeing how a paper doll outfit kinda “comes together” I did post progress pictures of the “bottom” part of this armor being drawn in my Instagram stories. That was a while ago, but as I’ve said many times. There is a long turn around from idea to finished product.

Literally weeks in most cases. Sometimes even longer.

Part of the reason things take a while to get from sketchbook to blog is that I like to work in batches. Today’s C Pose paper doll outfit is one of six I recently finished. Since I’m posting three times a week and interspersing my C Pose content with outfits for the A & B Pose ladies, it will be a long time before I get all of that material posted.

Frankly, I couldn’t function any other way. I’m constantly impressed by people who can do things once a day for a prolonged period. The only way I survived my recent #100dressproject on Instagram was by drawing two to five dresses at a time. I tried to do the whole “one a day” thing, but that’s just not how I work best. This used to bother me, because you read so many things about how you should just have a “daily art practice”. I do work on my art everyday, but once I feel like I have to do it than somehow my motivation disappears like a ghost at dawn.

Isn’t human motivation odd?

Anyhow, if you like the blog and want to support it consider donating through Patreon. A dollar a month really does help off set my costs.

And if you’d like to give me some non-financial support, comments are always lovely.

Plus, Happy Labor Day to anyone whose celebrating.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s clothing? All the C Pose Dolls & Clothing

Tuxedo Time! C Pose Dandies are Puttin’ on the Ritz

A paper doll tuxedo for the C Pose paper doll men with a white jacket, bowtie and black pants. Also available in black and white for coloring.

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I doubt it would shock anyone to find out I tend to be an organized person. I like having a plan. I like setting goals. I like working towards my goals. These things bring me satisfaction and often allow me to manage huge projects without them becoming completely overwhelming. So, when I worked out my plan for the Dames and Dandies back in December, there was a checklist of things I wanted to draw for each of the poses.

One of those things for the dandies (or gents, as I sometimes think of the C pose) was a tuxedo. I wanted to do a suit (which I did back in July), so next up on my list was tuxedo. Why a tuxedo? Because C Pose guys might need to go to a formal event. And everyone needs a tuxedo. 

(This is a lie. Pretty much no one actually needs a tuxedo.)

Well, what do you think? A big fan of the tuxedo? Not sure about the white dinner jacket option? There’s a plain black version on my Patreon page for my Patrons.  

Meanwhile, check out my 100 dresses project over on Instagram. It’s nearly wrapped. I’m on dress 97! 

And do let me know what you think of today’s tuxedo in a comment! Hearing from you guys is always super fun for me. 

Need a paper doll to wear today’s clothing? All the C Pose Dolls & Clothing

A Post- Apocalyptic Mini-Wardrobe For A Pose Dames

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So, I knew I weanted to do a mini-wardrobe for the A Pose dolls since my two other mini-wardrobes were for the B Pose paper dolls. It was actually kind of difficult to come up with a theme for one. I wasn’t really interested in doing contemporary fashion, but we are getting close to September and that’s my favorite month for fashion magazines.

Settling on post-apocalyptic, I then thought about mix and match options. Mini-Wardrobes are mini-wardrobes in my head, because they have a variety of outfit options. That usually translates to at least two bottoms and more than two tops. I started with the cropped jacket thing actually and then worked my way through potential layering pieces.

Most of these post-apocalyptic paper doll clothing designs were inspired by things from my Post-Apocalyptic Fashion Pinterest board. The skirt and the cropped jacket thing were both based on these designs. The pants were based on this pair.

The rest of the designs were largely meant to fit in with those piece, rounding things out to increase mix and match options. Mathematically speaking, there are 18 clothing combinations, not including the fact that there are gloves or the fact the that the paper dolls could be barefoot. So, I do think this is a pretty successful paper doll collection, all things considered.

What do you think? Good set of mix and match options? Let me know in a comment. 

Need a doll to wear today’s paper doll clothing? All the A Pose Dolls & Clothing

Aisha in Two Different Styles

A pair of paper dolls to print from paperthinpersonas.com. Free to print in black and white or in color.

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I think of these paper dolls as the- No-Nonsense Hair Aisha (left) and the Cotton Candy Retro Aisha (right). I went back and forth and back and forth about the color of Cotton Candy Retro Aisha (right) eyebrows. I mean, most people don’t dye their eyebrows to match their hair, but the black eyebrows just didn’t look right with the pink hair and brown eyebrows didn’t have enough contrast and… so, I went with pink eyebrows. Maybe she’s from some sci-fi universe and genetically engineered to have pink eyebrows.

I have some retro-space suits I have been working on, so maybe that’s the cause of her pink eyebrows.

Meanwhile, I designed two different pairs of shoes to go with these paper dolls. The blue shoes are scalloped which is a really popular design feature right now and the black and white sandals are dressed up flip-flops. I love slip on sandals in the summer time. I’d like to say because I go to the beach or something else “fun,” but really because it’s easier to slip into them when checking my mail or taking out the trash.

My life is not that exciting.

Meanwhile, enjoy the paper dolls! We’ll be back to outfits next week (with a Collaboration 2018 Paper Doll on Friday) and then it’ll be September. Don’t worry about other Dames. They have double sets too! I’m just feeling like I want to go back to some clothing for a few posts. All the new dolls need things to wear after all, but the rest of the girls will get up here soon.

Time has flown this year!  Meanwhile, if you’re feeling clothing design neglected, hop over to Instagram where I’m on dress 93 of the #100dressesproject. I’m so close to the end! I have no idea what I’ll post to Instagram when it’s all over. I need to come up with something… Thoughts? Let me know in a comment or let me know what you think of today’s paper doll!

Need a clothing for today’s paper dolls? All the A Pose Dolls & Clothing

A Pair of New Beatrix Dolls and One has Glasses

A pair of brown skinned paper dolls with shoes and different hair styles. They can wear any of the dresses designed for the B Pose paper dolls on the blog- paperthinpersonas.com.

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When I was working on these double doll sets, I realized I hadn’t done any paper dolls for the Dames and Dandies with glasses yet. That seemed like a serious omission given that I wear contacts and can barely see without them. So, I knew I wanted a doll with glasses. The doll on the left has a hairstyle based on how a student who worked for me wore her hair and the doll on the right has blond highlights. That’s actually her second hair style. I really didn’t like the first one I designed, once I saw it on the doll.

That happens sometimes, because I draw all the hair separately and sometimes once I get it fitted to the dolls head, I’m not sure that I like it as much as I did in theory. Fortunately, it’s not hard to draw another one and through the “Power of Photoshop” there’s a lot of options.

Coloring wise, these versions of Beatrix have, of course, the same skin-tone as the other versions of Beatrix. I did however choose to match the paper doll’s glasses to her toenails, like you do.

Meanwhile, I posted a few progress images over on Patreon if you’d like to see some work in progress and my #100dressesproject continues on Instagram. Almost done! I’m in the 90s. 

And, as always, I’d love to hear what you think about today’s paper dolls. 

Need a clothing for today’s paper doll? All the B Pose Dolls & Clothing.

Two New Alice Paper Dolls- A Brunette and Redhead

A pair of printable paper dolls. The paper doll on the left is brunette with green eyes and fair skin. The paper doll on the right is a redhead with brown eyes and fair skin. Both paper dolls can share clothing with any of the A pose paper dolls.

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Because the first Alice was a blue eyed blond, I decided it made sense to make a green eyed brunette and a brown eyed red-head made sense for my next two Alice paper dolls. There’s also 18th century Alice, but she’s a bit unique, because she can’t share clothing with all of the other paper dolls. So, I’m not sure if I can count her, really.

The whole point of this “double-set” thing was to try to expand the number of dolls available quickly, so people would have variety. But I also have to remind myself that I can’t compare the Dames and Dandies to my other series. It’s only been around for nine months after all and things like Marisole Monday ran for years.

Instead, I am trying to think- If I could “start over” knowing now what I didn’t know when I began this blog all those years ago, what would I do? And I am trying to be smarter than I was the first time.

I like to think I am older, if not wiser than I was.

So, anyway, that means that this week will be all double-sets. So, we’ll have 2 A pose and 1 B pose. I know the C pose is being neglected and I do feel bad for the guys, but I can’t fit two of those dolls on a single sheet as far as I can tell. So, they’re going to have to wait, but fear not- I have a steampunk version, a fantasy version and an elf all in progress for them, but until then- enjoy the A pose dames and their shoes.

And if you love the blog, than please support it through Pateron, follow me on Social Media or leave a comment. I love to hear from y’all.

Need a clothing for today’s paper dolls? All the A Pose Dolls & Clothing

Meet Batari- The New B Pose Doll

Two asian paper dolls in color or black and white. The dolls have two pairs of shoes and can wear any of the B Pose paper doll clothing from paperthinpersonas.com.

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Happy Friday! Today, I am super pleased to share Batari, a new B pose doll. Batari is an Indonesian name that means Goddess. Batari went through a few different versions and face lifts before I was settled on her. I don’t want to share things I don’t like, so I sometimes that means revisions are needed. I am very happy with how she came out in the end, even if the process got a little messy.

There might have been some cursing. I’m just saying.

As you might have noticed, there’s not just one Batari paper doll today, there’s two!

I realized I could fit two of any of the dames dolls on a single page and I decided that I would create double doll sets for all the Dames. That’s Abigail, Aisha, Akiko, Alice (in the A Pose) and Beatrix, Benedita, Bridget (in the B Pose). Since I was working on Batari at the time of this realization, her first sets is not one Batari, but two.

Maybe they’re identical twins.

I wanted to do two very different feeling paper dolls. So, the doll on the left has a casual hair style and the doll the right as a fancy up-do and painted nails.

Just like any of the other B Pose paper dolls, Batari can wear any of the B pose clothing, of course. I personally think the casual doll on the left might like some boho clothing while the doll on the left seems more like a gothic fahion girl perhaps. Of course, either could wear this super fantasy kaftan or this armored fantasy gown.

My paper dolls lead interesting lives based on their clothing options, I like to think.

If you love the blog and want to keep it ad free, than consider supporting it through Patreon. Meanwhile, did you know I have been working on drawing 100 dresses and posting the designs on Instagram? It’s been a super fun project and you can check it out on my Instagram feed.

Need a Doll to wear today’s outfit? All the B Pose Dolls & Clothing

Two Summery Paper Doll Dresses from the 1930s

A pair of 1930s paper dolls dresses with matching hats based on the designs from home sewing patterns. The dress on the left is from the early 1930s and the dress on the left is from the mid-1930s. Both dresses have matching hats.

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So, I tend to work in spurts. I suddenly decide that I want to draw 1930s clothing (as I did recently) and then I draw several and then I don’t draw any for months. This is just how I am. I try to build enough of a backlog that I can space out these posts in such a way that people who want to see 1930s clothing don’t feel disappointed when it takes months for it to show up again.

Today’s dresses are both appropriate for any 1930s paper dolls out there. I used my favorite source for these things- The Vintage Pattern Wiki. It’s amazing and so fun to dig through (if you’re a clothing lover like me.) So, the dress on the left is based on Simplicity 1091. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a way to see if there was a more precise copyright date on the pattern other then the cover art which is distinctly 1930s. The second dress is based on Vogue 7316 C from 1936. The  hats and gloves are based on a variety of sources, including the pattern covers.

In my head these are summery dresses, but I suppose there’s no reason they have to be, through the one on the right would be awfully cold come winter time.

Just for fun, in case you missed any of the 1930s pieces so far, here’s a round up of all the 1930s posts so far…

The 1930s Paper Doll Collection So Far..

I’m excited to say that I just drew a new set of 1930s underwear and so soon there will be a second 1930s paper doll to join Benedita. Of course, given my turn around times, “soon” might equal sometime in the next six months. I am a bit slow at these things. Meanwhile, the 1930s dresses will fit any of the B Pose dolls, they just might back the right shoes and hair for a period look.

As always, I love to hear from you guys, so leave a comment and a huge thank you to my Patrons and if you’d like to help out the blog by making a donation, you can do that over on the Patreon page. 

Need a Doll to wear today’s outfit? All the B Pose Dolls & Clothing