1920s Archives • Page 2 of 3 • Paper Thin Personas

Black & White, Clothing, Full Color, Marisole Monday & Friends, Printable Paper Dolls

Marisole Monday’s 1920s Party Dress In Teal

June 2, 2017 2 Comments

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: 1920s party dresses- Classic French Fashions of the Twenties, a book from Dover

So, sometimes I drew things and upload them and then I kinda forget they exist. This 1920s party dress was one of those things, I’m afraid. I finished it around the same time that I finished the 1920s golf outfit and then I completely forgot about it. I didn’t want to post it right after the gold outfit, I recall, because I wanted some variety.

I try to space out my paper doll posts. While I might get on a kick and draw several similar things, I know some readers come here for the historical stuff, some for the fantasy stuff, and some for the contemporary stuff. So, I try to make sure there’s something for everyone.

This week alone we’ve had Monday and Tuesday post apocalyptic paper dolls, Wednesday an Archivist paper doll and Thursday was a Lolita dress for a paper doll. And now, here we are on Friday (Happy Friday!) and there’s a 1920s party dress for a paper doll.

After looking through every 1920s fashion book I own, I retraced that the model I based this dress on came from this book, Classic French Fashions of the Twenties. The original dress was patterned, but I sort of decided that it was a lot of work to draw a pattern. There was no way that was going to happen.

Classic French Fashions of the Twenties is one of my favorite Dover fashion books. It is a reprint of all the plates from a French fashion catalog from 1929. Like most fashion catalogs of that era, it starts with casual day wear goes through evening wear and then ends with coats.

I have, at this point, built up a pretty solid backlog of content. So, my goal is to try to get the next few weeks scheduled quickly, so I can take a few days off to rest and recoup.

Plus, play with my cat whose frustration at my laptop consuming prime lap space is tangible.

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

Dolls, Poppets

A 1920s Poppet Paper Doll to Print and Play With

May 1, 2017 1 Comment

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:1920s Children’s Clothing & Frannie Fisher on PBS

So, with all the 1920s paper doll clothing I have been drawing lately, it seemed dumb not to have a 1920s Poppet paper doll to wear it. This is the first of what I hope will end up being two or three 1920s Poppet dolls, but for now I am calling one a victory.

I am also a huge Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries on PBS fan and it seemed to me that the best 1920s doll would be one with Phryne Fisher’s coloring which means dark hair and pale skin. This was very fashionable look for women of the 1920s thanks to the movie star Louise Brooks. The paper dolls hair is based on Louise Brooks.

I gave our 1920s paper doll a period slip with attached drawers and lace accents. I also wanted to give her two pairs of shoes to wear with any of the 1920s collection dresses or any of the other Poppet clothing. She has the same skintone as Poppy, Paradisea and my Vintage 1950s one.

Her side-glancing eyes are a nod to Lenci dolls, one of my favorite doll companies of this era.

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

Black & White, Clothes, Full Color, Poppets, Printable Paper Dolls

The Poppet’s Get a 1920s Spring-Time Dress and Matching Cloche

April 27, 2017 1 Comment

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:1920s Children’s Clothing- One of my True Loves

Today’s Poppet 1920s Children’s Wardrobe Collection contribution is a spring time dress. I sort of thought of it as an Easter dress when I designed it, but Easter was a few weeks ago. I chose a pale color scheme with soft blue and pink for the dress. With the dress is a matching cloche, because lord knows the 1920s loved a good looking cloche.

I know I’ve spoken before about how much I adore 1920s children’s clothing. There’s just something about clothing of that era that I adore. I have equal love for children’s clothing of the 1930s, but I haven’t had as many opportunities to draw that.

Maybe that’s a project for another time.

I openly confess that I don’t have a good record of what I used as reference when I drew today’s dress. I am pretty sure I used Children’s Fashions 1900-1950 As Pictured in Sears Catalogs, 1920s Fashions from B. Altman & Company and/or Everyday Fashions of the Twenties: As Pictured in Sears and Other Catalogs. All of these books are from Dover which is a great source of reasonably priced fashion history books. I think I own almost all their 1920s fashion books.

The realization that fashion history books are a justifiable business expense has made it a lot harder to talk myself out of buying them.

I do realize that recently most of what I have posted for the Poppet’s paper dolls to print have been either from the Fairy Tale project or the 1920s project. Never fear, there are also normal clothing on the horizon. I mean, even paper dolls need jeans.

So, what do you think of today’s 1920s paper doll dress? Love it? Hate it? Wish it was purple? Let me know in a comment.

Meanwhile, if you want to support the blog, then think about becoming a Patron or liking it on facebook and tune in tomorrow for a paper doll outfit inspired by one of my favorite novels.

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

Black & White, Clothes, Full Color, Poppets, Printable Paper Dolls

The Poppet’s Springtime 1920s Dress

April 6, 2017 3 Comments

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: 1920s Children’s Clothing

This is the second dress of a bunch of 1920s stuff I have drawn for the Poppets paper dolls, so much so that I actually think I should really start a special series for it.

I mean, I already have two 1920s paper doll outfits and a doll finished to go up and I have another batch of it penciled. Basically, I think it is time to accept one simple fact, “I am completely obsessed with 1920s children’s clothing.”

So, I have created a new on-going Poppet’s series called the 1920s Children’s Wardrobe Collection.

I know, it’s not a very creative name.

And I failed to carefully note where I got the images for the batch of 1920s children’s clothing I have finished, but I am going to get better at citation in the future.

Also, because I am me.

Anyway, I’d love to hear what people think of a flood of 1920s children’s clothing, so let me know in a comment.

Today’s 1920s paper doll dress was based on one from I think a Sears catalog. I really loved the floral detail on the bodice and I chose bright fun spring colors. I probably should have made the shoes brown or black, but once I start coloring sometimes it gets away from me.

If you’d like to support the blog, then donate a little each month and become a Patron. It really helps.

Plus, if you haven’t checked it out yet there is also a new blog facebook page where I am sharing stuff from the Archives, as well as announcing new posts when they are posted.

I think that’s all my general announcements for the moment. 🙂

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

Black & White, Clothing, Full Color, Marisole Monday & Friends, Printable Paper Dolls

Marisole Monday in a Women’s 1920s Golf Clothes

March 1, 2017 7 Comments

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Golfing Outfits from the 1920s

I can’t tell you how many times my father has dropped hints that I should draw some golf clothing. He’s a fan of the sport. So, today I am pleased to present some 1920s historical clothing attire for the Marisole Monday & Freind’s paper dolls.

The history of women’s sports attire has always fascinated me. By the 1920s, from which today’s paper doll outfit hails, women were participating in many different team and individual sports including basketball, tennis, archery, fencing, and, of course, golf. Golf was pretty popular in the 1920s and women’s 1920s golf clothes were being designed by big names like this golf outfit by Worth.

Most women’s golf outfits have skirts, but there were also trousers options, like the ones shown in this article about golf in advertisements. I based today’s outfit off illustrations from my two favorite 1920s fashion history books, Everyday Fashions of the Twenties: As Pictured in Sears and Other Catalogs and 1920s Fashions from B. Altman & Company, both of which are from Dover publications and are excellent resources on 1920s clothing. Sears was a more affordable company while B. Altman was much more fashionable and expensive.

Catalogs offer such a great window into what people could purchase in the past.

Anyway, I also had to draw a golf club for today’s outfit. Now, I will openly confess that I am not a skillful golfer, but I have taken a lesson or two. I based my golf club (I was not about to draw a whole set) on photos of 1920s golf clubs from Google Image Search. I know, I know. Not the best research practice.

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

Black & White, Clothes, Poppets, Printable Paper Dolls

Poppets: Ice Skating in 1927

January 19, 2017 3 Comments

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Everyday Fashions of the Twenties: As Pictured in Sears and Other Catalogs, Bobble Hats

This is the first of a bunch of 1920s clothing I have drawn for the Poppets, so I hope everyone loves this era as much as I do. I originally drew the outfits last year when I was still doing sets and then I kinda forgot about them for a few months and rediscovered them while I was cleaning up my files at the end of the year.

I always do an annual file clean up and I often discover things I kinda forgot about or abandoned because they weren’t something I really liked. Boots wrote a really brave post on her blog, Pop Culture Looking Land, about failed projects. I wrote a follow-up over on my Patreon page for my Patrons.

Moral of the story: Sometimes, I abandon stuff and then find it again and go, “Actually, that’s not so bad.”

And this one of those things. I don’t even remember what I didn’t like about it. I think it was the ice skates.

Still now I look at them and I am like, “They’re okay. What was my problem?”

The human mind is a funny thing.

Can I make a confession? I have no idea how to ice skate. I think I have been on ice skates exactly three times and every time I ended up on my butt. It was not much fun. Still, I like watching other people ice skate, so that should be worth something.

Love the blog? Think about supporting it on Patreon (my sister just did and surely she has good taste) and I always love to hear what you think in the comments.

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

Black & White, Clothing, Dolls, Full Color, Ladies, Lady's Clothing, Marisole Monday & Friends, Min-Seo, Printable Paper Dolls

Min-Seo With a 1925 Dress

January 4, 2017 4 Comments

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Everyday Fashions of the 1920s as Published in Sears Catalogs

I love love love 1920s fashion. I can’t help it.

Now, as I mentioned on Monday, Min-Seo is a Korean name. I really don’t know much about the introduction of western style dress to Korea. However, Korean immigration began to the United States in 1884, mostly to Hawaii. So, it’s entirely possible that Min-Seo could be living in the United States in the 1920s.

It is also entirely possible that I am way over thinking this. It’s not like I worry about the fact that the name Meaghan didn’t exist in the 1300s and she still has 1300s clothing.

Meanwhile, our Min-Seo paper doll has a 1920s day dress, along with two hats, matching shoes and a purse. A design from Everyday Fashions of the 1920s as Published in Sears Catalogs inspired today’s 1925 dress. I confess that the dress is for a teenager, but I liked it and clearly drew it anyway. The color scheme is based on this Afternoon Gown by Madeleine Vionnet in 1927

For those who have missed my other forays into 1920s fashion, you can find them all in the 1920s tag. There are two other 1920s Marisole Monday & Friends paper dolls. Jazz Age Baby in black and white or in color and Art Deco Goddess in black and white or in color.

I have several more 1920s dresses scanned and drawn, so there will be more from this era, but I don’t know when. As always, it can be a long slow period between drawing and posting. I have a golf outfit that is pretty darn cute, so I want to get that done soon.

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

Clothing, Dolls, Full Color, Lady's Clothing, Marisole Monday & Friends, Monica, Printable Paper Dolls

Jazz Age Baby: A 1920s Fashion Paper Doll

July 6, 2015 1 Comment

Back when I started this blog, it was the dead of winter and I was going stir crazy in a one bedroom apartment surrounded by snow. Today, the sun in shining and the weather is lovely and I am still at this nearly six years later.

Time does fly.

Okay, so way back in 2011, I did this paper doll called Art Deco Goddess. I was full of ennui when I wrote that post. It is both melodramatic and whiny. Not to suggest that I’m not capable of being both melodramatic and whiny at my age today, but try to at least steer clear of being too melodramatic and whiny.

Anyway, I just thought of it, because Art Deco Goddess like Jazz Age Baby are both 1920s fashion paper dolls and this one can, of course, share clothing with her predecessor.

Jazz Age Baby, however, owes a fair bit to the hair of Josephine Baker and a bit to the fun wardrobes of ladies of the twenties.

A black 1920s fashion paper doll with five dresses, seven hats, and two pairs of shoes. Free to print and color from paperthinpersonas.com

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for More Marisole Monday & Friends Printable Paper Dolls}Now technically, Monica should be wearing stockings and a garter belt and slip and all sorts of 1920’s underwear, but I thought another paper doll might want to borrow her shoes or she might want to get to be fairy or in jeans and so I did not give her period underwear. I’m pretty much okay with this choice. I rarely give my historical paper dolls period undies.

Hope everyone has a lovely Monday!

Black & White, Clothing, Dolls, Lady's Clothing, Marisole Monday & Friends, Monica, Printable Paper Dolls

Jazz Age Baby: A Paper Doll with 1920s Fashions

June 29, 2015 2 Comments

People who have been reading this blog for a while already know this, but I love twenties fashions. I love the hats. I love the shoes. I love the stylized art deco drawings of the hats and the shoes. Seriously, this era is among my favorites for children and women and men (though less so for men, gotta confess.)

Nevermind the fact that as a woman with serious hips, I would look awful in these styles. I don’t want to wear 1920s dresses, I just think they are beautiful on other people. (Mostly people made of paper who wear whatever I want them too, because I am their creator.)

One of the lovely things about paper dolls is that I can enjoy clothing that I would never want to wear myself.

I think part of what appeals to me about the 1920s is that people had outfits. It was not an era of mix and match clothing like we have today. People had outfits where hats matched their dresses and gloves and bags. I love the idea of matching outfits, as I have mentioned before. My obsession with trousseaux of clothing is well documented throughout this blog.

A black paper doll coloring page with twenties fashions including five dresses, seven hats and two pairs of shoes. Free to print and color from paperthinpersonas.com.

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for More Marisole Monday & Friends Printable Paper Dolls}So, let’s talk about sources… One of the interesting things about twenties fashion is that, in the United States, 1923 is the date before which things are out of copyright. That means that things after 1923 begin to fall under various copyright extensions and other rules. Libraries often steer clear of digitizing works that are post 1923, because of concerns about copyright violation. So, I tend to rely on books more than digitized documents for my post-1923 fashion history needs.

To be honest, I don’t recall exactly what I used for this paper doll set, but I know I at least looked at these, as they are part of my history book collection. I know a few of her dresses come specifically from Classic French Fashions of the Twenties.

Sources:

Atelier Bachwitz. Classic French Fashions of the Twenties. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2012.
B. Altman & Co. 1920s Fashions from B. Altman & Company. 4th ed. New York: Dover, 1998. Print.
Blum, Stella. Everyday Fashions of the Twenties as Pictured in Sears and Other Catalogs. New York: Dover Publications, 1981.
Lussier, Suzanne. Art Deco Fashion. Boston: Bulfinch, 2003.

For those who have missed my other forays into 1920s fashion, you can find them all under the 1920s tag.

Black & White, Full Color, Pixie & Puck, Pixies (Girls), Printable Paper Dolls

Lynn: A Paper Doll of the 1920s

April 29, 2015 2 Comments

Let me state one thing first, on the record- Lynn’s underwear is not period. If I had drawn her period undergarments, than she’d never get to wear jeans. So, I chose to omit even a period slip for her in favor of fitting some fairly large hats onto a fairly small space. Pixies have big heads and therefore big hats.

I hope no one feels horribly cheated out of 1920’s undergarments.

It was really hard to give myself permission to do a small historical set for the Pixies. Normally, my historical Pixie sets are at least two pages and my Regency paper doll set was three. And I do have an 18th century set which has the dubious honor of being the largest collection I have ever drawn for the Pixies. It is literally five sketchbook pages. I’ve no idea how I am going to post it.

One of my big goals for 2015 was to draw historical paper dolls, because- frankly, I really like them.

But I also think if I always think “These sets must be huge” than it creates a lot of pressure to produce big sets. I think smaller sets can be just as fun.

{Download a PDF to Print and Color} {Download a PNG to Print and Color}{More Pixie & Puck Printable Paper Dolls}Todays paper doll’s three dresses are from two different sources. The short sleeved dress and the one with the chevron patter are from this image on Flickr. The party dress is from the Met and dated 1926 through 1928. Her shoes were based on this pair from the Philadelphia Art Museum.

{Download a PDF to Print in Color} {Download a PNG to Print in Color}{More Pixie & Puck Printable Paper Dolls}The color scheme was fairly arbitrary. I do wish I had done something a little more fun with the shoes rather than playing it safe with black. I like to think that these three dresses cover day and evening wear fairly smoothly for Lynn. Long term, it is my hope to do more smaller historical sets for the Pixies. There’s no logical reason why they shouldn’t get to share in the single page historical paper doll fun.

I say this having just begun coloring the largest pixie set I have ever drawn of 18th century dress. I might be unable to keep this single page historical Pixie set concept alive.

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