And now, the Late 1950s with Jade!

A black 1950s paper doll coloring page with five dresses from the later part of the decade.
A black 1950s paper doll to print with five dresses from the later part of the decade.

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And the 1950s styles continue with Jade here. In the Late 1950s, you start to see the 1960s silhouette sneaking in with the higher waisted dresses and the shape of the skirts. So, our paper doll is more about that easing into the transitional era of the early 1950s. I did some digging around into black fashion magazines of this era and tried to match the colors I saw in those sources when deciding what colors to use on today’s black 1950s paper doll.

Let’s talk sources!

The red dress came from this catalog page from 1958 Sears and the pink dress is from this Vogue 9137 from 1957. Her swimsuit is from the Spring/Summer Sears from 1957. The yellow dress is from this 1959 Sears Spring Summer Catalog, but I don’t think I got the skirt quite right. You can see more of this style here. The whole thing is that there was a distinct silhouette change going on as the decade changed. The goal was to show off how the shape of dresses as transitional at this point.

Jade’s hair is based on this photo of a very young Diahann Carroll from 1955. The paper doll’s swimsuit is from the Spring/Summer Sears from 1957. As usual, I find movie stars to be a super useful way to track down hairstyles. Her lipstick color is also based on what I was seeing in fashion magazines from the era- lots of very red or very pink lipstick.

So there you have it, a few of the sources of this 1950s paper doll and her five dresses from five different years. That last bit was not on purpose- it just sort of worked out that way.

Enjoy!

In upcoming paper doll news, I am going to share a Patreon treat on Friday and then take a bit of a vacation until sometime in January, when I hope to return full of pluck, persistence, and paper dolls.

Ruby Dressing Up in the Mid-1950s

A 1950s printable paper doll coloring sheet with a mix and match wardrobe.
A cute redheaded 1950s printable paper doll with her mix and match wardrobe.

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I mentioned in my last 1950s printable paper doll about how important I thought it was to have some 1950s fashions for these paper dolls that include pants and Ruby is getting two pairs of them. She has what was known as a “playsuit”- basically, a romper. There’s something very infantilizing about the terms “playsuit” and “romper”, though I’m not sure I have the energy to really dive into how infantilizing the 1950s was towards women. I mean women couldn’t get mortgages on their own until the 1970s, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

I digress.

The point is that women wore pants in the 1950s and I wanted to illustrate some of those styles for this paper doll.

As usual, my references were mostly catalogs- Sears and Montgomery Ward. I went through do many catalog pages and I did not do the best job of documenting what I used. However, you can see the romper from 1954 here and the camisole and Bermuda shorts worn together from 1955 here. You can see some of the hats here from 1956 and one of the dresses here also from 1956.

As November wraps up, we are stumbling into December which is always a hit and miss month for me. I have an idea that I hope I’ll get finished. Then January will come which may be a month off, I’m still debating, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Hope everyone has been having a lovely end of Fall and beginning of winter (though given that it was -27 here yesterday, I think winter is already here in Alaska.)

Citrine Wearing Some 1950s Styles

A 1950s vintage fashion paper doll coloring page with four dresses and two pairs of shoes and other accessories.
A vintage fashion paper doll from the 1950s with four dresses and two pairs of shoes in color. This printable paper doll can share clothing with many other paper dolls in the series.

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This week is going to be quiet. It is Thanksgiving week here in the states and I am on pie duty. Personally, I love to bake, so it’s no trouble to dive into the world of pie. The only thing I don’t like is the crowds at the grocery store this time of year. I really dislike grocery shopping in general. Grocery pick-up might be the one good thing to come out of the pandemic.

Anyway, today’s 1950s vintage fashion paper doll is the first in large collection of 1950s dolls that I’ll be sharing. Citrine has a wide range of 1950s fashions from a pair of jeans with a casual blouse to a smart wool suit from Vogue. Her underwear is from 1955, but since the dolls all need to share clothing it doesn’t quite give the pointy boob effect that was popular in the era. Maidenform being the big name in that genre. Anyway, I don’t feel like linking every single source image. You can find many of them on my 1950s Pinterest Board.

Coloring these pieces are always a challenge for me, because my modern eye does not seen the same things in a black and white image as people at the time might see. So, I try to base the colors on the catalog descriptions as much as possible, especially because the catalogs are mostly produced in black and white. It’s tough for me, because I love color.

One thing I really wanted was to be sure to draw some trousers for these paper dolls. I tend to like drawing dresses more than trousers, but they were popular in the 1950s. I did some for my 1940s Jewels and Gemstones, but they never made it onto the blog’s version (they are included in the Etsy set). Trousers were still pretty strictly a casual garment in the 1950s. Never the less, I wanted to be sure to include jeans, shorts, and a playsuit. Stay tuned for more 1950s clothing over the next few weeks as I finish up the other sets.

Don’t forget, there’s an older Sapphire 1950s set which fits right in with the aesthetic.

1950s Dresses with Sapphire

If I had to pick one period of fashion that I think I would look pretty good in it would be the 1950s. In the real world, I might be a strictly hoodies and jeans sort of girl, but if I do dress up, the the 1950s tight waist, full skirt, is my go-to silhouette.

Also, historical paper dolls are what I mostly collect and were my favorites as a child. So, it is a win-win all around for me. I did this series last year for the larger scale Jewels and Gemstones. It was fun to put them together as a set. I have even more 1950s stuff, so there will be another set of these.

Let’s talk some sources. Her dresses are Vogue 8596, Simplicity 3572 and Simplicity 4966. Two of the hats are from the Montgomery Ward Spring Summer 1950.. All of the other Accessory inspirations are from the Met including- this purse, these shoesthis hat, and these shoes. Her underwear is this corset from the V&A. 

A 1950s black fashion paper doll to color with retro dresses and underwear. She has three dresses, three hats and two pairs of shoes.

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For Sapphire’s hair, I based her style off the hair styles worn by Dorothy Dandridge and Leana Horne two black stars from the 1950s. These photos of Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge (Here’s the same hair again on Dorothy Dandridge in 1954) were my inspiration.

They were also super interesting people. Dorothy Dandridge was an actress who was the first African-American woman to on the cover of Life magazine. She died quite young, sadly. Lena Horne was a wildly successful singer. She got blacklisted after being accused of being a communist.

A 1950s black fashion paper doll to print with vintage dresses and underwear. She has three dresses, three hats and two pairs of shoes.

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I tend to love the color red. However, for this set, I chose to try to avoid using it, even though I tend to always want to. Her only red is the lipstick. I love the idea of wearing hats, even though I don’t. So, the hats as universal as possible, so I matched them to shoes.

The show Lovecraft Country made me want to finish this set. The character Ruby has the most amazing outfits. I love seeing a curvy, black woman dressed up in the finest 1950s fashion. The actress Wunmi Mosaku does an amazing job with the character and I love the costuming choices like this dress and this dress. Seriously, I want her all clothes.

I don’t know if I’d universally recommend Lovecraft Country, because it is a horror show and there’s some pretty graphic violence. I like it, but I know it won’t be everyone’s taste. Plus, it is uneven- hits well when it hits, but when it doesn’t… (much like Lovecraft’s writing) it’s a little painful. There’s also some transphobic stuff which I found pretty troubling. I think the show has good and bad things about it.

I digress. Enjoy today’s paper doll and if you love the blog (and want more paper dolls) join us over on Patreon.

Opal in the 1950s

A 1950s fashion paper doll in period underwear with three pairs of shoes. She can wear any of the Jewels and Gemstones paper doll clothing including the 1950s outfits.

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Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll
I love 1950’s fashion. So, clearly I wanted to make a 1950s fashion paper doll. I think it is one of the most beautiful eras of women’s clothing and probably that’s because I have a very 1950s figure myself. I tend to look good in 1950s dresses. Besides that, I think it’s sort of the last era where there’s really an idea of dressing for an occasion. There’s very clear lines in what is “casual” and what is “formal” and where things can be worn.

While I very much don’t want to live in the 1950s (I like that I can’t be fired from my job for getting pregnant), I really do love the idea of having outfits for different activities. Maybe it’s because I never feel like I know what to wear to anything and would love it if it was more clear cut.

I chose Opal for the model, in part because I never saw non-white historical paper dolls as a child and I try to be more diverse, especially in my historical paper doll creations.

Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
Okay, let’s start with shoes, because I love shoes. The sources for these shoes were all from the Met except one pair. So, these shoes, these ones and these ones all come from there. The middle pair is the outlier and it comes from LACMA and these are the source image.

Now, let’s talk underwear. Our 1950s fashion paper doll, Opal, is wearing a girdle and strapless bra combination. In order to make sure she could share clothing with Sapphire from the 1950s, I matched the shapes of their underwear. Opal’s girdle is based on this 1950’s American one and her brassier is based on this 1950s French model, both from The Met.

Opal’s hair is a nod to Ava Gardner’s short hair style (she had a few) which you can see here and here. I’ll confess I don’t think it came out quite as I’d hoped it would.

Specific Source Images:There’s a lot here, so here we go- this girdle, this brassier, these shoes, these shoes, these shoes, these shoes and this hair.

Learn/See More
On the Blog: More Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls & More 1950s Fashion for Paper Dolls
Around the Internet: Claricia Psalter from the Late 12th Century

Last Thoughts
I wanted to collect up all the 1950s paper doll dresses I’ve created for the blog and put them together, so you can easily grab some clothing for poor Opal here whose just in her undergarments. If you’re a 2 dollar and up Patron, there’s two more- a suit and a day dress both from the 1950s.

1950s Fashion Paper Dolls for the Jewels & Gemstones

Do you like the 1950s? Let me know in a comment. It is one of my favorite eras. Do you have a favorite decade for 20th century fashion?

1955 Summer Dress With Hat and Purse

A lovely Mid-1950s Summer Dress with hat. The dress is from Vogue in 1955. The hat is from Montgomery Ward in 1950. The purse is from Sears.

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Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll
There’s a few silhouettes one tends to associate with retro 50s fashion. There’s the tight waisted, full skirt look (like this) or the narrow fitted suit look (like this). There’s also a few variations on this and one of those variation is the dropwaist version of the full skirted look.

A dropwaist is when the waist (aka seam where the bodice meets the skirt) is lower than the natural waist on a person. A highwaist is when the waist is raised above the natural waist, but below the bust. An empire waist is when the waist of a dress is located right under the bust.

More than you maybe wanted to know about fashion terminology. I digress.

Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
Summer is coming rapidly to Alabama. I love the Fall in Alabama and I like the Winter. I could leave the Summer without any sense of guilt at all. It’s hot and humid and my allergies are exploding. Ugh!

Anyway, I always think women in retro spring fashion ads look so wonderfully cool and calm and it probably sucked living in Alabama in the 1950s when air conditioning was rare and petticoats were common. None the less, I loved the concept if not the reality.

Specific Source Images: Vogue 8596, Montgomery Ward Spring/Summer 1950 hats pages and Sears (I used Everyday Fashions of the Fifties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs)

Learn/See More
On the Blog: More Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls & More 1950s Paper Dolls
Around the Internet: Closet Historian regularly posts images from vintage catalogs in her collection and they are fascinating.

Last Thoughts
I’ve done two more 1950’s paper doll dresses and shared them with my Patrons. They are a 1950s suit and 1950s day dress. Join Us on Patreon if you’d like to support the blog (and get more paper doll content!)

Also, if you’re thinking- Well, I wish I had a 1950s paper doll to wear this stylin’ 1950s dress, I’ve made a version of the ever delightful Sapphire in 1950’s underwear. So, you can print her, but, as always, this dress will fit any of the Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls. Retro 50s fashion is so popular right now.

Suit From the Mid-1950s

A fitted suit from 1956 with bucket hat and matching necklace. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com.

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Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll
When I think of the 1950s, I think of suits and dresses. Sure, pants and shorts existed, but I always think of crisp suits and soft dresses. So, I knew I wanted to do a suit or two.

There’s really two fashionable shapes for suits in the 1950s. One is tight and sleek. The other is a fitted bodice and a full skirt as in Dior’s New Look.

Personally, I love both.

Today’s suit though is of the tight skirted variety.

Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
I was really intrigued by this pattern from Advance, because I am always am fascinated by the idea of separates in the past. It’s an idea that has been around for as long as I think women have been getting dressed. You can see the concept as far back as the 18th century when different jackets would be paired with different skirts. I suspect you could trace it back further, but I never have attempted too.

Specific Source Images: Advance 8114

Learn/See More
On the Blog: More Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls &  more paper dolls from the 1950s
Around the Internet: Since I mentioned Dior’s New Look, you can read more here .

Last Thoughts
My lovely supporters on Patreon will be getting another suit on Friday. So, be sure to check that out if you’re a patron.

Additionally, I am considering doing another 100 day project this year. Last year, I drew 100 dresses and took pictures of them on Instagram. You can see them all here.

Summer Dress from 1951 with Hat & Purse

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Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll
Vintage clothing, like the 1950s, are fascinating to me, because really women’s clothing hasn’t dramatically changed in the last 80 years or so. So, I think what makes the 1950s really the 1950s are the accessories- the hats, purses and gloves that women don’t wear anymore.

Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
I wanted to draw a summer day dress when I stumbled across these digitized images from Montgomery Ward Spring Summer 1950 catalogs posted by the Closet Historian. Basically, I wanted an excuse to draw one of those fantastic straw hats.

Specific Source Images: Simplicity 3572, Montgomery Ward Spring Summer 1950 catalog and this purse from the Met.

Learn/See More
On the Blog: More Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls &  more paper dolls from the 1950s
Around the Internet: Check out the Vintage Pattern Wiki for more 1950s and other vintage pattern goodness.

Last Thoughts
Because I might be a tiny bit OCD, the green in today’s dress matches the green in the sandals from this set.

Patreon on Friday will also be a 1950s dress. Also, I think this is a collab Friday, but I haven’t even drawn mine yet. I should get on that.

Sapphire & The 1950s

A curvy black paper doll with historical underwear from the 1950s and three pairs of shoes. Her underwear and shoes come from various museum collections. Her short black hair is styled based on black actresses and singers of the 1950s.

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Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll
Some themes I know I want to explore from the very beginning of a paper doll project and this was one of those themes. I knew I wanted to do a 1950s paper doll.

I love 1950s clothing. Also, historical paper dolls are what I mostly collect and were my favorites as a child. So, it is a win-win all around for me.

Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
I really wanted to start with a basic set of underwear (strapless to accommodate evening gowns) and four pairs of shoes. I wanted the shoes to be mix and match-able with the dresses I designed around the same time (I’ll be sharing those later.)

One of my favorite tricks for hair from this era (or any time in the last 90 years) is to chose from actresses in Hollywood. Not only did actresses set the hairstyles of their time, but they are often more racially diverse than models in magazines or catalogs (until 1970 when that improves a bit).

For Sapphire’s hair, I based her style off the hair styles worn by Dorothy Dandridge and Leana Horne in the 1950s. Dorothy Dandridge was an actress who died young, sadly. Lena Horne was a wildly successful singer who did some acting, but mostly was known for her singing.

Specific Source Images: These shoes, these shoes, these shoes and these sandals all from The Met. This corset from the V&A. Photos of Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge (Here’s the same hair again on Dorothy Dandridge in 1954). I like it when I see the same hairstyle on several actresses, because then I know it wasn’t just a quirk of one woman, but something several women chose to wear.

Learn/See More
On the Blog: More Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls &  more paper dolls from the 1950s
Around the Internet: Check out The Met and The V&A, both of which have great costume collections. Also, check out my 1950s fashion Pinterest Board.

Last Thoughts
I had a lot of fun creating a “set” of clothing for Sapphire, so tune in for the next few days. I’ll be sharing 1950s fashions. It’s going to be super fun.

Want an extra paper doll or dress each week? Than join us on Patreon.

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 3461, Vogue 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