A Stylish Paper Doll July: The Rose Ballgown

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Am I allowed to have favorites? Because I 100% do right now.

This rose fantasy dress absolutely encapsulates what I am discovering I love about working on my ipad and working digitally.

Layers!

So, my original plan was to draw this dress, though I did adapt it a bit. I changed the ruched bottom piece to a ruffle, added a second layer of roses and did a few other things. The point is that as I was working on the bodice, I realized it could be a totally separate piece.

And this got me thinking about Victorian dresses with several bodices to pair with one skirt.

And then I remembered playing paper dolls with my niece and how she didn’t like the skirts, because they didn’t stay on the dolls very well (and these big skirts don’t unless you add some extra paper strips in the back to hold the skirt against the doll.

And then I was like, but I could make the drees strapless, add a few tabs to the bodice for additional security and then design the bodices to go over the top of the dress.

So, in the end, we have a dress with four different bodices and one jacket.

I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.

The only thing that I think could be more fun would be a second skirt option, because then you’d double your outfit potential with just one more piece. But that’s unlikely to happen… well, this month, anyhow.

A Regency Lady and Her Wardrobe

A two page printable regency paper doll with 5 dresses.

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I’m going to keep this brief, since I wrote a lot of this up in the newsletter already (subscribe here) and I just don’t know if I want to repeat myself (or if anyone wants to read me repeating myself).

One of the weird/interesting things about creating the newsletter has been grappling with the transient/permanent nature of it. I’ve always thought of this blog as both an archive of my work and as a place where if I make a typo and notice three months later (which has 100% happened), I can fix it. However, the newsletters don’t work that way. Once they are sent, they are done.

And while there is an archive, they don’t feel as permanent as a series of blog posts.

Since the whole newsletter thing is an experiment to begin with, I am still trying to grapple with how I feel about all that.

Anyway, let’s talk paper dolls. So, her underwear is a generic set of short stays over a shift with stockings a shoes. My goal here wasn’t to reproduce anything specific, but to get to the basic idea of “generic underwear of this era” rather than getting into specifics. Her hair is a combination of portraits like this one and this one. I wanted a hairstyle that could easily be covered in bonnets or hats, which I knew I was going to be drawing with nearly every dress.

To start with the morning dress is from this November 1813 plate from La Belle Assemblee which, despite a very French sounding name, was published in London and aimed at the fashionable set. People thought all things French were more sophisitcated than all things English. Interestingly, a lot of places will credit La Belle Assemblee fashioj plates to France on the name alone. While many of the plates in the magazine are copies of French fashion plates, the publication was definitely English.

Her cap with the morning dress has a little bit of this one and a little bit of this one, with dash of this one. So, it’s sort of a combination of caps.

The morning walking dress is really just a gown with a pelisse over it. The pelisse and bonnet were inspired by this September 1813 plate from La Belle Assemblee, again. A pelisse was a coat that was cut the same style as the dress. They came in all different styles like this one or this one. Some were made from very lightweight fabrics, but others were warm and designed as coats. Sometimes it’s hard to tell from an illustration if you’re looking at a pelisse or a gown or something in between.

The first gown on the second page (working left to right, top to bottom) is a ballgown. Ballgowns were the most formal gowns women wore with the exception of court dress and court dress has never been a big interest of mine. Court dress was governed by all sort of rules and regulations- a realm I have never wanted to dive into. The ball gown is based on this one from the Museum at FIT. The turban is from this 1815 fashion plate. Turbans were super popular in the 1810s.

The dress with the spencer is basically a walking costume. The Spencer was a jacket version of the pelisse. Both were cut to follow the lines of the dress. Spencers come in all different styles. A few that inspired this one include this 1815 yellow silk version and this March 1812 version from Ladies’ Magazine.

The Ladies’ Magazine was published in London starting in August of 1770. If I am remembering my fashion history correctly, it was the first magazine to publish a fashion plate, though the idea was quickly copied by French and German publications. My understanding is that Ladies’ Magazine was less expensive than some of the other fashion magazines of the era and the quality of the fashion plates shows this difference. Still, it’s a pretty amazing document. I have digressed a lot from our paper doll, so let’s finish up with the dinner dress.

The dinner dress’s hat is from this La Belle Assemblee fashion plate from 1817 showing an evening gown. This 1818 gown from the Met Museum inspired the dress. The color, a smoky purple, came from this fashion plate, though I do like the marine blue.

And that’s it! More, I am certain, than you wanted to know about Regency fashion and inspiration for this regency paper doll set. Tomorrow, I’ll share Vivian’s steampunk traveling suit for my Patrons.

Regency Fashion Week: Evening Gown Circa 1818

A golden yellow regency ballgown for the printable paper dolls with matching bag and gloves. Free to print in color or black and white for coloring. Great history activity for homeschooling.

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Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll
This is the first day of gown for the Regency paper doll I posted on Monday. Part of why I made this the first gown is that the shoes that go with this dress are with that Regency paper doll.

In the world of Regency clothing, there were three forms of dress- undress, half-dress and full-dress. Undress was most casual. Full-dress was most formal. Half-dress goes somewhere in the middle, but isn’t as easily defined. There’s a nice overview on Full-dress here.

Ballgowns, like today’s paper doll dress, were definitely full-dress. They were also really really low cut. So low cut, in fact, that I had to make the neckline higher to cover the stays I created. Sometimes, I kinda wonder how ladies stayed in these dresses before the era of fashion tape. I mean, one wrong move and you’d be flashing everyone at the party.

Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
When I planned out my Regency fashion week, I knew I’d need a ballgown. And I love regency era ballgowns. I think they are so pretty! I chose a gown from 1818 in a rich gold color to illustrate and I accessorized with the required over the elbow gloves and a small bag which I’m not sure is really an accessory a women would have carried.

Specific Source Images: This Dress from 1818 and this bag.

Learn/See More
On the Blog: More Regency Fashion Paper Dolls and More Jewels & Gemstones Paper Dolls
Around the Internet: A great Full-Dress overview,A Nice Collection of Fashion Plates from Candice Hern, & A Quick Primer on Regency Fashion

Last Thoughts
I think I always picture the Regency as being nothing but white clothing, but really I kept seeing this rich yellow. I love color! So, any excuse to use it.

I want to give a shout out to my Patrons without whom the blog wouldn’t be around. Thank you to all of them. Join up if you’d to get extra paper doll content & support the blog.

What do you think of today’s ballgown? Your style or not? Let me know by leaving a comment.

An Autumnal Princess Dress With Matching Shoes

A fantasy princess gown with a ruffled over skirt and a draped skirt from paperthinpersonas.com. Also can be printed in black and white.

Printable Black & White PDF Printable Color PDF More Paper Dolls & Clothes
Today’s paper doll post is a big skirted princess fantasy dress- one of my favorite styles to explore. I’ve done quite a few of these dresses for the B pose ladies before. You might remember my fall steampunk inspired one from a few weeks ago.

There’s also a spring inspired one, a winter one and a purple bow covered ballgown

Also, if you hop over to Patreon, there’s a second color scheme for today’s down. While you’re there, check out my poll about the blog post images over on Patreon. You can vote even if you’re not a Patron and I hope you do! It’s all about how the post images I create of each paper doll set should look.

And do let me know what you think of today’s gown in a comment. I love hearing from you all. 

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

A Big Skirted Princess Dress, Anyone?

This Princess dress design for the paper dolls features buttons, autumn motifs and colors. There's a steampunk princess element as well with the top hat and boots. You can also print it in black and white for coloring if you wish.

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There are genre’s I come back to over and over again. Some of them are themes like post-apocalyptic or fairies. Others are more like fashion styles. On of them is what I call “Big Skirted Princess Dresses.”

One thing you must know about me is that I was a child of 1980s and 1990s. That means, I grew up with Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid (which terrified me so much as a child I refused to watch it again until I was in my 30s.) I also grew up with paper dolls of these movies and the paper dolls of Peck-Grande who made the most amazing fairy tale paper dolls. Seriously. Check out their Beauty and the Beast paper doll or Sleeping Beauty paper doll. Also big skirted over the top dresses were sort of a thing in the 1980s and early 1990s.

So, in my head, fairy tale dresses with huge skirts and crazy decorations are just what princesses wear. Plus the big skirts give lots of room for added decoration.

Today’s foray into the big-skirted-princess-gown genre has a bit of a steampunk vibe. I really wanted this dress to feel autumnal, just like I think the other big-skirted dresses I have done feel like they are from other seasons. This one was my winter dress and this one was my summer/spring dress.

Do let me know what you think of today’s post in a comment. I love to hear from you. If you want to support the blog, think about donating through Patreon.

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

A Big Fancy Bow Covered Ball Gown For the B Pose Paper Dolls

A fantastic bow covered princess ball gown for the paper dolls from paperthinpersonas.com in purple or black and white for coloring with matching gloves, jewelry and shoes.

Printable Black & White PDF Printable Color PDF More Paper Dolls & Clothes

In the continuing epic of big skirted dresses, I offer up this princess ball gown. I imagine it comes from the same world as this dress and this dress. Now that I have three, maybe I should make it a collection? I am very conflicted about that idea, because I’m not sure I’ll draw more.

Okay, I probably will draw more, because I love me over the top ball gowns. The more wild, the better. 

Today’s gown is partly inspired by dresses from Japan that I learned about from Liana’s paper doll blog years ago- color-dresses. They are these completely over the top colorful ball gowns worn to the reception after the wedding. Liana’s blog has the proper Japanese word for them, but I am hesitant to copy it, because I don’t know any Japanese. As I understand it (and I am not an expert on Japanese wedding customs), the bride often wears a kimono for the ceremony, a white wedding dress for part of the reception and then a colorful dress like this for the evening party. The gowns are wild and wonderful and remind me of what a princess ball gown might be.

I love them. 

I would like to point out that today’s down is more restrained than a lot of these gowns. Here’s a few more that I adored. Seriously, this might be the best rabbit hole to go down ever if you love over the top gowns and who doesn’t love those?

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this latest colorful ball gown. For my Patreons, there’s an even more colorful version in teal, pink, orange and purple. As always, thank you for supporting the blog and donations are totally welcome

So, what do you think of today’s ball gown? Would you wear it? Let me know in a comment. I’m not sure I have the guts to wear such a dress. 

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

 

An Elegant Piece of Evening Wear for the A Pose Printable Paper Dolls

An elegant purple evening gown for the A pose printable paper dolls.

Printable Black & White PDF Printable Color PDF More Paper Dolls & Clothes
Today’s printable paper doll ball gown was inspired by this evening gown I saw on Pinterest. I loved the off the shoulder shape and the fullness in the skirt. I chose to make this version purple, but there’s a red version over on my Patreon page anyone can download to print if they prefer the original color scheme.

To go with the evening gown, there’s a little clutch bag, but I confess the dress is really the fun part of today’s post.

I enjoy drawing evening dresses, but after a while I get tired of the strapless simple gowns. I find I am attracted to evening gowns with interesting shapes or draping. I really want a dress that I think would be fun to draw, as much as anything else. I totally realize that “fun to draw” doesn’t mean “flattering to wear”, but I am completely cool with that. 

Paper dolls, as I have often observed, never complain about their clothing. 

Friday there will be a circus themed set, which I think is pretty exciting. 

If you love the blog, consider supporting it on Patreon. It helps offset the costs of keeping up this little corner of the internet. 

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

The Lily Ball Gown For Paper Doll Princesses

A paper doll princess dress inspired by lillies. The dress has a wide skirt and two layers over it. The skirt and crown are decorated with lillies.

Printable Black & White PDF Printable Color PDF More Paper Dolls & Clothes

It feels at this time of the year as though Spring will never come. The weather in Alabama has been unusually cold and while I try to look at the bright side (fewer bugs), it has been a long grey winter. So, let’s look at paper doll clothing inspired by flowers.

This whole week will be devoted to the floral fantasy ball. Today, we have a Lily ballgown for the A pose paper dolls. Wednesday will be a Fiddlehead Fern inspired suit for the C pose gents. Friday Beatrix will debut as the bellflower princess with her own paper doll princess dress. 

I love lilies. There were a bunch of yellow and orange lilies that grew by the door of our house when I was child. My mother is a wonderful gardener, but nothing else would grow in that corner. Those lilies grew there when we bought the house. As far as I know they are still there. 

I wanted this paper doll princess dress to be elegant. It was also a chance to practice drawing lillies. I didn’t want the paper doll dress to feel to bridal, so I chose a rich color. It started out as purple, but I changed it to teal once I realized I was going to end up with two purple dresses if I kept it purple. 

Anyway, to talk about the paper doll gown, I wanted to design this gown for weeks. I originally doodled it out in my notebook and I knew I wanted to make it a huge skirted sort of ballgown. The crown was partly inspired by something sort of Art Nouveau.  Hop over to the Patreon page to see the original thumbnail doodle I did of this gown and the subsquent sketchbook pages. 

Also, just for Patrons, there is a super fun purple version.

I’m curious. What are some of your favorite flowers? I love lilies, pansies and poppies. How about you? Share in a comment! And maybe you’ll inspire another paper doll princess dress.

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

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.Â