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A Dive into Classic Lolita with Lapis
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Classic Lolita fashion inspired today’s printable paper doll. As I know I’ve explained before, but in case anyone is new around here or doesn’t remember- Lolita fashion is a Japanese street alternative fashion style. It is based on Victorian children’s clothing taken to the logical extreme of ruffled absurdity. Lolita fashion also has a bunch of sub-genre’s (like anything in the alt-fashion world). There’s sailor Lolita, gothic Lolita, sweet Lolita, and, of course, classic lolita which is what I’m sharing today. I thought this article was a nice quick overview of the major three styles- sweet, classic and gothic.
Classic Lolita is generally thought to be a much more toned down and refined Lolita style. It’s often called a little more mature, but that’s just in comparison to Sweet Lolita, which can be… a lot. I haven’t done a sweet lolita paper doll printable set yet for the Jewels and Gemstones. So, I’ll link this Sweet Lolita paper doll from my Dames and Dandies collection. You can see the contrast between that illustration and these without much trouble, I think (well, I hope anyway.)
There’s certainly some cottage-core trend filtering into here too. There’s a lot of scholarship about how times of social unrest also tend to be times of feminine dress. The Great Depression, for example, heralded a return to lady-like. There’s really no proof for the so-called Hemline Theory– where skirt length can be tied to economic highs and lows. Personally, I think it’s more likely that people just want a return to what they see as “safe” and “normal”. In times of social upheaval, that’s a return to a pervious time that’s perceived as being idyllic, even if such a time never actually existed. Anyway, I digress…
I keep a Lolita fashion Pinterest board for all my gathering up documentation on this fashion style. This dress and this dress inspired today’s dresses, though I think one is more gothic than classic. This paper doll was one of the few times when I’ve really dived into a color scheme. I don’t tend to use these sorts of muted soft colors that often, which is a pity, because I really love how it looks. Makes me want to use these sorts of colors on more printable paper doll creations.
Talia Tuesday is Having Adventures
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Last week was a lot of “housekeeping” sorts of posts- announcing changes to Patreon, letting people know about the new 1960s paper doll set– and I don’t mind those posts. They have to happen. Plus, I am proud of what I put on Etsy and I like getting to share it with you all.
But my Etsy products are always a a little higher stakes for me. Does everything fit? Do all the instruction make sense? Will someone who doesn’t know me really love the printable paper dolls as much as I hope they will?
I figure you are all my fans and will likely forgive me a foible for two.
So, I’m excited to return to a week of just sharing some printable paper dolls. It’s nice to get back to basic. Starting off with this fantasy set for Talia Tuesday feels right to me. Sometimes I do fantasy paper doll sets and I 100% know the narrative, but it’s not very common. It’s much more common for me to chose an element (in this case the scalloped sleeve detail) and think- how do I apply this across several things. You’ll see it in the sleeves of the gowns, but also repeated in the tunic trims.
I drew this paper doll at the same time as I drew my Tanya Elegant Empress paper doll. My original plan was to do a set that was all gowns and a set that was all pants. However, once I got down to the nitty-gritty of layout, I had too many gowns and not enough pants. Oops. I decided to call this printable paper doll “Having Adventures,” because the combination of nice gowns and more casual tunics made sense for someone who goes out and has an adventure. So, there’s a bow and arrows, but also an elegant gown. At least, that’s my justification after the fact.
Don’t forget to cut between the doll’s shoulders and her hair for best results when trying to dress her up.
Opal is a Mermaid!
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Whenever I draw mermaids, I end up thinking of Liana of Liana’s Paper Dolls. This sadly defunct site is an amazing ode to all the things you can do with mermaids and paper dolls. (Seriously, if you haven’t ever spent anytime in her archives, it is well worth a gander.) I don’t think my mermaids even get close to hers. Liana had a fascinating entire world around her mermaids and I just don’t think that way. Creating stories around my paper dolls is not my natural tendency, though I am in awe of folks who can do that.
Today’s mermaid set is part of a larger mermaid project. The set got created, because I was somehow inspired to draw mermaids. My long term plan is that collection of drawings will become into something for Etsy. In the meantime, I’m sharing some parts of the set here as smaller creations.
When I design mermaids, I like it when the tails go up over the doll’s bust, so it feels more like an entire outfit, because I can not figure-out why mermaids would wear clothing (seems totally impractical in you’re underwater). Also, I don’t know if they would need to nurse young. Are mermaids mammals? Fish certainly aren’t.
Generally, I don’t base my mermaids on actual fish (questions about mermaid’s mammal status aside). However, clownfish inspired the tail on the left.
Fun Fact: Mermaid tails are one of the only things that usually get a full sized first draft. I need to make sure the curve of the tail makes sense. The tail usually ends up taking several tries on separate paper before I transfer them into my sketchbook for final penciling and inking. This maybe why I don’t do mermaids that often. Years ago, Julie Matthews did a centaur paper doll and I am still in awe over it. I can not even imagine trying to draw that.
Unrelated, Julie’s Nora and Nellie paper dolls from Paper Doll Review are not mermaids, but are delightful.
Any how, if you want some more mermaid tails for Opal here, there’s been other mermaid paper dolls. Might I direct you to this one with Amethyst and this patron only one with Citrine. Stay tuned, because someday I will get that Etsy set done and there are some really neat mermaid tails in there that I am very proud of. I’ll let you all know when that happens, promise.
Happy 4th of July with Paper Dolls
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Creating a 4th of July paper doll was hard this year, but I have been wanting to try to get a paper doll done for all the major holidays I can. The thing about these holiday paper dolls is that they are super handy to have around (like instant social media content) and easy to draw (theme’s kind of done for you). However, I confess that I’ve been pretty angry and depressed about the current state of affairs in the United States. So, it was harder to build up enthusiasm to draw Americana then usual.
Still, I have so many fond memories of the 4th of July. It’s a big holiday in my hometown. There’s two parades, fireworks at midnight on the 3rd (the sun doesn’t go down until 10pm) and huge bonfire organized by our family friends. I do mean huge- it’s like several stories high and designed by architects and engineers made from pallets. There’s usually a theme for the bonfire- it’s been a T-rex, the throne of swords from Game of Thrones, and many other structures.
We make our own fun up here in the Northland.
Anyway, today’s paper doll is a riff on my Valentine’s Day vintage themed paper doll. She originally had different hair, but it did not look good. I didn’t have time to redraw it, so I borrowed the hair from the Valentine’s doll. Of course, I made a few little changes in photoshop, but it’s basically the same . I’m still trying to hit my 10 DDJ paper dolls in 2022 goal and this gets me a little closer!
By the way, there are some changes coming to Patreon (more on that later). So, just an early heads up for folks. You might start seeing posts on the site like these which are blocked unless you’re a Patron. Basically, I’m slowly adding old Patreon content to the blog in the months when it appeared on Patreon. Just so no one is super confused as to what is happening.
1980s Work Out Madness
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Sometimes when I go through old fashion catalogues, I notice something and then I need to draw it. When I started working on my 1980s paper dolls I ran into a classic problem- the 1980s wasn’t that long ago. While a lot of clothing looks dated, a lot of it looks like things you could wear today (with maybe different hair and less blush). However, one thing stood out as distinctly 1980s- leotards and leggings for the Jazzercise workout craze.
Seriously, I could have filled a whole paper doll book with these looks. They were wild. A few of my favorites were the 1983 Sears Spring/Summer collection which included puff sleeves (why?). The 1988 Sears Spring/Summer Catalog which features some super high cut silhouettes. And my personal favorite, the 1984 Sears Fall/Winter Catalog with its actually flattering color blocking. Montgomery Ward seems to have mostly sold these looks for kids, like in this 1985 Fall/Winter catalog. I didn’t have access to enough Montgomery Ward or JCPenney catalogs to see if they got into the same styles, though I suspect they did.
The 1985 Sears Fall/Winter collection was the inspiration for the color scheme and several of the pieces for this paper doll. I liked the oddly spring feeling colors and I thought they were more fun than the black and dark tones people associate with workout gear. Ruby, the paper doll here has make up, because clearly everyone in the 1980s had perfect lipstick while exercising. (I look like a half-drowned puppy after exercising, but that’s just me!)
One thing that struck me as I looked at these was that they weren’t badly designed, by which I mean there was effort being given to making them flattering. The use of color blocking and the V going down the body are actually slimming on most people. The belts would have called attention to the waist which, again, can be flattering on some people. However, I do think there’s a bit of a problem because leotards in shiny polyester are never going to be a great look.
While I was too young to really remember the Jazzercise craze, I do remember my middle school in the 1990s did a step-aerobics class for gym for a few days and I loved it. I loved that I didn’t have to do a team sport (which I was awful at) and I loved the music. I wonder if there are still step-aerobics classes in this world? Maybe I should go find one. I don’t see why gym classes in the USA are so obsessed with team sports. Not all of us want to play basketball, darn it!
I digress.
I know it has been a while for my patrons on the “1980s fashion” request front, but I hope this paper doll gets us a little closer to some 1980s fashion fun and there’s another 1980s paper doll forthcoming with a more professional wardrobe.
Talia Tuesday and Her Formal Gowns
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So, there’s a not so fun side to any new paper doll series involving me figuring out how many pieces of clothing I need to draw to fill in a set. Too many and the clothing won’t fit. Too few and it looks weirdly sparse. I’m still sorting out with Talia Tuesday what I need for each set and evening gowns (because they are large pieces) are always a good way to test and get a feel for things.
Plus, I enjoy drawing evening gowns. Who doesn’t?
A few notes- for those of you who haven’t seen Talia here yet, all of her sets are two pages. I mention this because it’s one download, but there are two pages there. I had a question about that last week, so I wanted to clarify. This is the third Talia Tuesday doll, so if you need a friend (or clone, I suppose) there’s another Talia Tuesday with some retro ski clothing you can check out and a friend named Tashi with some fancy winterwear.
Eventually, this collection will expand to have other paper dolls with T names, but I am not there yet. Slow, but steady and all that. I have one other friend for Talia and Tashi ready and a foray into fantasy clothing I’ll want to share soon.
Meet Talia Tuesday & Her Retro Ski Winter Fashion
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I do not know where to start with this one, so let me start at the beginning I guess. Last year, I decided to just draw whatever I felt like for my 5 dollar patrons. One of the experiments that came out of that year was this paper doll pose. Inspired by a pose I’ve seen, but never tried to draw (and like it only looks correct because the amazing Julie Matthews saved me on foot placement- you’re the best Julie). I liked the doll, but the pose is totally new to me and is taking some getting used too. It’s making me stretch and I think that’s always a good thing.
So, I decided one of the things I wanted to do was a two page series, due to the paper doll’s pose and size. After I shared her for my Patrons last year, I reformatted her and did some adjustments to her face and came up with a name. Meet Talia Tuesday & Friends!
She’ll post not every Tuesday, because that would be bananas, but like some Tuesdays. This first Talia Tuesday is inspired by the retro ski trend that seems to be all over the place this winter with lots of 1980s and 1990s inspired ski wear. I don’t think any of this is really practical ski clothing, so I didn’t feel weird giving Talia a big silver earrings.
Don’t worry, Talia will have friends soon. If you love paper dolls and want more of them every month, I’ve got Patreon page where even more paper dolls happen (plus you get to see things like this in the early days) and a newsletter.
Ombre Stripes in Purples with Lapis
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So, according to the internet, source of all wisdom, lilac is a big color for Winter 2022. I wanted to really focus on two colors- purple and teal- for the this paper doll. The set was supposed to be a look at monochrome colors which isn’t something I do a lot in my paper doll coloring.
Recently, I got a question from a reader asking if I did anything with my finished paper dolls. At first, I didn’t understand the question. What did “do anything with” mean? I wondered. I told her about my messy files, my boxes of sketchbooks in my office closet, but that answer didn’t feel right. It’s been percolating in my brain for the last week.
What do I “do with” my finished work?
And then the answer occurred to me as I was working on scheduling this months paper doll posts and it was utterly obvious…. What I do with my finished paper dolls is this. PTP is what I do with my finished work. Completing things is deeply satisfying for me and how I complete my paper dolls is sharing them with all of you.
Once I thought about for a while, the answer was obvious. So, thank you for being a part of my process and a part of my little corner of the inter-webs. If you’d like to support my little corner of the internet further, I have a Patreon page, Etsy store, and a newsletter.