Florence’s House Dresses: Victorian Paper Doll Clothes

Houses dresses for Florence, my paper doll of an 1870s French fashion doll.

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So, here I am all slacking after everyone was so gracious about my little foray into steampunk on Monday. Oh well, that’s just how things go sometimes here in Library School Land where I spend most of my time. I hope, in some small way, these two Florence costumes rather then one make up for it. They are both based on fashion plates from the 1870’s. House dresses were worn often in the mornings or in the afternoon if the lady of the house wasn’t planning on visiting and didn’t expect to be receiving any visitors except those whom she could be casual with such as family. Neither costume has a hat, though the one of the left does have a decorative head covering. The dress on the left comes from this Victorian fashion plate and the dress on the right from this Victorian fashion plate.

You can get Florence, the paper doll who wears these outfits (and her nightgown) over here.

Florence’s Winter Walking Costume: Victorian Paper Doll Clothes

 

A winter walking costume from 1874 for Florence, my Victorian paper doll. The dress features a train and fur trim. She also has a matching hat.

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New thing for the Florence paper doll today. It’s very exciting. Well… I think it’s exciting…

(I might need to have more thrills in my life.)

So, this dress was drawn off this fashion plate from the LA Public Library’s Casey Fashion Plate Index. It’s a fantastic collection of plates.

In case you missed Florence, the paper doll who wears these outfits, here she is.

Florence’s Afternoon Dress: Paper Doll Clothes to Print

An afternoon dress for Florence, my French fashion doll paper doll.

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Imagine there is a witty intelligent blog entry here rather then some random sentence I wrote before going to bed early since I have a horrible headache.

In case you missed her, here’s the paper doll to wear this afternoon dress. 🙂

Florence’s Promenade Dress: 1870’s Paper Doll Clothes

A promenade dress for Florence, a paper doll from the 1870s.

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This promenade dress for Florence is based on an image from a Godey fashion plate in Feb. of 1873. The gown was purple, black and white, but I’ve left it uncolored, so it can be any combination you like. The skirt is shorter then the carriage dress allowing for easier walking, though such things are rather subjective. It is the 1870’s after all.

I don’t think I would want to dress like a Victorian lady.

Here is Florence, in case you missed the first post in this series.

Florence’s Underwear: Paper Doll Victorian Undergarments

I have come to the end of my first week of classes. I am tired, but pleased to have gotten posted Florence’s underwear. I posted Florence last week, and here now is her corset. 🙂

florence-victorian-paper-doll-underwear-150

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It’s actually a simplified version of all the layers Victorian women wore. There should be a bustle and a corset cover and a chemise under the corset. I’m glad I don’t wear so many layers of underwear.

Except when it’s really cold out, then I get close with my long underwear and my heavy wool socks and my jeans and then sweater and coat and hat and scarf.

But not corsets… I wouldn’t want to wear a corset every day. Once in a while might be okay, but not every day.

Don’t forget to print out Florence, so she can wear these clothing pieces.

Florence: 1870’s French Fashion Doll in Paper Doll Form

French Fashion Dolls were dolls made in the 19th century to help educate young ladies how to dress properly for adulthood. They often had a complete trousseau of clothing which makes them a great subject for paper dolls.

Florence, a paper doll of a jointed Victorian fashion doll from the 1870s.

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Florence is a combination of several different dolls. Her face is based on the dolls of François Gaultier like this one from the Carmel Doll Shop. Her body is based on a wooden bodied Bru doll which is one of the most highly prized types of French fashion dolls. I think she sure does make a beautiful Victorian paper doll for printing and coloring in.

Since I didn’t want to end up drawing clothing from the entire French fashion doll era (it ran from about the 1850’s through about 1885, though there are some from as late as 1915), I decided to limit myself. This printable paper doll and her wardrobe is from between the years 1869 and 1875. Today, the paper doll has her night gown, dressing gown and night cap.

Next Friday, Florence’ll get her underwear and then after that she’ll start getting dresses to print. Since Florence, like Curves, is a printable paper doll hold over from the old blog, I do plan to post a mixture of dresses some people have seen and some people haven’t. I am still proud of a lot of the dresses I drew for Florence last year (this isn’t true of a lot of things I’ve drawn), so I have no intention to not keep them as part of the paper doll’s trousseau.