Wardrobes of Whimsy: A Romantic Evening

Download 2 Page Black and White PDF | Download 2 Page Color PDF |

Sometimes, I talk myself out of ideas—and this project was one of those cases. I’ve always really loved mix-and-match paper dolls, but designing sets like these comes with certain compromises. One challenge is layering, especially when it comes to tops being tucked into pants or skirts or long gloves, like on this set. That limitation got me thinking: what if I could have both the full layered outfit and the individual pieces as separate, layer-able parts in one paper doll set?

One of the great things about digital art is the flexibility it offers. It’s so much easier to draw, erase, and redraw without relying on tons of tracing paper.

I originally designed these in summer of 2024 and was really excited about them at the time.

But then life got busy, and I started second-guessing the whole idea.

I showed them off at the Paper Doll Convention in Indianapolis, and the reaction was a bit lukewarm. People didn’t seem to quite “get it.” That made me wonder if the layout just isn’t doing a good job of explaining the idea, if maybe it was a poor idea in the first place, or if ballgowns are maybe not the best example of the concept… I feel like maybe it needs a revision or two.

So, with the caveat that this might get heavily revised in the future and I am not even going to give these their own category yet, as the two I’ve currently made may end up being the only two that are ever made, here’s some ballgowns I made for a paper doll.

The other set that goes with this experiment, I’ll share next week.

Fashionable Florals: A Patreon Exclusive

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Rediscovering Vasilisa: A Magnetic Paper Doll Tale

A blond printable magnetic paper doll with a doll, three shoes and four different outfit pieces. Inspired by the Russian fairytale Vasilisa the Beautiful.
A printable magnetic paper doll with mix and match pieces inspired by the fairy tale Vasilisa the Beautiful. She has a 28 piece wardrobe.
A printable magnetic paper doll inspired by the fairy tale Vasilisa the Beautiful. She has a 28 piece wardrobe. Lots of folkloric clothing.

Download Page 1 | Download Page 2 | Download Page 3 | More Paper Dolls from the Flock Series

So, funny story… Back in 2014, I did a series of fairy tale inspired printable magnetic paper dolls and this one is Vasilisa the Beautiful, a Russian fairy tale. I never finished this one, but I posted about it back then on Patreon as a work in progress.

A week ago, to my shock, a patron left a comment on a very old post on Patreon. It went something like, “I know it’s been almost a decade since this was posted, but I’d love to see another Flock set!”

For those of you who haven’t been following PTP for over a decade. The Flock were a printable magnetic paper doll series I did, specifically for a friend of mine who wanted bigger dolls for kids with smaller hands to handle. They started really mainstream and then got increasingly quirky. This was part of that series and I hadn’t thought about the series in a very very long time.

Anyway, after I got asked this I thought—Wow, I totally forgot I even drew that.

Naturally, I figured I’d look through my files, tell the kind person who asked that I couldn’t find it (because, let’s be honest, I probably wouldn’t), and move on.

But then, after some digging, there it was—exactly where I thought it would be.

And my first thought was, “It’s probably corrupted.”
It wasn’t.

Next thought: “If there’s any coloring left to do, I’m absolutely not doing it.”
It was already fully colored.

Then I thought, “If I have to deal with scaling, I’m not even touching it.”
It was perfectly scaled.

And finally, “If I can’t find a master layout file, forget it.”
Sure enough, the layout file was sitting there, clearly labeled “Flock Fairytale Layout.”

And with that, I was out of excuses.

A few things you should know. This paper doll is magnetic (hence no tabs). Yes, it should work with all the other Flock paper dolls. But no, I did not test it.

The story tells of Vasilisa who is sent into the dark forest by her stepmother to fetch fire from the fearsome witch Baba Yaga, armed only with a magical doll her dying mother gave her. The idea is that the witch will kill her. However, with the doll’s help, Vasilisa completes Baba Yaga’s impossible tasks and earns the witch’s grudging respect, leaving with a skull-lantern that burns her wicked stepfamily to ashes. So, it’s just your typical doll saves the day and you kill your stepmother with witches magic and then marry the Tsar.

When I was a kid, I had a book of fairytales with illustrations by Ivan Bibilbin. His art was a huge influence on me. If you haven’t seen his work, check it out. It’s really beautiful.

Leave a comment if you remember this Flock Fairy Tale series. 🙂 And let me know your favorite.

And if you want to see some very old work in progress pieces, I do have some interesting stuff over on Patreon.

Celebrating being 50% done on my 100 Day Project- 100 Paper Doll Outfits

If you’re a Patron or follow me on Instagram, you probably already know that I’ve been quietly working away on a 100 Day Project since February. For those unfamiliar, the 100 Day Project is a creative challenge where you commit to doing something artistic every day for 100 days and share your progress online.

My version of the project? Drawing 100 paper doll outfits for a new series of kid-friendly, crayon-approved dolls. It’s been a “just draw and keep going” kind of project—simple, consistent, and as low-pressure as committing to something for 100 days can be. I’ve tried to do this before, but nearly every time I burn out, because I am too ambitious, so this time I was trying very hard not to be ambitious.

I’ve mostly been posting the outfits over on Patreon (with occasional updates on Instagram when I’ve had the time and energy). But now that I’ve officially passed the halfway mark, I thought I’d share a little peek here on the blog—for those of you who don’t follow me elsewhere and may have been wondering why things have been a bit quiet.

While the doll bases themselves are currently only available to paid patrons, the outfit sketches are visible to all patrons—and yes, you can join for free to follow along! Or you can check out more of these on Instagram.

Will this project eventually become a fully finished paper doll set with polished layouts and tabs? Honestly… I don’t know yet. Right now, I’m just focused on showing up and getting to 100. What happens after that is a problem for future Rachel.

Brass & Brocade: A Steampunk Paper Doll Design

A Victorian steampunk paper doll coloring page. There is a doll with a wardrobe of ten pieces to color.
A Victorian steampunk paper doll with blond hair and pink color scheme. There is a doll with a wardrobe of ten pieces.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

This paper dolls color scheme comes from a card in the Color Cubes by Sarah Renee Clarke. I ended up picking color scheme 229 for this set. It was beautiful soft pink, black, sand and a dark coffee color. I loved the idea of the black, brown, and sand with the pink. Keeping some pink in the color scheme was important to me, because a 2011 steampunk paper doll called Neapolitan Ice Cream inspired this paper doll’s wardrobe and that paper doll’s scheme is cream, brown, and pink. I had planned to stick to that color scheme, but darn it, I couldn’t make it work.

Actually, if you look closely, you’ll see a that my paper doll Neapolitan Ice Cream inspired pieces on both Victorian Whims and Straps and Lace. So, all three of these Victorian steampunk paper doll printables took some inspiration from that earlier paper doll. As my art has improved over the years, I sometimes find going back to things I really like and trying to draw them again is a chance to revisit favorite ideas and see what they might look like now.

I teach a class on research and I while I know “self-plagiarism” is sort of a thing, I also sort of feel like it is silly. I mean, I don’t think you can steal your own ideas, but you can not give proper credit to your own earlier work.

This is the last of these steampunk ladies for the moment, but who knows, I might draw a few more. They were a lot of fun.

Straps and Lace: Steampunk Paper Doll For Ensemble Eclectica

A black steampunk costume paper doll printable coloring page with a wardrobe of ten pieces. She can share clothing with the other paper dolls on Paper Thin Personas.
A black steampunk costume paper doll printable with a wardrobe of ten pieces.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

Today’s steampunk costume paper doll has a mix and match wardrobe of ten pieces. There are about 12 different outfit combinations here. I really wanted to experiment with drawing lace and lace like patterns using some lace brushes I have in Procreate. I use the brushes during the penciling stage and then I ink over them. I don’t like how they look “raw”, but they really help when I’m trying to draw a repeat pattern that runs along something- as lace often does.

I feel like I am getting much more confident in rendering lace in my digital ink style, which I am really happy about.

I will save you all from my “steampunk” vs “Victorian fashion inspired” language musings from last week. Instead, I will simply say that that steampunk is a combination of modern styles and Victorian looks. It is both fun and whimsical and usually brown. I find brown boring, so I tend to lean into color with my steampunk costumes.

(This is why I never could have been a Goth. I just find all black so uninteresting.)

For the holidays, I treated myself to a set of Color Cubes by Sarah Renee Clarke to help choose color schemes for paper dolls. I randomly selected a beautiful teal, cream, and blue palette (Color Card 101) and added yellow for extra contrast. The new pieces can mix with last week’s Victorian Whims paper doll, though the colors don’t coordinate perfectly, so some creativity is needed, but the black and white versions work well together. If you combine these two steampunk costume paper doll creations together, you’ll end up with 72 outfit combinations, before you even add in hats and purses.

As some folks know, I have a coloring book out from Colouring Heaven and I’ve heard that it’s popping up in the occasional Walmart. I am still going to recommend you order it directly, if you want a copy, because as far as I can tell distribution in the USA is not consistent at all. However, if you happen to see it in a Walmart, I’ve love a photo. I am psyched to see it “in the wild” out there in the world.

Purim is this Friday. I confess that I have been do wrapped up with other things that I completely forgot about my favorite Jewish holiday, but if you need some Purim paper dolls in your life, I have several. If I remember I’ll see about drawing a new one for 2025, but life has been a roller coaster these last few weeks.

Victorian Whims: A Paper Doll with a Mix & Match Steampunk Wardrobe

A printable steampunk fashion coloring page with a paper doll and her mix and match steampunk wardrobe.
A printable steampunk fashion paper doll and her mix and match steampunk wardrobe.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

I was really struggling to write this blog post tonight about today’s paper doll with her mix and match steampunk wardrobe. I was particularly struggling to summarize steampunk, because I think I’ve summarized steampunk at least a hundred times on this site. Technically, there are 64 “Steampunk” tagged paper doll creations and 107 “Victorian Inspired” paper doll creations, so who knows how many times I’ve done it?

Way too many.

Still, I have to remind myself that very post I write is someone’s first time visiting the site. Those first time vistors haven’t read my steampunk summary seventeen million times. So, here we go.

Steampunk is a genre that blends Victorian-era aesthetics with steam-powered technology and futuristic, often fantastical elements. Steampunk was very popular about ten to fifteen years ago. I think it may have lost some of that popularity a bit. Someone who knows more about alternative fashion then me can probably speak to that.

Personally, I don’t really care if steampunk is “in style” or not. I am going to be drawing Victorian inspired fantasy clothing, because I’ve been drawing since before I ever knew what steampunk is. I draw it, because I like victorian clothing, and corsets, and boots. Creating a mix and match steampunk wardrobe is just really fun. Calling it steampunk and not “Victorian inspired fantasy clothing”, is because I don’t think anyone else on the planet calls it “Victorian inspired fantasy clothing. Also, “steampunk” is faster to type.

I’m enough of a historian to look at steampunk fashion and be able to draw a straight line through it to the New Romantics of the 1980s. Fashion is a cycle, even alternative fashions. Does it matter what it is called?

I digress.

So, I have three steampunk printable paper dolls finished, each with a distinctly different color scheme. All their of the paper dolls have different mix and match steampunk wardrobe. I’ll be sharing those paper dolls throughout March. I think of this one was the “green” one, for obvious reasons. She has over 50 different outfit combinations, mostly because of the top hat which lets your double these things.

Glamour in Gowns for my Patrons

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A Goddess Paper Doll for Valentine’s Day

A printable paper doll coloring page for Valentine's Day of a goddess of love with two gowns.

| Download the Printable Paper Doll PDF |

It’s presidents day and I don’t have a president’s day paper doll, but I do have this slightly belated Valentine’s Day paper doll, so that’s what I am sharing today. She’s a goddess of love, but has more in common with 1950s pin ups than with ancient mythology.

Inspired by Larry Bassin’s paper doll book- Fun Frocks for Flo, Fanny and Fiona, today’s paper doll valentine was my own attempt at a pin-up-esque 1950s comic sort of paper doll creation. I had originally drafted her last year and I thought I would make her into a tri-fold Valentine’s Day card. That project never was finished in 2024.

So, last year, I had a preview of this paper doll, because I wanted to talk about how sometimes I start things and I don’t wrap them up.

This year, a few days late, I am now sharing her.

Is she exactly how I originally planned?

Nope. Not at all. She’s not a card, for one thing, and I had big aspirations for the background that never really came together.

Am I very happy with how she came out?

Yes, yes I am.

So, sure, it’s a few days late for her to be a paper doll valentine, but what’s a few days in the cosmic scheme of things?

Enjoy!

A Rapunzel Paper Doll by Ralph Hodgdon

If you want to win me over on a paper doll, basically all it takes is history or fairy tales, so imagine my excitement when I saw that Ralph Hodgdon had illustrated a Rapunzel paper doll.

Many of Ralph Hodgdon’s paper dolls illustrate various movie stars. He’s an incredible artist and I enjoy looking at his movie star paper dolls, but as I am not a movie star paper doll collector. But fairy tales? I am always up for fairy tales. Plus, this isn’t just a Rapunzel paper doll, but a glam 1980s Princess Bride meets Barbie experience I never knew how much I needed.

The front and back cover of the book with the opening page.

Seriously, check out that fantastic blue eyeshadow.

All right, so let’s talk the book- it’s the usual 8/16 page format. (16 pages, but one sided so 8 pages of content.) There’s seven dresses and the whole text of Rapunzel from a 1882 version of the tale from the Brother’s Grimm. So, this version includes all the brutal bits. Personally, I like fairy tales in all the gruesome glory, but I know not everyone feels like I do. The text does contrast a bit with the gowns, which are very very fun and colorful.

Two of my favorite gowns.

I’m just going to take a moment now and gush over this art. Look at the line quality here. How the folds of the gown and way the knuckles on the hand are indicated. The nails being illustrated through paint color rather than black line work. The highlights on the gems. The reflectiveness of the gold. I feel like I could examine this art for hours and learn things.

One of the most beautiful things on these gowns are the trims and gems.

That’s before I even get into the hair… like seriously that hair..

I’m done gushing. I swear. Except the borders on the pages match the dresses! That’s fantastic. The care that went into putting this together is so evident and that’s just wonderful. There’s so many paper doll books feel tossed together and this does not. Such care and consideration went into this book.

So, if you want this one, you can grab it from Paper Doll Review. I’m very excited about adding the book to my little collection.

Wrapping up the 1830s in Paper Doll Fashions

To finish up my 1830s project, I thought I would offer this round up and write up about the whole decade with a gallery of all the paper doll fashions I drew, so you can make sure you didn’t miss any of them.

The 1830s is a transition period in women’s fashion. The early part of the decade is characterized by full skirts, gigot sleeves, ankle length skirts and lavish decorations.  A softened, gauzy version of the 17th century ruff is often combined with high collars, a nod to historical fashions. Pelerine collars, large wide collars with lapels that extended down the front of the gown (see this dress) were very popular. Throughout the decade, the shoulders of gowns are dropped, creating a sloped shoulder line.

This is not an era of strong broad shoulders.

An 1830s Paper Doll

An 1830s paper doll wearing historical underwear.
An 1830s paper doll coloring page wearing historical underwear.
A dress from 1830.
A dress from 1830 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1831.
A dress from 1831 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1832.
A dress from 1832 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1833.
A dress from 1833 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1834.
A dress from 1834 as a coloring page.
A paper doll from the mid-1830s with ringlet curls.
A paper doll from the mid-1830s coloring page.
A dress from 1835.
A dress from 1835 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1836.
A dress from 1836 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1837.
A dress from 1837 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1838.
A dress from 1838 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1839.
A dress from 1839 as a coloring page.

Fashion is not static of course and evolves. During second part of the decade, largely after Queen Victoria ascends the throne in 1837, the styles become more restrained. Sleeves reduce in size, skirts get longer, and details become more delicate. The sleeve, which had defined the style for many years, entered a transitional phase in the late 1830s. Once a large ballooning gigot sleeve, it began to evolve with the fullness in sleeves began to shift to the lower arm. One common way to adapt the wider sleeve into something more restrained was to gather or pleat the fullness into a tightly fitted upper arm and then allow the fabric to expand into wider sleeve as it came to the wrist. This style (see this dress and this dress) continued unto the early 1840s.

I could not be happier with how these paper dolls turned out. There’s 12 different designs here making up 24 pages. You can decide if you want this 1830s paper doll in color or in black and white for coloring. Enjoy!