corsets

Happy Halloween: Here’s a Little Gothic Fashionista

Celebrate the October season with this little printable Halloween dress up doll and her gothic wardrobe. A coloring page, this paper doll has a 14 piece mix and match wardrobe.
Celebrate the October season with this Halloween dress up doll printable. She has a cute modern gothic wardrobe and lots of mix and match clothing options.

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I created today’s gothic themed paper doll for Halloween. So, I hope you enjoy this little paper Halloween dress up doll. Clearly, I’ve been digging into drawing skulls which I did here. One of the wonderful things about digital drawing is that it is so easy to work with reference images and you can resize them with much more ease, so the skulls are a big part of that.

One thing I’ve noticed about most alt fashion scenes is that there are endless nuances. It seems to me that there’s often “formal” alt-fashion and then also sort of street level alt-fashion. Things people wear and then also go onto the train, rather than just get photographed posing beautifully next to a headstone.

Last week’s three Ensemble Eclectica: Gothic Glamor Collection paper dolls were all more over the top and this paper doll is more street level fashion. While I know very little about where someone buys gothic fashion, The brand Fantasmagoria inspired both the paper doll’s cropped red corset top and also her hairstyle. The brand Heavy Red inspired the corset over the t-shirt look

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this little foray into paper dolls and has a safe, happy, slightly spooky Halloween! Or Samhain or Día de Muertos or anything else that’s happening around this time of year.

Haunting Couture: A Foray into Gothic Fashion

A gothic wardrobe paper doll template printable for coloring. She has a 13 piece mix and match wardrobe. A little Halloween fun.
Gothic wardrobe paper doll template printable. She has blond hair, blue eyes, and a mix and match wardrobe. Some fun halloween things for you to enjoy.

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

Today’s paper doll with her gothic wardrobe was inspired by a lot of different things from my my gothic fashion pinterest board, including this corset, this top and this dress. I really wanted to do a take on Morticia Addam’s famous dress, but I added a bit of a puff sleeve, as those are very popular right now. Of course, Morticia Addams is timeless, but I didn’t want to copy the gown in all the details, in part, because I don’t love the bottom of the skirt. It reminds me a little too much of tentacles (true to the comic, but still.)

(Speaking of Morticia Addams, Julie Matthew’s did a nice write up about her paper doll of Morticia Addams.)

Lastly, I wanted to make a gothic baby doll dress which was 65% just a chance to play around with lace and a new procreate brush set. My first plan was to do see through lace sleeves, but then I couldn’t seem to get a version of that which I liked, so I ended up abandoning that idea. I did keep the lace around the neckline with the openings for some detail.

I can’t claim that I meticulously assembled my gothic wardrobe paper doll, because really this was not that organized (am I ever that organized?). I do think of all the pieces of the Ensemble Eclectica: Gothic Glamor Collection as sort of. mixing and matching together. I think the ruffled skirt from Dark Demigoddess, for example, would go well with any of the tops in this collection.

Anyway, stay tuned for more gothic paper doll fun Friday and Tuesday of next week.

Jade in Circus Inspired Fashions

A printable circus paper doll coloring page with a 12 part wardrobe. Her clothing can mix and match.
A circus paper doll to print for free. Her mix and match wardrobe was inspired by vintage circus posters.

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I really love the visuals of circuses. I always have. After all, I have a whole pinterest board devoted to them, after all. So, sometimes I draw a circus paper doll like today’s to play with those visual motifs. One of the challenges of circus paper dolls is the color scheme. Generally, I do a black, white, and red for a circus paper doll, but I have played around with pink and blue as well.

For this circus paper doll’s color scheme, I decided to go with more a muted, softer cream over using black and added a moss green to add some depth to the whole thing. I wanted her swimsuit/bodysuit to be really a part of the set, so you can easily layer the skirts or hats with it. There’s no floating tabs for the top-hats, so you may need to make your own. I have faith in you all.

I hoped the addition of the green and the cream would make the whole thing feel more vintage. You might have seen the prototype for today’s paper doll a few weeks ago. In that version, I had played around with some weird lipstick for the doll, but I ended up scrapping it. Sometimes I think something will work and then realize… no, no it really doesn’t. Also, I got rid of the face makeup, because it read “evil clown” to me and that was not the vibe I was going for.

Another inspiration for all this was clowns. I don’t mean creepy party clowns or something, I mean traditional masked clowning which is super hard and very old. Goes back to commedia dell’arte, that semi-improvised form of Italian masked theater which dates back to the 1500s. I mean, we’re talking old old forms of art here. There’s something universal about masked theater. It seems to show up in most cultures in various forms.

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Happy Halloween! Printable Paper Doll Fun!

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Every year, I try to do something Halloween themed. Valentine’s Day and Halloween are, I think, my most consistent paper doll pieces. I like the colors and I like corsets and Halloween seems like a corset heavy holiday.

Her hair is supposed to have a widows peak and I wanted a sort of elegant feeling with these. Some of it is recycled, but I am 100% okay with that. It gave me a place to start. With this set, I had a lot of fun designing patterns. There’s a cute little ghost dresses, pumpkins, and skulls.

I think some fun could be had coloring these as a Halloween party activity. My grandmother used to send us Halloween greeting cards that were often paper dolls and I like to imagine someone sending this to kids or printing it out for them.

My niece is still too young for me to really be sending her paper dolls, but soon… soon.

Meanwhile, stay safe this Halloween and then enjoy!

Aces & Queens: A Playing Card Inspired Paper Doll

A playing card inspired paper doll with dreadlocks and a mix and match wardrobe.

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A playing card inspired paper doll with multicolored dreadlocks and a mix and match wardrobe.

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This paper doll set was my partner’s suggestion for a playing card themed paper doll creation. When I think of playing cards, I sort of inevitably end up thinking of retro glam, show girls and a little bit punk. That maybe helps explain why this paper doll’s clothing is a little all over the place. However, I do think there’s some neutrals like jeans you could steal from Polka-Dots, Retro-Beach Summer or Flowers and Showers. I am realizing though, as I write this, that I haven’t done that many contemporary fashion sets for the Jewels and Gemstones 2.0 ladies.

By the way, I’ve had a few people reach out over my long absence. I was dealing with some family things. It’s all resolved and I have a wonderful support network. Thank you for your kind words and things will slowly be ramping back up here as I get more settled.

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The 1980s & Corset Tops: A 2020 Fashion Trend

One of the major trends of 2020 is polka-dots (and I did a paper doll celebrating that already) and then my other trend that I have been super interested in is the 1980s and the tendency as corset tops. Plus, I think when it comes to celebrating fashion, paper dolls are pretty much the perfect fashion paper craft. They allow us to not just explore trends, but kids can draw their own paper doll clothing.

Personally, I don’t really remember the 1980s, because I was both very young and living in Alaska. Alaska is not exactly trendy as a other parts of the country. We’re a little behind in fashion. Also, we all wear lots of rainboots, polar-fleece and puffer vests. Puffer vests might have trended last year, but we were wearing them long before they were trendy.

Anyway, the big trends in this paper doll are the 1980s styles, corsets, bra tops, and Bermuda shorts. The bra tops and corset tops seemed like similar ideas to collapse together. The suit jacket works with either the lose trousers or the skirt, but I colored it as though these were separates for more flexibility. You can, of course, color them any way you choose.

A fun fashion paper craft. A paper doll coloring page with her wardrobe of mix and match separates.

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Color wise, I wanted to use the Pantone 2020 palette called Snorkle. I’m not a huge fan of pantone’s color of the year– Classic Blue. It’s just kind of… boring? Can I admit that. I’m not against it, but it’s not super exciting to me. I guess given how 2020 has gone people are not super into exciting these days. Anyway, there’s also a trend for the return of some neon colors and the bright green was my nod to that trend.

A fun fashion paper craft. A paper doll printable with her wardrobe of mix and match separates.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0

Among my favorite things about this version of Pearl is her hair. I’m always working to learn to draw hair better and I feel like this hair came out particularly nice. It’s a process, after all.

Are you into fashion trends? I confess I’m pretty boring in my clothing choices, but I do like drawing them for paper dolls. I try to stay at least aware of what’s happening in the world of trendy clothing.

Lapis: A Cybergoth Paper Doll & Her Clothing

Cybergothic fashion is described by being a mixture of punk, industrial and futuristic fashion. I am fascinated by various types of alt fashion. My love of alt fashion is probably obvious if you spend much time around here.

My other cybergoth paper doll was my first foray into this style. She has the dubious honor of being the of the few paper dolls got me an angry email from a reader. Don’t worry- I didn’t take it personally. Last year, I did a whole Cybergoth Week, so I selected my favorite pieces from that series to use in this collection for Jewels and Gemstones 2.0.

A printable paper doll coloring page celebrating cybergoth fashion. The paper doll has 13 mix and match clothing pieces.

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Cybergoth fashion is not as popular now as I think it was 20 years ago, however, as a child of the 90s, I still feel a kinship with it. If want to know more about the style Wikipedia’s Article on Cybergoth is pretty good. Cyberdog (clothing brand), Lip Service (clothing brand), Cryoflesh (clothing brand), F*** Yeah Cyberlox (Tumblr site devoted to Cyberlox) & Cyber Goth (Another Tumblr, sort of NSFW) are all sources for todays paper doll.

Specifically, these Lovely Ladies (one in the center), this Fierce Fashionista (her body suit), these Pants, these pants from Rebels Market. Unlike some of my other sets, I chose not to recolor this set much, because I noticed these were the colors most common in cybergoth fashion.

A printable cybergoth paper doll with clothing. The paper doll has 13 mix and match clothing pieces.

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I am trying to share these Jewels and Gemstones 1.0 reboot paper dolls mostly on Fridays, but lord knows if I’ll be consistent. If you want totally new content on Fridays, join us on Patreon.

And speaking of Patreon, a huge thank you to my patrons who voted for this theme last year. Your support makes all the difference. And you can always print the Jewels and Gemstones 1.0 pieces at 80% if you want them to fit these new 2.0 versions.

Lastly, cybergoth, what do you think? Too much? Okay, but not your taste? Super cool? Let me know in a comment! I love hearing from you.

A link to the exclusive Friday paper doll content on Patreon

A Elegant Halloween Costume for the Paper Dolls!

A beautiful gothic corset and skirt set with Halloween flair for the Jewels and Gemstones paper dolls!

Black and White PDF | Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones Paper Dolls

Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll
Happy Halloween everyone! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for some tricker-treaters this year. I don’t always get them, but I’m hopeful for this year. I finally live in a spot with lots of kids.

Anyway, it’s already super cold here, since I do live in the interior of Alaska. So, while it hasn’t snowed much, it is below freezing most days. Which basically means that while I enjoyed drawing this paper doll’s Halloween outfit, it would be way way to chilly to wear up here. I should have drawn a Halloween parka.

Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
Okay, so anyone whose been following this blog for any amount of time has probably figured out that I love drawing elegant gothic themed things for Halloween. I couldn’t not draw one for this Halloween. I ended up settling on a jack-o-lantern pattern for the skirt.

Specific Source Images: Again, no research!

Learn/See More
On the Blog: More Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls & More Halloween paper dolls
Around the Internet: My gothic fashion Pinterest board is full of more clothing like this

Last Thoughts
I hope everyone has a super safe, super fun Halloween. I’ll be passing out candy and keeping an eye on my cat, who might try to make a run for it. Or she’ll hide under the couch the whole time. You never can be sure with her.

My Patreon supporters are getting their extra paper doll for the week a day early, because it’s also Halloween themed. Consider joining us! It’s a fun group.