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
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!