Printable Paper Dolls

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

If you’ve ever watched Bridgerton, than you might know that in England in the 19th century there as a “social season”. The social season corresponded with the sitting of English Parliament and then went into the summer, usually ending around June. Basically, all the Lords had to leave their estates and come to London to do political work. There’s some debate when it “started” and I suspect these things, as with most things, didn’t have specific dates.

Unlike London, the Paris social season didn’t align with the sitting of parliament. Everything I’ve read suggests it was less formal. However, the races at Longchamp often marked the end of the social season in Paris. Longchamp was the place to see and be seen and show off the latest summer fashions. Remember that scene in My Fair Lady at the Ascot Races? That’s what Longchamp was for the Paris season- both a horse race and a big deal socially.

Published in Le Bon Ton, a French fashion magazine, these 1839 dresses are meant for Longchamp. These April gowns were trying to show the height of fashion for the races that ended the Paris social season.

I didn’t chose these gowns for their connection to horse racing. I picked them, because I thought they really show the transition into the 1840s. The dropped shoulders, the pleating at the top of the sleeve, the fullness right around the forearm coming into the wrist are all distinctive of the early 1840s and late 1830s. Plus, the details at the top of the sleeves and the longer skirts.

I wanted to end the series with something that really felt more 1840s than 1830s and this 1839 dress qualified.

When I started this whole project, I had intentions to continue through the 1840s and 1850s. Now that I am wrapping up the 1830s, I am not sure if I have the steam to keep going. I also don’t want to stop. So, I might see how I feel in a few weeks, because there is going to be a pause. After all, I don’t have the dresses from the 1840s finished yet.

In the meantime, I have some other content I’ll be sharing, including a wrap up post later this week to show off the entire 1830s decade worth of paper doll dresses.

Did you have a favorite? Let me know in a comment.

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

I know I shouldn’t have favorites, but I do and this dress from 1838 is one of them. It was first printed in Le Follet, a french fashion magazine, in 1838.

I think this dress is so beautiful. The sleeves are a delight with ribbons and ruching. There’s a slight princess waistline with deep pleating. I’m 90% sure this is a dinner dress, because its paired with a bonnet, but rather a cap of ribbon.

To me, this gown is late 1830s in it’s most elegant. The early 1830s are whimsical and fun, but the later part of the decade gets elegant. And this is elegant.

All right, let’s talk about other details, as the decade came to a close, the sleeves got narrower with accent details falling right above the elbow. You see a lot of upper sleeve decoration. There might be a fashion term for this other than “upper sleeve decoration”, but I’ll be darned if I know what it is.

I didn’t do a lot of patterned dresses during this project, because the other details are so complicated so often in these historical dresses, that I felt like the extra lines from pattern would just be visual clutter.

I didn’t do many patterned dresses for this project because the other details are often so intricate, adding patterns just seemed like visual clutter. However, I loved the floral sprig pattern on this gown—it added so much to the simple silhouette, so I decided to go for it. If I’m drawing a dress from 1838, I figured I might as well include a pattern once in a while.

In fact, I had so much fun coloring the pattern that I made a second version for my Patrons. If you’re a Patron—free or paid—you can check out the periwinkle version over on Patreon.

In the end, this dress from 1838 is a favorite of mine for being elegant and having delicate details. I’m glad I took the chance to add a pattern to the design, as it really enhances the gown’s beauty. I hope you enjoy seeing it as much as I enjoyed bringing it to life—be sure to check out the periwinkle version over on Patreon!

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

This 1837 dress is from France. So, I’ve hopped across the channel to Paris for this one. One thing to notice about French fashions is that they are a little more edgy than English fashion and necklines were much lower.

I mean, we’re not talking like thongs here. It’s still the 1830s, but the French fashions just aren’t as stiff as the English ones. Of course, English fashion magazines were constantly ripping off French plates and copying them, so I don’t know! It’s all a whirl.

Anyway, Le Follet, the magazine from which this dress is based, does not offer handy labels. You can see the plate from the Los Angeles Public Library. So, I don’t know for sure what the purpose of this dress was. Based on the sleeves, the design of the plate, and fabric colors, I am 85% sure it was daywear.

A few things you might be noticing about the second half of the 1930s- necklines get a little lower, sleeves are much full and skirts get longer. There’s also a reduction, I think, in general whimsy and fashion becomes more somber.

Personally, I find it less fun, but then I’ve always been a more is more sort of person when it comes to historical fashion.

One thing is I wish I’d done a slightly better job of planning my paper dolls hair. In hindsight, being 20/20 as it is, I could have done wigs and that would have made the curls less of a challenge work around with the bonnets.

However, I didn’t think of that until I was literally writing up this post.

I do plan to do something with these when they’re all done. A book perhaps or an Etsy download or something, because I have more dresses I haven’t posted. So, maybe when I get to that point I’ll figure out the hair.

The nice thing about working digitally is that figuring out the hair will not require whiteout. I do not miss using white out.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this little 1837 dress.

Next up, we’ll have 1838 and 1839 and then it’ll be a wrap on the 1830s paper doll project. If everything goes as planned, we should be done by the end of the month.

I’m so happy with how it all came together and I’ve learned so much in the process. I hope you’re learned something following along.