I love drawing ruching, but really this dress just isn’t that complex. The color scheme with the rainbow skirts makes it feel more elaborate than it actually is and I really like that
Inspiration for Today’s Paper
I really love designing these over the top princess gowns and this one started as a doodle I drew on my phone. I wanted something that felt like a jumper, but was a bit more formal than that. You know, an evening jumper.
Last Thoughts on Today’s Princess Fantasy Paper Doll
My patrons get a Friday patreon paper doll and I am excited to share a few of these pieces this year. If you want to see more, get more paper dolls, join us on Patreon.
Not exactly sure what will go up next week, but I’ll no doubt make some decisions as I start scheduling those posts.
Some of you may recall that last year, I started drawing these full-skirted fantasy gowns for the Jewels and Gemstones. I’ve always loved the idea of a trousseau- all the dresses a woman needed for one year. The idea was to go into married life without needing to spend money on a whole new wardrobe.
The term was also used for describing fashion dolls who had extensive wardrobes in the 19th century. I’ve always been smitten with the idea of dolls with trunks full of tiny perfect little garments.
Shocking? Not really.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper
I wanted to draw a dress where the pattern on the fabric was more important than the complexity of the gown. So, I decided to draw a complex Jacobean floral design which did mean I had to then color the complex design. I always wonder what I was thinking when it comes time to color these sorts of florals.
Last Thoughts on Today’s Princess Fantasy Paper Doll
There will be another Princess Trousseau dress later this week, a Friday Patreon one from last year that I am eager to share. One of the things I really am excited about this year is having a few favorite Friday patreon pieces to share with you all.
I find I go through periods where I am drawing a lot on a similar theme. So, I created this woodland fairy paper doll during a period when I was drawing a lot of mermaids and fairy outfits. Most of them ended up on Patreon, but I try to split things pretty evenly, so I wanted something to share here on the same theme.
Additionally, I think fairies are a playful theme and kinda fun to play around with. I always like to think about drape when I’m drawing woodland fairy clothing, sort of a dress made from cloth being wrapped around the body rather than tailored together.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
As I said above, I really was on a sort of “fairy kick” when I created this paper doll. I go through phases, after all. Despite my personal preference for darker fairy tales, I never know how to illustrate those. So, instead I tend to lean towards Victorian flower fairies (like this card from 1905) for this one.
If you’ve never read about the Cottingley Fairy Hoax, than I would highly recommend a read. It’s a fascinating story about how smart people can be blind to things and the strange Edwardian obsession with spiritualism. There’s something really telling about the desperate desire to believe even in the face of extreme mounting evidence to the contrary.
On Friday, I post extra paper dolls on Patreon and I’ve shared a lot more fairy stuff there for my patrons whose support I am super grateful for.
Also, there’s some new pieces up in my Etsy store if you haven’t checked it out recently head over there.
One thing I am super excited to do in 2020 is get to share some of the Patreon Friday paper dolls I created in 2019. Not all of them, of course, but a few. My 2 dollar Friday Paper Doll Club folks got pretty close to 52 extra paper dolls (I did miss a week here or there with travel/moving/job interviews).
If you’d like to join the 2 dollar a month Friday Paper Doll Club it’s super easy. Just hop over to Patreon and sign up. The best part of signing up now is that you get access to all the paper doll outfits and dolls I created for 2019, which makes this an even better deal.
Inspiration for Today’s Printable Paper Doll
There’s a Japanese street fashion style called Qi Lolita. Lolita is a fantasy version of Victorian clothing. Qi Lolita is that same style crossed with traditional Chinese clothing. This dress provided both my source image and my color scheme, which is part of why I like it so much. It’s a very unusual color scheme for Lolita clothing and I really loved that about it. At least, I haven’t seen a lot in these colors, I might just not know the right brands to be looking at.
Last Thoughts on today’s Qi Lolita Paper Doll Dress
When I look back at a year of paper doll creations, there’s always one or two that I’m still pretty happy with. There’s also always one or two I’m sort of not sure about.
In deciding to offer a 2 dollar Friday Paper Doll Club to my patrons, I knew one perk would be that I would then recycle some of the content over the next year, allowing me to double the lifespan of some of my paper doll creations. So, I’m pretty happy to share today’s Qi Lolita paper doll dress and maybe entice a few of you to consider joining us over on Patreon.
Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll Sleepwear is something I don’t seem to draw very much. I don’t know why, but it just doesn’t seem to happen. Both of these nightgowns could also be dresses, I suppose, if one was feeling super casual.
I specifically wanted to do a whimsical design on the pink nightgown to feel like something you might see as a novelty print.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll Well… night gowns? I mean… I don’t draw a lot of paper doll sleepwear, so I wanted to make those, plus I’ve been working on some paper doll sleepwear for my Etsy paper dolls.
Specific Source Images: Nothing particular today.
Learn/See More On the Blog: More Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls Around the Internet: Well, I tried to find a history of Novelty Prints and was totally unsuccessful, so nothing today…Â
Last Thoughts
I hope everyone is having a great December. I’m taking a little holiday break from the blog here from the 15th until January 2020. I’m off to visit family! Meanwhile, there’s plenty of paper dolls here to explore.
Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll I usually describe these dresses as cocktail dresses, but I don’t think many people do cocktails anymore? I don’t, but then I don’t really drink. So, I’m not 100% sure that description still makes sense to anyone but me. As a result, I decided to just go with the description “party dress” and figured that would work for now. It’s not really a formal gown, but it’s fun and maybe a date-night option? For people with more formal lives than mine, I suppose.
My paper dolls all live much fancier lives than I do.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll I wanted to do a series of paper dolls with party dresses for the blog. I also realized it had been a long time since Sapphire got any love, so it was easy to combine the two instincts to this paper doll set of Sapphire and her cocktail dress.
Last Thoughts A big thank you to my Patreon supporters who are amazing and awesome.
Also, cocktail dresses. Is that a term anyone uses anymore? Am I just insanely old fashioned? I can live with it if the answer is, Yes, but I am curious.
Sideless surcoats look strange to me. They will probably always strike me as odd. Sometimes, I look a specific eras of fashion and I feel like- Well, isn’t that peculiar.
My personal favorite on the peculiar scale being the whole of the 1830s. I mean…. the giant sleeves, the strange Apollo-knot hair, the odd shoulder coverings/off the shoulder thing. It’s just so bananas to me. This 1830s fashion plate proves what I mean.
Wasn’t it Oscar Wilde who said that fashion was a form of ugliness so abhorrent that it had to be changed every six months? I could look that up, but that’s just more work than I feel like putting into it tonight.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll As I was amusing myself doing research into medieval surcoats for my 12th-14th century paper dolls, I kept doodling surcoats. I confess these very narrow surcoats seem odd to me, but they were the inspiration for today’s paper doll and did exist. Well, not like this, but there are real ones out there, or at least illustrations of something that could be one.
By the way, I do realize most people don’t paw around medieval manuscripts looking for surcoat illustrations for fun, but that’s their loss.
Last Thoughts As far as I can tell surcoats and surcotes are the same thing, just one with more pretentious spelling. However, I am open to being proved wrong if someone would like to enlighten me.
Since it’s nearly Thanksgiving here in the US, I wanted to take a moment to say how grateful I am to my Patrons and my readers. You all keep me going and I deeply appreciate you.
Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll I love 1950’s fashion. So, clearly I wanted to make a 1950s fashion paper doll. I think it is one of the most beautiful eras of women’s clothing and probably that’s because I have a very 1950s figure myself. I tend to look good in 1950s dresses. Besides that, I think it’s sort of the last era where there’s really an idea of dressing for an occasion. There’s very clear lines in what is “casual” and what is “formal” and where things can be worn.
While I very much don’t want to live in the 1950s (I like that I can’t be fired from my job for getting pregnant), I really do love the idea of having outfits for different activities. Maybe it’s because I never feel like I know what to wear to anything and would love it if it was more clear cut.
I chose Opal for the model, in part because I never saw non-white historical paper dolls as a child and I try to be more diverse, especially in my historical paper doll creations.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll Okay, let’s start with shoes, because I love shoes. The sources for these shoes were all from the Met except one pair. So, these shoes, these ones and these ones all come from there. The middle pair is the outlier and it comes from LACMA and these are the source image.
Now, let’s talk underwear. Our 1950s fashion paper doll, Opal, is wearing a girdle and strapless bra combination. In order to make sure she could share clothing with Sapphire from the 1950s, I matched the shapes of their underwear. Opal’s girdle is based on this 1950’s American one and her brassier is based on this 1950s French model, both from The Met.
Opal’s hair is a nod to Ava Gardner’s short hair style (she had a few) which you can see here and here. I’ll confess I don’t think it came out quite as I’d hoped it would.
Last Thoughts I wanted to collect up all the 1950s paper doll dresses I’ve created for the blog and put them together, so you can easily grab some clothing for poor Opal here whose just in her undergarments. If you’re a 2 dollar and up Patron, there’s two more- a suit and a day dress both from the 1950s.
1950s Fashion Paper Dolls for the Jewels & Gemstones
Do you like the 1950s? Let me know in a comment. It is one of my favorite eras. Do you have a favorite decade for 20th century fashion?
Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll I’m a big sci-fi and fantasy fan. I always have been. Usually, I blame my mother for introducing me to Star Trek at a young age.
Part of what makes sci-fi films/tv-shows interesting is what they tell us about today and the aesthetics that form the future. Smarter people than me have written on that topic, I’m sure. I find I always notice the choices films set in the future make about what the future will look like. One of the thing Star Trek did well, especially the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, was give each alien species a distinct aesthetic- Though they did occasionally go overboard with the shoulder pads.
This is actually the second part of a two part set. Part one was exclusive to my 2 dollar and up patrons, Futuristic Fashion 1 from early Octover.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll A bigger influence than Star Trek on my futuristic clothing designs was The Fifth Element. With costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier, that movie has some of the most unique futuristic designs. Unlike the rainy grim world of Blade Runner or the smooth, pastel universe of Star Trek, there’s something so manically high energy about the whole thing. It remains one of the biggest influences on my futuristic clothing designs.
Last Thoughts Over on Patreon, my 2 dollar and up supporters get an extra paper doll outfit each Friday. A big thank you to them!
Is anyone else a sci-fi fan out there? I’m always looking for more recommendations, so if there’s something you’re enjoying on TV or in the movies, leave me a comment. My boyfriend is trying to get me to watch the Expanse, but I haven’t gotten into it yet. I know I’ll probably enjoy it once I get around to watching it.
Meanwhile, I’ve been watching the Watchman series on HBO. It is not kid friendly, but sort of fascinating. Mostly, I think it is a lesson in the fact that I haven’t read Watchman, the comic, in 20 years and apparently I didn’t remember it very well.
Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll My one of my best friends in high school wore punk and gothic clothing. I really admired her style and I still do. She was a very wonderful person.
Anyway, I knew I wanted to draw some punk fashions for the Jewels and Gemstones and I decided that Pearl would be a fun model for this punk mini-dress. I wanted to focus on accessories for this set- so the boots and belts.
For my 2 dollar and up patrons, you can mix and match this paper doll with my Punk Style post from September.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll I wanted to do punk, but maybe punk that could pass as a cocktail dress. Punk on a date night, I suppose. Also I really wanted to include fishnet tights and that’s best with a doll, because no one wants to cut around the thin lines of fishnet tights. Actually I’m not 100% anyone could cut around the thin lines on those fishnet tights.
Specific Source Images:These pants, though I know this paper doll doesn’t have on pants
Last Thoughts I’ve drawn a lot of paper dolls over the years. Some of them are complicated and some of them are simple. I’m sure there are things I’ve never drawn, though the longer I am at this the fewwer of those there seem to be. Still, I like drawing punk clothing, just like I enjoy drawing Lolita and Gothic clothing.
I don’t return to it quite as often as I do some of my other genres, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it.
My Patreon supporters are getting an extra paper doll on Friday, as usual. Consider joining it’s a great way to support the blog and you get more paper doll goodness each week.
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.
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.
Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll When I was making my list of Halloween monsters to draw as paper dolls, I really wanted to do some I’d never done before and I’ve never done a Frankenstein’s Monster paper doll before. And what says Halloween paper doll more than that?
I chose Diamond as the model for today’s paper doll. I am pretty happy with how she came out, though part of me thinks her hair looks a little too much like a skunk, but maybe that’s just me.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll The original novel Frankenstein was published in 1818, though it is set in the 18th century. I sort of abandoned that source material pretty quickly and went more to the Herman Munster direction pretty quickly. I considered for about 15 minutes the idea of drawing historical clothing for today’s paper doll, but decided I really wasn’t that excited to draw 1818 or 1700s dresses.
Her “dress” was meant to look a little like a lab coat. One thing you might notice with all of my Halloween paper doll creations is a lack of source images. The truth is that part of the fun of this time of the year, is that I don’t do research. I just sort of draw and see what happens.
Specific Source Images: Nothing specific this time I can point to.
Last Thoughts When I was a kid, the Munsters played in Nick at Nite and it was one of my favorite shows. I don’t really recall much of the plots, but even then I had a fondness for supernatural plots. Something which later lead to my love of Buffy and continued affection for those sorts of TV shows and books.
Big thank you to all my Patreon supporters. With out you, the blog wouldn’t be around, so you’re all the best!
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