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The Poppet Printable Paper Dolls Finally Get Some Blue Jeans

May 16, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:The Realization that the Poppets Have Very Few Pairs of Jeans

Most of us have jeans in our closets. I certainly do. In fact, since I am pretty picky about jean fit, I have three pairs of nearly identical jeans in my closet. Levi stopped making my favorite 514 curvy fit jeans and I have yet to forgive them for this, but I can still get them in talls from Amazon. Once they run out of stock, I really don’t know what I’ll do about jeans.

Anyway, my point is that jeans are central to most people’s wardrobes and I’ve always thought that every paper doll should have a few items that fall into the “basics” category- stuff you really need to mix and match with some of the more exciting clothing. Jeans fall into the “basics” category.

So, imagine my surprise when I realized there had literally only been one pair of traditional full length jeans for the Poppet paper dolls back in 2013 with literally the first Poppet paper doll ever Petunia. The second pair jeans are a pair of rolled shorts that I drew January and posted in February.

Well, all that changes today. Today’s Poppet paper doll clothing set includes a t-shirt with a pink elephant on it and two pairs of jeans. One is a light colored wash with a rolled hem and the other is a dark blue flared pair.

The way I see it, jeans go with pretty much any top I have ever drawn though this one might be a stretch. Ain’t gonna lie.

I also drew a stuffed teddy bear, because I like stuffed teddy bears. Not every choice is well justified in my world.

So, do you have jeans on your closet? Are they a favorite or a least favorite clothing item? (Also is there anything worse to shop for than jeans?) Let me know in a comment or just let me know what you think of today’s paper doll.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.

A Fancy Outfit For A Paper Doll’s Fancy Events

December 6, 2020May 4, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Prom Season

It is prom season and while I am not in an age group that is going to prom, I have noticed a strong trend towards crop tops and full skirts.

While I did enjoy the proms I went to, I will openly confess that there is no force in the universe that could make me want to go back to high school. That was just a dreadful part of my youth.

While I was helping a close friend shop for a wedding dress, I noticed a lot of prom dress styles were showing off the midriff. This isn’t a new thing, by the way, midriff revealing evening wear dates back to the 1940s- here’s one example from the movie Lady Eve. It’s a hard dress to find a decent picture of, I confess. There’s also one in Casablanca, but I can’t seem to find a picture of that dress. Sigh.

Anyway, the point is the showing of your midriff in evening wear is not a new thing, but certainly hasn’t been in style for a few decades. It certainly wasn’t “in” when I was in high school heading off to Prom. That was the era of dressed based on the movie Titanic’s Jump Dress and also styles like this from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Seriously, I knew at least three people who wore short satiny dresses under sheer layers to formals in high school.

I digress.

I had way to much fun drawing the huge oversized floral on the skirt of this outfit. I really wanted something that the full skirt to accommodate, so giant floral seemed like it would be fun.

Other then that, I’m just glad I got to share this dress before Prom season was completely over, though I strongly suspect it has mostly wrapped up by now.

So, tell me fearless readers, did you go to Prom? I did, but not my Senior year. We had a joint Junior and Senior prom at my school. I also went as a Sophomore, because I was invited by a Senior. That was actually the most fun one since many of my friends in High School were older then me.

Not bad memories, but, as I said above, no force on this planet could make me want to go back to high school.

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Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick out a Ms. Mannequin Paper Doll Here

The Sprites Explore Tudor Fantasy Clothing

May 3, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Tudor Era Clothing, Kinda

I go through phases. This probably isn’t any different from anyone else who does something creative. There are no double periods when someone really feels like playing jazz on the piano or when someone really seems to be into crocheting hedgehogs.

I, on the other hand, seem to fall into patterns where a specific paper doll theme seems super fascinating to me. During this stretches, I often add images based on the theme to my pinterest boards with abandon. About half the time, these spasms of interest don’t actually lead to paper doll outfits, because I have the attention span of an ADHD raven sometimes. However, on occasion, they do.

So, after a few weeks of being really into Tudor influenced fantasy clothing, I actually drew some for the Sprites paper dolls. See? There was a point to that weird ramble that I started today’s post with.

If you hop over to my Pinterest fantasy board, you will not doubt notice the large number of Tudor influenced dresses there. A few of the ladies dresses that inspired me are this one, this one and this one. I also really liked this men’s doublet and this men’s doublet.

The lady Sprite outfit is really only fantasy, because I couldn’t be bothered to do any real research and I refuse to call something historical unless I actually have sources I can cite. The guy Sprites on the other hand… well, that outfit has a lot more fantasy going on. I just think a lot of men’s clothing from the Tudor period looks pretty absurd. What can I say?

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Looking for some Sprite paper dolls to wear these outfits? Pick out Sprite paper dolls here.

The Poppet’s Get a 1920s Spring-Time Dress and Matching Cloche

May 19, 2020April 27, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:1920s Children’s Clothing- One of my True Loves

Today’s Poppet 1920s Children’s Wardrobe Collection contribution is a spring time dress. I sort of thought of it as an Easter dress when I designed it, but Easter was a few weeks ago. I chose a pale color scheme with soft blue and pink for the dress. With the dress is a matching cloche, because lord knows the 1920s loved a good looking cloche.

I know I’ve spoken before about how much I adore 1920s children’s clothing. There’s just something about clothing of that era that I adore. I have equal love for children’s clothing of the 1930s, but I haven’t had as many opportunities to draw that.

Maybe that’s a project for another time.

I openly confess that I don’t have a good record of what I used as reference when I drew today’s dress. I am pretty sure I used Children’s Fashions 1900-1950 As Pictured in Sears Catalogs, 1920s Fashions from B. Altman & Company and/or Everyday Fashions of the Twenties: As Pictured in Sears and Other Catalogs. All of these books are from Dover which is a great source of reasonably priced fashion history books. I think I own almost all their 1920s fashion books.

The realization that fashion history books are a justifiable business expense has made it a lot harder to talk myself out of buying them.

I do realize that recently most of what I have posted for the Poppet’s paper dolls to print have been either from the Fairy Tale project or the 1920s project. Never fear, there are also normal clothing on the horizon. I mean, even paper dolls need jeans.

So, what do you think of today’s 1920s paper doll dress? Love it? Hate it? Wish it was purple? Let me know in a comment.

Meanwhile, if you want to support the blog, then think about becoming a Patron or liking it on facebook and tune in tomorrow for a paper doll outfit inspired by one of my favorite novels.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.

Ms. Mannequin Printable Paper Dolls Get 1970s Dresses

April 21, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: The dresses of 1974 like Simplicity 6605 and McCall’s 3936

Let me be frank, I don’t really love the fashions of the 1970s, but they are starting to grow on me a little. There’s something about the bold colors and the big collars that I kinda have a fondness for.

So, I might never been a die hard “1970s YAY” kinda girl, I am at least learning to enjoy some of the looks of the era.

Last year I drew my first 1970s stuff and this year I wanted to continue dabbling in the era. While I think the Ms. Mannequin dolls look kinda odd as Vikings (their pose just doesn’t work), they make much better swinging cats of the 1970s.

Both of these dresses are based on pattern cover designs. I love using vintage pattern covers to design paper doll dresses. They are usually pretty easy to draw from too, which I am grateful for.

The dress on the left is from Simplicity 6605 and McCall’s 3936 and McCall’s 3936 which was apparently a “carefree pattern” which I think meant it was supposed to be easy to make. The dress on the right is from Simplicity 6605 which was a “how to sew” pattern. It would teach you, apparently, how to make set in gathered sleeves.

These days, I use online videos when I don’t know how to sew something, but I suppose that wasn’t exactly an option in 1974.

Also, I don’t sew people clothing. I am strictly a doll clothing sewing kinda girl.

Well, what do you all think of today’s 1970s dresses? Is this a decade of fashion you really love? Do the Ms. Mannequin dolls need maybe a jumpsuit or something to do with their dresses?

Let me know in a comment.

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Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick out a Ms. Mannequin Paper Doll Here

Marisole Monday & Friends: A Tudor Inspired Printable Paper Doll Dress

April 20, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: This Fashion Plate from 1880 and Things the Scare Me

Yesterday I posted fantasy garments based on some traditional Asian attire. Today I am hopping back to Europe to post a riff on 15th and 16th century dress.

Today’s Marisole Monday & Friend’s paper doll dress crosses Italian clothing in the late 1400s with English costume in the mid-1500s. There’s a definite Spanish Farthingale thing going on in that skirt shape. Spanish Farthngales were hoop skirts of their era and gave dresses a distinct cone shape. It was all the rage in England towards the end of the 1500s. Here’s an example of what I talking about.

The sleeves of today’s paper doll gown are pretty Italian. The style in Italy at the very end of the 1400s and the beginning of the 1500s. It was considered fashionable to have the shift sticking out through the spaces the sleeves- my paper dolls are nothing if not fashionable. Here is an example of the sleeves I mean and here is another one.

When it came time to color today’s paper doll, I fell back on the colors I tend to like when it comes to Tudor feeling things. I settled on copper and black for the color scheme. While I experimented with brighter options, I loved the sophistication these colors created.

As with many of my fantasy paper dolls, I added shoes and stockings to round out the outfit. After all, I do love to draw shoes. These shoes are neither English nor Italian, but more a pair of modern ones. So, that continues the cross-cultural experience here.

So, what do people think of my English-Italian Renaissance love child of a paper doll dress? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Meanwhile, if you want to support the blog, then think about donating through Patreon.

Need a Marisole Monday & Friends Lady Paper Doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick One Out Here.

Marisole Monday & Friends Get A Walking Dress from 1880

April 14, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: This Fashion Plate from 1880 and Things the Scare Me

I am not from the south and while I use y’all, because I have picked it up after five years in below the Mason-Dixon line, I am not a local by any means. Still, there is a saying down here I’ve adopted which goes, “Can’t Never Could.”

In sort, if you say you can’t do something then you won’t try and you are dooming yourself to failure.

One of my long standing “can’t” do things has been drawing 1880s bustle skirts.

I’ve told myself I can’t draw a bustle skirt so many times, that I’ve convinced myself this is true. But I decided I was going to face my fear of 1880s bustle skirts by actually drawing one.

Step 1 was finding a fashion plate at the same angle as the paper doll to practice with. After a bit of hunting, I found this plate from 1880.

Next step was doing a draft on cheap lined paper and then doing a final on my nice sketchbook paper.

I’m actually very pleased how it came out. I might even try another one or two, but I have to find another fashion plate at just the right angle.

Not having to rotate something in my head really makes drawing it easier.

I have been thinking about trying the dress on the left of this plate, but rotating the plate before I print it so it is facing the right direction for Marisole Monday lady paper dolls. I prefer to draw from printed images rather than digital ones.

So, how did I do? Should I work on more 1880s stuff? Or is this a period that you’re not to keen on? Let me know in a comment.

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Need a Marisole Monday & Friends Lady Paper Doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick One Out Here.

Paper Doll Skinny Jeans for Gents and Ladies (Also, T-Shirts)

April 13, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Stuff I see College Students Wearing

As some of you may know, I work in an academic library, so I spent a fair bit of time observing the fashion choices of college age students. If there is one thing I have learned, it is that colored skinny jeans remain popular and that even jeans for gents have gotten much more fitted.

I actually really enjoy taking break from fantasy, historical, steampunk or scifi paper doll creations to just draw some jeans. We all wear jeans, so I think embracing that idea is well worth it.

I’ve been seeing a lot more guys wearing skinny jeans, so I ended up trying to draw a pair of skinny jeans for a the Sprites’s Gents.

For the lady, I made her skinny jeans lavender. I’ve seen a lot of colored jeans this next summer season.

I created t-shirts for them both. T-shirts are easy to draw, but hard to create new ideas are tough.

For accessories, we have a pale pink purse and a statement necklace designed to match the jeans.

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Looking for some Sprite paper dolls to wear these outfits? Pick out Sprite paper dolls here.

The Poppets Dress up as Gretel of Hansel and Gretel

April 12, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Gretel of Hansel and Gretel

The new addition to the Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes Poppet paper doll series is a Gretel costume from the tale of Hansel and Gretel.

Recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812, Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister captured by a cannibalistic witch living deep in the forest in a house made of candy and gingerbread. The two children save their lives by outwitting the witch and their own cruel parents.

The story is, like a lot of fairy tales, a bit dark.

When I was working up my list of fairy tales, I had not intention to originally include Hansel and Gretel. It’s just not a fairy tale that I really love.

However, it is a fairy tale with a child protagonist and a pretty strong female character, as it is Gretel who pushes the cannibalistic Witch into the oven.

So, it seemed like a fitting on to do.

I wanted to use the colors of ginger bread in this Gretel costume, so I stuck with brown, cream and red. The edge of her skirt is decorated with gingerbread men and peppermint candies, mostly because I knew I could draw them.

The shape of the jumper is based on braces used with lederhosen. I don’t know a lot about Bavarian clothing, ain’t gonna lie, but I’ve always liked the suspenders/braces that go with lederhosen.

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Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.

A Sorceress Paper Doll & Her Gown in Muted Colors, Plus the Beginning of a New Project

April 13, 2017April 10, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Sorceresses, really. Just Sorceresses.

So, a few months ago I posted this outfit which I had originally drawn to be part of the Greta’s Trousseau project and I realized how much I missed doing longer term themed projects.

I polled my Patrons asking what they would like to see and while I secretly hoped the Space Princess idea would win, the Sorceress ended up winning. I’ve opened the post up, so you can see the options that I offered.

Frankly, all the ideas would have been fun.

Anyway, I didn’t draw this first, I started with some dresses based on elements- fire, water, air, earth. But I really wanted to post a doll to go with the dresses and I thought she should go up first.

She is the Sorceress doll. She has two books for recording her magical experiments, a hair style to keep it out of her face and a layered gown.

The colors of the gown were inspired by moss and wild flowers. Muted colors and soft shades, I settled on.

I was playing around with my camera when I sketched this doll’s face, so you can watch me draw it in time-lapse (though not great timelapse, let’s be clear). I posted it on the blog’s Facebook page back in February.

I hope to do more of these time-lapse things, but I need to get a better set up and use my tripod. Otherwise, the camera will shake as it does in the facebook version.

By the way, what do people think? Do you like the idea of a series of sorceress gowns? Is there something I should draw after I finish the four elements? Other theme ideas?

Let me know in a comment. I love hearing from you all.

And if you love the blog, think about becoming a patron. The support helps a great deal.

Need to get some more clothing for this Bodacious & Buxom paper doll to wear? Pick out some clothing here

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