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One of many paper dolls, I drew in college. I confess that when I look at her now I see all sorts of problems with her, but I was quite pleased with her when I did her. I think it was mostly this paper dolls scroll design that I liked the most.
So, since someone is threatening to color this paper doll series, I figured I better finish posting it. There’s another paper doll outfit, maybe two, after this. It depends if the paper doll dress I don’t like becomes one I do like. I think I’ll keep not liking it, but I might surprise myself.
It’s Mother’s Day here in the states. I called my mom, of course, but spent the day doing homework at the library. I miss being at home with family for the holiday. Last year, I had a ball taking my mom around Juneau, picking up dirt for the garden and helping her cook dinner. It was a blast. So, being far from home, I miss family more and more.
Florence is an interesting case of paper doll uncertainty. Unlike Marisole whose paper wardrobe is organized based on how I am feeling on any given moment or Curves who have no real trend either, Florence was always intended to end when I had finished a complete trousseau.
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Of course, the site crash delayed that point, but I am forging onward trying to finish her, so that I can move on to other Fashion Doll Friday Ideas (like a regency wooden doll or a nineteen fifties hard plastic or a civil war era china head). The problem is that every time I think I’m done, I find another thing I want to make for her. Today, we have a re-print of two paper doll costumes I posted once before.
On the left is the Dinner Dress. Dinner dresses were deisgned to be more formal afternoon frocks and often had long sleeves. A dinner dress could also be worn to lectures or other evening entertainments which were not formal. Another evening activity which required a special sort of dress was the Opera. Opera toilette were intended to be more fanciful then dinner dresses, but still long sleeved. These dresses could be easily redone to be worn as dinner dresses or for other semi-formal occasions.
So, Liana of Liana’s Paper Doll Blog colored in my Regency Teddy Bear paper doll which it very exciting. You can find the black and white original paper doll here. I love what she did with it. Makes me want to start playing with my colored pencils… But I have too much school work right now.
If you missed the first post, than here is Florence, the paper doll whose meant to wear these gowns.
{Download the Four Page Printable Paper Doll PDF}
I don’t remember where I found this pose, I think it was in a book on drawing fashion figures I picked up at the library. I do remember being very proud when I finished her. Now, I see all her flaws. I drew her when I was overseas in England in college, I think. I dated her as 2007, as that was the year I studied abroad.
People tell me the secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources, but I always feel weird not acknowledging where I am borrowing material from. This becomes problematic when I honestly can’t remember where I’m borrowing material from. At that point, I suppose I should just give it up.
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It’s a paper doll, after all, not a PhD dissertation and does not need to be footnoted in Chicago style. (Though I confess a strange, possibly worrying, love of footnotes.)
The point of that whole babel is to confess I’m not sure where these two dresses came from. I know I used images from Sears catalogs, but since I had copied them out of the books, I’m not sure. I think they came from Everyday Fashions of the Fifties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs, but I can’t be sure.
And it will bother me for the next ten minutes until I get over it. Fortunately, I have a short enough attention span that such things don’t worry. I save my time for more concerning worries like my grades and the state of my dishes.
(Yeah, I need to get to those.)
{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}
So, I haven’t died. I promise.
My friend says to me: You know, if your blog were a child, Social Services would have been called by now.
And I said: If my blog was a child, there would be other more serious concerns.
And she said: Update your damn blog.
And I said: Meh.
And then about a week passed. And here we are. With a blog update. Proving to my mother, who gets concerned about me, that I am, in fact, not dead.
PS: The colors got messed up when I saved it into a web format, so I recommend downloading it.
{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here For the Rest of the Series}
I’d like to say that when I draw things like these, it’s that I actually think wearing them in public would be a good idea unless, you know, you wanted to look like the head of a stud obsessed biker gang or possibly performance art. Still, I think they look cool. I tend to think if I wore them in public I would be asked nicely to go, you know, put on a real shirt.
But I’m perfectly willing to acknowledge guilty pleasure watching of shows like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and the fact that it creates paper dolls. I mean, drawing paper dolls is a geeky enough hobby without worrying about to much other geekdom coming through.
Quick Announcement: As sometimes happens, real life is going to get in the way of my paper dolling. I try to make these announcements a head of time, rather then just disappearing for a few days. I only kinda succeeded at that this time. PTP will be on break until the 4th of April. Hopefully, not longer then that. See you all then. – Rachel 3/29/2010
Unless, I am suffering from some sort of delusion (which is totally possible) I seem to recall someone asking for a redheaded Marisole. I originally just kept the dusky skin tone I usually use and gave her redhead, but it clashed and looked really bad, so I decided I better change her skintone too. I’ve had a thing for redheads ever sense I saw Anne of Green Gables on television.
{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}
Sometimes, I can’t think of anything funny, witting or really happy to write here. I’m having a rough month. Still, there are always pretty paper dolls.
Oh, and this is one of those paper dolls that the websave photoshop feature kinda messed up the color. I do recommend downloading the pdf to get the full bright tones. I need to figure out a way around that… But not tonight.
Edit 1/6/2014: Get a colorable version of this paper doll to print here.
{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Set}
I don’t usually think about what sort of stories surround my paper dolls. I rarely draw a paper doll and then think… Hmm… she’s a nice girl with a love of beets who has a long lost sister whose actually a hired gun for the mafia. These just aren’t really the way I work. I know people who do think this way about their work, but I am not one of them.
Except some paper dolls seem like they should have back stories, and the lady is one of them. She is not a princess. She is the lady of the manor. What are her days full of? Is she happy? Is she sad? Is she scheming to poison her husband and run off with a knight? I kinda want a soap opera complex back-story where people have multiple personalities and long lost time traveling children.
Hmmm… I think if there was a paper doll with time traveling children and amnesia and evil twin sisters, I would read it religiously.
Of course, I read most paper doll blogs religiously even if I am bad about commenting, so I guess I’m easy to please.
{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}
It is late. I am sleepy. I wish I had something intelligent and in depth to say about this paper doll, but I’m afraid I don’t. The pattern took a long time to draw on the dress, but I think it was worth it. I don’t remember if I based this gown on any real costume. I drew it a while ago and then it languished while I tried to decide what sort of pattern I wanted to decorate the dress with.
I walked home from work today and it was lovely. The walk is mostly flat which is nice and there was a slight breeze. I’ve learned how to walk to avoid the busy street that smells like car exhaust. I am finally learning my way around my Illinois home. Still, I miss Alaska so much.
I am going to bed now, because I am sleepy.
Before I do, Florence is the paper doll that’s mean to wear this gown. You can find her here.
