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Printable Paper Dolls
Unlock with PatreonAnd now, the Late 1950s with Jade!
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And the 1950s styles continue with Jade here. In the Late 1950s, you start to see the 1960s silhouette sneaking in with the higher waisted dresses and the shape of the skirts. So, our paper doll is more about that easing into the transitional era of the early 1950s. I did some digging around into black fashion magazines of this era and tried to match the colors I saw in those sources when deciding what colors to use on today’s black 1950s paper doll.
Let’s talk sources!
The red dress came from this catalog page from 1958 Sears and the pink dress is from this Vogue 9137 from 1957. Her swimsuit is from the Spring/Summer Sears from 1957. The yellow dress is from this 1959 Sears Spring Summer Catalog, but I don’t think I got the skirt quite right. You can see more of this style here. The whole thing is that there was a distinct silhouette change going on as the decade changed. The goal was to show off how the shape of dresses as transitional at this point.
Jade’s hair is based on this photo of a very young Diahann Carroll from 1955. The paper doll’s swimsuit is from the Spring/Summer Sears from 1957. As usual, I find movie stars to be a super useful way to track down hairstyles. Her lipstick color is also based on what I was seeing in fashion magazines from the era- lots of very red or very pink lipstick.
So there you have it, a few of the sources of this 1950s paper doll and her five dresses from five different years. That last bit was not on purpose- it just sort of worked out that way.
Enjoy!
In upcoming paper doll news, I am going to share a Patreon treat on Friday and then take a bit of a vacation until sometime in January, when I hope to return full of pluck, persistence, and paper dolls.
Vivian’s Winter Visiting Dress for December 2022
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Ruby Dressing Up in the Mid-1950s
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I mentioned in my last 1950s printable paper doll about how important I thought it was to have some 1950s fashions for these paper dolls that include pants and Ruby is getting two pairs of them. She has what was known as a “playsuit”- basically, a romper. There’s something very infantilizing about the terms “playsuit” and “romper”, though I’m not sure I have the energy to really dive into how infantilizing the 1950s was towards women. I mean women couldn’t get mortgages on their own until the 1970s, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
I digress.
The point is that women wore pants in the 1950s and I wanted to illustrate some of those styles for this paper doll.
As usual, my references were mostly catalogs- Sears and Montgomery Ward. I went through do many catalog pages and I did not do the best job of documenting what I used. However, you can see the romper from 1954 here and the camisole and Bermuda shorts worn together from 1955 here. You can see some of the hats here from 1956 and one of the dresses here also from 1956.
As November wraps up, we are stumbling into December which is always a hit and miss month for me. I have an idea that I hope I’ll get finished. Then January will come which may be a month off, I’m still debating, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Hope everyone has been having a lovely end of Fall and beginning of winter (though given that it was -27 here yesterday, I think winter is already here in Alaska.)
Dolly and Her Dresses for November 2022
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Citrine Wearing Some 1950s Styles
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This week is going to be quiet. It is Thanksgiving week here in the states and I am on pie duty. Personally, I love to bake, so it’s no trouble to dive into the world of pie. The only thing I don’t like is the crowds at the grocery store this time of year. I really dislike grocery shopping in general. Grocery pick-up might be the one good thing to come out of the pandemic.
Anyway, today’s 1950s vintage fashion paper doll is the first in large collection of 1950s dolls that I’ll be sharing. Citrine has a wide range of 1950s fashions from a pair of jeans with a casual blouse to a smart wool suit from Vogue. Her underwear is from 1955, but since the dolls all need to share clothing it doesn’t quite give the pointy boob effect that was popular in the era. Maidenform being the big name in that genre. Anyway, I don’t feel like linking every single source image. You can find many of them on my 1950s Pinterest Board.
Coloring these pieces are always a challenge for me, because my modern eye does not seen the same things in a black and white image as people at the time might see. So, I try to base the colors on the catalog descriptions as much as possible, especially because the catalogs are mostly produced in black and white. It’s tough for me, because I love color.
One thing I really wanted was to be sure to draw some trousers for these paper dolls. I tend to like drawing dresses more than trousers, but they were popular in the 1950s. I did some for my 1940s Jewels and Gemstones, but they never made it onto the blog’s version (they are included in the Etsy set). Trousers were still pretty strictly a casual garment in the 1950s. Never the less, I wanted to be sure to include jeans, shorts, and a playsuit. Stay tuned for more 1950s clothing over the next few weeks as I finish up the other sets.
Don’t forget, there’s an older Sapphire 1950s set which fits right in with the aesthetic.
Autumn Looks: Printable Paper Doll
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Very similar color scheme here to my November Vivian Gown. I really like purple, orange, and green together. Also, I realized I hadn’t done a doll with glasses in a long long time, so I wanted to fix that.
One thing I’ve noticed this year is a lot of maxi-skirts and a lot of cropped tops, so I tried to use both of those in this set. The other thing I’ve noticed is that pants are starting to veer away from the skinny jean to more of a straight leg style which I think is great, because I much prefer it. Sort of sad to see tunics being less popular as I also tend to prefer those.
Oh well, can’t have everything.
Meanwhile, I wanted try to do something seasonal. Though it was -3 outside this morning and I had to plug my car in (I live just below the arctic circle), so the battery would survive my work day and all I could think was, “Why do I live here?”
Also, it’s only November, she whined.
Still, I love Alaska and 90% of the time, I don’t mind the cold so much.
So, two little things:
- If you’re a patron, there’s a poll on last Friday’s post about the future of Vivian. Please vote. Thanks!
- If you want to get in on some Newsletter paper doll goodness, be sure to sign up for the newsletter. Next issue comes out Friday! And I am super excited.
Vivian’s November Ball Gown with Sunflowers for my Patrons
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More Vivian Dolls for my Patrons
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A Vivian Paper Doll as a Thank You
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Regency Autumn Fantasy
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One of my favorite things is taking a historical silhouette and just playing with it. It’s pretty much just a chance to draw pretty dresses for paper dolls. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing variety (like this Cybergoth Set), but I think anyone whose a regular here knows my first loves are the fantasy and historical stuff.
The fantasy stuff is easier than the historical stuff, because there’s no research involved. I simply am unable to call something historical if I haven’t actually done some research to back up that claim. And sometimes, I just don’t wanna do research.
Despite the research free nature of these dresses, they are based on Regency Era styles. In my head, the dress on the left with the yellow skirt is a ballgown, because it is the lowest cut and fanciest. The dresses on the left are a dinner dress (the blue one) and day dress (the one with the vest).
If you want some actual regency dresses, rather than these regency fantasy dresses, I recommend my Regency tag and as I was working on this post, I realized I do have other regency fantasy dresses- enough that maybe I should make a tag for that too, so I did.
I now have a regency inspired tag for all my non-historical forays into this silhouette, including my regencycore modern stuff which I think I’m going to draw more of. I really enjoy drawing romantic dresses. And yes, I am eagerly waiting for season 3 of Bridgerton.
Meanwhile, this is Newsletter week, so if you haven’t, sign up and get an extra paper doll coloring page in your inbox every two weeks.
Witchtober: The Merchant and Traveling Witches!
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Happy Halloween!
It’s so exciting to be wrapping up my 2022 Witchtober project with the ever delightful Julie Matthews today with the Merchant and Traveling themed witches.
So, let’s talk concepts- On the left, is the Merchant themed witch. I wanted to go for like an edgy CEO in the 1980s look. Very much a power suit. I had fun playing around with drawing the sharp angles on this one. I decided a traditional hat made the most sense, but I tried to keep it feeling super crisp.
On the right is the Traveling witch. For this one, I went a totally different direction. My first thought was like 19th century traveling suits, but then I was like- Nah, I’ve done that before a lot. So, instead, I thought about adventuring clothing- something a little fantasy, a little practical, with lots of pockets for carrying things, and gathering things. To go with this, I wanted to draw a well worn sort of weather beaten hat. The sort of hat that looked like it had been around the block a few times and seen some things.
Both outfits got boots, but I tried to make them about as different as two pairs of boots could be.
You can, of course, just download this page if you want, but you can also grab all the pages in this download, if that’s more your style. In case you missed any, here’s all of the my posts.
Of course, you should head over to Paper Doll School where Julie has shared her really fantastic creations. She sent me a sneak preview and they are pretty fantastic.
And, of course, I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween today!