Printable Paper Dolls

Ms. Mannequin: Coats and Boots for Fashionable Winter Wear

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Sorel Boots, Coats and Boots Worn by College Students

Paper dolls need warm clothing, too! Here are coats and boots for the Ms. Mannequin series. Free to print in black and white or in color from paperthinpersonas.com.

I grew up in Southeast Alaska where the winter weather is so horrid that stylish winter wear is pretty much out of the question. One of the things I like about Alabama is that our winters are fairly mild and I can wear a coat that is cute, rather than waterproof and really warm.

As I mentioned last week, I am trying to post one “winter” themed piece a week for December. Today’s coats and boots are this weeks “winter” items. Not quite as ambitious as say Julie’s amazing 30 days of Angel paper dolls, but my little nod to the season. I do find since I just draw “one” thing for each day, it is much easier to do holiday/themed pieces, because finishing one paper doll outfit last minute is far simpler than finishing four or five that I needed to fill up a sheet in the past.

Needless to say, I am really enjoying this new way of doing things.

All right, so the white boots with the fur trim are based on some Sorel boots, but only in the vaguest of ways. The brown boots are based on some I saw a college student wearing and thought were cute. The coats are both based on items from various fashion magazines in my house.

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

Mini-Maidens: Fantasy Gown

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Bliants, Dirndls, Bunads, and Decorated Corsets 
A black and white fantasy gown design to color from the Mini-Maidens. Free to print and color from paperthinpersonas.com
So, back when I decided to throw the shackles of themes off, I began by drawing five Marisole Monday & Friend’s posts and five Mini-Maiden posts. This is the last of those Mini-Maiden posts. It fells both good and a little odd to be at the “end” of that first run of content.

For those of you who don’t know, I tend to work in “batches” and I talk about this at length in my Behind the Scenes blog on Patreon. You can read the post here and a lot more posts like it on Patreon.

Meanwhile, today’s paper doll fantasy gown was a riff on this set I created for Ms. Mannequin a while ago though in a much more simple style. I love embroidered corsets/waistcoats like those worn with Austrian dirndl or the bunad of Norway and those garments influenced the underbust corset that she wears. The gown underneath it is 12 century France influenced, particularly the bliant, which is a 12th century gown style with long wide sleeves.

Think the stereotypical medieval gown and you’ve got the right image in your head.

Tomorrow there will be Ms. Mannequin paper doll coats and boots up for printing and coloring as my weekly, “Winter” post. Then the week shall continue with some modern spring looks for the Sprites and a fantasy armor set for Marisole Monday & Friends. Wow, it feels so odd sometimes to know exactly what the week holds. Amen for pre-planning. 🙂

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

B&B: An Asian-American Paper Doll with a Modern Dress

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Shoes! Mostly. 

A curvy Asian paper doll from the B&B paper doll series. Free to print in color or black and white from paperthinpersonas.com.

Once in a while, it is all about the shoes and this is one of those once in a while moments, I gotta admit. I just had so much fun designing shoes, plus I wanted to make sure my new member of the B&B paper doll family had at least two options when she went out into the world.

There are other things going on here than shoes, of course, and one of them is that paper doll diversity is super important to me. I realized a few months ago that I hadn’t drawn an Asian paper doll for the B&B series since I made Chic Chick back in 2015.

So, I wanted to add another Asian or Asian-American paper doll girl to the B&B paper doll family. Plus, I just noticed she is in a very similar color scheme to Chic Chick, so she can totally share clothing, no problem. I did not do that on purpose.

I sometimes worry people think I am WAY more organized about that kinda stuff than I actually am.

Tomorrow, there will be a fantasy gown for the Mini-Maiden series. So, that should be super fun.

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So, what do you think of today’s B&B paper doll? Do you love her shoes as much as I do? Leave me a comment and let me know. I love hearing from you guys.

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

Ms. Mannequin: As A Paper Doll Viking!

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Vikings… Yeah, That’s About it

Historical viking clothing for the Ms. Mannequin paper doll series with shoes and stockings. Free to print in color or black and white.

I think it was last year that I did a ton of research on Viking clothing and even wrote up a lot of what I found on this article. Later, my Viking B&B paper doll went a bit viral on Facebook which I had to have other people tell me about, because I don’t have a Facebook page. On occasion, I do think about making one for the blog. Is that something people would like?

Anyway, I took a long look at my goals for 2016 that my patrons helped me come up with. Doing more historical clothing was a part of those goals, so I have decided to dabble in viking clothing once more. It is hard to assess those goals, because I wrote them when I was still posting paper doll sets and I am not doing that anymore. Still, not posting sets has really opened up the options for doing just one of something which is why I have drawn (though not yet posted) my first 17th century piece ever.

Back to the paper doll dress, this is a Viking clothing from around the 10th century. So, she is wearing a shirt, or serk, under an apron-dress, or smokkr. Serk fragments have been found both pleated and unpleated. I chose an unpleated version. She also wears an apron over her apron-dress. In my outline of Viking clothing, I mentioned that Ewing, in his book Viking Clothing published in 2006, discusses a theory that sometimes one apron-dress was worn over another apron-dress. I have illustrated that style today.

I will openly confess that the Ms Mannequin paper dolls have a very modern pose, so drawing historical clothing for them for the first time was a little surreal. I might stick to vintage looks from this century in the future for them.

So, what do you think about today’s foray into Viking dress? Do the Ms. Mannequin dolls need more historical clothing? Let me know what you think.

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

Poppets: Snow Princess Paper Doll Dress

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Snowflakes, Princess Dresses, and All Things Rococo

A snow princess paper doll fantasy dress in color, but also available in black and white. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com

Happy December!

My goal for the month of December is to post one “winter” themed piece a week. We’ll see if I actually succeed, but I think it is super important to set goals.

To start with, here is snow princess paper doll dress. Fairy tales were a huge part of my childhood. Even after I was “too old” for picture books, I would go to the section in the library devoted to fairy tales and spend hours reading different versions of my favorite stories. I loved the variety of ways of telling the same story.

Clearly, I love all things fairy tale related and that includes a love of princess fantasy gowns. It has been a long time since I did an over the top princess dress for the Poppet series. Every child paper doll paper needs an over the top princess dress.

This snow princess paper doll dress was inspired by 18th century Rococo designs, specifically polonaise dresses. These gowns were known for their draped and swagged over skirts. I have always loved the style. Meanwhile, this Poppet gown has some practical short boots for tromping through the snow and long sleeves to keep her warm.

When it comes to winter fairy tales, which ones are your favorites? I confess a love for the Snow Queen and Snow Child, a story about a childless couple who make a child out of snow that comes to life. I think it is Russian in origin. Any other recommendations for winter fairy tales? Let me know in a comment.

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

Marisole Monday & Friends: On the Red Carpet

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Say Yes to the Dress and Gowns Like This One or This One or This One
A purple ruched evening gown for the Marisole Monday and Friends paper doll series. Free to print in color or black and white.

One of my guilty pleasures is the show, Say Yes to the Dress. I thought I would have to give it up when I gave up cable, but fortunately, you can watch it on Hulu and who doesn’t want to watch insane bridal gowns on TV?

This only important because the show was on when I came up with the idea of doing a ruched paper doll evening gown like today’s for Marisole Monday & Friends lady paper dolls.

I will openly confess that I didn’t want to do a paper doll wedding dress, so I chose a lavender color for today’s paper doll evening gown. I’m just not a big wedding dress person, even though I like the show. Even as a kid, I was never one of those people who imagined my own wedding day. Don’t get me wrong, I cry at every wedding, but it was never part of my imaginary world as a kid.

Now, I did totally imagine being at a ball as a kid. So, red carpet paper doll gowns was much more up my alley.

So, are you a wedding dress or evening dress kinda person? Let me know in a comment.

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

Sprites: Flower Fairies Xavier

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Flower Fairies, Cicely Mary Barker and the Book, Fairie-ality
A flower fairy boy paper doll with an outfit in color or black and white. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com.

Week before last, I showed off some flower fairy outfits for the Sprites paper doll series. I didn’t have the flower fairy paper doll Sprites done quite yet, but here they are now making their debut. Yesterday, I showed off Yumiko as a fairy and today, I am debuting Xavier, blue skin and all.

Xavier and Yumiko are modeling these flower fairy paper doll looks and you can find more paper dolls with those same faces as Xavier and Yumiko, if you want them.

Just like with Yumiko’s fairy version, I tried a few different skin colors, before I settled on the blue color. It reminded me of the color of the summer sky.

I do worry that he looks a little girly, both because my male paper dolls always feel a little effeminate to me and because the whole flower fairy theme tends to lend itself to a more girly look anyway. Still, I tired to keep him a bit buff with his boots and jacket and kilt made from petals.

In my head, flower fairies are just the size of a deck of cards and could fit in the palm of the hand. How do you imagine flower fairies? Tell me in a comment.

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Looking for something for today’s Sprite paper doll to wear? Pick out some clothing here.

Flower Fairies: Yumiko as a Flower Fairy

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Flower Fairies, Cicely Mary Barker, and the Book, Fairie-ality

A cute little flower fairy paper doll free to print in color or black and white.

A few weeks ago, I posted my flower fairy outfits for the Sprite paper dolls inspired by nasturtiums. At the time, my two Sprite fairy paper dolls weren’t done yet, but now they are. So, today Yumiko of the Sprites paper doll family today is showing off her fairy side. Tomorrow, her male partner in crime Xavier will make his fairy debut.

Even with this new format, I do plan to post Sprites as sets. I like having a lady and a gent of the same theme posting two days in a row. I think it is fun.

And it is my blog, so I get to decide what is fun here.

All of my flower fairy designs owe something to Cicely Mary Barker who illustrated what are now “classic” flower fairy illustrations starting in the 1920s. Here are some of her fairy illustrations.

There is something so innocent about Cicely Mary Barker’s art. I still really love her books and I loved them when I was a child. My favorite was the Willow Fairy. Of course, the book Fairie-ality was also a big influence. Highly recommended.

I went back and forth and back and forth about the color scheme for this one. I tried out blue skin and green skin, but I really like how the purple turned out. If you think she needs a different color, then there’s always the black and white version.

So, here’s my question for my readers today, was I the only Cicely Mary Barker flower fairy fan as a child? Let me know in a comment!

And if you like the blog, and want to see what goes on the behind the scenes, then join us on Patreon. A dollar a month gets you access to the Behind the Scenes blog and five dollars gets you the Vivian Paper Doll Project. Right now, my patrons are voting on a name for a new Marisole Monday and Friends paper doll.

Looking for something for today’s Sprite paper doll to wear? Pick out some clothing here.

Steampunk Street Urchin Paper Doll Clothing

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Newsboy Caps, Street Urchins, and Steampunk

bandb-steampunk-paper-doll-outfit

I love all things Victorian and I have an equal love for neo-Victorian styles. I saw drawing steampunk stuff back in middle school, before there even was such a thing as steampunk. I called it Victorian Punk and I stumbled across some of those drawings last time I moved. Maybe I’ll dig them out and share them with my Patrons.

And actually, I haven’t ever done B&B steampunk before, unless you count my Regency Steampunk set I did last year. This set is much less high class and much more street urchin.  Still, I love the belt. Love it.

Along with my favorite belt, there is also a newsboy cap, something I am still learning to draw, arm warmers and boots. Everything is better with boots. Personally, I also really like the yellow socks, but there is a black and white version, so feel free to color them anyway you please. Just in case you’re not as into yellow socks as I am.

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Need to get a Bodacious & Buxom paper doll to wear these fabulous clothes? Pick one out here.

A Paper Doll Suit from 1860s

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Sarah Josepha Hale, 1860’s Men’s Clothing and Harvest Colors

A paper doll men's suit from 1861 featuring a cutaway coat and harvest colors. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com.

I’ve never done a Thanksgiving paper doll before. Personally, I have always struggled to come up with an idea that isn’t either cliche or offensive. The portrayal of Native American, for example, in paper doll form has generally been rather awful and I certainly wasn’t in the mood to do some mythical pilgrims.

So, why do a suit from the 1860s? Well, I wanted to honor Sarah Josepha Hale.

First of all, she wrote Mary Had a Little Lamb, which is pretty cool, but more then that she was the editor of the important publication Godey’s Lady’s Book, and was an advocate for Thanksgiving.

In short, Hale believed that Thanksgiving was about choosing a time to both unite as a Nation and to express our joy and gratitude for our many blessings. Given the current political climate, I cannot think of a better reason to have a holiday. Her advocacy for the national holiday began in 1846 and was successful in 1863 when Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War, formally announced a National Day of Thanksgiving.

In celebration this year, I have drawn a suit from the 1860s, specifically 1861. I actually had a really impossible time finding a suit from 1863, so this will have to do. Keeping with the Thanksgiving theme, the suit is done in harvest colors. You’ll need a gent to wear this suit, so I recommend picking up one of the Marisole Monday & Friends guy paper dolls and outfitting him. Should you like him to have a lady date to his 1860s Thanksgiving Dinner, then here’s some 1860s clothing for the Marisole Monday & Friends lady paper dolls.

I don’t know nearly as much about men’s clothing of the Victorian era as I know about women’s clothing, so I am pretty nervous about how accurate this is, but I did my best and I think this is the first ever historical men’s paper doll outfit I have ever posted. So, please be kind to my first attempt. I also need to get some books on men’s clothing of the 19th century. Anyone got any recommendations?

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with family, with friends or just with the day off.

I’d also like to take this chance to thank everyone. I am thankful for everyone who supports the blog on Patreon, who leaves a comment, who follows me on Twitter or who just comes to read. Trust me when I say, it is because of my great readers that PTP is still around.

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