Ramblings

A Pair of Paper Doll Books: A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney & Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll by Patti Fertel

I recently realized I had forgotten to renew my subscription to Paper Doll Review magazine. So, I hopped over to Paper Doll Review and while I was there I decided to pick up a few new paper doll books. I mean, I was there anyway right?

(This was totally my justification.)

Two books lay on a wooden table they are A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney and Ellen's Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll by Patti Fertel.
A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney & Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll by Patti Fertel

So, I picked up A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney and Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll by Patti Fertel. Both books are beautiful, of course.

Since both of these are historical paper doll books, I thought I would group them together in one blog post. I did get one other paper doll book, but that one I’ll save for another post.

If you’re thinking… Rachel, are you just writing up a post about paper doll books to justify that fact that you bought them? Why yes, yes I am. But also because I really respect the work that goes into putting these books together and I want to celebrate that.

So without further delay…

A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney

The front cover of A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney.
The black cover of A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney.
The illustration for Ancient Crete in A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney.

Let’s start with a few of the basic details. A Timeline of Fashion is in the usual Paper Doll Review book format- one book, eight pages. The book is larger than letter size, but I didn’t measure it. It’s got a lovely blue border. As always, the paper used by Paper Doll Review feels like butter.

The dolls are printed on the same weight stock as the clothing. If I was going to cut up and play with this, I think that would bug me a little. That’s just because I grew up with Dover paper doll books which were printed on gloss cardstock all the way through. So, that’s just a little “Rachel has a bias about this” thing.

There’s eight time periods covered in A Timeline of Fashion: Ancient Crete, Medieval (specifically the 1400s), Italian Renaissance (specifically Venice), Tudor, Regency, Antebellum (1860s), the Early 1900s (Gibson Girl era) and the 1930s. If that list feels a little random. It is a little random. I love that this set jumps from 1400 BCE to 1400 CE, like a 3000 year division is totally a reasonable step in a fashion timeline.

The illustration for Renaissance Venice in The illustration for Ancient Crete in A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney.
The illustration for Gibson Girl in The illustration for Ancient Crete in A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney.
The illustration for the Gold Age of Hollywood in The illustration for Ancient Crete in A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney.

I digress.

One thing that really struck me as I was looking through A Timeline of Fashion which I found particularly enchanting was the faces of the dolls. Every doll feels very unique and based on what little I know about the beauty standards of the eras, each one feels like it is attempting to embody them. I loved that.

I also loved the care that clearly went into selecting the borders of each plate. Each border felt very appropriate to the time period and colors of the paper doll and her fashion. All in all, a lovely book I’m very happy I have added to my collection.

Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll by Patti Fertel

Patti Fertel’s Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll is really unusual. She specializes in adapting fashion plates into paper dolls. How cool is that? (Also I met her in Indiana at the Paper Doll Convention and she’s a delightful person.)

Each dress is based on an illustration from 1864 appearing in Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly magazine. So a little history to start us off – Ellen Louise Demorest nee Curtis invented the tissue paper pattern and, along with her husband, started a magazine to promote the patterns. Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly Magazine and Mme. Demorest’s Mirror of Fashions had very wide circulation in the United States in the 1860s. Not only are the dresses coming from those fashion plates, but the magazine would describe the colors, so each dress is also colored matching those suggestions. These would have been black and white, I assume, so Fertel colored them.

What a fun project. I love it.

The front cover of Patti Fertel's Ellen's Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll.
The back cover of Patti Fertel's Ellen's Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll
Two dresses from Patti Fertel's Ellen's Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll book.

The book has one doll and ten dresses. The doll’s profile pose really shows off the shape of mid-1860s skirts where the fullness was moving towards the back of the skirt. In about 6ish years, this would become a bustle, but fashion wasn’t there quite yet in 1864. The shading on the doll resembles the lines used to shade engravings, which are what the dresses are adapted from. Also, look at her tiny feet! Very 19th century.

What really struck me, as I flipped through the book, was how much the care was taken to select each dress. You see a fun cross section of women’s fashions from the 1860s from formal to casual wear and ending, of course, in a wedding gown.

In interior page showing a gown from Patti Fertel's Ellen's Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll book.
In interior page showing a gown from Patti Fertel's Ellen's Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll book.
In interior page showing a wedding gown from Patti Fertel's Ellen's Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll book.

As someone who loves fashion plates, I just find the idea of adapting them in this way really enchanting. As always, the attention to detail Paper Doll Review puts into all their books is really apparent in this one. The frames are beautiful and each one reflects the colors of the gowns. It’s such a beautiful book.

Victorian magazines refer to children cutting up newspapers and other publications to make paper dolls. So, there’s something really fun about the idea of using fashion plates in this way. It feels like a throw back to something a child might have done in the 1860s and I love that.

If you want to grab your own copies of either of these beautiful paper doll books, you can do that from Paper Doll Review. I highly recommend both A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney and Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll by Patti Fertel. They’re great books and I’m super happy to have added them to my collection.

The 2024 Paper Doll Convention Recap

I attended the 2024 paper doll convention in Indianapolis. I confess that it was all a little bit of a blur, but I am going to try to recap it as best as I can in brief here. Julie has a nice write up, too.

It was such a great event! Sharry & Micheal O’Hara and Beth & Kevin Wilkins really knocked it out of the park. Truly, their hard work make it all possible. I’ve helped organize conventions before and I know how complicated the logistics are, so it really was a feat that they did it all and it ran so smoothly.

Preparing for the Convention & Flying out on Thursday

My cat approving of my packing plans.
Brunhilda the printer, hard at work.
The hotel had these birds with little sweaters on the wall and it was the coolest thing.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Brunhilde, the fancy printer I have, was hard at work printing off my paper doll prints on beautiful paper from Red River Paper. I used the Matte Polar paper and printed a mix of one page and two page sets. I didn’t print many copies, focusing instead on variety. I packed as light as possible, so just a carry on bag. It did mean that everyone saw me in the same outfits the entire time- I didn’t dress up for anything, but maybe I will next time.

All packed up, I headed to the airport to fly out at 2:30 am on Thursday morning. Because it’s a nearly a four hour flight to Seattle, I had to take a red-eye if I was going to make it to Indianapolis in one day. (Time zones are really annoying when flying to and from Alaska.)

My flights went smoothly, but my second flight got a bit delayed and so I didn’t get to the hotel until after 7:30pm. I slipped into the back of the opening reception to eat some tasty food (the food was good at the whole event) and listen to the end of Beth Wilken’s talk on 1920s history.

Friday

The menu I designed for the dinner.
Brenda in a 1920s dress and hat.
Kwei-lin Lum presenting on her wonderfully unique art.

Julie’s workshop was Friday morning, I had a fun time gluing little pieces of paper together. (I do like playing with paper.) Then I slipped out of the event to run a quick errand (I’d forgotten contact lens solution and needed that to get through the next few days) and returned in time to see Brenda Mattox’s amazing talk on historical 1920s clothing using examples from her own collection. So very cool!

This was followed by a great talk from Kwei-lin Lum whose site- Flat Doll– was a big influence on me as I’ve moved through the paper doll world. One of the things she talked about was the idea of paper dolls as “an arrangement of parts” with the connections between those parts (the doll and her clothing) largely being suggested, rather than stated. This has always resonated with me. The idea that each piece of a paper doll is part of a story being told through suggestion rather than overt means. Her artist’s statement on Flat Doll is wonderful reading about paper dolls and art.

Saturday

Me at my sales table.
Eileen Rudisill Miller getting the Fanny Gray Award.
The menu I designed for the final reception.

Saturday was sales day, but I overslept and ended up panicked running downstairs to set up my table in just a few minutes. I got everything set up and tidy though. My one page sets sold the best (which surprised me). I also sold out of all the copies of my book that I brought.

On Saturday evening, I had dinner with several very folks from all around the country. I won the centerpiece, but I had no way to get it home without mangling it, so I passed it on to another lady who was there. Eileen Rudisill Miller was honored with a Fanny Gray Award for her contributions to the paper doll world. It was really a wonderful moment.

Highlights from the trip for me all about getting to meet and see people. I didn’t purchase much and I was sort of exhausted by the end of it, but it was also super fun and I am so happy I went.

Next time, I need to pace myself a little better. But I always say that after events like this, and I never seem to do it. Big thank you to everyone, especially the organizers- Sharry & Micheal O’Hara and Beth & Kevin Wilkins- who made it all possible.

Twenty Favorite Paper Dolls With Some Very Fancy Dresses

A bit of a deep dive into the archives this week. I thought I’d do one today highlighting fancy dresses, because fancy dresses are fun.

I used to do lots of these posts and then I sort of stopped. I don’t know why. They’re fun and often inspiring for me. I often end up seeing things that I drew and thinking, Oh, I could do a riff on that and then… That’s how inspiration works after all.

Anyway, I really love drawing fancy fantasy gowns- “princess gowns” if you will. It’s funny, because as a kid, I was not a princess person. I loved dolls, but mostly I liked how the tiny clothing and details were so neat.

As a grown up, however, I find myself very attracted to drawing fancy dresses.

So, here’s twenty fancy paper doll dresses that you can pick from. Let me know if I missed a favorite dress of yours from the blog! I got most of my favorites, though I’m sure if I had searched around on a different day, I would have found a different set of twenty to highlight.

Rebranding Reveal!

Back in January, I worked with The Reverie Collective to design me a new logo and color scheme for the blog. I have been reluctant to make the changes though for a few reasons. Mostly silly ones, because I don’t like change and what if everyone hates it?

(Please don’t hate it. )

I wasn’t originally looking for a new logo. I was specifically looking for a color scheme that was actually compliant with the ADA web accessibility guidelines for contrast, which my color scheme is not very compliant for (like at all). I went back and forth about doing this myself, but finally decided I needed some professional help.

Mostly, because I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t know how to get there.

I reached out to Mandy, sent her a rather complicated long rambling email explaining what I needed, and she really did a fantastic job putting together a cleaner logo with more emphasis on my actual name – Rachel Cohen.

One of the things I’ve noticed is that a lot of people don’t realize that “Rachel Cohen” is “Paper Thin Personas.” So, I am trying to make that clearer without losing the name recognition that Paper Thin Personas has.

It’s going to be a little bit of a slow transition- I have to rebrand the Etsy Site, Patreon, and this site, so don’t hold your breath or anything, but also don’t be surprised if things start looking a bit different around here soon.

I’ll be sad to say good bye to my long standing colors( especially my beloved #990033), but very excited about the new ones I get to play with now.

Plus, let’s be honest, it’s been over a decade and so it’s not like a little repainting and carpet replacement isn’t long over due.

A Valentine’s Paper Doll Goddess I Didn’t Finish

I’ve always been someone who finds it easier to begin projects than I find it to finish them.

One thing working in paper, as I used too, really did give me was a structure. I penciled then I inked and then I went to the next steps. Because ink doesn’t erase (anyone ever mention that?) once I’d inked, it often felt like I couldn’t correct my errors, so I didn’t. Sure, I occasionally finished major issues in Photoshop if I noticed them, but often I just shrugged and moved on. I’d get it right the next time and the wonderfully continual nature of my paper dolls meant there would always be a next time.

Digital art makes it way too easy to start projects and way too easy to keep futzing with them until I eventually lose interest and move onto the next thing. I think right now I have a dozen or more “semi-finished” creations on my ipad, some of which I shared for my patrons a while ago.

This was one of those “semi-finished” projects. I was inspired by Larry Bassin’s latest paper doll book- Fun Frocks for Flo, Fanny and Fiona– to make my own attempt at a pin-up-esque 1950s comic sort of paper doll. I thought I would draw her a few dresses and then make her into a tri-fold Valentine’s Day card, but, as you might imagine, Valentine’s has come and gone and she’s still sitting on my i-pad unfinished.

I won’t say I’ll never return to her- I know myself well enough to know that I very well may dust her off next year-but I wanted to share a bit about the messier side of my creative process that people don’t always get to see.

Developing Some Goals for 2024

This is not usually a hard post for me to write. I am a very goal oriented person. I like making goals. I like setting goals and working towards them. It brings me a lot of satisfaction. However, this year I’ve struggled a little with my goal setting.

Primary Goal

Develop a workflow for my paper doll creations that both maintains my momentum and is sustainable within the confines of my other hobbies and obligations.

However, this isn’t a goal that’s easy to measure or on that I really know how to start with, so here’s a few concrete goals I’m working towards-

1. Post to the Blog Weekly- Except when I take vacations

I really like having a simply goal regarding consistency and I think planning for a minimum of a one post a week works well for me. I particularly want to balance pre-scheduling posts and not losing the motivation that a regular schedule gives me.

2. Restart Monthly Newsletters

After a lot of debate, I’ve decided to keep the Newsletter (I almost killed it) and focus on it being a slightly longer monthly format. I want to bring back a newsletter paper doll and I think it will go out either the first or the last Friday of the month. If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do that here.

3. Exclusive Monthly Paper Dolls for my Patrons

My plan is to continue a having exclusive paper doll series for my patrons. In February, I’ll have a poll for my patrons to vote on what you’d like to see for this year. Also, there will be occasional exclusive WIP posts and polls and things. If you want to join, it will officially reopen on the 1st of February.

4. Create More Prints

One big development in my artistic life is that I ended up with an art printer, specifically an Epson 3800, which was destined for donation to a recycling center before my husband adopted it. We didn’t know if it would work and it took a bit of work on his part to make it work, but now it does work. We’ve named it Brunhilda. The prints Brunhilda creates are so beautiful. Really really beautiful- like professional art print beautiful.

I never in a million years would have paid to get one of these (because wowzer, these are not cheap), but now that I own one, it seems a pity not to use it. In fact, you have to use it at least once a month, or you can have issues with the nozzles clogging.

Stretch Goals

These are goals that I really don’t think I’ll successfully do, but I think dreaming big is important.

Complete a 100 Day Project

I keep telling myself that one day I will complete a 100 day project. I never have, but maybe someday I could? Or would? I think rather than focusing on doing something for 100 days, I think I want to focus on doing 100 of something over the course of the year. No idea what yet, mind you, but something.

I think I just love the idea of a paper doll with 100 outfits. So, that probably has something (everything) to do with it.

Sell Prints on Etsy

To be totally honest, I don’t know if I want to do this, but again- I have the printer to do it- I just don’t know if I’d like the extra work of trying to mail things to people or if that logistical challenge is one that I would end up absolutely hating. I’ve never done it, so it’s tough to say for sure.

Anyway, those are my goals for 2024. I don’t know where I’ll do with all of them, but I am going to see. I have to keep reminding myself that changing a goal isn’t failure.

Little Break in January

While I haven’t got formal goals yet for 2024, one of my informal ones was not to disappear from the blog without some announcement (if only because my mom then texts me to make sure I am okay), so here’s my little announcement that I’m slipping away for a few weeks.

By the way, if you’re a patron, Patreon did a strange thing with the bank holiday for New Years and time zones and rather than stopping charges, it looks like it might be refunding them for January? I’m not sure exactly what’s happening. Just incase you get an odd message, that’s what that’s about. If you have any questions, reach out to me and I’ll try to help!

Here’s 2023 in Review!

This December has been a little tough. I got walking pneumonia, but am on the mend. I spent a lot of the month resting and recovering. However, as 2024 begins, I have had sometime to reflect and gather some stats. It dawned on me that I used to regularly share year-end posts, a practice I somehow drifted away from. But I missed crafting these reflections on the passing year, so here we are and I hope you find it interesting.

This is not my goals for 2024 post, because I haven’t got those sorted quite yet. Until then, I hope you find some facts, figures and reflections interesting.

Paper Thin Personas in 2023 in Numbers

The 2023 blog stats in colorful circles. 60K unique visitors. 87 blog posts. 28 newsletters.

Let’s start with some numbers… Paper Thin Personas (PTP) had about 60K unique visitors in 2023. I created 87 blog posts of which 62 were paper doll post. I published 28 newsletters. As you may recall, I had planned on transforming PTP into a newsletter in 2023 and that did not work.

The most popular post of 2023.

So, I do plan to continue the newsletter, but I think I’ll migrate it to a monthly little paper doll update for everyone’s email inbox.

  • The most popular new post of 2023 (because this post remains the post popular post of all time, by a wide margin), was my Citrus Summer Paper Doll. (No idea why, but there you go.)
  • Other than Google, I get most of my visitors from Pinterest.
  • The majority of my visitors are from the United States with Canada, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom as other common spots.
  • My busiest month was November 2023 (no idea why) and my least busy month was April 2023 (again, no idea why)
  • On average, visitors to the site stick around about 2.3 minutes and look at 3 different pages. Of course, this is a little messy of a stat, because of how Google counts people.

All in all, I am really very happy with how the blog is doing in the numbers game. Paper dolls are a niche hobby (to say the least) and I don’t expect they are suddenly going to become as popular as K-pop or something.

Achievements of 2023

The cover of the paper doll book- Styles of the 1920s by Rachel Cohen.

My book came out! Paper Doll Review agreed to publish a project I’d been drawing for a while and they did just a really fantastic job. Julie Matthews colored the line-work I created so beautifully. Jenny Taliadoros held my hand through the whole thing.

Also, I went to a paper doll party! I’ve been talking about going for so long. I thought about going last year, but decided to get married instead. I met so many amazing people and it was the push I needed to really commit to moving to digital art.

Anyway, I don’t know how I could have topped either of those two events, but I did also want to share my favorite paper dolls that I posted onto PTP in 2023, each one for a different reason.

The three posts I am super proud of are the first night of Hanukkah set, Stardust Styles, and my 1894 suit.

My Favorite Paper Dolls of 2023

My 1894 suit is a favorite, because it was the first set that I drew where I feel like I really embraced the possibilities of digital art. I learned so much during its creation process and I used so many tools. It felt like a moment where my art shifted in some real way.

Stardust Styles is a favorite, because it surprised me. Sometimes I come up with ideas and then I don’t really like how they end up. Stardust Styles was the opposite. I came up with the idea and I wasn’t sure about it. However, once I drew it and colored it, it came together so much better than I hoped it would.

The first night of Hanukkah set was a favorite, because it came out exactly as I imagined it. Sometimes art is easy (not often for me!) and this was one of those times. It feels timeless. I can imagine my nephew or niece giving this set to their kids. That makes me happy.

Do you have a favorite from 2023? Let me know in a comment and have an amazing start to 2024. I’m taking a little blog break until the 22nd (one of my goals for 2024 is to try not to just disappear for weeks at a time… we’ll see how that goes) while I deal with some behind the scenes stuff and I plan to return on the 22nd.