If there’s one thing I’ve learned from three years selling digital paper doll downloads on Etsy, it is that the things which sell the best are the coloring pages, especially my modern fashion ones. This feels strange to me, because as a child, I never really liked coloring books or coloring paper dolls. I much preferred the ones that were in color and then I liked to design my own paper doll clothing, but I didn’t like coloring other people’s designs.
Anyway, I did get to thinking about what makes a good coloring page and I concluded a few different things. One thing was that the details. I think it’s fun to color detailed patterns, so I wanted to highlight pages that had those. Another thing is that I think it’s fun to have some empty space (not too much) for adding your own patterns or ombré color fade or whatever.
So, here’s two dozen different fashion paper doll coloring pages that I hope people will enjoy! From my cottage-core country time (I was drawing cottage-core before it was cool 🙂 ) to an ode to sporty fashions, there’s something here for nearly everyone.
24 Paper Doll Fashion Coloring Pages
All right, I hope you all enjoy today’s foray into fashionista paper dolls and maybe get some fun coloring out of it. I see these archives posts as a chance to show off the older stuff on the site, since there’s literally hundreds of paper dolls here and even I lose track of what I’ve created.
Today, I want to highlight paper dolls that celebrate the color pink. Like many women, I have a complicated relationship with the color pink. As a small child, I loved pink so much I got my mother to paint my bedroom pink. A pale shade that I kept until I was in high school and the room was repainted yellow. For a while, I disavowed pink, swearing that I didn’t like it and would never wear it.
Now, I have come back to admitting that I actually really love pink. I love coral pinks, dusty pinks, pastel pinks, and deep magenta. I love wearing pink. I think of it as the sister to red (another favorite color) warm and welcoming and strong. Pink, it seems to be, can be a purr or a roar.
Thirty Paper Dolls in Pink!
Were I too attempt to gather up every paper doll I’ve ever drawn that uses the color pink I think I would end up with hundreds, so instead I picked just thirty printable paper dolls that use the color pink. These are a few favorites. My only criteria was that pink needed to be a major color in the set, not just an accent or trim color. The designs range from a flamingo masquerade paper doll to several cyberpunk paper dolls. There’s evening gowns in pink and medieval gowns in pink.
The only thing they all have in common is, well, a celebration of the the color pink.
I split up the paper dolls by theme, as I usually do.
The Fantasy & Sci-Fi Themed Paper Dolls
Arranged by theme, sort of. As best as I could manage, anyway.
The Contemporary Fashion Paper Dolls
Everything from commercial fisher paper dolls to cybergoth to polka-dots.
The Historical Creations of 2020
Chronological order starting with the 1970s and going through the 12th century.
At the end of 2020, there are now 49 dolls in Jewels and Gemstones collection, spread across 39 sets with over 220 clothing items and lots of accessories and other pieces. Some of these were pieces from the Jewels and Gemstones 1.0, but other sets were totally original. I’m not going to attempt to parse through these sets to sort out which is which at this point.
I don’t draw a lot of men. I don’t really think I’m that good at drawing men, truth be told. However, I have drawn a fair number of fantasy prince paper dolls and I thought they would be a fun thing to highlight in today’s paper doll round up.
I do tend to return to some of the same periods for my fantasy attire for men. I really love the 18th century and that tends to come out in these paper doll designs.
15 Fantasy Prince Paper Doll Designs
A few other thoughts, there’s a lot of paper dolls on this site that could be seen as fantasy men, but I was trying to focus on paper dolls that felt prince-like to me, rather than some of my warriors and knights. I get this category is more about my instinct than any actual measure. However, the whole point of these posts is to expose my readers to things that are buried in the archives.
And lord knows, the archives are deep. Sometimes, even I am surprised by what I find.
Over the years, I have done many story and fairy tale paper dolls. Several years ago, I did a whole series of Alice in Wonderland inspired pieces and a bunch from classic fairy tales like Little Red Ridinghood and Rapunzel.
Along with my nursery rhymes and fairy tales, there’s the novel Divergent and the Harry Potter world, though I confess I am not particularly impressed with the authors more recent works or her politics, but then Lewis Carroll had his own issues and I have plenty of Alice paper dolls. Many of which you can see in the gallery below.
Story & Fairy Tale Paper Dolls
I also did a whole series of magnetic paper dolls based on fairy tales, though I haven’t included those here- as they are not terribly functional as printable and really are meant to be magnetic. You can see them in the Flock Fairy Tales Series.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy these! Did you have a favorite fairytale when you were a kid? Mine was always the 12 Dancing Princesses (which oddly, I’ve never done a paper doll of, I think the whole 12 part of that title intimidates me). I also loved East of the Sun, West of the Moon, Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf , and The Wild Swans, all a bit esoteric. Also, I don’t think most of them would translate very well into paper form. Knitting with stinging nettles doesn’t seem like an easy to create paper doll trope, you know?
Do you have a favorite fairy tale? Which one is it? Let me know in a comment. Who knows? Maybe it will become a paper doll someday.
Awesome cosmic power needs amazing dresses, don’t you think?
I love designing sorceress paper dolls. It’s been a while since I’ve done any for the blog, though I regularly share them on Patreon with my Vivian paper doll. My love of designing over the top fantasy dresses is will documented and sorceresses are an excuse to play around with themes like the seasons or the elements or being a dragon.
30 Sorceress Paper Dolls in Color & Black and White
I had a lot of fun with these and it made me realize I haven’t done an evil sorceress in a while. I should work on that for one of the paper doll series. I think maybe Doll Du Jour?
Meanwhile, if you want yet more paper dolls head over to Patreon and consider joining us. Not only does it support the costs of sharing my free content, but there’s several neat projects on going!
And so I thought it would be fun today to celebrate alien paper dolls! Not just scifi, but specifically aliens. That means lots of blue skin, colorful hair and impractical space suits!
15 Alien Paper Dolls to Print
I haven’t done an alien paper doll in a while, I realized after I put this collection together. Maybe I need a “meteorite” member of the Jewels and Gemstones family. Until then, I hope you enjoy these paper dolls from my archives.
Any themes you’d like to see me gather up? I’d love to know in a comment.
Choosing favorite printable princess paper dolls was really hard! But I knew if I did a gallery of all my princess paper dolls than that would be huge and unwieldy.
So, what makes a printable princess paper doll? I have no idea, but I think it’s a fantasy lady sort of thing.
Printable Princess Paper Dolls I Love
Wa and Qi Lolita Inspired
Do you remember all these? Did I miss one of your favorites? Let me know in a comment. I love to hear from you.
There’s a lot of content on Paper Thin Personas. And I have far to many favorites to count!
Some of my paper dolls are not super kid friendly, but I wanted to highlight paper dolls you can color for kids that might be great while stuck at home. Specifically, I wanted to focus on sets that might be a bit buried in the archives. The sort of things that might be missed, unless you’re me and you know the archives super well.
(Actually, truth be told, I have a few readers who I think know them better than me. So, if I missed a favorite of anyone’s, please let me know in a comment.)
I drew this paper doll set back in 2014. She started as a one page little foray into something different and quickly expanded into 10 pages of black and white fantasy gowns for coloring. Lots of great potential here!
Her wigs were especially fun to create, though I confess I didn’t test any of them in the real world. I have no idea if they really work. They will all fit I am sure, but I am not sure they will all stay on.
I found in my college library a book with reprints of every fashion plate from a magazine from 1886. It was a fascinating study of seasonal dress over one year. I decided to try to draw some of the dresses from that book and this was the result.
Bustles and I have a had a long complex relationship, but I think the patterns here would be especially fun to color. When I was kid, my favorite paper dolls were paper doll of antique dolls. So, when I was picking out kid friendly paper doll coloring pages, this one had to be included.
These two PDF pages are the only one you’ll need to download individually. There’s 7 amazing outfits in this set along with a fun teddy bear to dress up.
When I was 8 or 9, I drew dozens of outfits for a commercial teddy bear paper doll, including multiple layers of complex underwear. I have no idea what happened to that paper doll, but it was certainly inspiration for this one.
This is a set I drew right before I moved to Alabama in the early 2010s. Originally, it was going to be the basis of a whole new paper doll series, but I ended up burning out on it fast.
I still think the idea of four different poses and matching dresses for each of those poses was a fun concept and there’s lots of coloring to be had with this fun set. Besides, if you’re going to play with paper dolls it is a lot more fun to play when they have friends.
Since it is Friday, I did want to mention there’s always more paper doll content on Patreon on Fridays! Head over there to check it out.
So, this has apparently been the coldest winter on record where I live in Alaska. Long stretches of over 20 below is not exactly my idea of fun. I am working my way through the whole experience the best I can with a good parka, a hat lovingly knit by my mother and thick warm gloves. Gear makes all the difference when it is cold outside.
It’s finally above freezing (yay!), but the roads are awful (boo!). It’s April, but there’s still so much snow on the ground. It’s nice enough for long neighborhood walks wearing my homemade cotton mask, hat and light coat. Happy to be out of my parka, for the moment.
This got me thinking about papers dolls and their coats. One of the problems with paper doll coats is that unlike fabric, paper doesn’t squeeze down to fit in a coat sleeve. So, not everything can layer under a coat.
Paper Dolls & Their Winter Coats
I probably missed one or two sets with coats, so if you know of one I missed, please drop me a note in a comment.
I know it’ll be spring soon (or so people tell me) and at least I can see blue sky out of my home office window.
I love Victorian clothing. It is one of my favorite eras of fashion, in part because of the dramatic silhouette changes throughout the century. I haven’t drawn much Victorian stuff lately, but I should. It is a fun time period to explore. I really want to do some Victorian dresses for the Jewels and Gemstones, I’m just trying to decide which decade. I’m leaning towards the 1870s, though they don’t have the best pose for the era.
I am working with ta client on a Victorian gentleman paper doll and it’s been great fun. It made me think about all my Victorian paper dolls and how I had never gathered them all up and put them in one place for folks. So, here they all are (as of today anyhow.)
Victorian Printable Paper Dolls: 1830 to 1910
For me, Tom Tierney’s historical paper dolls were, perhaps, the largest influence on my own fascinating with historical clothing. I learned so much from his paper dolls- both history and artistry. Collecting all these together has made me think about how long it has been since I’ve dabbled in all things Victorian. I should do some more in this time period.
As winter comes, I have been thinking a lot about winter fantasy paper dolls. From my steampunk arctic explorer paper doll set to my fantasy princesses with dresses trimmed in fur, it seemed fitting to celebrate winter fantasy paper dolls through the blog’s long history.
I haven’t done any winter fantasy pieces this year yet, so I clearly need to get on that before the winter ends. On the other hand, I live in the interior of Alaska, so the winter tends to last a long time- it starts in October and goes until March/April.
Winter Fantasy Paper Dolls to Print
Stay warm everyone as the cold comes rolling in. Let me know what your favorite elements of the winter season are. Are you a hot chocolate person? Do you love to ski? Personally, I like the crisp cold air and getting to eat lots of warming soup.
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