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Reflecting on 2025 here at Paper Thin Personas

It’s been an good year on Paper Thin Personas! On average, 6,500 people visit the site each month, with around 22,000 page views, and in 2025 I welcomed 74,000 total users. Not as many as last year, but not shocking given how AI has impacted search behavior across the internet.

Over the year, I shared 36 new paper dolls, adding to a total of 55 posts on the site. That includes fantasy designs (9), historical dolls (9), and contemporary fashion (7), plus 114 Patreon-exclusive paper dolls. A big thank you to my patrons who really keep me being able to create.

My 100 Day Project sure did throw those Patreon stats into a different category, didn’t it? I digress.

Fun Paper Doll Projects:

I wrapped up The 100 Day Project over on Patreon, and honestly, it was a lot of fun. I’ll be sharing some of that work here on the blog as finished sets, along with a brand-new paper doll series that I think is very cute. Will I do another 100 Day Project in 2026? I’m not sure yet. I’ll decide in February, when I’m a little closer to the starting line. I tend to decide these things at the last minute, it’s true.

My new paper doll book!

I got to collaborate with Paper Doll Review on a book called Big Eyed Girlies, and it was an absolute blast to work on. I’m genuinely thrilled with how it turned out. And if you’re curious, you can grab your own copy directly from Paper Doll Review. By the way, if you don’t already get Paper Doll Studio magazine, I highly recommend it. Such a fun quarterly treat.

I added a “random paper doll post” button while poking around with AI tools. Since I teach information literacy, I spend a lot of time thinking about how AI fits into creative and research work, which means I also like to get my hands dirty and actually use it. In this case, that meant letting AI help me wrangle some code. I hadn’t written original code in ages, so it was equal parts experiment, refresher, and a bit of fun. Mostly, it was a reminder that my coding skills are very rusty, but not totally atrophied.

Top 5 Most Viewed Paper Dolls Created in 2025

Sunshine and Scallops, my most popular 2025 paper doll by views.
Sunshine & Scallops

Top 5 of Posts in 2025 Over All

  • Marisole Monday Modern Girl in Black and White remains the most popular post on the site by a huge margin with over 9K views this year. It’s always the most popular post on the site, not idea why, but I strongly suspect it’s positioning on Google Image Search has everything to do with it’s popularity.
  • Citrus Summer stayed in the second spot. It’s a very solid paper doll with several mix and match clothing pieces and accessories.
  • A Little 1970s Retro Inspired Floral Spring a new surprise addition to this list this year. I’m happy to see it here, because it’s also a paper doll I really like. So, I’m glad it’s popular.
  • Black and White Printable Paper Dolls…. Marisole Monday & Friends A trio of black-and-white sets that continues to perform year after year. Simple, printable, and endlessly reliable.
  • Female Proportions for Drawing was originally something I made for myself, but it turns out lots of people find it helpful. I’m glad. I hope it continues to be helpful for folks.

All in all, 2025 was a really satisfying year for Paper Thin Personas. I got to make a lot of things I genuinely enjoyed, try a few new experiments, and share them with people who love paper dolls as much as I do. That’s the best part. Thank you for visiting, downloading, supporting on Patreon, and generally cheering this little corner of the internet on. I’m excited to see where things go next, and I’ve got plenty more paper dolls (and probably a few experiments) lined up for the year ahead.

Bianca Boo’s Frightful Frocks: Moth Queen

Printable paper doll outfit titled “Bianca Boo’s Frightful Frocks: Moth Queen.” The sheet features a blonde wig, a blue and purple dress decorated with gold stars and a crescent moon, and a moth-shaped crown with dangling stars and moons. Spiderweb borders frame the design, along with the poem: “Bianco Boo in a frock so bright / Dancing and twirling through the night / With wings unfurled in golden gloss, / She crowned herself the queen of moths.” The text “Happy Halloween 2025” appears on the right.

Download Page 3: Bianca Boo Moth Queen | The Bianca Boo Collection

Today’s Fright Frock for Bianca Boo, my Halloween printable paper doll project with Julie Matthews, is a “Moth Queen” themed gown. So, of course, I needed a dress and a crown and a wig, because Bianca’s hair has to match the rest of her style. When Julie and I first brainstormed this Halloween paper doll project, we started with a list of thirteen ideas and narrowed it down to our favorites. Today’s design, The Moth Queen, isn’t a costume exactly, it is more of an “inspired by” outfit. I admit that I first thought of a more “fairy” feeling sort of dress, but that felt cliche, so I turned to other ideas.

Lolita fashion has always fascinated me. Originating from Japanese street fashion, Lolita draws inspiration from Victorian and Rococo clothing, creating that signature modest, doll-like silhouette full of lace, bows, and ruffles. What I find endlessly inspiring about the style is that outfits are organized into coordinates around themes, so everything matches from the purse to the dress. I think that’s very rich fodder for paper dolls, myself. For today’s Moth Queen themed paper doll outfit, I was inspired by Qi Lolita fashion, a substyle that mixes the frilly sweetness of Lolita with traditional Chinese clothing details.

Moths seem to be having a real moment right now. I’m not sure why, but then again, I rarely understand fashion trends, and that’s never stopped me from drawing them anyway. Personally, I like to think of moths as butterflies for autumn. They are a little moodier and perfect for spooky season (which is apparently what the internet is calling ‘fall’ these days).

As with the rest of Bianca Boo’s Frightful Frocks, I’ve been pairing each outfit with a short, whimsical poem. I don’t usually write formal verse, but I’ve been having so much fun experimenting with these little rhymes. Here’s the poem for today’s dress:

Bianco Boo in a frock so bright,
Dancing and twirling through the night,
With wings unfurled in golden gloss,
She crowned herself the queen of moths.

If you’d like to add The Moth Queen to your collection, you can download the printable paper doll outfit above. And if you missed the earlier designs in this Halloween series, be sure to check out the rest of Bianca Boo’s Frightful Frocks. Each one comes with its own little verse to celebrate the spooky season. Also, be sure to check out Julie Matthew’s Paper Doll School where she’s also creating outfits for these themes.

Wrapping up the 1830s in Paper Doll Fashions

To finish up my 1830s project, I thought I would offer this round up and write up about the whole decade with a gallery of all the paper doll fashions I drew, so you can make sure you didn’t miss any of them.

The 1830s is a transition period in women’s fashion. The early part of the decade is characterized by full skirts, gigot sleeves, ankle length skirts and lavish decorations.  A softened, gauzy version of the 17th century ruff is often combined with high collars, a nod to historical fashions. Pelerine collars, large wide collars with lapels that extended down the front of the gown (see this dress) were very popular. Throughout the decade, the shoulders of gowns are dropped, creating a sloped shoulder line.

This is not an era of strong broad shoulders.

An 1830s Paper Doll

An 1830s paper doll wearing historical underwear.
An 1830s paper doll coloring page wearing historical underwear.
A dress from 1830.
A dress from 1830 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1831.
A dress from 1831 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1832.
A dress from 1832 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1833.
A dress from 1833 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1834.
A dress from 1834 as a coloring page.
A paper doll from the mid-1830s with ringlet curls.
A paper doll from the mid-1830s coloring page.
A dress from 1835.
A dress from 1835 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1836.
A dress from 1836 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1837.
A dress from 1837 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1838.
A dress from 1838 as a coloring page.
A dress from 1839.
A dress from 1839 as a coloring page.

Fashion is not static of course and evolves. During second part of the decade, largely after Queen Victoria ascends the throne in 1837, the styles become more restrained. Sleeves reduce in size, skirts get longer, and details become more delicate. The sleeve, which had defined the style for many years, entered a transitional phase in the late 1830s. Once a large ballooning gigot sleeve, it began to evolve with the fullness in sleeves began to shift to the lower arm. One common way to adapt the wider sleeve into something more restrained was to gather or pleat the fullness into a tightly fitted upper arm and then allow the fabric to expand into wider sleeve as it came to the wrist. This style (see this dress and this dress) continued unto the early 1840s.

I could not be happier with how these paper dolls turned out. There’s 12 different designs here making up 24 pages. You can decide if you want this 1830s paper doll in color or in black and white for coloring. Enjoy!

A 1930s Paper Doll Project Preview

A drawing of a woman wearing a 1932 pair of beach pajamas.
A drawing of a woman wearing a dress from 1938.
A drawing of a woman wearing a dress and hat from 1938.
A drawing of a woman wearing a formal dress from 1938.
A drawing of a woman wearing a dress and hat from 1938.
A drawing of a woman wearing a dress from 1938.
A drawing of a woman wearing a dress from 1936.
A drawing of a woman wearing a dress from 1932.

Why the 1930s? Well… this project started as a 1920s project, but I was already doing too much 1920s stuff for the Paper Doll Convention in August and I needed a break. So, 1930s caught my eye.

Anyway, I’ve ended up with three dolls- one set for around 1932, another for 1936, and another for 1938. The 1932 collection is very sporty/beach focused with a swimsuit, split skirt sport dress, and beach pajamas. The 1936 collection is more autumn focused and the 1938 collection is a spring/summer collection. Anyway, once they’re done I’ll write more about each set. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this little preview of what paper doll related things I’ve been working on.

My next big task is to get some prints ready for the convention… so I have been thinking about what to do about that planning this month and next month. Since I now own the sort of printer that can print beautiful prints, I have a lot more flexibility and ability to print smaller runs of things. That’s really exciting. Ink is super expensive though, so I need to think a lot about ink usage and that’ll impact design decisions.

Hanukkah Paper Dolls: The Eighth Night

Hanukkah Paper Doll Templates with menorahs for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Download Black and White PDF | Download All Eight Pages as One PDF | The Other Days of the Hanukkah Series

Happy eighth night of Hanukkah and our paper dolls have many menorahs to show off, all shining brightly.

I wanted to make it super easy to download these Hanukkah paper dolls, so I added a link to a full 8 page PDF of the whole set that you can grab.

Today, let’s talk about menorahs. A Hanukkah menorah, also known as a hanukkiah, is a special nine-branched candle holder. Out of the nine lights, eight represent the nights of the holiday. Every night, an additional light is lit compared to the previous one. By the last night, all eight branches are shining brightly.

The ninth light is called the shamash (“helper”), which is used in some traditions to light the other eight. The purpose of the shamash is to adhere to the prohibition, specified in the Talmud, against using the Hanukkah lights for anything other than showing and thinking about the Hanukkah miracle. So, the shamash is available to do the work of lighting the other lights and give light if needed.

Except in times when antisemitism is so high that it would be dangerous to do so, menorahs are typically placed in windows, visible from the street. I like to position mine where I can keep an eye on it and ensure my cat doesn’t get too close. She tends to get closer than I would like to candles.

If you have more questions about Hanukkah, Chabad has a handy Hanukkah FAQ.

I wanted to draw three different styles of menorah, because they can look like all sorts of different things. I like this dinosaur one, myself.

This is the end of this series for Hanukkah 2023! I’ve been wanting to do a Hanukkah series for years, so I am happy I finally buckled down and got it done.

Bows & Pearls in Mauve, Cream, and Green

Printable coloring page of an Asian girl paper doll with clothing.
Printable Asian girl paper doll with clothing.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

A few thoughts on today’s Asian girl paper doll and her romantic wardrobe – I wanted to do a paper doll that would have a pearl feeling color scheme, but I also wanted her to not use pink. I really love pink, but I wanted to get away from pink for this set. Pink just feels like the “easy” way to make things feel feminine. So, instead, I decided to lean into mauve, cream and shades of leaf green. This Design Seeds color palette inspired me.

Honestly, I love all these colors, but I think the clothing is a little too feminine for me. However, I am hardly the most fashionable person on the planet. I went back and forth about the hair style. On one hand, putting a bob on an Asian paper doll feels a little cliche. On the other hand, I really liked the smooth hard lines of the hair in contrast with the hyper-feminine fashions.

Much like Retro Spring some of this paper doll’s clothing comes from the same set Hearts Denims and Bows. I really liked the bow graphic t-shirt in that set and I used it as a jumping off point for the rest of the clothing in this set. With 7 tops and 4 bottoms, there are 28 different outfit combinations here. I guess if I really wanted to maximize my clothing combos, I would draw nothing but crop tops, shorts, and shoes. However, I am trying to be a little more diverse then that.

Personally, I’d really love to get to 100 different pieces of mix and match contemporary paper doll clothing. I think that would be a nice round number for this series, plus I think then I could put together a book or something with all those pieces. I’ll get there eventually, but in the mean time, enjoy this latest addition to the Ensemble Eclectica series.

By the way, if there is a contemporary clothing theme you’d really like to see for these little ladies, let me know in a comment. Right now, I am thinking about a gothic set (because drawing skulls is a good challenge and also October seems the right month for that) and something sci-fi with cute little aliens.

A Stylish Paper Doll July: 15th Century Gown with Hennin

Download Black and White PDF | More July Project Paper Dolls

Sources:

Okay, so today’s paper doll dress was one of the first I drew and inked, but somehow I forgot about it in the shuffle, so it is ending up being one of the last that gets shared. That’s just how things work out sometimes, I suppose.

When it comes to citing manuscript illustrations, I try as often as possible to go back to the original source if I can and I try to give enough information that if I was working at the front desk of the library that had one of these books and a person handed them the information I provide, that person would be able to find the item (or at least make a really good guess at it.)

The reality is that not all websites give all the details that might be needed, but I do my best to provide as much as I can. Medieval documents generally don’t have title pages and usually don’t have clear authors, but places often give them titles, which is what I’ve used here. It’s not perfect, but it is at least a place to start. I’ve included a manuscript number or shelf-mark when I could find one.

I am endlessly frustrated when I see a great manuscript illustration on some website and there’s absolutely no clue where the book is from or how one might actually verify the details. It’s not that I think people are intentionally making up things, but dates and locations are especially easy to get messed up in the Internet’s game of telephone. Plus, context matters when looking at what people are wearing.

A Stylish Paper Doll July: A Dress from 1915

Download Black and White PDF | More July Project Paper Dolls

Sources:

Popping back to 1915 to continue with that 1910 theme which has been a part of this whole month. I did not finish these pieces in anything resembling the order I started them in (as usual for me), so while this is one of the older ones I drew, here it is on day 10.

Day 10. I am quite proud!

Anyhow, this dress is from Perry, Dame and Co catalog. Perry, Dame and Co. was a New York department store. The dress was described as a bargain, but I have no idea how one assesses a bargain dress in 1915. The price did seem lower than most of the other dresses in the catalog, since the prices range on dresses from about 7 dollars to 2 dollars. To put that in perspective, according to inflation calculator 2 dollars in 1915 is about 60 dollars today.

A better way to think about it, I think, is that in 1912 a union female postal clerk made between 66 to 100 dollars a month in 1912 in NY while a female telegraph operator made between 1.39 and 1.94 per day. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports are just fascinating, if you feel like looking through them. The one I looked at didn’t break out race, just sex, but, in general, black women would have been paid considerably less than white women and had fewer employment options.

Anyway, I assume most people don’t get joy from reading through these sorts of things and I’ll not bore you with more labor statistics from the 1910s.

Meet Talia Tuesday & Her Retro Ski Winter Fashion

A black and white printable paper doll two page set with 16 piece mix and match wardrobe. Fun to color and cut out and play with.
Amazing screen free fun with a printable paper doll and her 16 piece winter retro wardrobe.

Download the 2 Page Black and White PDF | Download the 2 Page Color PDF | More Talia Tuesday & Friends Dolls

I do not know where to start with this one, so let me start at the beginning I guess. Last year, I decided to just draw whatever I felt like for my 5 dollar patrons. One of the experiments that came out of that year was this paper doll pose. Inspired by a pose I’ve seen, but never tried to draw (and like it only looks correct because the amazing Julie Matthews saved me on foot placement- you’re the best Julie). I liked the doll, but the pose is totally new to me and is taking some getting used too. It’s making me stretch and I think that’s always a good thing.

So, I decided one of the things I wanted to do was a two page series, due to the paper doll’s pose and size. After I shared her for my Patrons last year, I reformatted her and did some adjustments to her face and came up with a name. Meet Talia Tuesday & Friends!

She’ll post not every Tuesday, because that would be bananas, but like some Tuesdays. This first Talia Tuesday is inspired by the retro ski trend that seems to be all over the place this winter with lots of 1980s and 1990s inspired ski wear. I don’t think any of this is really practical ski clothing, so I didn’t feel weird giving Talia a big silver earrings.

Don’t worry, Talia will have friends soon. If you love paper dolls and want more of them every month, I’ve got Patreon page where even more paper dolls happen (plus you get to see things like this in the early days) and a newsletter.

Summer Crop Tops with Jade

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0

I am fascinated by the return of crop tops in fashion these days. Unlike in my teenage years, they are now paired with high rise pants which I think is a much more flattering look than the low hip-huggers of the early 2000s. 

All the colors in this set are based on the Pantone 2021 Spring color scheme. 

You will need to cut along the dolls shoulders to fit these items on. I have put a dotted line there, but with the long dark hair it can be hard to see.  

A Valentine’s Day Paper Doll For 2021

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0

Valentine’s Day is a holiday I always try to make a paper doll for, because of my grandmother who often sent Valentine’s Day cards with paper dolls in them to me and my sister. This paper doll has a small colorful mix and match wardrobe with some retro dresses and slip on shoes. Don’t forget to cut between the dolls shoulders and her hair, so the tabs fit better.

Want to know more about my paper dolls & get another Valentine’s Day doll? Subscribe to my Newsletter!

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