Autumnal Evening Gowns with Amethyst

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It feels funny to me to be talking about autumn when the temp hasn’t been above zero here in at least three weeks. Well, it was warmer when I designed these gowns, I guess. The thing about them that feels autumnal to me is the color scheme. Jewel tones feel like winter and fall to me. Not sure that other people agree with me on that one, but that’s how I’ve always felt about it.

Weirdly, I know these gowns have source images, because I almost never draw formal gowns without using my Pinterest Formal Gowns and Cocktail Dresses board (creatively named), but I’ll be darned if I can find the source images. I usually save them carefully… So, read into that one what you like I guess.

Meanwhile, snow is falling, Hanukkah has begun, and I hope those who celebrate a holiday in the coming months have a wonderful one. As I move towards the end of the year, I always find myself beginning to think about the future and what has been done this year. It’s a funny time of the year for me. I plan to take a few months off soon, so I’ll have time to be contemplative.

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A Little Round Up for My Gothic Fashion Paper Dolls

Something about Halloween makes me think of all things Gothic, so I had planned to share this over October, but something about me and October. I always think- Nothing is going to happen in October and then October always proves me wrong.

There’s probably a lesson there, but I’ll forget it by this time next year.

Anyhow, when I think of gothic fashion, I often end up thinking of what was in style in the early 2000s when I was teenager- lots of low rise pants, corsets and fishtail skirts. I also really like Gothic Lolita, because I get such joy from drawing ruffles.

Twenty Gothic Fashion Paper Dolls to Print and Play With

Putting together this set made me realize that I really should do another Gothic set soon, though I don’t know if I’ll get to it before the end of the year. Life is, as often happens, getting in the way of my paper doll related pursuits, but that’s okay. One of the most wonderful things about the over a decade I’ve been posting on PTP is that it’ll be here when I’m feeling prolific and it’ll be here in times of rest.

Happy Halloween! Printable Paper Doll Fun!

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Every year, I try to do something Halloween themed. Valentine’s Day and Halloween are, I think, my most consistent paper doll pieces. I like the colors and I like corsets and Halloween seems like a corset heavy holiday.

Her hair is supposed to have a widows peak and I wanted a sort of elegant feeling with these. Some of it is recycled, but I am 100% okay with that. It gave me a place to start. With this set, I had a lot of fun designing patterns. There’s a cute little ghost dresses, pumpkins, and skulls.

I think some fun could be had coloring these as a Halloween party activity. My grandmother used to send us Halloween greeting cards that were often paper dolls and I like to imagine someone sending this to kids or printing it out for them.

My niece is still too young for me to really be sending her paper dolls, but soon… soon.

Meanwhile, stay safe this Halloween and then enjoy!

My First Paper Doll Book in Print: A Lady’s Paper Trousseau & A Giveaway!

I am super excited (and a bit nervous) to present to you all my first ever paper doll book. Based on the contents of Greta’s Trousseau, this steampunk inspired print on demand paper doll book is now available from Lulu. I tried out several print on demand services, but liked best the quality of Lulu’s printing and paper.

The Specs: The book is 6 by 9 inches with a high gloss cover (making it hard to photograph, but super cute in person.) There are 2 dolls, over 60 mix and match pieces over 9 plates, and over 20 different outfits, plus more if you mix and match with gusto. There’s outfits for everything from fencing to balls all printed on satin finished paper.

You can pick up a copy here.  But, before you do, I have two copies to give away!

I bought a few extras when I was doing my photography and I am now ready to pass them along to new loving homes.

To enter, comment on this Patreon post and/or comment on the blog on this post. Be sure to use a working email address, because I’ll need that to contact you!

No purchase is needed to enter and the contest is open to the public if you’re over 18. On the 25th, so one week from now, I will draw two random names and will email the winners. Please don’t give me your mailing address in the comment- save that for a private email, please.

This is open to everyone, even overseas folks, assuming the USPS delivers to your country. Due to Covid-19 and US law, there are a few countries they don’t deliver too, but I don’t think it will come up. (If you’re curious, there’s a list here.)

I am so happy to get to share this two year long project with you all and I want to give a big, huge, thanks to Julie Matthews who steered me through this experience with grace, kindness, and fantastic feedback.

Cottagecore Fashions with Opal

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Ghosts & Vampires Paper Dolls to Print for Halloween!

Happy October! I can’t think of a holiday more fitting for paper dolls than Halloween.

So, this first day of month, I figured I would shine a light on two themes I haven’t done much- vampires and ghosts, in paper doll form of course. I’m not a big fan of super spooky Halloween. I tend to lean towards and elegant gothic theme or a cute one.

Vampire & Ghost Paper Dolls to Print

All right, I hope you all enjoy this collection of ghosts and vampires to start out the month of October. The days are getting shorter up here and the it will soon snow (it usually does before the end of the month), so I am already gearing up for the cold months ahead, but am super excited to decorate the front porch for Halloween. My partner goes all out, but I have a rule against things that make noise.

25 Paper Dolls in Yellow

I have always had mixed feelings about the color yellow and I rather think I am not the only one. It seems to me that the color yellow has a sort of mixed reputation. It’s either a sunny happy color, represents the emperor in Imperial China, or might drive you mad.

After all, there’s the King in Yellow, both the title of a short story collection by Robert W. Chambers and, according to Chamber’s works, a play which if read, causes madness and despair. There’s also the wonderful short-story the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in which a woman becomes increasingly obsessed with wallpaper in a house she’s stuck in. I had yellow painted walls in my room in high school which I liked more after I read the Yellow Wallpaper. Hmm… that may say more about me than the color yellow.

The point, lest I wander entirely into the world of 19th century American horror fiction, is that the color yellow seems really be a chameleon. From a purely artistic point-of-view, yellow is a tough color, because it can easily get muddy and end up looking rather awful. It’s also a color I rarely wear, but I really like it. So, here today is a round up of 25 paper dolls from the site that are wearing yellow.

25 Printable Paper Dolls Wearing Yellow

Somehow when I see yellow in historical garments, I am always a little surprised. I don’t know why- you can get quite a good yellow color from several different natural dyes including brown onion skins, turmeric, and several different flowers. I think I just associate yellow with all things modern, as I tend to with most bright colors, even though I know better.

In today’s paper doll round up, there is fantasy yellow, a 1970s yellow jumpsuit, a 1970s yellow dress, a version of Alice’s dress in yellow, and a modern take on yellow as part of a nautical paper doll set. All around, a pretty good showing for this color.

I recently did a Paper Dolls in Pink collection and I think next up maybe blue or red… not sure which one yet.

DDJ: Sweet Summer Scallops with Dusk

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While all of my paper dolls have themes, I think my contemporary fashion paper dolls have themes that are sometimes more subtle or more defined by color than anything else. After all, there’s only so many ways a person can draw a pair of blue jeans. This set was inspired by summer florals and a pair of polka-dot jeans my sister used to own. In my head, I was thinking feminine silhouettes (hence the flutter, tulip and puffed sleeves) and scallops. I included the long denim skirt, because I feel like 1990s fashions are having a revival and long denim skirts feel so 1990s to me.

I wanted to keep the colors soft and pastel without feeling too… childish. I think pastels can go nursery room really fast. For those keeping count at home, this is my 7th Dolls Du Jour paper doll and my second one with Dusk. The last one was this very fancy evening gown set.

There’s also a new paper doll set up on Etsy if you’d like to go check that one out. It’s a three doll set with five pages of fantasy clothing. I imagine it would be super fun to color.

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Lapis in the mid-1940s

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Jade in the Lady-Like Looks of the 1930s

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I am always struck by the femininity of 1930s fashions. Both 1920s and 1940s fashions tend toward the more masculine, but the 1930s always feels very girly to me. I think it’s all the small florals and the puffy sleeves and the ruffles. 

Jade here is in the same color scheme as my Diamond 1930s doll and my Amethyst 1930s doll, so between the three of them I think you get a pretty nice collection of fashions from the era, hats and shoes.

Enjoy!

Two-Dozen Paper Doll Fashion Coloring Pages

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.

Should I admit that? Hmmm… It is true though.

The Early Fashions of the 1930s

A 1930s vintage fashion paper doll to print and color with three dresses and two pairs of shoes. She has a coat, a day dress and an evening dress.

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A 1930s vintage fashion paper doll to print with three dresses and two pairs of shoes. She also has two hats and I love her evening dress.

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As often happens with my historical paper dolls, we need to talk about reference images. So, Diamond’s hair is based on the hair of Ann Sheridan in this 1935 promotional photo from Paramount Studios. HHer evening gown came from A Decade of French Fashion, 1929-1938: From the Depression to the Brink of War which I bought for this project. Her underwear is from Simplicity 2288, a sewing pattern from 1930. Everyday Fashions of the Thirties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs provided more source images, because it is one of my go-to 1930’s fashion books.

As I was working on writing up alt-text for my images, I realized this printable paper dolls sort of has a little mini-wardrobe. Since, she has an evening dress, a coat, and a day dress. Plus with the two hats, she’s ready for anything. And, of course, she can share clothing with Amethyst and her 1930s clothing.

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