alt fashion Archives • Page 5 of 7 • Paper Thin Personas

Mini-Maidens: It’s The End of the World as We Know It

May 19, 2020November 22, 2016

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Mad Max, Rupaul’s Drag Race, and Looking Good After the End of the World

So, I recently gave up cable. Along with saving me about 30 bucks a month, this move has allowed me to really start discovering some shows I never knew existed. One of them has been RuPaul’s Drag Race. Think Project Runway with drag queens, lip-sinking and a lot of adult humor. Anyway, I love the show and I just finished Season 4. One of the challenges was post-apocalyptic fashions and I was watching it while I wrote up this blog post.

I will confess I tend to fast forward the show through the drama parts and mostly watch the runways for the fantastic outfits. This is also what I tend to do with Project Runway. Clearly, I’m just in it for the clothing. In Season 4, which I just finished, there was a post-apocalyptic fashion challenge and that inspired me to create this paper doll outfit.

Meanwhile, the Mini-Maiden paper dolls are getting ready for the end of the world in style. Isadora has already gotten an End of the World set, but I think Hazel, Faye and Greta should have some options, too. Of course, any of the paper dolls from the Mini-Maiden series can wear today’s outfit.

Mad Max is also a major influence on anything I create that is post apocalyptic. I mean, how can it not be?

Read the blog a lot? Then think about supporting it through Patreon or following it on Twitter or telling a friend about it. Friends tell friends about paper dolls, after all. 🙂

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

Bodacious & Buxom at the End of the World Accessories

May 28, 2020October 6, 2016

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Yesterday one of my readers commented how nice it was that my end of the world paper doll didn’t have high heels. Well… here are some paper doll high heels, though I tend to think more on the practical side of high heels. Having actually climbed a ladder in high heels, I can attest that it is possible to do more in heels that people often think. (Assuming the heels are reasonable and not like five inch stilettos.)

Along with two pairs of boots, our paper doll has an arm warmer, gloves, googles and a head wrap and a scarf. She does lack weapons and I was a little worried about her ability to defend herself against mutant hoards or irradiated monsters, but my other B&B Post-Apocalyptic paper doll has some weapons and a canteen, so perhaps they can share.

If you missed Monday, there was a paper doll designed to wear these stylish accessories. Of course, they can be worn by any of the Bodacious and Buxom paper dolls, since they are all interchangeable.

The blog may go on a short Hiatus next week. The truth is that between fleas, my washing machine problems and other things in my life, I haven’t had time to do a lot of paper dolling. I am hoping to get some done this weekend, but if life gets busy, I wanted to give out an early warning to all y’all.

Bodacious & Buxom at the End of the World In Red Skinny Jeans

May 28, 2020October 5, 2016

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Ever have those days when really what you want to do about an hour and a half after you wake up is go right back to bed? I have had those days.

Today is one of those days.

However, here I am posting a paper doll outfit during my lunch break at work, because the blog needs to be fed and then I can look back on today and think, “Well, at least I did that successfully…”

So, let’s talk about paper dolls!

Personally, I think if the world ever comes to an end, I will certainly want to have some stylish red skinny jeans to see me though. Along with those, our B&B model has black finger-less gloves and a white tank top. If you missed the paper doll, you can pick her up over on Monday’s post.

I have just been updating my FAQ section.

If you love the blog, think about supporting it through Patreon or following it on Twitter.

Bodacious & Buxom at the End of the World In Style

May 28, 2020October 4, 2016

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Part of the fun of creating post-apocalyptic sets is the layering you get to play with. I always try to imagine things being pieced together and some things being found. It’s my favorite way to create paper doll sets is to think about the world that the sets relate too.

Today’s paper doll outfit is a white long sleeved top, a green on green striped scarf and a wrap skirt with a long pair of belts. A khaki cargo pocket is there for tucking a knife or a gun. In my head, the cargo pocket is probably from a pair of pants that have been adapted to the skirt.

Instagram is my new attempt at trying out blog stuff, but I’m not that good at it. Still, follow me if you want.

There’s always Patreon if you want to help support PTP. Along with the warm fuzzy feelings from supporting the blog, you will get access to the behind scenes info I tend to post.

The blog is also on twitter @paperpersonas. I am sometimes reminded that my Blog is better at Social Media than I am which is kinda sad.

Buxom and Bodacious at the End of the World

May 28, 2020October 3, 2016

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All right, we are going head out to the end of the world. This paper doll was created as the partner paper doll to World’s End.

This is an old set. I say that, but I hadn’t realized how old until I remembered that I drew it, because I watched Mad Max: Fury Road. That movie came out May 2015 which means I drew this set over a year ago.

Not that it is that uncommon for me to wait that long, but I was a little surprised when I did the math.

This was a set with a LOT of accessories. So many that I have both enough for an Accessory Thursday post and enough to scatter around the sets each day.

I am a little worried about today’s paper doll, because she doesn’t have any weapons for protection. She might need some, but I bet my unnamed Asian paper doll from World’s End would share.

I wonder if I should start naming the Bodacious and Buxom paper dolls… What do you all think? It would make it easier to refer to them.

Meanwhile, please think about supporting the blog through Patreon or following it on Twitter.

Plus let me know if you think I should start naming the Bodacious & Buxom paper dolls.

Gothic Romance: A Curvy Goth Paper Doll

May 28, 2020May 23, 2016

My best-friend in highschool and middle-school was a curvy girl with a goth and punk style. Now, this might not seem like an odd thing to be today, but in Juneau, Alaska, in the early 2000s, this was practically unheard of. In the early days of internet commerce, buying a corset in Alaska required a willingness to shop online when the online options were limited to Amazon and a few catalog retailers. So, when I sat down to draw today’s curvy goth paper doll, I knew I wanted to celebrate my old friend and her willingness to break the mold.

Despite my interest in alt-fashion, I have never really wanted to wear it in public, but I respect people whose style choices are much more adventurous than mine.

Not that it is hard to be more adventurous than the girl who wears white shirts and cardigans to work nearly every day.

Anyway, when I work on designing something for a fashion genre, I try very hard to be as authentic as possible. Of course, as an outsider to any cultural group, it is nearly impossible to capture all the nuances, but I wanted for my goth paper doll to have a nice range to mix and match pieces which could also share with other paper dolls. After all, maybe she’ll want to wear a sundress or some thigh high platform boots one day.

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Color schemes for anything goth is going to be a lot of black (obviously) and I didn’t want to try to really break the mold here, so I stuck with my old friends favorite colors- black, red, and purple. Lavender was a Victorian color of mourning, so that seemed appropriate. Though the Victorians took their mourning culture way seriously.

While my natural tendency is to avoid patterns, I wanted at least one patterned piece in the bunch and a corset seemed like an obvious choice. The skull and roses pattern is mirrored in her purse and the limited color palette means I think it can go with either skirt.

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I have always loved patent leather, so the boots were an obvious place to make some shiny-texture. I am out of practice with that technique though and it took three or four tries to get it right. I’m still not in love with the outcome, but I’ll live.

Looking for more goth paper dolls? I have a whole tag for gothic fashion, though looking through it, I confess I thought I had more gothic paper dolls.

Hmmm…. Maybe I need to draw some more, because there’s not a lot there.

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As always, I always love to hear that you think of the paper doll!

Mikhail at the After the End: A Male Paper Doll

May 28, 2020March 21, 2016

Last Monday, I posted today’s male paper doll set in black and white. Today, Mikhail is up in color with his world ending fashion statements. I mean, you want to look good at the end of the world, don’t you?

Post-apocalyptic fashion is something that fascinates me. I collect photos and idea on Pinterest even if I’m not prepping for a set, because then when I do want something I can go looking for it. So, I have a whole board devoted to Post-Apocalyptic clothing. This is something I encourage everyone to do. After Wenesday’s post about Paper Doll Principles, I noticed a lot of people asked how I came up with ideas.

Someday, I’ll write on that (in fact, I am working on it now), but for now the short advice I will give everyone is this:

There is not such thing as a totally unique idea. Inspiration comes from having easy and ready access to the things that you like. By having a collection of other’s Post-apoolcyptic fashon ideas at my fingertips, it was easy for me to develop my own.

So, I urge you if you are struggling. Collect images and ideas that intrique you. If I ever draw another post-apocalyptic paper doll, I’ve got 188 images to help me come up with ideas.

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To continue our discussion on inspiration, here’s a shirt that inspired me, a leather harness, this shirt and these boots. All those pieces inspired this set of paper doll clothing and I am sure if I looked I could find more images that I found that inspired me. I can tell you that the red and blue shirt was sorta a riff on the Captain American shield and came about, because I got sick of coloring things green and tan.

I’m still not totally pleased with his hair. I think there’s something off about the angle.

Anyway, as always, let me know what you think in the comments and if you want to support the blog, please consider becoming a patron.

Mikhail at the After End of the World…. A guy paper doll

May 28, 2020March 14, 2016

Today my guy paper dolls are getting all post-apocalyptic in their Mad-Maxian attire. Well, really just one has Mad Max inspired clothing, but Mikhail can share with his friends. (Okay, friend… There’s just Marcus 2.0 right now.)

So, I owe a big thank you to Kitrona who back in my suits set for the guys where I was busy complaining about how I never know what to draw for male paper dolls, she suggested post-apocalyptic.

Duly inspired, I sketched out this set a few weeks ago. It came together fast, mostly because I was out of Marisole Monday & Friend’s backlog with my last post and I desperately needed to get it done or I would have had nothing to post this morning.

And that would have been sad.

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Today, the guy paper doll is Mikhail. this only the second Mikhail set. Perviously, he was a knight. Here’s a guide to all the Marisole Monday & Friend’s paper dolls. I know sometimes people have trouble sorting out that series and I totally get it. I mean, I live with them, y’all just have them come visit.

I really should give Mikhail some more normal clothing- for when he’s not struggling to survive the end of the world and/0r fighting dragons, but I find modern guys clothing so boring.

Yeah, I’ve complained about that before. I know.

Last, but not least, I always love to read comments, so please feel free to let me know what you think of today’s guy paper doll.

Roses & Violins: A Lolita fashion Paper Doll in Color!

May 28, 2020March 7, 2016

Last Monday, I mentioned I used a lot of Lolita fashion blogs to do my research for my Lolita fashion paper doll, but I didn’t mention which ones specifically, so let me clear that up.

My favorite Lolita fashion blog was F Yeah Lolita which had a great post on Building a Complete Lolita Wardrobe. Her wardrobe template starts with sixteen pieces which can be mixed and matched into 14 different outfit combinations. I actually think her advice rings true even if you’re not trying to build a Lolita wardrobe. A few mix and match basics and a good pair of shoes, can get you through many a week of work, especially on a tight budget. Other blogs I found useful and interesting were Parfait Doll, Lolita Fashion(Tumblr), Ruffles & Steam (tumblr) and Portal of Fantasy (tumblr).

I also totally love Lolita Fashion Update where Lolita brand releases are posted (though it hasn’t been updated in a while 🙁 ). Store sites were hit and miss. As far as I can tell, a lot of these Japanese brands to pre-release sales and it seems like things sell out and therefore never get posted to their store sites. (Maybe I’m wrong about this, but that’s been my gut instinct), here’s the brands I based my designs off of Mary Magdalene, Victorian Maiden, Innocent World and Angelic Pretty (though they tend more towards Sweet Lolita).

Okay, so I was looking for photos of Classic Lolita style to link, so people would know what I was basing this on and I found this photo of two Lolitas on the street wearing Classic Lolita dresses from Tokyo Fashion and one of them has the Violin purse! Check it out. I was so excited to see the purse “in the wild”, so to speak. The larger version is a bit more complex than Mia’s mini paper version.

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I’m a big believer in using color to tell a story. Years ago, a friend used to joke that Steampunk was “Gothic clothing colored brown” and there is some truth to that observation. Color has a lot of power. I could have gone Gothic Lolita or Sweet Lolita with these outfits if I had chosen another color scheme, but I liked the soft hues associated with Classic Lolita, so that was what I settled on. Also, I have a Sweet and Gothic Lolita paper dolls already which illustrate this principle by being the same set colored two different ways.

I’m still regretting that I didn’t draw her any hats or bows. It was totally my intention to, but then I forgot and then I didn’t notice I’d forgotten until it was too late. Sigh. A rose cover bonnet like these one would really fill out her look. Oh well, I’m just going to have to save for a different paper doll set, I guess.

There is an extra outfit over on my Patreon page– shoes, a parasol and dress. You don’t have to be a patron to download it and it will fit in with the rest of Mia‘s Classic Lolita wardrobe. Also give her some pink shoes to go with her more pink dresses.

If you like the Lolita fashion style, check out my Lolita tag for more paper dolls inspired by this style.

Please leave a comment if you like, because you know I love feedback. 🙂

Roses & Violins: Classic Lolita Fashion Paper Doll

May 28, 2020February 29, 2016

As I mentioned on Wednesday, I had to get this set of paper dolls done, or I wouldn’t have anything to be posted today. Anyway, as I said today’s classic Lolita fashion paper doll set was partially the result of a request from a patron and partly the result of me never being able to extract decent black and white version of my sweet Lolita and gothic Lolita paper doll sets.

So, I inspired by this violin purse from the Japanese fashion company Innocent World. While I will admit in a heartbeat to not being an expect on Lolita fashion, which is a Japanese street style based on Victorian children’s clothing, I have noticed that a lot of Lolita outfits (called coordinates) seem to be heavily themed. Once I settled on the purse, I knew I wanted the patterns of several of the pieces to have a music or violin theme.

I’ve also noticed that many of the Lolita fashion blogs I read while working on this set, seem to recommend buying JSKs (Jumper-Skirts, I think?) over full dresses, since these can be worn over various blouses. The paper doll pose makes that sort of layering tough, but the short sleeved dress on the far left is meant to be a JSK. I have a Lolita Style pintrest board where you can see way more of my inspiration.

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My one big regret about this set is that I didn’t do any hats or bows, which are a big part of Lolita. Oh well… I suppose nothing is perfect. Mia is modeling today’s fashions, if you are keeping track of who is who in the Marisole Monday & Friend’s family.

I did kinda got carried away designing pieces for this set and I ended up with two many to fit on the page. Rather than just let them rot on my hard drive, I posted them over on my Patreon page. You don’t have to be a Patron to view or download them. You can see the extra dress, shoes and parasol here. Next week, I’ll post the color versions there as well.

I think if I end up with “extra” pieces in the future, my Patreon page will be a handy place to put them.

Thoughts on my foray into classic Lolita fashion? Feel free to leave me a comment.

Yumiko- Digital Girl: A Cyberpunk Paper Doll

December 6, 2020January 8, 2016

One of the rules of long term blogging (or anything really) is build with the assumption of growth. So, while I feel kinda absurd referring to the Sprites as a series, because this is only the second one and so it’s more like a sequel situation, I also recognize that in two years when I look back on this post (or more likely, when someone else does), it still needs to have all the links and make sense.

Speaking of building with the assumption of growth, I am currently converting from using my server to host my image files to using WordPress’ native image management tools. This is prep for a larger shift in the blog infrastructure. If I do my job right, y’all shouldn’t notice a thing; however, if you do find some posts those images are screwy, just drop me a note and I’ll look at it.

There are over 756 posts on this blog, so converting all those images over is going to take a bit of time and I wouldn’t be surprised if I miss something accidentally.

All right, so about today’s paper doll. Yumiko is a Japanese name. Again, there aren’t a lot of names for women that start with Y. I almost went with Yasmine, before I remember I already have a Yasmine paper doll. One of the problems of having drawn over 500 paper dolls for this blog is that at some point, you kinda run low on names.

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Anyway, Yumiko is the first Asian Sprite paper doll, though I confess that’s a little meaningless. I mean, there’s only two Sprite paper dolls right now. I also started the Pixie series off with an Asian paper doll named Zoe. I’d say there was something intentional with my starting series off with Asian paper dolls, but I’ll be darned if I know what it is.

Yumiko’s theme this week is cyberpunk, just like Zachary’s cyberpunk set last week.

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I chose a very different color scheme for Yumiko-Digital Girl. I knew from the start that I wanted to give her pink hair and black lips (it felt sufficiently cyberpunk), so than it was a matter of selecting colors that I thought would coordinate with those two colors. I really like how she came out.

Thoughts on the new series? Feel free to drop me a comment.

And if you’d like to support the blog in 2016, consider becoming a patron.

Ragamuffin Girl: Steampunk Printable Paper Doll in Color

May 28, 2020August 10, 2015

You’d think after having done hundreds of paper dolls that I would actually never struggle to come up with color schemes. And yet… I still have trouble.

The problem with steampunk or anything steampunk inspired, is that there’s a lot of brown. (This is actually the same problem I have with gothic things as well- too much black.) So, I selected several diverse shades of brown to use and then set them off with some ochre, orange, olive green, and teal. Pale blue was added so that every shirt wouldn’t be cream. I wanted to avoid red or pink- these are both colors I love and colors I tend to fall back on when I am trying to come up with color schemes and I also thought they were too girly for this menswear inspired set.

The tiny braids in Mia’s braided hair created a new series of challenges. There’s three choices when highlighting a feature like that- go darker than the main hair color or do lighter than the main hair color or go a radically different color than the main hair color. I knew I didn’t want to do option three and I decided the lighter braids looked better than darker braids.

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I will confess that this set took forever to color and while I really like how it turned out, doing the layout of all these pieces was a pain as well. I need to remember my “10 to 11 pieces plus 2 pairs of shoes” rule when I’m drawing or else doing the layout takes forever. This set was 13 pieces and 2 pairs of shoes, plus a lot of these pieces are big. Anyway, it might not seem like a big difference, but it does make a difference.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys Mia in her steampunk get up. Next Monday, there will be ballerinas. Actually, we’ll have a whole month of ballerinas- because I might have gotten a little carried away. 🙂