asia inspired

Imperial Elegance: An Hanfu and Kimono Inspired Fantasy Paper Doll

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This pair of fantasy gowns were heavily inspired by hanfu, which are traditional Chinese clothing, specifically those of the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). However, this has about as much in common with actual historical Chinese clothing as this paper doll has in common with actual historical English clothing. That’s to say- not a whole heck of a lot.

Rarely have I had a set that I have more trouble with coloring. This gave me fits! I initially planned on the two dresses coordinating, but then decided that seemed boring, so broke out and did two very different color schemes inspired by seasonal Japanese colors. (Yes, I know hanfu are Chinese, not Japanese, but again- this is fantasy clothing.)

In Japan, traditional kimonos are styled with seasonal color schemes. So, I tried to base these color schemes on traditional seasonal colors of Japan. One dress uses February colors, crimson and purple. The other dress uses March colors which are peach and khaki. The Kimono Lady, a defunct blog, has a really detailed write up about March colors here. I had a little more trouble finding references for February colors, but this yukata influenced the colors I chose.

I love color, but I find my own eye attracted to specific color schemes. It’s really valuable to see how different cultures combine colors. I never would have used purple and crimson together in the way that I did, but once I did it- I really loved how graphic it made the dress.

Opal in Sea and Sky Queen

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While I am not an anime fan myself, I watch it occasionally with my partner. I’m always intrigued by the beautiful gowns worn in these shows. Often vaguely called, “ancient Chinese empresses” costumes, today’s paper doll gowns are mostly inspired by fantasy dresses on Pinterest like this one and this one. Personally, I don’t know my Chinese dynasty clothing well enough to really begin go try to pin down the source silhouette.

Opal’s beautiful up-do comes from the depths of my brain and doesn’t have much in the way of historical/cultural sourcing. I just like drawing absurd up-dos, as you have probably already figured out by now.

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Ninja Paper Doll for the End of 2020!

It’s the end of year and I am happy to wrap up with this little cute ninja warrior. You might be wondering- why a ninja paper doll? There’s nothing winter thematic about a ninja?

And you are right! There isn’t.

However, I have a new logo which I love (see top of the site) and I want to start putting it on all of my printables and that means some reformatting. So, rather than try to make something wintery to end out 2020, I decided to use my last finished piece and then have a clean slate for 2021.

Hence the ninja paper doll, who has been sitting quietly in my “to be posted” folder for longer than I like to admit. Poor Diamond deserves better than that, but these things happen.

A ninja paper doll coloring page with six mix and match pieces to print and color. Her accessories include a sword, throwing stars and some other fantasy weapons.

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I originally planned to do this a very traditional ninja set with lots and lots of black, but in the end, I concluded that it was sort of boring. So, I guess my ninja is just really into the color blue. I don’t see why ninjas have to wear just black. The origins of which I think have to do with Noh theater, but I’m not 100% positive. If you know, feel free to correct me in the comments.

A ninja paper doll with mix and match pieces, weapons and fun style. Great indoor play for kids!

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As 2020 comes to an end (and thanks goodness for that), I am so pleased to say I will be taking a few days off to rest and recoup. Patreon will be on pause during January (no content, but no one is being charged either, a feature I love of Patreon), but feel free to join us to check out the wrap up for the 365 Day Project!

Okay, it was 366 days, because when I named it I forgot that 2020 was a leap year.

Also, it will be available as one huge download on Etsy once I get it all combined. It’s um… pretty large.

My big new project for 2021 is an email newsletter. I am so excited! Sign up here if you’d like to or read more about it, if you’d like. There will be a paper doll coloring page in every issue and links to neat stuff and ramblings from me.

Qi Lolita: A 2019 Patreon Friday Paper Doll

A qi lolita fashion paper doll dress coloring page with accessories inspired by Japanese street fashion. for the curvy Jewels and Gemstones paper doll series. A qi lolita fashion printable paper doll dress with accessories inspired by Japanese street fashion. for the curvy Jewels and Gemstones paper doll series.

Black and White PDF | Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones Paper Dolls

One thing I am super excited to do in 2020 is get to share some of the Patreon Friday paper dolls I created in 2019. Not all of them, of course, but a few. My 2 dollar Friday Paper Doll Club folks got pretty close to 52 extra paper dolls (I did miss a week here or there with travel/moving/job interviews).

If you’d like to join the 2 dollar a month Friday Paper Doll Club it’s super easy. Just hop over to Patreon and sign up. The best part of signing up now is that you get access to all the paper doll outfits and dolls I created for 2019, which makes this an even better deal.

Inspiration for Today’s Printable Paper Doll

There’s a Japanese street fashion style called Qi Lolita. Lolita is a fantasy version of Victorian clothing. Qi Lolita is that same style crossed with traditional Chinese clothing. This dress provided both my source image and my color scheme, which is part of why I like it so much. It’s a very unusual color scheme for Lolita clothing and I really loved that about it. At least, I haven’t seen a lot in these colors, I might just not know the right brands to be looking at.

Sources: This dress was some of my inspiration. Also, these shoes and this purse.

Learn & See More

On the Blog: More Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls & my other Lolita fashion paper dolls
Around the Internet: My Lolita Fashion Pinterest Board and a Qi Lolita Overview

Last Thoughts on today’s Qi Lolita Paper Doll Dress

When I look back at a year of paper doll creations, there’s always one or two that I’m still pretty happy with. There’s also always one or two I’m sort of not sure about.

In deciding to offer a 2 dollar Friday Paper Doll Club to my patrons, I knew one perk would be that I would then recycle some of the content over the next year, allowing me to double the lifespan of some of my paper doll creations. So, I’m pretty happy to share today’s Qi Lolita paper doll dress and maybe entice a few of you to consider joining us over on Patreon.

Empress Fantasy Gown

A fantasy gown for the printable paper doll series Jewels and Gemstones inspired by the Tang Dynasty of China, but not historically accurate at all. Printable in color or black and white for coloring.

Black and White PDF | Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones Paper Dolls

Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll
One of my favorite things to look at on Pinterest are these fantasy versions of Tang Dynasty dress, an imperial dynasty of China spanning the 7th to 10th centuries. I don’t know enough about the history of Chinese clothing to even begin to consider drawing actual historical Chinese dress, but I really like looking. I think these gowns are all so flowing and elegant.

While I know enough about most eras of Western Fashion to at least approach them, Asian clothing (particularly China) is kinda a black box for me. I should do more reading on it, but sources are pretty difficult to find for anything before the Qing Dynasty. I own one book, but my collection is pretty limited in that area.

Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
Occasionally, I like to dip into my own archives and draw a new gown based on an older paper doll set, especially if it’s a set that I really like. So, today’s paper doll gown was inspired by a set I did back in 2015 called the Elven Empress. While I didn’t actually look at any Tang dynasty reference images, this is definitely got some Tang Dynasty influences.

Specific Source Images: Elven Empress paper doll set from 2015

Learn/See More
On the Blog: More Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls & the Elven Empress set from 2015
Around the Internet: Tang Dynasty Dress example and a Tang Dynasty sculpture, Tang Dynasty style screen & another example of Tang Dynasty dress

Last Thoughts
As life has been nuts lately since I am moving at the moment, my goal has been one post per week for the foreseeable future and, of course, a Friday post for my Patrons over on Patreon. Thanks to everyone who supports the blog through Patreon!

It’s a Ninja Costume for the Paper Dolls!

A printable paper doll ninja costume design from paperthinpersonas.com.

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True thing- I was asked if I had plans for a male ninja back on my lady ninja costume design by Victoria on behalf of her six year old son. And you know, when parents tell me their kids have asked for things, I am a total sucker. It’s like, “AWWW… of course I’ll draw that for the child I’ve never met/seen/may not be real.”

And now you all know how to get past my defenses.

Now, I don’t know anything about ninjas, but I do have a fear friend who is a talented marshal artist. So, I hope she will forgive my badly drawn katana. One of these days, I’m going to get better at drawing katanas, but that isn’t going to be today.

I wanted a ninja costume design that was interesting and also felt layered- the sort of thing you could imagine someone adding to as they had lived in the outfit. When I work in all black, I worry about the paper doll ending up looking “dull” and sort of lifeless. I love how flat color looks, but it can also look… well.. flat. I don’t know if that makes any sense. So, I try to add depth by using several shades of the same color. In the case of largely black sets, I try to use several shades of dark grey and then another color if I can.

In this case, I added in some dark navy blue to accent the black. I thought about using red, which you see a lot in ninja Halloween costumes, but I thought it was too bright against the black.

I did use a bright purple base though, because I do love color.

Of course, if you want a more colorful ninja there is the black and white version and you can color that one anyway you want. If you follow me on social media or are a Patron, you may recall seeing this set along with my knight armor when I posted a sketchbook picture at the beginning of the month.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s clothing? All the C Pose Dolls & Clothing

Dabbling in the World of Ninja For the A Pose Ladies

A set of ninja inspired paper doll clothing for the A Pose paper dolls with swords and accessories.

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So, a few weeks ago I made a list of themes I hadn’t drawn for the Dames and Dandies yet and I have been gradually inching my way through the list. Today’s paper doll is one of those themes- the ninja.

I have to admit I do basically no research for this ninja paper doll outfit. Everything I know about ninja I learned watching martial-arts films in college. Most of which were subtitled from Hong Kong and only half of which I actually completely could follow the plot.

I wasn’t as much of a fan of the genre was some dear friends were.

Anyway, the films heavily influenced my ideas of what ninja might wear, though (as mentioned) there’s no historical basis of this interpretation. I also watched a lot of Teenage Mutant  Ninja Turtles as  a child and this probably impacted me in strange ways. 

Need a doll to wear today’s paper doll clothing? All the A Pose Dolls & Clothing

A Mini-Maiden Fantasy Gown Inspired by Hanfu

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Fantasy versions of Hanfu Gowns like this one, this one and this one
A fantasy paper doll gown influenced by hanfu and the Tang Dynasty in China. A paper doll dress to print and color.
On Monday, I posted a Lord of the Rings Marisole Monday paper doll gown which was a very European fantasy look. It was, after all, based on English and French fashions form the Medieval era. Today’s Mini-Maiden paper doll gown was inspired by Chinese historical clothing.

The hanfu, specifically. There’s something about these gowns like this one and this one that I just think are so elegant. I realize they aren’t exactly historically accurate, but I think they are still beautiful.

And lord knows, I’ve never been one to let a lack of historical accuracy stop me.

I think this would be a fun dress to color and I might even add some pattern to the long outer robe, if I were to color it, I think.

Most of my inspiration for today’s paper doll gown comes from Pinterest. Gowns like this one, this one and this one from my Fantasy Clothing Pinterest board. More examples would be this dress and this dress.

Personally, I love wandering around, metaphorically speaking, on Pinterest. I always see things and I think, “Huh. I want to draw that.”

Love this dress? Hate it? Let me know in a comment. I always love to hear from you all.

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

Sorceress’ Element Dress for Air

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Tang Dynasty Hanfu, Sort of…

A paper doll fantasy gown inspired by the element Air. It is a pale pink draped coat with flare sleeves over a cream colored under dress over a pale blue under-dress. Over the coat, there is a wide obi like belt with decorations. The boots are pale yellow and there is a staff with a wing design.

A paper doll fantasy gown inspired by the element Air for coloring and printing.

Today’s paper doll gown is for the curvy B&B paper dolls. It’s part of my Sorceress Gowns Project. My goal with the Sorceress Gowns Project was to create a series of gowns for a sorceress, as one might imagine. I started with the classic four elements- earth, air, fire and water. The element of Air inspired today’s paper doll gown.

For a series of gowns based on the elements, most of the Sorceress gowns were pretty easy to design. I created Water, Fire and Earth. Earth was the hardest, but only because my sister is a geologist and I feared judgement if I didn’t get it right.

Air was hard, because air is transparent. So, unless I wanted to post a blank image and declare it an Air dress, I needed to come up with some way to give Air some form. So, I went with flowing garments and soft drape. Her staff references a bird’s wing and the swirls on her dress are meant to be the breeze.

Traditional Chinese dress from the Tang Dynasty influenced this paper doll gown. I saw things like this and and this being labeled as Tang Dynasty. Now, I realize these have about as much in common with actual Tang Dynasty dress as this does with actual Italian renaissance dress. Intrigued by these outfits, I did a little more research and found this painting and this painting. Again, I have no idea how accurate most of this is. My knowledge of Chinese clothing is distinctly Qing Dynasty. And even that era, I know only the most surface of facts.

Still, I love the shape and the drape of these garments, so they heavily influenced today’s paper doll gown.

The chose to use colors I associate with the sky at dawn. I didn’t know exactly what colors would symbolize Air, but I thought pale pastels made the most sense to me.

As always, I love to hear what people think in a comment.

Need to get a Bodacious & Buxom paper doll to wear these fabulous clothes? Pick one out here.

Marisole Monday’s Qi Lolita Inspired Paper Doll Dress

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Child’s Vests from China Like This One and 1930s Cheongsam Like This One
A fantasy paper doll dress based on traditional Chinese clothing and inspired by Qi Lolita. Free to print in color or black and white from paperthinpersonas.com.

Paper doll Dress. Printable paper doll series from paperthinpersonas.com.

Most of my Asian fantasy stuff is inspired by kimonos, because I really love kimonos.

However,  this one is actually very much not about the kimono. It was heavily influenced by vests like this one from the Met, this one from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and this other one from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. And some really fun vintage cheongsam like this one and this one. You can see more traditional Chinese clothing on my Pinterest board devoted to it.

The other major influence was Qi Lolita, which is a style of Lolita fashion which adapts traditional Chinese outfits like qipao and combines them with the classic full skirted Lolita fashion silhouette.

Basically, imagine if a cheongsam and a big skirted prom dress had a love child.

Initially, I’d planned to use the floral pattern on the top of the dress. I didn’t actually like the flowers on the top of the dress, so I ended up placing them on the two tiered skirt.

The shoes I have mixed feelings about, I confess.

I created them to try to “fill-out” the post, but I am not really in love with them.

So, what do you think about today’s fantasy paper doll dress? Let me know in a comment.

Need a Marisole Monday & Friends Lady Paper Doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick One Out Here.