I’m going to close out this week with steampunk paper doll styles. This is the first and then there will be a steampunk B Pose paper doll to wrap up the week. Next week, I’ll be debuting a new paper doll post image style (I hope) or I won’t get it anything done and I’ll have to go on hiatus to catch up.
At least I’m honest, right?
Meanwhile, I really wanted to design a steampunk paper doll costume that wasn’t “fancy” and felt a little more like what a working person in a steampunk world might wear. I decided to do a similar color scheme for today’s outfit as I did for steampunk Changrui which was a big inspiration, I confess.
Sometimes when I am drawing one paper doll set quickly brings me to another paper doll set in a sort of paper doll cascade.
What do you think? Do you prefer your steampunk more “street” or more “fancy” with ruffles and top hats? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment.
One of the things I love to do is draw paper doll clothing from fashion catalogs and magazines. Clear pictures are useful, but so it seeing clothing I might not have thought up myself.
This set of paper doll fashions were based on the latest Autumn trends. Sleeve details and ruffles are not super popular. So are blouses, so here we have some blouses with sleeve details. To go with this pair of blouses, there is a pair of skinny jeans tucked into boots. The paper doll also has a matching purse.
All fashion styles (main-steam and not) go through evolution. The goth fashion of my teenage years is not the goth fashion of today. Sure, there is some similarities- lots of black, references to death, and corsets. However, like all fashion, it has trends like anything else. When I was younger, goth fashion was a lot of long flared skirts, corsets, crop tops to show off belly-button rings and boot-cut vinyl pants.
Today’s goth fashion (as far as I have observed) is a lot more leggings, tunic tops and large picture hats.
So, I wanted to capture that when I was designing today’s set of goth paper doll clothing. The first challenge was the leggings. A lot of Gothic style leggings are heavily patterned. I chose skulls (something I’m not great at drawing) and roses to go on mine with a background of polka-dots. Conceptually, I wanted the shoes to feel a bit Victorian boot like, but I’m not sure I succeeded in that. I think I should have made them more chunky.
The blouse is based on several I saw online, primarily this one. The hat comes from images like this and this. I wanted it to be clear that the corset belt it part of the blouse, not a separate piece, but I’m not sure I succeeded. Frankly, this whole set is one that I feel like I could have done better on.
The red shirt with the coffin was really my attempt at a gothic t-shirt that wasn’t a band reference, a pentagram (I have several pagan friends and I try not to depict religious symbols in my art that aren’t my own) or a sarcastic saying. Lettering is challenging at the scale I tend to work at.
I made the shirt red, so I could make the coffin black. Otherwise, you can’t really tell it is a coffin.
And on the coffin is a wee little skull.
So, that’s how I ended up with today’s goth paper doll fashions.
All right, so how did I do with my goth fashion attempt? Are there any goth fashion affection-adios out there who can tell me if I am totally off the mark? Let me know in a comment.
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So, I knew I weanted to do a mini-wardrobe for the A Pose dolls since my two other mini-wardrobes were for the B Pose paper dolls. It was actually kind of difficult to come up with a theme for one. I wasn’t really interested in doing contemporary fashion, but we are getting close to September and that’s my favorite month for fashion magazines.
Settling on post-apocalyptic, I then thought about mix and match options. Mini-Wardrobes are mini-wardrobes in my head, because they have a variety of outfit options. That usually translates to at least two bottoms and more than two tops. I started with the cropped jacket thing actually and then worked my way through potential layering pieces.
Most of these post-apocalyptic paper doll clothing designs were inspired by things from my Post-Apocalyptic Fashion Pinterest board. The skirt and the cropped jacket thing were both based on these designs. The pants were based on this pair.
The rest of the designs were largely meant to fit in with those piece, rounding things out to increase mix and match options. Mathematically speaking, there are 18 clothing combinations, not including the fact that there are gloves or the fact the that the paper dolls could be barefoot. So, I do think this is a pretty successful paper doll collection, all things considered.
What do you think? Good set of mix and match options? Let me know in a comment.
So for the last post in our week of coloring pages, I am happy to share this cyberpunk set for the A pose ladies. Just perfect for the cyberpunk Aisha I posted back in May. That was a long time ago, wasn’t it? These last few months have gone by so quickly.
Anyway, I imagine this is a sweater dress, though I suppose it could be made of any kind of knit. The boots were fun. The foot pose of the A pose dolls isn’t very conducive to side looks at shoes, so I’m always pleased when they work out.
The sunglasses will need to be folded around the dolls head and then taped, or glued to make a loop. I made the taps extra long, so you can trim them down as needed and accommodate a lot of different hair styles.
This is the first steampunk inspired set I’ve drawn for the B Pose dolls. I was kinda thinking of a like a street urchin dressed up. So, there’s tools, boots and a top hat.
Everything is better with top hats.
When I design sets in black and white, I often add patterns, because I think they are maybe more fun to color? I confess I’m not much of a colorer. I think I mentioned that yesterday. So, I am kinda guessing what people like to color.
I did have way more fun dawing those tools than I should admit. There was going to be hammer, but hammers are surprisingly hard to draw, y’all. So are screw drivers, but I digress.
Friday, there will be a cyberpunk set for the A Pose ladies. And who doesn’t need that?
Meanwhile, let me know what you think of today’s set in a comment and, if you love the blog, think about donating to help it out over on Patreon.
Back when I posted this pirate set for the C Pose guy paper dolls, I asked if people would like to see more pirate paper doll outfits. And since I got an adamant ‘yes’ from Annemarie, I decided to go to for it. After all, pirate printables seemed like a fun thing to explore through paper dolls.
So, here is a lady pirate costume for the B pose paper dolls. It’s totally an exercise in fantasy, but than a lot of my paper dolls are. Along with her stylish outfit, our lady pirate has a treasure map and a handy sword. After the agony of trying to draw a flintlock pistol, I wasn’t doing that again.
I’ll openly confess that I think part of my love of pirates is directly linked to my love of boats. I adore being out on the water. I grew up in a family that commercially fished, so I grew up on the water. I find it very soothing and peaceful to be out in the ocean- though I am prone to seasickness on the open water.
I’ve had requests for pirates from a lot of parents who are throwing pirate themed birthday parties. I think this set of pirate printables and my other set for the guys would be really fun for kids. Paper dolls are great ways to encourage storytelling play.
That’s really all I have to say about this one. Tomorrow, there will be some clothes for the C Pose guys.
I think I read last October that for the first time, superhero costumes outsold princess costumes. This makes me a little sad, because I am sucker for a good princess dress. It also highlights the popularity of superheros and helps explain today’s superhero costume paper doll.
I love a good superhero movie. I happily watched Deadpool 2 last weekend and Infinity War the weekend before that. I enjoy the splash and the explosions. I like seeing things blow up and I like seeing adventure.
When I design a superhero costume for my paper dolls I try to keep things fairly neutral. I don’t really want to decide too much about the superhero powers or anything. I want the person who colors the paper doll or cuts it out to be able to decide what she can do. It should be for them to decide.
So, with this superhero costume paper doll I went with a star motif (which I tend to use) and I made a magical sword for smiting evil doers. I chose colors based on the old three color printed comics, so red yellow and blue. All bright bold primaries.
I’m not totally pleased with the color scheme, but I think it works pretty well. Besides, this is just the first superhero costume paper doll, I can always make more. That’s the wonderful about paper dolls.
Let me know what you think of today’s paper doll in a comment. I always love hearing from you guys.
I’ve always had a place in my heart for gothic fashion. Perhaps, because I grew up in the late 1990s gothic fashion revival. Or just because I really like all things Momento Mori and always have.
When I am working on coloring gothic fashions, I do worry all the shades of dark grey I used to make things look black can end up obscuring some of the details. That’s why I’ve put the black and white version in front of the colored version this time, so you can really see the ruffles and a pleats.
I chose black, because black is the most common gothic color. I accented it in lavender, because in Victorian mourning traditions, lavender (or mauve) was considered half-mourning. In case you’re wondering, the complexity of mourning dress half myth and half real. There’s tons of references to it in fashion magazines and etiquette manuals, but how closely it was actually observed is hard to say.
Anyway, the purse is a bit of a reference to Momento Mori art (which I love) and also a bit retro. I suppose it’s a nod to retro rockabilly sensibilities. The shoes, blouse and skirt all owe a lot to the Victorians, though no Victorian would wear such a low cut garment during the day.
In case you are wondering- “Hey, where is your collab paper doll?” Well, life got busy and I lost track of time, so my contribution will be up Monday. But you can check out Julie’s and Missy’s contributions in the meantime.
A secret fact about me a lot of people don’t know is how much I love classic 1970s punk. I’m talking classic stuff- The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Clash and Blondie (though their exact genre is a subject of debate). Anyway, this is the fact people rarely guess about me.
I suppose I just don’t seem like a punk rock fan.
Needless to say, I am. So, I knew I wanted to draw some punk paper doll clothing for the Dames and Dandies. One of the interesting things about Punk is that I really do believe it is a fashion movement that is tied to a place and time. 1970’s classic punk fashion is as unreproducible in the 21st century as 1890s fashion is.
Women in heavy eyeliner, torn clothing and bondage accessories just doesn’t carry the same punch as it did almost 50 years ago.
So, I don’t think this set of punk paper doll clothing is really 1970s punk (or I would have put it in the historical category). Rather this is some contemporary clothing with a nod to those styles. The truth is that the clothing worn by Punks was startling at the time. Today, I don’t think it has the same impact, as mentioned above.
The cropped biker jacket, torn tank and zipper skirt were all fun to draw. I really fell in love with both the skirt and the boots which you can see on my Punk Fashion Pinterst board.
My cousin Keri wore punk clothing and I remember I always admired her guts. I never had the guts to wear much that wasn’t mainstream. I thought of her a lot while I was drawing this set.
So, am I the only punk music fan out there? Are there other folks who enjoy it as well? Let me know in the comments.
P.S. I wrote this whole post while listening to Ramones songs. Just FYI.
