curls

An 1830s Paper Doll Printable with her Historical Underwear for Ensemble Eclectica

An 1830s printable paper doll coloring page wearing a set of 1830s underwear consisting of a corset, pantalettes, and chemise. Her hair is up in curls and her shoes are tied with ribbon laces. Commentary on the image describes each of these parts.
An 1830s printable paper doll with a set of 1830s underwear consisting of a red corset, drawers, and chemise. Her brunette hair is up in curls and her shoes are tied with ribbon laces.

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The Backstory of All This

I originally planned to spend all of December on a big project. It was going to be a series of paper dolls from 1830 to 1859. Julie Matthews’ December themes (like this one from 2015) inspired this idea, back when I started thinking about it. However, that didn’t quite go as planned — life happens. And that’s okay. My new plan is slightly smaller in scope. I’ll be posting paper dolls with historical clothing from the 1830s (and maybe 1840s and 1850s) on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the rest of December and possibly into January. Who can say? Not me.

I tend to hesitate about sharing things before they’re complete, because I dislike leaving projects undone. But lately, I’ve realized that’s a bit silly. Drawing paper dolls isn’t life or death, and it’s okay if things don’t go exactly as planned. I’d rather share what I’ve done and keep moving forward than leave the work sitting unfinished on my laptop. Plus, I think you’ll enjoy seeing the project even if it doesn’t work out like I had originally imagined it would.

In fact, no one would know I’d planned to do the 1840s and 1850s, if I hadn’t said anything. But here I am, being very honest. (I haven’t even started collecting reference images for the 1850s, so I am quite behind on that one. Probably won’t happen, which makes me sort of sad, honestly.)

Women’s Underwear In the Early 1830s

So, let’s talk a little about 1830’s women’s underwear, since today’s 1830s paper doll printable is a lady with some undies on. I based her underwear off this set from the V&A museum, though I made the stays/corset colorful based on this one.

In the 1830s, women’s underwear primarily consisted of a chemise, pantalettes, petticoats and a corset/stays. (Fun fact: The words “corset” and “stays” are both used in the 1830s, but the term “stays” largely falls out of use by the end of the decade.) Generally, these corsets used seams and cording providing support, rather then boning. (Also, boneing doesn’t mean bones- it means whale baleen.)

The chemise was a loose, knee-length garment made from lightweight cotton or linen, worn directly against the skin to safeguard outer garments from perspiration. Chemise’s had wide necklines. Pantalettes (also spelled pantaletes) or drawers covered the legs and provided some more modesty. I can’t seem to definitively determine which is the more precise term. Both terms seem to have been employed to describe similar garments and I’m not an expert on 1830s clothing.

Though not appearing in this 1830s paper doll printable, petticoats supported the wide skirts of the era. Here’s a lovely example from the Met. This is before anyone invented hoopskirts, so women wore lots of petticoats. Additionally, women often wore sleeve supports (like this or these) to get the right shape for the huge puffed sleeves of the era called, “sleeve puffs” which is the most wonderful name. I didn’t add sleeve puffs to the paper doll, because I wanted flexibility with sleeve shape, as it changes throughout the decade, and the puffs would have made that more difficult. Sometimes with paper dolls, functionality has to trump historical accuracy. (But man… I really do want to draw sleeve puffs someday.)

Pastel Winter Printable Paper Doll

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Something about winter and pastel colors makes me really happy. I think it might be that where I grew up in Alaska, there was a very long dusk, especially in winter. The sun would never get very high in the sky and so the snow on the mountains would turn the most brilliant pink color as it reflected the light.

Maybe that’s why I associate pastel colors with winter. They feel softer and somehow more mellow and quiet- all things I also associate with winter.

The truth is, if I maybe honest, I wanted to do this set in pastel, because I had this idea of experimenting with texture and I wanted to see how the texture would look on different color schemes. So, this is the first of several dolls I made for this purpose.

Now, since I don’t think I should call this series “Texture Experiment 2.0”, please let me know if you have a series name suggestion. There will be, at least, three of these ladies.

Edit: For a million reasons involving layout and dresses and other things, I ended up resizing and redoing the layout on these paper dolls, so I’ve updated the PDF files. – Rachel 9/12/2023

Nordic Winter Wishes: The February Printable Paper Doll

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For those of you who have been following along in my newsletter, you’ll likely notice there’s a few extra pieces on this set (specifcally the winter coat and one pair of the shoes). I went back and forth about what to do with that coat. I’m not 100% sure it will layer over all the sweaters and I didn’t feel right giving just one of the dolls a coat (what if the other dolls get cold?). So, I thought- I’ll just keep it as a fun extra for folks when they get the whole set.

Another little detail I didn’t talk about in the newsletters was the coffee cups. I don’t know why I thought it was a fun idea to draw a mug for every paper doll with a different motif, but I did and so I drew one. To give a secret look at my process- I actually did all this layout and design work before I split it up for the newsletters. I’m very happy with how it turned out.

A few differences in these dolls and my usual stuff- I gave the dolls permanent shoes. I go back and forth on this a lot. I used to be strictly anti-attached shoes. But then I spoke with my 5 year old niece and she was deeply bothered by my paper dolls that didn’t have shoes.

So, I realized that shoes were more important than I had often thought. If you’re an attached shoes fan, you can thank her for showing me the error of my ways (though I still think I’m a bit ambivalent on the subject.) And I tend to think it depends on the paper doll- like mermaids SHOULD not have attached shoes.

That’s just silly.

Speaking of shoes- largely thanks to the shoes, there’s over 85 outfit combinations- well over 100 if you add in the scarf or the coat into the mix. So, that’s super fun!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this collection of paper dolls as much I enjoyed drawing and sharing them all with you!

Tanya and Her Princess Gowns

A paper doll printable coloring page with one doll and her eight piece wardrobe. This fantasy inspired paper doll is two pages.
A black paper doll printable with one doll and her eight piece wardrobe. This fantasy inspired paper doll is two pages.

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I’m still sort of playing around with getting used to drawing for the Talia Tuesday and Friends dolls. I enjoy the pose and I like playing around with the motion, though I am still not 100% confident with it. It’s a fairly new pose to me and so it’s a bigger stretch than drawing for poses I’m used to drawing for. Since I’m not formally trained as an artist, and I don’t really enjoy drawing figures, it’s always a little scary working with a new pose for me.

So, anyway, this is Tanya. Tanya is the Russian diminutive of Tatiana. I named the paper doll Tanya, because I already have a Talia and a Tashi. I felt like the name Tanya fit in with the other names neatly. So, nothing too fancy there- I picked it because I liked how it sounded.

Tanya here has my first fantasy foray for the Talia Tuesday and Friends dolls, but I do love drawing princess paper dolls. Her crowns are designed to fold around the head, so you have some flexibility, if you want to use them on another doll with different hair.

If the pose is a stretch for me, this style is like cooking a recipe you’ve made a million times and know will probably come out okay. I both like drawing medieval fantasy gowns and am super comfortable drawing these fantasy princess looks. The color scheme was a bit different from many I tend to be attracted too. It feels more autumnal than I intended when I started, but I am super happy how it turned out.

As usual, a big thank you to my patrons who got to see the first proto Talia last year and helped me name Tashi, though I picked out Tanya’s name on my own. You all are the best!

Happy Purim & A Paper Doll to Celebrate

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Oh, where to start… Okay, so Purim begins at sunset tonight and as it is a Jewish holiday where dressing up is a tradition, I’m sort of embarrassed I haven’t done a Purim paper doll since this one way back in 2011. So, here we are to rectify that situation. To be honest, I tend to forget about Purim until after the fact which is not really fair to what is technically one of my favorite Jewish holidays (which I am like 80% into because of the amazing cookies involved.)

So, what is Purim? Well, Purim is a holiday that usually falls in March or April and commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, who was planning to have all of Persia’s Jewish subjects killed, by Esther and Mordecai as recounted in the Book of Esther. There’s more to the story of course (some of it involving a lot of drinking and nudity, oh my!), but to make a long story short, the day that the Jews weren’t killed is now remembered as Purim. If any of this did actually happen (a subject of some debate) it would have been around 400-500 BCE in the Persian empire of the time. By the way, this is the cutest 4 minute video of this story ever, if you want a kid-friendly primer.

Reading the Book of Esther from the Esther Scroll (the Book of Esther doesn’t appear in the Torah) is a religious requirement of Purim, as is giving to the poor, exchanging food with friends, and eating a celebratory meal. Non-religious traditions of the holiday include making noise (using a noise maker or just booing loudly) when the name Hamen heard during the reading of the Book of Esther, dressing up in costume as characters in the story (or just costume in general), and making hamentashen. Hamentashen are a traditional cookie shaped like a triangle and filled with poppy seed, prune, or apricot filling (or, if you’re me, raspberry). It is said they looked like Hamen’s hat, but I think there’s no historical backing for that one.

I like this hamentashen recipe, though I sub out the brandy usually with orange juice, and I think it is better than my Grandma’s recipe. (Don’t tell!) I usually buy my poppy seed filling, because I’m a little lazy about it. However, you can make your own poppy seed filling which I might have to do, because poppy seed filling is super hard to find in the grocery stores around here. I would add that if you’re used to making cookies with butter, than traditional hamentashen will taste odd perhaps, because they’re usually made without dairy for kosher cooking reasons. I’ve been known to make hamantashen outside of Purim as a non-dairy cookie for friends who don’t eat dairy.

Anyway, as a kid, I loved Purim. I love getting to dress up as Esther, or one memorable year, as a hamantashen. I loved getting to use a noise maker, hearing the story of Esther, and the general feeling of celebration the holiday creates. There’s also something about the slow slog towards spring when everything still is frozen up here in Alaska which makes baking some cookies and having a party seem like a really good thing to be doing.

I didn’t want to make a paper doll of Esther, because honestly, that was way more research than I was about to undertake. What did Jewish people wear in Persia in 400BCE? No idea!

Instead, I decided to draw someone celebrating Purim with a hamantashen t-shirt (because that’s fun) and some Esther costumes. For some reason I had it in my head that this whole thing took place in 1400 BCE, not 400 BCE, while I was sketching, so these outfits are way too early for the actual period, but I’m not sweating it. The trim on the second costume is supposed to look a little like hamentashen. I also included a traditional noise maker called a gragger (or grogger, or grager, or… there’s like a million ways to transliterate Yiddish, I swear) and plate of hamantashen. (Note: Drawing a plate of cookies is hard!)

For anyone else celebrating, have a happy Purim! For everyone not celebrating, have an amazing Wednesday evening and Thursday! I’m spending mine baking.

DDJ: Color Blocking with Twilight

A black and white paper doll with a mix and match wardrobe of 8 clothing pieces.

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A black paper doll with a mix and match wardrobe of 8 clothing pieces.

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Color blocking is one of my favorite fashion themes. I just love how it lets me play with different colors and experiment with how different lines look on a set of garments. I first drew this paper doll set last year, but didn’t manage to actually get it done until a few weeks ago. Sometimes, I am a little slow on finishing up my own artwork.

Let’s not talk about the large number of 80% finished projects lurking on my hard-drive.

By the way, this is only my 6th Dolls Du Jour paper doll. I created this series in May of 2020 as part of my move towards drawing more diverse figures. Figure drawing is my least favorite part of paper doll making and it is the part I think I am worse at. There’s dozens of abandoned attempts at figure drawing in my notebooks. I still don’t think my figures are as diverse as they could be, but I also can only bang my head against the things I don’t like doing so long.

Just let me draw silly shoes and ignore when my people look off, which they often do.

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A Celebration of Tudor Clothing

Today’s paper doll is my second Tudor clothing paper doll. My amazing patrons voted for Tudor as a historical era to explore, hence the focus on Tudor. Also, I realized I still didn’t know a lot about the clothing of this time period. My first Tudor clothing paper doll from the Jewels and Gemstones was Ruby and today’s paper doll is Topaz.

A little about this Tudor clothing- this portrait of a young woman from 1567 and this portrait of Susan Bertie inspired the dress on the left. The dress on the right is a Henrician gown. This portrait of Mary I and this portrait of Katherine Parr feature this style of dress in lighter colors than you usually see it. These portraits also show off French Hoods, a very popular headdress style. This portrait, often identified as Helena Snakenborg, is where I saw the court bonnet. I should note that the identification as Helena Snakenborg has never been proven.

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First rule, I gave myself was that I was not going to make any dresses black. Don’t get me wrong, black fabric was wildly expensive in the 1500s and therefore very popular for portraits and people of wealth. Black is, however, one of my least favorite colors. It obscures line work, so I only used it for her hair and the veil for the French Hood. I didn’t see any French Hood’s that had veils of other colors. Also, I have no idea if French Hood is a proper noun and should be capitalized, but I am anyway.

I wanted to use colors I knew were common/referenced in source materials. According to sumptuary laws of the time only nobles could wear blue and there’s references in The Art of Dress by Jane Ashelford to tawny colored gowns. That’s why I chose to make one gown blue and the other a sort of beige color.

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Topaz’s underwear is based on illustrations from the Tudor Tailor by Ninya Mikhaila and Jane Malcolm-Davies. The bodies are based on the famous Pfaltzgrafin Dorothea Sabine von Neuberg’s pair of bodies from around 1598. All of her shoes come from Stepping Through Time by Olaf Goubitz. Her underwear, as I noted on the paper doll, has been simplified to facilitate playing with the paper doll. An actual extant 16th century shift is at the V&A and you can see it here.

Other books I consulted about Tudor clothing were, in no particular order, were Tudor Fashion, The History of Underclothes, In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, and Tudor Costume and Fashion. And you can see some of my reference image so on my 16th Century Dress Pinterest board.

You can see all my Tudor paper dolls here. Up next on the historical paper doll front will be the 1970s and the 1890s. That was the other winners when I polled my Patrons.

Sapphire Goes to a Party

A curvy black paper doll with long hair and a part dress with matching shoes. Printable in color or black and white

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Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll
I usually describe these dresses as cocktail dresses, but I don’t think many people do cocktails anymore? I don’t, but then I don’t really drink. So, I’m not 100% sure that description still makes sense to anyone but me. As a result, I decided to just go with the description “party dress” and figured that would work for now. It’s not really a formal gown, but it’s fun and maybe a date-night option? For people with more formal lives than mine, I suppose.

My paper dolls all live much fancier lives than I do.

Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
I wanted to do a series of paper dolls with party dresses for the blog. I also realized it had been a long time since Sapphire got any love, so it was easy to combine the two instincts to this paper doll set of Sapphire and her cocktail dress.

Specific Source Images: My Inspiration Dress from Pinterest

Learn/See More
On the Blog: More Jewels & Gemstones paper dolls
Around the Internet: My formal gowns and cocktail dresses Pinterest Board

Last Thoughts
A big thank you to my Patreon supporters who are amazing and awesome.

Also, cocktail dresses. Is that a term anyone uses anymore? Am I just insanely old fashioned? I can live with it if the answer is, Yes, but I am curious.

Winter Fashion Week: Meet Jade & Her Booties

A curvy black paper doll with curly hair and three pairs of boots. Each paper doll can wear any clothing from other paper dolls in the Jewels & Gemstones collection.

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

Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll
I wanted to do a collection of contemporary fashions that were all winter themed and all in coordinating colors, so everything this week can be mix and matched. I also wanted to practice drawing tight curls (something I always need practice on).

Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
So many things… Okay, so for this paper doll I was kinda obsessing over open toed booties. I’ve linked to the reference images below.

Her hair comes from one of my favorite resources for hair which is hairstyle magazines. Sophisticate’s Black Hairstyle and Care Guide shows lots of different hairstyles (updos, natural hair, treated hair, weaves, the whole nine yards). These magazines are a great way to help built a photo reference collection. I pick mine up at the local grocery store, but if you live in a place without a large black population, you might need to order it online.

Specific Source Images: Theses booties, these sandals, which I thought felt kinda wintery, and these booties.

Learn/See More
On the Blog: More Black Paper Dolls, One of my favorite Winter paper dolls, and More Jewels & Gemstones Paper Dolls
Around the Internet: Did you know that Oprah’s stylist Andre Walker developed a hair typing system for curly hair? There’s some controversy around it (isn’t there around everything?), but it’s an interesting idea. I liked this guide, because it has photos.

Last Thoughts
Don’t expect me to continue this “theme week” and then “random week” pattern. It just happened, because this was what I had finished. I don’t want people to think there’s going to be a pattern, because then I’ll feel pressure for there to be a pattern.

My Patreon have been helping me plan for my next few theme weeks by kindly voting on ideas. If you are a Patron, please vote here, if not, than join us! Patron support keeps Paper Thin Personas around.

Tomorrow there will be another contemporary winter outfit for the ladies and then we’ll continue from there all week! How do you feel about the winter? Are you a fan of cold weather or do you prefer the summer?

Two Bridget Dress Up Dolls

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The first two Bridget paper dolls were both red heads. I do love red headed paper dolls. I blame it on reading Anne of Green Gables as a young child.

Anyway, I felt like poor Bridget deserved a non-redhead version, so I designed these two dolls to a a blond and a brunette.

Also, the other two Bridget paper dolls both have fairly straight hair. Therefore, these two have curls. I am trying to increase paper doll diversity after all and I can’t exactly do that if I just draw the same style Bridget paper dolls every time.

What I don’t have yet is an “unusual hair color” Bridget, so I guess that’s next up for her someday. Maybe blue or green hair… I’m not sure. I haven’t crossed that bridge yet.

What hair color would you like to see for Bridget? Let me know in a comment! I love to hear from you.

And also, if you like the blog, consider supporting it through Patreon. It really does help keep my costs down, because the internet is not free and I won’t put ads on the site. Even a dollar a month helps. Join here if you want too. 

Oh, and if you aren’t aware, I’m doing a curvy paper doll for Inktober. My goal is ten drawings for the month of October. and I’m sharing her to Instagram as I get her done. You can follow me there or follow the tag #ptptinktober to see my drawings. Two other people are doing paper dolls too on Instagram- @enolablue_ooakdolls and @elizabethjoymcdonald. Miss Missy is posting her Inktober paper doll on her website. 

Need clothing for today’s paper doll? All the B Pose Dolls & Clothing.