Somehow I often come back to evening gowns when I’m feeling unsure of what to draw. I’m sure I’m not the only artist who has things they come back to over and over again, but I like drawing evening gowns and they don’t require a lot of thought. I think of them as like the chicken and dumplings of my drawings- comfort food.
Last Thoughts on Today’s Princess Fantasy Paper Doll
If you want an extra paper doll piece every Friday, than join us on Patreon. There’s a bunch of great projects going over there including my 365 day paper doll project, extra Jewels and Gemstones and my lovely Vivian paper doll series. It’s super fun and I am so grateful to everyone who helps support my art.
Not exactly sure what will go up next week, but I’ll no doubt make some decisions as I start scheduling those posts.
I find I go through periods where I am drawing a lot on a similar theme. So, I created this woodland fairy paper doll during a period when I was drawing a lot of mermaids and fairy outfits. Most of them ended up on Patreon, but I try to split things pretty evenly, so I wanted something to share here on the same theme.
Additionally, I think fairies are a playful theme and kinda fun to play around with. I always like to think about drape when I’m drawing woodland fairy clothing, sort of a dress made from cloth being wrapped around the body rather than tailored together.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll
As I said above, I really was on a sort of “fairy kick” when I created this paper doll. I go through phases, after all. Despite my personal preference for darker fairy tales, I never know how to illustrate those. So, instead I tend to lean towards Victorian flower fairies (like this card from 1905) for this one.
If you’ve never read about the Cottingley Fairy Hoax, than I would highly recommend a read. It’s a fascinating story about how smart people can be blind to things and the strange Edwardian obsession with spiritualism. There’s something really telling about the desperate desire to believe even in the face of extreme mounting evidence to the contrary.
On Friday, I post extra paper dolls on Patreon and I’ve shared a lot more fairy stuff there for my patrons whose support I am super grateful for.
Also, there’s some new pieces up in my Etsy store if you haven’t checked it out recently head over there.
Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll There are several different styles of shoes worn for dance. The most iconic is probably the en pointe shoes and I made sure to include those with Amethyst today.
However, her other shoes are known as “lyrical shoes” they are usually worn for modern dance. The shoes leave the toes exposed and really only cover the ball of the foot for protection. Years ago, when I did tech theater work, we used to drape carpets over the edges of lighting rigs so dancers would feel the different fabric when leaving stage and know there was heavy piece of metal underneath the carpet.
Stubbed toes are not a minor issue when you’re a professional dancer.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll I was thinking of ballet of course and dance when I dis this paper doll. I wanted to do a companion to Pearl.
Last Thoughts Can I just say that I love theatre. I have a Master Degree in the stupid topic. I know more about theater then most rational people do. However, I’ll be darned if I can figure out the difference between lyrical and modern dance. I am sorry dance people, but your nuances befuddle me.
Now, if anyone would like a talk on how Masque evolved into Opera and Ballet, I can hook you up. (No one wants this, I assure you.)
Did you know I have a Patreon? You probably do, but I’m always happy to remind you. Head over here if you want more paper dolls each week.
Okay, so I want to draw more dancing stuff that is not ballet, even though ballet was how we started. I’m thinking maybe hip-hop dance or modern or something. Any suggestions? Let me know in a comment.
Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll This is the first day of Regency Fashion Week. I am so psyched. I’ve been wanting to do historical clothing for the Jewels & Gemstones since the beginning. There’s this myth that in the past everyone was super hot and skinny (I blame Hollywood). I chose Amethyst as the model for this clothing, because there’s also this myth that everyone was white (I blame institutionalized racism).
Technically, the Regency only lasts from 1811 to 1820 in England. That’s just 19 years. However, the styles we think of as “Regency” stretch from about 1805 through about 1825 when the waist line begins to drop. It lowers steadily through the 1820s before settling at the natural waist around 1828 or so. Personally, I chose the term Regency for this week’s paper dolls, because I think it is the term most people know.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll Okay, now we get to get specific. There’s a myth that in the early 19th century women didn’t wear corsets. This is not true. Women totally wore corsets, but since the styles were changing rapidly, there wasn’t a single silhouette. No woman with actual curves wants to not wear some sort of bust support. The corsets (or stays) of this era were generally less boned than those of the 18th century and were short or long, depending on the style. I chose a long set of stays, because I have been told by folks to know more than me, that for bustier women (and the Jewels paper dolls got curves) this is a more comfortable style.
The shift our Regency paper doll wears was adapted from one I found in a museum. Shifts are kinda… not terribly changing garments and I made the sleeves a bit shorter than I think they would have been, so I could accommodate evening gowns which often had very short sleeves.
One of the quirks of shoes of this era is that a lot probably laced up the ankles, but since the laces are often missing it is hard to tell from photos from museums of they had laces or not. I erred on the side of omitting the laces, but I am not sure that was the right decision.
Last Thoughts I could write so much more on this era and why I chose what I chose for the paper doll, but we’ve got all week for this. I am going to try to space out my thoughts and if I get a bit pedantic than please, be kind. The truth is that I love history and I love historical clothing and I could talk about it for hours.
Regency week happened, because it won the poll I put out for my Patrons (actually Space Princesses surged ahead at the last minute and beat it, but I was already started on the Regency stuff, so Space Princesses will be later). I also chose it, because I really love this era’s clothing (and I have a soft space in my soul for a good Regency era romance novel.)
What do you think? Looking forward to Regency week? Not sure it’s your thing? Do you have a favorite era of historical clothing? Let me know in a comment!
This is Amethyst, the curvy girl paper doll with shoes! I’ve had so much fun drawing for my curvy Jewels and Gemstones paper dolls. She’s also available as a coloring page, if you prefer.
Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll So, there’s something a little mass production about how I think about paper dolls sometimes. It’s like, if one is hard than two isn’t that much harder. This isn’t always the best trait in the world and I blame my father for it. He’s a man who always thinks in terms of manufacturing. I love him, but once in a while, I just want to make one batch of cookies (not three), you know?
Anyway, back when I was planning the Jewels and Gemstones debut I decided it would be just was easy to draw two of every doll (because really what’s one extra hairstyle?) as it would be to draw one and then I would have some built in backlog.
But wait, you say, I don’t recognize Amethyst from the first week.
And that is because she was a Patron exclusive when she debuted.
But this version is not, so now everyone gets to see Amethyst.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper Doll Her skin tone is based on Karen David whose in the show Galavant. Galavant hasn’t been on for a while, but I love that show with a passion that is no totally rational. Seriously, guys, it’s a sitcom with singing set in a medieval fantasy world. How could that possibly be bad?
Specific Source Images: Nothing super specific this time. I probably looked up sandals in Pinterest. I usually do.
Tomorrow, there will be a fantasy outfit with a sword and then we’ll see where the week takes us. Probably to coats, but I’m not sure yet.
As always, I love to hear about what you think of today’s paper doll, so please feel free to leave me a comment. (Right now, because my spam filter is acting up a bit, I am having to manually approve comments that go through the filter, so just be aware there might be delay between commenting and me seeing the comment and approving.)
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.
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?
I knew I wanted to draw a 1960s paper doll and I knew I wanted to do a beehive hair. And lest you think that this hair is “unrealistic” than I would refer to the Ronnetts (this photo) and the Supremes (this photo), both inspirations for today’s Abigail paper doll’s hair. As I’ve said before, finding historical references for black vintage hair styles is not an easy task and the copyright law nuances make it much harder.
Now, if Ebony would just digitize their entire archive and put it online for free for me, that would be fantastic… But since I don’t see that happening soon. I went with my usual “find famous people and copy them, technique.”
If there is one thing I will never fully understand, it’s 1960s hair. I mean, I get wanting a little lift in your hair, but seriously, the 1960s took the big hair thing to a whole different level. Unlike the 1980s, 1960s big hair was stiff. One might even use the term shellacked. At least, that’s what I’ve been told by people who lived in that era. I asked a woman once, after looking at her yearbook photo with her, how she’d gotten her hair like that and she replied to me, deadpan, “One hour and hairspray.”
Ask a dumb question…
Anyway, Abigail’s underwear is based on this Mary Quant designed body suit. Her shoes can all be found in the V&A. I did make them different colors, but the styles are here, here and here.
If you want to see all my 1960s inspiration, as we are heading into a week of 1960s content, head over to my 1960s Pinterest Board.
Today, I am sharing a pair of Abigail dolls to dress up. Abigail has a warm brown skin-tone. Just like my other two doll sets, I wanted the two different versions of Abigail to be pretty different.
So, Abigail on the left has a natural hair style and Abigail on the right has pastel purple hair. Personally (in my head) the left paper doll is a modern girl and the right paper doll is maybe from the future where pastel hair is in style?
Unless pastel hair is in style now and no one told me. I mean, I’m not usually on the cutting edge of hair trends. Clothing trends I do keep pretty good track of. Hair is harder.
As always, a big thank you to my Patrons and if you’d like to help out the blog by making a donation, you can do that over on the Patreon page.
This is the second Abigail paper doll. I tend to draw my new dolls in sets of two, so that there’s at least two of them to start with. I want there to be lots of variety on the blog, but also mix and match options. It’s a constant balancing act between my urge for “all the skin-tones” and the reality that there’s literally millions of them out there and I can’t possibly achieve that.
So, I drew Abigail, because I didn’t already have a black paper doll for the A Pose girls. Her skintone was chosen, because both Cameron and Beatrix (my other two black paper dolls) had the same skintone and I wanted some variety.
As always, I try to give my contemporary dolls three shoes and those shoes are ideally versatile enough to go with evening gowns or fantasy dresses, depending.
As always, a big thank you to my Patrons and if you’d like to help out the blog by making a donation, you can do that over on the Patreon page.
I am super happy to be back! I was traveling and wrapped up in work. I got to go to New Orleans which was so much fun. It was a work trip, but I ate plenty of beinets, gumbo and red beans over rice. I do love a good bowl of gumbo.
As fun as it was to be in the city, it is also so very nice to have returned home to Alabama.
Anyway, today’s paper doll is a new face for the A Pose dames. I think this will be the last new A Pose face for a while. I had a mental goal of getting four faces for each pose (A, B and C) done before I let myself work more on versions and less on faces. There is another version of Abigail already done. It’s a contemporary version with sandals.
I chose the name Abigail for today’s paper doll, because I’ve always liked the name. It’s a Biblical name, for those who aren’t aware, and was the name of King David’s third wife. I’ve known several Abigails in my life and liked them all, so I figured the name was a winner.
Her fantasy dress was inspired by togas and Ancient Greece. Not actual historical Ancient Greece, more like Xena: Warrior Princess. I loved the idea of a loose, graceful, draped garment. Originally, I imagined it would be white (there is a white version over on my Patreon page you can go print), but I thought the white wasn’t as interesting as a color.
Yes, I colored the paper dolls lips to match the dress. Don’t judge me.
Her micro braids were fun. I always feel like they get a bit lost when I color them black (black on black being a thing), I made them purple in the Patreon page version. So, if you think you’d rather have a purple haired version, pop over there and you can download and print that version.
Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Â Elves and Purple Hair
One perk of being a Patron of the blog is that I will actually listen to requests and usually follow through, though I still owe someone a New Romantic outfit.
I swear I am working on it.
Anyway, the interest in Lord of the Rings style fantasy made me decide to draw an elf. My conclusion that pale blond elves are cliche made me create one with blue hair.
See everything makes sense if you just understand my general feelings that most depictions of elves are boring.
Plus, I think everything is better if there is blue hair.
Aishwarya, today’s elf, shares a skin-tone with Layla, so they can share shoes. Aishwarya means “prosperity, wealth” in Sanskrit. I thought it was a really beautiful name.
If you feel that the few fantasy outfits the Ms. Mannequin paper dolls have are not elven feeling, then worry not. Next week, there will be an Elven inspired outfit for Aishwarya to wear.
How did I do on my first Ms. Mannequin elf? Does she need some elf friends?
By the way, there’s now a Paper Thin Personas shop on Etsy. Use the coupon called: READER2017 and get 25% off an order of 4.00 or more until the end of March. I’ll be adding some new clothing in the next week or so.
Want me to listen to your request more? Then think about becoming a Patron.
Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Â Â What I see College Girl’s wearing
First off, my favorite thing about this Ursula paper doll is her hair. I love dreads and I particularly think they look cool when they are styled up into an updo.
Because the lady Sprites have much smaller stands then the guy sprites, I could fit two pairs of shoes onto this page with with Ursula. So, I did a pair of white shoes and a pair of black shoes. I figured that covered all the basic shoes a person might need.
All the Ursula dolls have the same skintone, so she had borrow some sandals from her mermaid version if she wants too. If there are more Ursula paper dolls (and there probably will be eventually), then you can pick out shoes from those dolls as well. Any of the shoes that don’t show skin tone, of course, will fit any of the Sprites ladies.
And if you enjoy the blog, but want to see my process and get early previews, then join us on Patreon. It’s a lot of fun.
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