sandals Archives • Page 3 of 8 • Paper Thin Personas

Meet Aisha: A New A Pose Paper Doll

May 8, 2018May 7, 2018

Printable Black & White PDF Printable Color PDF More Paper Dolls & ClothesSomehow, I’ve managed to finish up all my homework for the semester (yay!) and now I have a few weeks off before summer classes rear their ugly head. I am not looking forward to another batch of classes, but the end is in sight and I can only hope I’ll get there soon. As much work as grad school was when I was working part-time, it is so much more work when I was working full-time.

But none of that has anything to do with today’s paper doll. Today’s paper doll is an A Pose girl named Aisha. Aisha is an Arabic name meaning alive, according to Behind the Name.

All right, so as I often do, this is first version of Aisha as all contemporary shoes. Eventually, I’ll add some more specialized versions of Aisha. I actually already have a cyberpunk version in the works.

Years ago, I collected a bunch of photographs of people from around the internet to try to create a skin-tone palette. I ended up with seven colors and you can see that palette here. I recently discovered the work of Angélica Dass. She’s been photographing people against the Pantone color background that matches their skin. You can see her work on the National Geographic Website. It’s really amazing.

I don’t think I’ll be creating 4,000 skintones to use on the blog. It wouldn’t be very mix and match shoe friendly, but I do find her project super neat and work checking out whenever you have a moment.

Meanwhile, go grab some clothing for this poor naked paper doll. She needs something to wear. After you do that, leave me a comment and let me know what you think of today’s paper doll.

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

Introducing 1940s Week: Beatrix, Her 1940s Underwear and Shoes

April 16, 2018

Printable Black & White PDF Printable Color PDF More Paper Dolls & ClothesSo, one thing I’ve kinda missed doing were theme weeks. So this week is all 1940s! We’re starting with a 1940s paper doll in this version of Beatrix, wearing a girdle and bra and with her four pairs of shoes. Wednesday and Friday will be 1940s dresses to go with Beatrix.

When I asked last week what people wanted to know more about, a lot of folks here and on the Patreon page said inspirations and sources. So, let’s start with Beatrix, her Hollywood inspired hair and 1940s underwear. I own several books on historical hair, but none of them discuss black hair styles. In fact, I don’t know of one that does (does anyone know of one?)

So, I went to look for the hairstyles of Hollywood black actresses of the time, as Hollywood was a leader in fashion during this era. I settled on this image of Theresa Harris. The still is from the 1948 thriller, “The Velvet Touch.” I don’t know much about Harris, except what I read on her Wikipedia page. She sounds like a strong interesting woman.

The paper doll’s 1940s underwear is based on a set sold from Sears in 1947. I used the Dover book, Everyday Fashions of the Forties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs. I chose this underwear to draw because I could draw the paper doll pants, someday. Most girdles I saw would not have made pants very viable and pants were finally coming into their own in the 1940s.

The paper doll’s shoes are all from various museums. She is wearing this pair from Gucci at The Met. And from top to bottom, she has a pair from 1942 from the V&A, a pair from the 1940s also from the V&A and a pair from 1942 from The Met. I tried to chose shoes that were interesting, but also typical from the period. You can see a bunch more shoes from my 1940s Fashion on Pinterest.

Any further questions? Let me know in a comment. I always like hearing from you guys.

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

And Here is Cameron: A Black Guy Paper Doll With Shoes (Many Shoes)

April 24, 2018March 26, 2018

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This is Cameron the new member of the C pose Dandies family. He’s a black guy paper doll, as you can see, and I had a lot of fun researching black men’s hairstyles for him. I noticed this very square hairline seems to be the trending thing (as much as I know anything about men’s trends in hair) and I based the look that Cameron is sporting on this picture and this picture. Drawing men’s hair is something I am still working on getting better at, but I won’t get better if I don’t practice.

Along with his hair, Cameron has three pairs of shoes and can wear any of the C Pose outfits.I wanted to have more skin-tones and ethnicities represented in the Dandies, so along with Cameron here, I have a white paper doll named Cyrus who’ll be shared next Monday. Stay tuned for that.

I always feel bad for my paper dolls who end up with only shoes. I mean, I get it. It’s done so they have shoes, but really… give this poor guy some clothing, stat. Personally, I think he’d look great in the sci-fi set or in this warrior outfit.

Meanwhile, it’s after my bedtime and therefore time to sleep. Let me know what you think of the new paper doll in a comment if you like!

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

Meet Carlos: A Latino C Pose Gentleman

January 31, 2018

Printable Black & White PDF Printable Color PDF More Paper Dolls & ClothesWhen I first started this whole new Dames and Dandies series, I knew I wanted to create at least two paper dolls for each of the poses. The C Pose gents were the hardest to work with, because I struggle with drawing men. Men and I… well, I’m getting better, but they remain not my strong suit.

Today’s guy paper doll is Carlos. Like all the “dandies” Carlos is in the C Pose and can wear any of the clothing drawn for that pose.

The name Carlos is, of course, the Spanish version of the name Charles. It’s pretty common, just as the name Charles is pretty common in English. I’ve known several different people named Carlos over the years and I’ve always liked the name.

Did I mention that I have more C Pose content than any of the other poses at the moment? I think having more guy stuff done than girl stuff might be a first for me. I literally can’t ever remember it happening except now. It’s a very strange feeling.

So, as a result there will be another C Pose post this Friday. It’s a super cool Regency/Steampunk suit that I am totally in love with and if it was real, I would wear it.

If, you know, I was male.

Until then, enjoy Carlos and his friend Changrui.

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

Meet Akiko: A New “A Pose” Paper doll

December 6, 2020January 24, 2018

Printable Black & White PDF Printable Color PDF More Paper Dolls & ClothesToday’s new A pose paper doll is Akiko.

Like all Japanese names, the meaning of Akiko changes depending on the kanji characters selected to combine to make the name. The “Aki” part of the name can come from kanji meaning “clear, crystal”, “bright” or “autumn” while the “ko” comes from the kanji meaning “child” according to Behind the Name. Someone with more knowledge of Japanese will have to update me if I misunderstand how this works. It’s also the name of one of the princesses of the Imperial House of Japan.

Akiko has three pairs of shoes and can wear, of course, any of the clothing for the A Pose paper dolls. I think my favorite of her shoes are her pink sandals.

I hope everyone is having a good week. I’m still in recovering from illness mode, so I’ll keep today’s post short. Enjoy the paper doll!

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

Meet Beatrix: The First Pose B Paper Doll

March 29, 2018January 8, 2018

Printable Black & White PDF Printable Color PDF More Paper Dolls & Clothes
This is Beatrix, a name I knew I wanted to name her the moment I drew her. I have no idea why, but she looked like a Beatrix to me.

She is also the first of the Pose B paper dolls for the Dames and Dandies series. This is version one of Beatrix, which I intentionally made pretty neutral. A doll and some shoes. There will, no doubt be a version 2 and a version 3 eventually.

But we are starting with version one.

My original plan for Beatrix version one was micro-braids, but I seriously screwed them up while I was inking them and I decided to do something different instead. I draw a lot of micro-braids, after all. Instead, I thought I would stretch my wings a little and try a side parted natural hair style.

I think it came out pretty well.

Let me know what you think on a comment about today’s paper doll? I’d love to hear from you.

Need a clothing for today’s Doll? All the B Pose Dolls & Clothing

Meet Alice: The First of the New Printable Paper Doll Series

December 6, 2020January 1, 2018

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Happy New Year!

This is the first post of the new series, Dames and Dandies. I really should be calling it the only paper doll series, but we’ll stick with new paper doll series for now.

There will be three poses for these printable paper dolls. This is the A Pose. There will also be a B Pose. And a guy paper doll pose called the C pose. Right now, we’re starting with the A pose. Wednesday and Friday, I will be posting clothing for the A pose and then next Monday I’ll post the first doll in the B pose series.

C pose guy paper dolls will post the week after that. Nice and alphabetical, you know? Also right now, I have more guy content than either the A or the B pose ladies. Weird… that has never happened before in my paper dolling life.

This is Alice. She is the first of the A pose dolls and this is the first version of Alice. Other Alice versions will, I suspect, follow. In fact, I already have a few in process so… not only do I suspect it, I know it to be true.

While I would love to switch to a daily updating schedule, I just don’t think there’s really very sensible with my graduate school classes starting up again in a few days. So, right now, the blog will update Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.

And so, it begins… 🙂

Feel free to ask me any burning questions you may have or even just non-burning ones. The truth is that I might not have an answer yet, but I do want to hear everyone’s thoughts and concerns.

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

Meet Nikola: The New Ms Mannequin Printable Paper Doll

December 6, 2020September 13, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: The Challenge of Olive Skintone

I’ve written before about some of the challenges of paper doll skin-tones. It’s important to me that their be a variety of paper doll skin-tones. I also think it’s important that there not be too much variety, because if there is than it’s hard to share shoes among the dolls.

So, I wanted to do an olive skin-tone and that was how this paper doll’s skin-tone began. Once I had it created, I realized that it was really only one hex off from the skin-tone I created for Stella and Chloe.

At that point, I was like- Why not just use their skin-tone? There’s no difference once this prints, because printers just aren’t that precise. And I couldn’t even see a difference.

And so, Nikola can share her shoes with both Stella and Chloe and they can share shoes with her.

Nikola is a feminine form of Nicholas from countries including the Czech republic, Poland and Germany. I’m half Czech, so I thought it would be fun to give her a Czech name.

I gave Nikola blue eyes, because my sister has olive skin and blue eyes. It’s not a very common combination, but I’ve been told it’s more common in Eastern Europe than you see it in the US. I’ve never been (but I so badly want to go to Prague), but someday I will.

Tomorrow, there’s a curvy fantasy gown and then on Monday… I actually have no idea. I should sort that out. 🙂

Need some clothing for today’s Ms Mannequin paper doll? Pick Out Some Ms. Mannequin Clothing Here

Meet Janette, The New Mini-Maiden Paper Doll

December 12, 2020August 14, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Fashion Magazines and My Patrons

A few months ago, I asked my Patrons to vote on a name for a new Mini-Maiden paper doll. A lot happened and I just didn’t get around to finishing her until recently, but I am super excited to present Janette. There will be a Janette paper doll every day this week to get her off to a solid start as an addition to the Mini-Maiden family.

Janette can, of course, wear any of the already created Mini-Maiden clothing and share shoes with Faye, Greta, Hazel and Isadora.

(As it happens, I name the Mini-Maiden‘s in alphabetical order, because… I dunno. It seemed like a good idea at the time?)

The first of the three Janette’s that will be posting this week is a contemporary Janette. I thought it was a nice place to start.

She has a sundress based on designs from my fashion magazine obsession, as are her sandals.

I wanted to give her a short contemporary looking hair cut, as this it the “contemporary” Janette.

On Wednesday, Janette will go to Space!

As always, a big thank you to my Patrons for helping me pick out her name.

Well, what do you think of Janette? Let me know in a comment. I always love to hear from you all.

Need a more outfits for today’s Mini-Maiden Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here.

A New Modern Curvy Paper Doll and Her Summery Chambray Dress

October 21, 2019July 24, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Chambray Summer Dresses and Sandals

Sometimes, I draw paper dolls and I have wonderful detailed ideas of what I want to say about them. Sometimes, I draw paper dolls and I have really nothing to say about them. Today’s paper doll falls into the later category. I just don’t really have much meaningful to say about her.

I like her, don’t get me wrong, but she’s not as full of complex inspiration as some of my other work.

She was a case of drawing the dress and then drawing a doll to go with the dress. I wanted to draw a short chambray dress. One of the big trends this summer is chambray dresses. I mostly use chambray for sewing doll jeans. It’s super useful for that, but it also works really well as a sundress material.

My plan was to make two sundresses and use them as a clothing post. I hated the other sundress so much that I scribbled it out of my sketchbook, so that didn’t work out.

To salvage the dress that I had, I decided to draw a doll do go with it. Drawing her hair gave me a chance to practice short hair. I need to practice short hair more. Also, I am sort of in love with her eyebrows and I can’t explain why.

I designed her shoes to be basics. I wanted them to go with pretty much anything else she might decide to wear.

So, what do you think? Cute? Looking slightly pissed off? Let me know in a comment. I always love to hear from you all.

Need to get some more clothing for this Bodacious & Buxom paper doll to wear? Pick out some clothing here

Meet Chunhua: The New Ms. Mannequinn Doll

July 3, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: New Skin-tones, Asian Paper Dolls and the Three Kingdom Period of Chinese History

So, today’s paper doll was born out of a few different things. The first was that I wanted to create a paper Miss Mannequin doll with Asian features, since I hadn’t since 2015.

It also seemed past time to introduce another Ms. Mannequin paper doll skin-tone. This one is a bit redder than the skin-tone I use for the paper dolls with the orange bases (like Zola) and a bit darker then the tone I use for the paper dolls with the green bases (like Sunitha).

Her name, Chunhua, is a Chinese name meaning Spring Flower and was the name of a powerful woman in the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history.

I also happened to like the name a lot.

A few other little bookkeeping things, I’m in the midst of updating my tags and working on my Printable Paper Doll Index, so just be aware there maybe some updates and changes there.

Also, if you like the blog think about liking it on Facebook or supporting it through Patreon.

Goals for this month include getting some new stuff into the Etsy Story. And since it is the end of the second quarter of the year, putting together a blog income report for the second quarter. Stay tuned for that.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for their kind wishes last week. I’m feeling much better. While I’m still not 100% (Alabama is the WORST state for allergies, I swear), I don’t expect there to be any blog disruption this week.

Need some clothing for today’s Ms Mannequin paper doll? Pick Out Some Ms. Mannequin Clothing Here

B&B Curvy Paper Dolls Visit the Groovy 1970s

June 19, 2017June 19, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: 1970s and Platform Shoes and Afros and People Whose Blogs I Admire

Years ago, Debbie of Black Doll Collecting asked for a 1970s fashion inspired black paper doll with a huge afro. It’s one of those ideas that has been percolating for a long long time.

But I super respect Debbie as the authority on black dolls that she is. She has opened my eyes to examples of early black dolls that are super rare like Cynthia from the 1950s and these early Effanbee dolls.

So, I decided that my ignorance was no excuse to not give it a go. I did some research on 1970s black culture and set to work on creating today’s paper doll.

The 1970s were an interesting era for black culture. The Black is Beautiful movement was in full force bringing with it respect for traditional hairstyles like the afro and dutch wax print fabrics. There were even Black is Beautiful paper dolls produced in 1969, another thing I learned from Debbie’s blog. Black owned toy companies, like Shindana, were bringing out black dolls for children. Meanwhile, blaxploitation films began flourishing in Hollywood when Shaft came out in 1971.

Now, that we’ve all learned about the 1970s, let’s talk today’s paper doll.

Her hair is the first afro I have drawn that I am actually pretty proud of. It’s a little big perhaps for the 1970s, but maybe not? There is that famous scene in Foxy Brown where Pam Grier pulls a gun from her afro.

Her dress is from McCall’s 2316 sewing pattern from 1970 and her shoes are both from the early 1970s as well. Both shoe designs were taken from 20th Century Fashion by John Peacock.

Normally, I steer clear of brown shoes on brown skin, but I actually really liked how the shoes colors (from Peacock’s book) coordinated with the paper doll’s ebony skin-tone.

In my research, I watched Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair, which wasn’t very helpful about historical black fashion, but it was a fascinating window into a world I know nearly nothing about. It also made me feel super cheap for complaining at how much my hair cuts cost. If you haven’t seen it and you’re interested in fashion or culture, I strongly recommend it.

Meanwhile, I’d love to hear what you think of today’s paper doll in a comment. I love to hear from y’all.

Need to get some more clothing for this Bodacious & Buxom paper doll to wear? Pick out some clothing here.

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