Clara's Early 1970s Calico Dress

Oscar de la Renta is credited with creating the popularity of the maxi dress in 1968, when the long skirt appeared in a fashion show he created for the Elizabeth Arden Studio. However, maxi dresses and skirts were available as early as 1965, when they appeared in the movie Dr. Zhivago.

However, the long skirts took a while to catch on in the fashion world, so it took a few years for the style to be in vogue. Other fashion designers copied de la Renta, and by the early 70s, the maxi dress style was very popular. However, like any fashion fad, the long skirts were quickly dated and out of style by the end of the decade.

Clara’s dress has a simple shape created with wide bands of elastic. Eyelet lace trims the hem. This would be a very comfortable dress to wear, due to its loose form, and the elastic used. Comfortable, that is, at least as long as you didn't trip over the long skirt.

Clara’s shoes are simple pumps, worn with tall socks. Her hair is in a simple, 70s style haircut.

To print Clara's dress, use this PDF file:

Clara's Dress 64 (772.9k)

Clara is a free, printable paper doll. Clara will be available on this blog as long as I continue to post new fashion pages for her. You can read the introduction for the Clara paper doll here.

To print the Clara paper doll, use this PDF file:

 The Clara Paper Doll (718k)