Heritage Fashion Paper Dolls now available for purchase

I am pleased to announce that earlier this year I created a set of paper dolls from the 1820s and 1830s. They were published, and are available for sale exclusively from "Celebrating Family History," a company dedicated to family history and creating and preserving family memories.

The 1820s and 30s were the early days of the American Frontier expansion, when pioneers began to move west. The paper doll collection includes a little fashion history, and a lot of beautiful historical clothing for a family in the early 19th century.

The collection is available in both black and white and color versions. You can read more about the collection here at Celebrating Family History's website. There is a link at the bottom of the page, or you can buy the paper dolls here.

I am working on another collection which will be available soon.

Clara's 1819 Regency Evening Dress

Fashion in the early 1800s could be pretty complicated for society ladies. There were morning dresses, walking dresses, visiting dresses,  traveling dresses, riding dresses, dinner dresses, and evening dresses. There were fashion rules about how long the sleeves could be – for instance, it was not acceptable to wear short sleeves in the morning. Morning dresses were long-leeved and high-necked.

As a young lady, it would be proper for Clara to wear short sleeves in the evening. She could also have a wide neckline, but to be modest, she would need to wear ankle-length pantalettes under her gown. Bare arms were ok, but ankles! No way.

Of course, as always, high fashion was for the wealthy, so we'll have to pretend that Clara was wealthy and could afford expensive dresses.

The period in fashion from 1811 to 1820 is commonly known as the Regency Era. Dresses typically had high waists, and a simple silhouette. Layers of cloth created a flowing style. Evening dresses were typically decorated with rows of elaborate ribbons, tucks, or other decorations. Clara’s dress is a silk party dress, but not as elaborate as some evening gowns, since it is only decorated with a simple leaf detail.

A pair of thin dancing slippers with tiny bows and some tall silk stockings finish off the outfit.

Young ladies typically wore white or pastel colors in the 1810s when they dressed up for an event. The original  dress was a light, greenish tan (which may have been originally white, but turned brown with age). The leaf designs and ropes, and the neck and sleeve trim were a dull turquoise.

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

Clara's Dress 58 (775k)

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)

Clara's Pennsylvania Dutch Dress

Clara’s Pennsylvania Dutch dress is from the 1820s-1840s. This simple calico dress is typical of the early nineteenth century. The dress is very plain, and a little awkward in its design (the sleeves are a bit strange) – definitely not haute couture. The dress would have been sewn by hand.

Although Clara would be likely to spend most days barefoot, she would have some boots for colder weather, or for dressing up. These boots are not fitted, and just have simple laces on the sides. Clara's boots are made out of thin, fragile leather, which would be ruined by the cobblestones, mud, and messes of the streets in her town. To protect her boots, Clara would have some pattens, which are sandal-like wood and leather shoe coverings. When she had to travel through the streets, she would wear the pattens, and the thick soles would protect her expensive boots.

A sun bonnet would also be a must for the outdoors, both winter and summer. In the winter, the bonnet would keep her head warm. In the summer, the bonnet would protect her face from sunburn.

As a side note, the Americans known as Pennsylvania Dutch are not originally from the Netherlands. The German word for "German" is "Deutsche." So if a person said he was a Pennsylvania "Deutscheman," he meant Pennsylvania German. However, English-speaking Americans understood "Deutsche" as "Dutch," and the German immigrants who settled in that region soon became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch.

This Pennsylvania Dutch dress was a rust red cotton cloth, with a dark gray calico pattern of simple little flowers. The boots were leather dyed deep red. The pattens were also a matching red leather. The sun bonnet was originally white, but has faded to ivory.

Be creative as you color the outfit. I simply provide the original colors of the dress as a reference point for historical accuracy. You may also be interested to know that along with white and ivory, these were some of the colors for everyday clothing in the late 1820s through the 1840s:


To print Clara's Pennsylvania Dutch Dress, use this PDF file:
Clara's Dress 5 (598k)

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)

If you like my paper dolls enough to want to share with others, please email or post a link to my blog rather than sending or posting a copy of the paper dolls. Refer your friends so they can enjoy the free, printable paper dolls on my blog. Please do not post my artwork on your own sites, modify any of the files, or distribute them to others.