Showing posts with label Clara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clara. Show all posts

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Clara's 1878 Winslow Homer Dress

Winslow Homer's 1878 watercolor Fresh Air
(source: Wikimedia Commons. Image in the public domain)

Clara’s dress for today is based on a Winslow Homer watercolor named Fresh Air. The painting features a romanticized shepherdess standing with a few sheep in a field. I thought this was a fun painting that would make a great paper doll dress for Clara.

The girl is wearing is a simple drapy blouse over a ruffled skirt. The shoes have low heels, and some decorated buckles and pointed toes. The final part of the outfit is a straw hat with some long ribbons.

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


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:

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Clara's 1970s Flowered Dress

Clara’s knee-length dress is from about 1970. This straight-down sheath style of dress was a popular fashion in the late 60s and early 70s. The fabric would have been an easy-care no-iron rayon. The flower pattern would have been brightly contrasting colors, more abstract than realistic, which was a common theme of the early 70s.

Clara also has a pairs of tall boots to wear with her dress today. They were made of leather or synthetic materials, like vinyl, and usually had chunky heels.

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


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:

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Clara's 1842 Pleated Dress

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a nice Christmas.

The 1840s were a time of great change in fashion. Dresses changed from a gathered, conical shape to the wide bell shape known as a hoop skirt.

Clara's dress shows many of the characteristics of early 1840s dresses. The wide, shallow scoop neck shape was very popular. In the 1830s, sleeves were generally tight with a poof at the upper arm (early 30s) or at the lower arm (late 1830s). In the 1840s, sleeves still could be poofed, but a new style was introduced -- that of layered ruffles for the sleeves. Clara's dress is an early example of this style.

Another fashion element that was very popular in the 1840s was the pleat. Of course, pleats never did go out of style in the early 1800s. They were just employed in various new forms as designers came up with new ways to modify the pleat. Clara's dress shows how wide pleats were incorporated into a pieced bodice.

Clara's dress is short, so she wears some pleated pantaloons down to her ankles.

Her boots are made of leather, with a linen upper sewn on, and buttoned up the side of the ankle.

Portrait of Fanny Hensel, 1842
by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (German, 1800–1882) 
Source: Wikimedia Commons, image in the public domain
If you look at the portrait of Fanny Hensel on the left, you can see a very popular hairstyle of the 1840s. Clara's hair is worn in the same style, pulled smooth, and worn in ringlets over her ears. Clara is also wearing a poke bonnet lined with gathered silk. A large bow ties the hat under her chin.

The original dress was red with little black polka dots, reminiscent of a lady bug. The original boots were dark brown leather with a lighter tan linen upper part. The hat was lined with a funny shade of peach silk (which would not be a good choice to wear with the original red! Choose a nice color that goes with your dress color).


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


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:


Thursday, December 26, 2013

Clara's 1993 Dress with Dropped Waist

Clara's dress today is similar to many I remember my friends wearing in the early 1990s. A very straightforward dress, with simple slightly puffed, long, loose sleeves, a gathered skirt with a pointed dropped waist, and a nifty shaped collar.

Clara's shoes are plain, low-heeled shoes that were likely to be dyed to match the dress.

The original dress I used as a model was light pink with a white collar. The shoes were dark pink, worn with white tights.

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


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:

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Clara's 1954 "White Christmas" Dress


Have you seen White Christmas yet this year? It is a classic Christmas movie. I just love Betty and Judy's dresses at the end. The beautiful satin dresses are trimmed with fur and covered with big red sequin snowflakes. Silver holly trims dress and adds decoration to Betty's hair.

Clara's dress is based on Betty's dress from the finale. Can you see those nifty long red gloves that Betty is wearing? Very cool.


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


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:


Thursday, December 12, 2013

Clara's 1954 White Christmas Ballerina Dress



When I was little, it seems like many years we watched White Christmas. In the movie, four performers help rescue the failing ski resort of a retired Army General. At the end, there is a big finale with all the main characters. There are also quite a few children participating in the play. In particular, there are four young ballerinas dressed in white and red. In the snapshot above, the fourth dancer hasn't arrived onstage, yet.


I thought it would be fun to do a couple of Christmas costumes for Clara based on the 1954 movie, White Christmas.

Clara’s costume for this week is based on the young girls’ ballet outfits, complete with toe shoes and a crown.


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


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:

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Clara's 1950s Snowflake Dress


Clara’s dress is perfect for a winter party or a Christmas dinner.  The dress has a classic 1950s silhouette, with a fitted bodice and sleeves, and a wide circle skirt.

The sweetheart neckline was very popular in the 1950s, but this one is unusual since it has a fully curved neck with no straight lines, as most sweetheart necklines have. The wide waistline is trimmed with five ribbons, adding a nice element of design to the dress. The wide skirt is decorated with embroidered snowflakes.

A pillbox hat and some flat shoes finish off Clara’s Christmas ensemble.

The original dress was a deep blue silk with silver embroidered snowflakes. The hat matched the dress.

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


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:

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Clara's 1990s Lace Dress

Clara is all dressed up for a special occasion in this 1990s lace dress with a tulip-petal wrapped skirt. This dress has a very simple shape, but the lace adds a lot of texture to the design. The heavy lace top was very stylish, and dressy in the early 1990s. Lace was very popular in the 80s, and stayed popular in the 90s for a while.

The shoes are some cute slingbacks, decorated with a rose trim that matches the flower on the dress. With such a dressy outfit, Clara would probably wear nylons, although hardly anyone here in Arizona ever does (especially not in the summer!)

There's not much to say about 1990s fashion in general, other than it's sort of a hodge-podge of fashions from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. It's not as distinctive as fashion from, say, the 70s. Maybe the fashion will appear to be more distinctive when there is more of a time distance from the 90s to today — more of a historical perspective.

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


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:

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Clara's 1990s Jumper


1990s fashions borrowed a little bit of this and a little bit of that from the previous three decades. With elements of style from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, there is not a cohesive style that defines the 1990s. Instead, various fashions in many different styles were worn.

Clara's dress this week is a simple jumper cut in an a-line silhouette. The style is a very flattering dress, with a calf-length, drapy skirt. The scoop neck of the jumper is echoed by the wide scoop neck of the t-shirt.

Finally, Clara is wearing a pair of wedge-heeled slip-on shoes with some flower details. Wedge heels were very popular in the early 1990s.

The original jumper was a navy blue color and the t-shirt was white. The shoes were tan.

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


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:

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Clara's 1883 Draped Dress


I'm taking a break this week from the Wizard of Oz series to post a special dress. This Saturday, October 26, is the third anniversary of Allison's death. We miss her so much. Actually all of October's posts were created ahead of time, since I don't like October much.



This fashion plate has special meaning for me. The beautifully framed picture was a gift from a dear friend.

The artwork is a hand-colored engraving from an 1883 copy of the Journal des dames et des demoiselles. The Journal was a Belgian fashion magazine published in French by Bruylant-Christophe et Compagnie.

Clara’s dress is based on the little girl's blue dress from the fashion plate. The bustle had come back into fashion in 1881 after five years of being out of style, and remained fashionable through 1889. Dresses were made of heavy fabric, and highly decorated. Clara’s dress is actually relatively plain, compared to some of the dresses of the era.

A simple crenellated, velvet decoration crosses the bodice and also appears at the cuffs. Her dress has a stylish dropped waistline, with a wide, gathered, draped waistband. Pleats were very popular in the 1880s, and Clara’s skirt is no exception – wide pleats add detail and dimension to the short skirt.

The velvet hat is decorated with lots of ribbons and tucks. It is hard to tell if the hat is a bonnet with a rolled-up brim, or a wide beret.

Clara’s shoes are simple boots, worn with tall, thick stockings to cover the young girl’s legs.



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


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:

Clara's 1841 Easter Rose Dress

Clara's dress for this week is a reposted copy of her pretty day dress trimmed with roses, suitable for Easter. In the 1840s, the slope-...