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:

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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.

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Clara's Pilgrim Dress

One of my most popular dresses for Clara is her Pilgrim's Dress from 1620 (click here to see the original post). Since it's Thanksgiving this week, I thought I would post the dress again for any newcomers to my blog.

If you read my original post, you will find out why the pilgrims did not wear buckles and black dresses, as they are widely portrayed in most Thanksgiving pictures, cards, and other merchandise.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To print Clara's "More Authentic" pilgrim outfit, use this PDF file:
 Clara's Dress 36 (717k)

Clara is a free, printable paper doll. Clara will continue to be available on this blog as long as I 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:
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Clara as Glinda of Oz

Glinda of Oz Cover, 1920. The last Oz book published by L. Frank Baum.
(Source: Wikimedia Commons – Artwork is in the public domain.)

Since Clara has already dressed up as Dorothy in Oz and Dorothy in the Emerald City, and also as Ozma, her final Oz costume will be of Glinda of Oz. 

Have you read all of the Wizard of Oz books? They are in the public domain, and are available for download for free from most book readers. If you want to read them online, you can read them on Project Gutenberg, which currently has 42,000 free ebooks. Just search for "Oz" and you'll get a list of all the Oz books — some of the versions even have illustrations. For a list of the books in order, you can check the Wikimedia article listing the books.

Illustration from Glinda of Oz, ©1920
Artwork in the public domain

Glinda is the wise sorceress who appears in most of the Oz books as a mentor and helper for Dorothy and Ozma. In the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, she is the Good Witch of the East.

John R. Neill illustrated 13 of the 14 Oz books written by L. Frank Baum. Neill's Art Deco style illustrations are beautiful, and romantic, with lots of drapy, floaty cloth and flowers, and other glitzy details.

In the books, Glinda is portrayed in several different ways by Neill, but always in a long, drapey dress. She usually wears a helmet type of headdress with a narrow crown and some curvey hair nets.

Clara's dress (on the left) is based on Glinda's costume in the book named after her, Glinda of Oz. She has a long dress with yards of cloth, and a wide, pointy collar. A little scalloped trim decorates the bodice of the dress. The headdress is based on the way Neill usually portrayed Glinda.

Once again (like Ozma's hair), apologies ahead of time for the hair and crown... they are not fun to cut out.

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

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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)

Illustration from Glinda of Oz, ©1920
Artwork in the public domain

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)

Clara's 1965 Mod Dress

This week, we'll move up a decade to 1965. In reaction to the  form fitting shapes, lace and ribbons, decorations, and wide skirts of the 50s, designers started a new style for fashion. London was the center of the new Mod (short for modernist) fashion movement.

Mod fashion was characterized by clean, loose-fitting lines, and geometric shapes. Unique collars were also a characteristic of Mod fashion. Bright colors and bold fabric patterns were quite fashionable.

Clara’s dress follows the Mod style with a fitted waist, a scalloped collar, and a simple bow for decoration.

Simple ballet flats were a versatile choice for footwear.

And finally, a very typical sixties-style haircut finishes off Clara’s outfit.

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

Clara's Dress 63 (759.6k)

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 1950s Sweater and Skirt

This week, Clara has another school outfit from the 1950s. With the same wide skirt shape as last week's dress, this skirt has some wide box pleats, a tall waistline, and a narrow belt for decoration. The sweater is a soft, form fitting shape with 3/4 length sleeves.

With some of the popular penny loafers and tall socks, Clara is ready for a stylish day at school.

The original sweater was yellow. The skirt was a dull orange with a shiny black belt. The penny loafers were dark brown leather, worn with white socks. The headband matched the yellow sweater.

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

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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 1950s Jacket and Skirt

Finally! It's back to school for most of the country. If they are not already in school, most students will head back within two weeks. So to celebrate, here is a cute dress for Clara to wear on her first day of school for a new year.

In the 1950s, fashion designs had bold, clean lines, and simple shapes. Clara’s dress has a wide skirt in a style very typical of the dresses in the 50s. Think "poodle skirts"....

A cute jacket adds some flair to the outfit, with its straight lines and rounded collar. Three simple round buttons are the only decoration on the jacket.

Mary-Jane shoes were quite popular, and Clara’s are worn with ankle socks.

An finally, Clara has a cute 50s hairstyle with two ponytails tied with ribbon.

The original dress was cherry red with pinstripes.

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

Clara's Dress 61 (755k)

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 1940s Day Dress

World War II had a huge impact on fashion in the early 1940s. Some clothing mimicked military uniforms (think shoulder pads), but mostly fashion was dictated by shortages in fabric and trim as supplies were disrupted and factories converted to war production. Neat tailored dresses — using minimal fabric and trim — were popular, with plain waists, narrow knee-length skirts, pockets at the hips, and gathers at the neck or waist.

Colors were conservative, fabrics plain. But with everyone wanting to look their best to counteract the worries of the war, hair was one way that women could dress up. Shoulder-length hair was worn in elaborate curls and rolls, copying the popular movie stars of the day.

Shoes in the 1940s were generally mary janes, oxfords, pumps, or sandals. Heels were increasing in popularity, varying from low to high, including wedges. Clara's peep-toe pumps have the taller Continental Heels, also called High Cuban or French heels. 

Tan stockings were popular, and always had a seam down the back of the calf. The challenge was to keep the seam straight. My grandmother told stories about drawing a line on the back of her legs when nylon stockings could no longer be bought due to war shortages. The only alternative to nylon at the time was rayon. Sold as  "Victory Stockings," the rayon stockings bunched, stretched, and sagged. So bare, tanned legs with a painted line were very much preferred to the wrinkly stockings.

The original dress was a blue denim colored dress. The shoes were back patent leather.

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

Clara's Dress 59 (735k)

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 1940s Bolero Dress

In the 1940s, the fashion industry was heavily influenced by Spanish designers, such as Cristóbal Balenciaga. These designers made Spanish-styles in fashions quite popular. Additionally, the 1940s saw many famous Latin actors and actresses on the silver screen, making Spanish and Latin influence widespread.

Clara’s dress for today has a some Spanish styling with a false bolero jacket. The panels sewn into the bodice of the dress create the look of a bolero. The puffy sleeves and flared skirt also show the Spanish influence on this fashion design.

Clara also has some nice sling-back shoes, worn with ankle socks. Although the style is typical 1940s, these shoes could certainly be worn today – but maybe without the socks.

Finally, Clara has a popular hairstyle for young girls in the 1940s – some loose braids tied with bows, and worn with long bangs.

The original dress is coral pink with white daisies. The original shoes are white leather.

To print Clara's Dress, use this PDF file:
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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 1950s School Dress

In the 1950s, all girls wore skirts or dresses everyday, and Clara's outfit for today is a classic 50s fashion. Although pants were becoming socially acceptable as a fashion, skirts remained quite popular for another decade or so, before pants overtook skirts as the most popular fashion for girls.

This particular dress has a fitted top with a cute diamond-shaped tie. The wide, full skirt is a classic 50s circle skirt, an iconic fashion silhouette for this decade.

The shoes are some cute little slip on shoes, worn with (what else) the classic bobby socks.

Finally, Clara has a cute 1950s haircut: a chin-length bob that curls out at the bottom. She has a headband, one of the most popular forms of hair decoration in the '50s.

The original dress was red and black. The original shoes were black and white.

Some of the popular colors for clothing in the 1950s were:



To print Clara's Dress, use this PDF file:
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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 1975 Blouse and Pants

I was watching a 1970s movie, and even if I could have ignored the cheesy acting, the clothing was hilarious. The outrageous hairstyles and clothing made me wonder if any clothing from that decade could be worn today without everyone knowing it was a vintage outfit.

I looked for "timeless classics" for a while, but all of the clothing from the 70s is immediately identifiable and very dated. The huge collars, modern-art or floral fabric patterns, bell bottoms, platform shoes, wrap dresses, and fitted blazers are all iconic of the 70s.

I did find one design for a blouse that would make a really cute, stylish blouse today. The original had an outrageous modern art design inset with a red gingham print. In a different fabric, it could be worn today. The blouse has butterfly sleeves, and two triangular insets on the bodice.

Clara's pants are bell bottoms. Originally made of a nice thick rayon. Eek.

Clara has some hair in a feathered "wings" style, similar to Farrah Fawcett's hairstyle in Charlie's Angels. I tried to make the cutting lines as simple as possible, but the hair still turned out pretty tough to cut out. Apologies for that. The hair does look pretty cute when it is on Clara, and won a complement from my youngest daughter. Tuck the dotted line tabs behind Clara's neck, and leave the rest of the hair in front of her shoulders.

Clara's shoes are some cute espadrilles. The thick platform soles are similar to shoes in style now, but the actual styling of the shoes is classic 1970s.

To print Clara's outfit, use this PDF file:
Clara's Dress 37 (749k)

Clara is a free, printable paper doll. Clara will continue to be available on this blog as long as I 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 (745k)

Clara's 1967 Zipper Dress

Clara’s dress is a very simple outfit with big pockets and a zipper down the front.

Wait! Hold on! That's the same description I used on Clara's 1937 Depression Era Zipper Dress. Look below the new dress to see the old depression era dress. You can compare the two styles. Even with the exact same description and the same basic elements, the dresses are very different in their design.

This 1967 dress has an A-line silhouette, big square pockets, and a straight yoke as an accent. The 1937 dress has big round pockets, a little trim, and a flared skirt. The three decades that separate the design of these dresses saw a huge change in fashion design, from the plainness of the depression to the more structured outfits of the WWII era. Then on to the fluffy, feminine 50s, and finally to the 60s.

By the 1960s, clothing was very reflective of the modern art movement, using bold colors and straight lines.

Very much in character in the 60s, Clara’s hair is long, and held back with a wide headband.

To finish off her outfit, her shoes have a very low wedge heel, and are decorated with big bows and rhinestone buckles.

Most of the colors in this decade were bright, clear colors. Along with black and white, these were some of the colors found in clothing from the 1960s:

To print Clara's Dress, use this PDF file:
Clara's Dress 17 (746k)

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.

Clara's 1838 Frock and Pantaloons

This week's fashion page for Clara is drawn from a fashion plate which appeared in The World of Fashion; January 1838. You can see the source of the fashion plate here if you are interested. (Click on the image to see a larger version of the fashion plate.)

This is the description found in the magazine:

YOUNG LADY'S DRESS.

FIG. 3.--India muslin frock and pantaloons; the corsage is trimmed with a fichu drapery, and the sleeves with knots of ribbon. Ceinture, neck knot, and hair knots en suite.

Notice the use of French throughout the description. Paris was (and mostly still is) the center of the fashion design world, so the magazine used French terms. For instance, a corsage is the bodice of the dress. A fichu drapery is basically a lightweight scarf worn over the shoulders, sometimes crossed over the chest. A ceinture is a waistband or belt... in this case, the ribbon around the waist of the dress. The term en suite means that all the bows and ribbons would match.

In the fashion plate, the little girl's frock matches her mother's ball dress. As was the fashion back then, a young girl was not old enough to wear a full-length gown. The pantaloons she is wearing under the dress would cover her legs to the ankle, to fit the standards of modesty.

Clara is wearing the dress shown in the fashion plate, but with some pretty big changes. Her shoulders do not match the curve of those in the drawing, and her waist is not painfully thin. I hope they did not put girls that young into corsets! (I had to change the width of the neck to cover Clara's swimsuit.)

Clara has her hair in ringlets, tied up with ribbons. She also has a fashionable neck knot in place of a necklace.

The slippers from this era were very thin and fragile and would only be worn at a dance. The slippers are tied with bows, making them look like ballet shoes.

Stockings were common in this time frame, and were usually made of a light cotton. The stockings were knit into a tube, and then the sole was cut and sewn into place. Because Clara is wearing ribbons on her ankles, I have given her plain stockings, but some of the stockings from this time were embroidered with beautiful florals or other designs. It was interesting for me to look at stockings from the 1830s, including these from the Kyoto Costume Museum.

You can see the original colors of the dress in the fashion plate above: white with pink ribbons. The original shoes were a beautiful leaf green, and must have gone with a green ball gown, since most outfits were "en suite," or carefully color matched.

You may also be interested to know that along with white, ivory, and gray, these were some of the popular colors for clothing in the 1830s:


To print Clara's Dress, use this PDF file:
Clara's Dress 15 (622k)

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.

1980s Dress with Square Collar

Ok, don't laugh! Girls really did wear their hair like that in the 1980s! My sisters and I all had perms and big bangs. The perms may have fried our hair into frizzy messes, but that was the style. Celebrities and movies stars did the same with their hair.

Looking back, a lot of fashion from the 80s was just in bad taste. Punk rock and gothic styles abounded. Movies like Flashdance and Valley Girl influenced fashion designs throughout the decade. Do you remember leg warmers, leggings, bangle bracelets, huge earrings, and ripped sweatshirts? All these fashions were based on pop culture. Workout clothing, baggy clothing, zebra stripes, bright colors... some of the clothing from the 80s is so over-the-top that it borders on the ridiculous.

Clara's dress for today, however, is from the "new romantic" movement in clothing. Lace, flowers, bows, and lots of frills were typical of this movement. Some of the lacy frills of the 80s went over-the-top as well, but overstatement seems to have been the trend of the 80s. Clara’s outfit is a classic style from the late 1980s with lacy, scalloped edges. The dress is a tea length, and pretty conservative for that decade.

Clara’s shoes are some simple vinyl slip-ons with low heels and square toes. Instead of being made of leather, synthetics were more prevalent as shoe materials. Even plastic shoes were popular.

The original Clara paper doll has a short, straight haircut, not in character for the 80s. So today, Clara has some frizzy, permed hair with stiff, hairsprayed bangs to go with her 1980s style dress. Personally, I would skip the "big hair," but it sure shows a major hallmark of the decade.

My husband has a great hairspray story from the late 80s. He and a group of friends decided to have a campfire one evening. As they sat by the fire, one girl pulled out her can of hairspray to add another layer of lacquer to her bangs. Unfortunately, the fire ignited the fumes, and caught her hair on fire. The quick thinking boys were able to pat the fire out, and the girl was unharmed, although she had some very singed hair. I wonder if she used less hairspray after her hair grew back?

In the 1980s, bright colors and patterns were very popular. Flowery impressionistic prints and neon colors were fashion fads, too. Along with black, white, and gray, here are some colors found in the clothing of the 80s:


To print Clara's dress, use this PDF file:
Clara's Dress 10 (909k)

Clara is a free, printable paper doll. Clara will continue to be available on this blog as long as I 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)