Two weeks I did a post about a belated birthday box I received in the mail… (HERE) and among all the wonderful gifts that were given to me, a set of vintage reproduction paper dolls were included. I hadn’t opened them up until this evening and decided I’d like to share them with you. I’ll show one of the paper dolls now and save the other one for another time.
This 1880’s doll is just the most darling young girl and shown in her sweet camisole and pantalettes.
I had no idea what the clothing would look like and was very pleased at what was included.
Behind the paper doll were several pages of clothing and the first sheets I turned over looked like this…
…just in style for the “coloring book” craze that is sweeping the country…
But then I flipped over another page and look what it was…
Isn’t that fancy dress the prettiest thing???? I love the hat for it and the green suit!!!
Several of the dresses caught my eye, and I was already thinking of how I would duplicate them… hmmmm… :o)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this last dress!
I have plenty of ideas just from this one paper doll set. I wouldn’t let myself open up the other set from 1914… I want to keep it a secret for when I share it with you…
I hope you have a Happy Saturday…
See you on Monday,
Blessings, Jeanne
What wonderful inspiration. I’m wondering if you shouldn’t do a couple more Christmas dresses now and save working out new patterns for some of these for the slow-selling part of the year. The yellow dress would work as a Regency dress as well as 1880s. I have one of your Regency dresses that I thought would work as well for 1880 or 90, and this certainly demonstrates the connection.
That last dress that you really love has a hat that looks much easier to recreate than some of the others. You are going to have a lovely time looking for trim and lace. I do really like that the styles cover all the seasons. As you pointed out the other day, sewing for the current season seems to produce some of the best sellers. It’s so helpful that they often name the fabric used in the original.
I did find another copy of this book on Amazon for $129, just in case anyone is interested. Could you link to the blog entry with the other book? Most of the company’s production seems to be literature/fairy tale related paper dolls.
That was silly of me. Of course you linked to the blog entry showing the other book — it’s in the very first line of this entry. If anyone is looking for paper dolls from this company, Peck-Gandre seems to be the working key word. ABE.com has a search feature — if you want something in particular, they will search for it on your behalf.
HI Marilyn,
I seriously doubt I’ll be drafting any new patterns before Christmas…but it would be a good project to do in January or maybe February… after I do a few Valentine dresses…but then along comes Easter pretty quickly!
I do like that long yellow ruffled dress and can almost see it on Josefina as well…
Yikes… $129.00? oh my goodness!
Thanks for checking around…
Blessings, Jeanne
Looks like lots of inspiration with the paper doll book.
We have rain here today, which is much better than the cold we had yesterday.
After all the Thanksgiving leftovers, we need to get in some exercise today. 🙂
HI Joy,
Yes, there is LOTS of inspiration on all those pages of doll clothes.
We have a sunny, but slightly cool… 50 degrees day here. I got out and a looked around at a few things, but was looking for a new non-stick skillet with the thick bottom on it. I did find one at Kohl’s so I ended up getting $15 in Kohl’s Cash…YAY!
I got in a few steps today too on my fitbit… I’m at 5832 right now. I need to do about that much more… :o)
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
The book is beautiful. I always look up your book selections on eBay, even though I had made a resolution not to buy any more books. I saw Marilyn’s Comment and thought maybe she had slipped a digit in the pricing, but I checked on Amazon and it is true, $129! Yikes! With only one left! But I found one on eBay for $12.99 with free shipping. Always have to watch that as some listings charge $23 for shipping the same book. I’ll see what turns up. It says the outer wrapping is torn but the book is intact, so we’ll see. Thanks again for the wonderful posts, Jeanne, and Marilyn for your always helpful tips and thorough research.
I thought I was silly before, when I didn’t check for a link, but at last I thought of Ebay, and now I feel sillier — if you want these paper dolls or others in the series, Ebay has quite a few. Instead of $129, you can pay prices like $4-12, and of course, as Susette says, check the shipping prices.
HI Susette,
Actually this paper doll set is just pages and not a book… it was just in the pretty folder to hold them all together. They did have the plastic wrapping around them too.
They really are pretty. I had forgotten how much I used to love paper dolls…
Yes, I have to agree, Marilyn is always my super sleuth at finding things in the books section! You do quite well, too, Susette!
I hope you’re both having a nice day!
Blessings, Jeanne
Ooooh, paper dolls! I still, to this day, check to see what paper dolls are out there at various stores! I had when I was a little girl, what must have been zillions of paper doll books, the kind you cut out, and I played paper dolls with my best friend, -and myself-just about every day! When I was little, the movie star paper dolls were the real deal. I had Esther Williams, Betty Grable, Hedy Lamar, Sally Forrest, Elizabeth Taylor, etc., plus wedding paper dolls, ballerina paper dolls, baby paper dolls, just anything you could imagine! I was gifted a box of already cut out paper dolls when I was sick in the hospital when I was 10, and spent many happy hours playing in my hospital bed. They were a wonderful release for me. I have all the American Girl paper doll books, but have not really cut them out.
I love the fact that those paper doll books you have featured show what kind of material is used. What a fun thing to be able to color some of them! I love the one with the purple jacket and hat, with the two tiered lace skirt and lace collar. The hat would be on the “difficult” list for sure! The red and white long dress reminds me of the Queen of Hearts for some reason!
Have a great Sunday, Jeanne!
HI Linda,
It sounds like you and I would have been best buds when it comes to playing with paper dolls. We used to cut things out of the catalogs…like pictures, clocks, lamps, curtains, etc, and Cindy and I would tape them to our sliding closet door. Then we used to play dolls in front of them… setting up beds, couches, tables, etc. It was so much fun at the time. I wish I had some pictures of those things…
You are right, that red and white done DOES look like the Queen of Hearts to me too. I think they are all pretty and it will be fun to do some “copy cat creations” one of these days.
Thanks Linda,
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Blessings, Jeanne