Be sure to click on the image to see the details on this; it's fabulous! This was part of a larger sheet (of which I will maybe share more later) that recently sold on eBay for about $100. The seller identified it as a McLoughlin, but something about the colors tells me it's foreign, perhaps. There's no marking on the sheet and it's reminiscent of sheets I've seen produced in Germany, but then again, I am no expert in these things ~ it's merely a hunch. I have a resource book that might identify it. When I am not feeling so lazy, maybe I will look it up.

And yes, laziness reigns here at Chez Boots. I am still thinking about what I want to do about my poor dolls. I keep thinking lightning will strike, but it hasn't. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy these random offerings.

Volume 26 didn't have much to offer for April, so we're leaping here from the end of March to the beginning of May. The sorta militaristic theme of the Bank Holiday costume is common in this series (it's the third example of this style I have posted already!), but I love how this one has a keg with it. The May costume is just simple, floral, and fun ~ love both the hat and the patterned stockings. Some of these costumes are rather risque for the period (short skirts and a lot of leg!).

I am going to focus on these Judy costumes and on sharing my rather extensive collection of other artists' work for a spell while I rethink what to do with the Reconstruction dolls. I do love the style of these Judy dolls and her clothes are fun to make because I can produce them fairly quick and I am not agonizing over colors (you can do that with your own markers, pencils, etc.). Click the image to download the .pdf, and select "Judy" from the categories on the left if you need to find the original doll again. Have fun!

The good news (great news!) is that I finally have a new scanner (huzzah!). The not-so-great news is that I have not really been doing much in the down time, so I haven't got tons of new things to share with you (though I had hoped to). It's just amazing to me how much I can let technology cripple me sometimes ~ hence my Luddite tendencies.

But anyway, here's some new Judy costumes (still from Volume 26, but appropriate for the month, so that worked out). Have no idea what onions have to do with Saint David (that's what I believe that thing on the first dress is). The Spring Costume is likewise fanciful with carrots and a bird's nest for a hat. I think I mentioned this before, but the artist gets sillier and sillier the longer the feature runs, so you can expect all shades of crazy as I continue.

Another astonishing Worth creation from 1882. This image comes from The Opulent Era: Fashions of Worth, Doucet and Pingat
by Elizabeth Ann Coleman. Just in case we needed further proof of Worth's brilliance.

In truth I don't love everything by Worth (some, in fact, make me cringe), but as mentioned before on this blog, this is probably my favorite era of fashion in the 19th century. This is absolutely nothing I would ever want to wear ~ too froo froo with all those flowers, but I do appreciate it as quite the phenomenon of silk and tulle and layers and sculpting!

Here is yet another gorgeous Worth gown from 1884 which I found at Ye Olde Fashion. The gold and black is exquisite and somehow manages to not look garish. As always, click the picture to see more details up close. And check out that tumblr account (it is chock full of amazing things!).

As for me and why I have been rather absent here, as usual I have very few good excuses, though my scanner has died once and for all and I will have to get a replacement before I can post any new work, which has put a major crimp in everything. Hopefully I will find a scanner to my liking and get it set up soon. I tried to find one this weekend, but didn't really care for the models available in the stores. I don't want to be too picky, but I also want something that will serve me well as my last one did for nearly ten years. Rest in peace, old friend.

I managed to get these scanned sooner than anticipated, so here we have (well before Friday!) two new costumes for Judy that you can download and color.

After scouring the earlier volumes of the serial from which these costumes originate, I discovered a few scattered through Volume 25 which I may pick up to add here, but the "costume of the week" feature really didn't seem to be fully established until Volume 28 or so; but don't worry ~ there is a veritable trove of material to work from given the long-running status of the journal.

Some of the almanacs also have wonderful outfits which I may also use. I think you can be safely assured that I won't run out of Judy material any time soon. Many of these early costumes are somewhat conventional, but trust me, they get a lot weirder and wilder as the years go by (the artist, A. Chasemore, clearly had fun with this).

Click to download the .pdf!

While RLC is gearing up to meet the challenge of creating a male paper doll for her blog this year (grin), I thought I would also likewise challenge myself to do something I've been wanting to do inspired by her Paper Thin Personas: draw a black & white doll that you can download to color.

Some background: from 1867 to 1907, a weekly periodical by the name Judy; or the London serio-comic journal was published. One of its regular cartoonists was A. Chasemore, who drew the "Fashion for the week". This illustration was generally a fantasy concoction; nothing anyone would have really worn except perhaps in a theatrical or masquerade ball. The costumes were sometimes allegorical, sometimes political, and mostly just whimsical. And since they were drawn in ink and published in black & white, sky's the limit on the color interpretations!

The model for the outfits was just an "everywoman" but I have taken the liberty of naming her after the publication. Judy the magazine, of course, was a competing journal to the much more popular Punch.

Since I am posting plates for Reconstruction every two weeks, I will try to post Judy in between. My access to the Judy journal is all over the map, so I am not drawing her outfits in any particular order. I started with Volume 26 by pure randomness. It was the first volume that I was able to absolutely confirm the "Fashion for the week" illustration, but I may find it started before. In fact, I skipped the January 14th issue by accident and will go back to pick it up in the next post.

Click the image to download the .pdf. I haven't decided yet whether I will build Judy her own gallery. We'll see how she goes.