1912 Dress Contest

A dress with a lace overskirt and bodice over an embroidered underdress. It is gathered slightly above the waist with a wide sash and a large rose at the front.The bad news is that I put off this Friday’s dress too long, intending to work on it on Thursday, and then didn’t have the time on Thursday that I thought I would. I should be able to post it tomorrow, and I’m sorry for the wait.

The good news is that I’m going to start the contest anyway! In my poll earlier this month, 1910s dresses trounced the competition. Since I added the detail that these were Titanic-era dresses, I looked to 1912 fashions for inspiration. As always, the winner of this contest will get to tell me how to color this gown. This is just a sketch, meaning that the decorations are just placeholders: my intention is that the part bordered with the scalloped edge will be a very detailed lace pattern, and the scroll designs are also subject to change. If the contest winner likes, I’m open to suggestions for what the patterns and lace should look like.

The contest will run until noon on Thursday, March 27, and the winner will be picked by a random number generator. If you’ve won one of my contests this year, please don’t enter this one.

To enter, please post one comment answering this question: Between the cast of Titanic and the cast of Downton Abbey, who would win in a fight? You can define “fight” however you like, if you’re so inclined: the old-fashioned criteria of “no weapons, knee deep in mud, last one standing,” or perhaps the battles would involve snarky quips, salad forks, dance prowess, making the other side cry with tragic love stories — you tell me which story set in 1912 reigns supreme and, if you like, why.


Carousel Outfit by Bitter Lilly and Fan-Made Dresses from Liana’s Paper Doll Boutique

Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.
The drawing on the far left was done by Bitter Lilly for Valentine’s Day. (I’m sorry it took me so long to put it up!) I don’t know the image that inspired her that she refers to on her original post, but I love how soft and ethereal it looks, especially the turtleneck — you can almost feel it, and if I had a turtleneck like that I would always keep petting my own arms and people would look at me strangely.

Bitter Lilly has also colored some of the black and white gowns I have up, as well as drawn a couple more original outfits; check out her DeviantArt page, specifically the “Liana” gallery (although there are some lovely photos on her main page as well!)

These days I don’t get too many fan submissions of outfits that fit my dolls; I suspect a lot of that energy has gone into people creating their own paper doll blogs, as a glance over my blogroll can attest. (Have I mentioned lately how much I love my little subculture? I have high hopes of us landing on the xkcd Map of Online Communities someday, on a little island right near “Diary Blogs” and “Writing/Poetry”.) But back when I did the Boutique, I did have some people send in some great outfits.

Click for the doll.

The blue gown and the yellow jacket with a white skirt are actually by my cousin Becky; if you’ve been paying attention you may remember her from this purple gown and this fairy dress. The pink and green hoopskirt was by someone who wanted to be called “Anonymous” and of course, I’ve lost the original e-mail so I can’t credit her properly ten years later. I had to go back through my files to place a name on most of these, but the geometric blue evening dress is evidently by Emily. Jedi Guinastasia did quite a few for me, particularly a number of dresses from Titanic; the layered dress from Titanic and the blue gown are by her.

Now, how is that for a really lazy post? I didn’t draw a single part of it! Well, I will be back from my trip soon, so look for a new dress in a couple of days!


One Last Dress from My Fair Lady and Two Dresses from Titanic from Liana’s Paper Doll Boutique

Click for the doll.

My apologies, my time management skills have been lacking the last couple of days! So, here are a couple of Boutique dresses instead, and I will draw something new tomorrow. I’m glad I worked on the Boutique so diligently all that time ago, it’ll be a while before I run out of things to post. Anyways, these are the green dress from My Fair Lady and the beaded gown and boarding dress from Titanic.

The other poll is still going to be open for a few days, but I also want to move on to the next batch…