This morning’s post is part speculation, part history lesson and part printable fun! With the upcoming release of a new historical character from American Girl named Caroline Abbott, everyone is playing the guessing game – what era will our new character be from? Some have guessed the 1950s, some think the early 1900s, and then there are a lot of us who are GUESSING (we DO NOT know) that she will be from the early 1800s – maybe around the time of the War of 1812. Since we are guessing, I thought it would be fun to look at some fashions from the early 1800s and even found some you can print out and color, too.

This is Madame Alexander’s tribute to famous French painter Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun – she lived from 1755 until 1842. She was considered the most recognizable female painter of the 1800′s. The high-waisted, also known as empire waist dress that she is wearing in the photo above was very characteristic of the fashions in the early 1800s.

Also it was advised that young ladies to wear softer shades of color, such as pinks, periwinkle blue, or lilacs and thin fabrics such as muslin were often used for day dresses. Necklines began to be more square and everyday dresses were not as full. For evening the gowns were much more extravagant being trimmed with lace, ribbons and netting. Sleeves were often short with long gloves and shawls over top.

The image below shows how fashion evolved pretty quickly in the late 1700s to early 1800s – notice where the waistline is (and how quickly it goes right back down):

This image is only part of a larger graphic on Victorian fashion – click here to see more dresses and read more about the whole Victorian age. You can always save the image off your computer and print it out to color.

The Graphics Fairy has a really neat coloring page of Regency Fashions (which is what the period form 1795-1820 is often referred to as).

Jane Austen was an English writer who lived from 1775 until 1817. Practical Pages has paper dolls from a variety of eras, and I thought this Jane Austen set fit right in with our speculation on Caroline Abbott and what she “might” wear. Click on the image above to get to the full size version to print and color.

I can get completely lost in Liana’s Paper Doll blog! She has got some of the most captivating designs for every era in history. Take a look at her 1800s paper doll dresses. She has some that are black and white and suitable for printing that you can then color on your own.

So, based on the silhouette of Caroline in the book cover above plus the fashion history lesson you just got, what do you think? Do you think Caroline will be from the early 1800′s?

Either way, whether Caroline is from the early 1800′s or not, it really is a lot of fun to learn about history through fashion!

I was going through my list of bookmarks and revisited a site I meant to share with you a long time ago – MyDollsLife.com.

MyDollsLife is a retailer of doll clothes that fit 18″ dolls, but they also have some cute, free printable paper dolls and doll games.

There is also a fun interactive doll dress up/scene creator that is very cute and appropriate for girls of all ages. Definitely worth checking out!

My 6 year old is loving paper dolls lately and keeps asking me to print out new paper dolls for her. I have collected quite a list and decided to share some of my favorites with you.

Printable Paper Dolls:

• American Girl Historical Characters Paper Doll activity
• Teri’s Paper Dolls – All of these are scans from out of print paper doll books. Includes Strawberry Shortcake, Marlo Thomas, Betsy McCall, and more.
• Betsy McCall Paper Dolls
• Jan Brett – Hedga and Hedgie
• Berenstain Bears Dress Up Paper Dolls

Paper dolls you can buy (click on image for ordering information):

Paper Doll Fashion Fun: Make Paper Doll Clothes With the Supplies Inside! (American Girl) Making Memories Paper 12"x 12" Toil & Trouble Kiss Cut Paper Doll Kids Paper Doll Game Paper Doll Pad 8 – 40 Sheets PS Paper Doll Kit Barbie Sparkling Magnetic Paper Dolls Disney Fairies Sparkling Magnetic Paper Dolls Disney Princess Sparkling Magnetic Paper Dolls Samantha Play Scenes & Paper Dolls: Decorate Rooms and ACT Out Scenes from Samantha’s Stories (American Girl) Rebecca Play Scenes & Paper Dolls (American Girl) Julie Play Scenes & Paper Dolls: Decorate Rooms and Act Out Scenes from Julie’s Stories! (American Girl) Molly Play Scenes & Paper Dolls: Decorate Rooms and ACT Out Scenes from Molly’s Stories (American Girl) Kit Play Scenes & Paper Dolls: Decorate Rooms and Act Out Scenes from Kit’s Stories! (American Girl) Josefina Play Scenes & Paper Dolls Felicity Play Scenes & Paper Dolls Cecile & Marie-Grace Play Scenes & Paper Dolls (American Girl) Fabulous Fashion (Paper Doll Book): Barbie I Can be. Anything I Want to Be (Barbie) (Paper Doll Book) Debbie Reynolds Paper Dolls Western Star Style Paper Dolls Hollywood Style of the 30s, 40s and 50s Paper Dolls The Pink Wedding Paper Dolls Esther Williams Paper Dolls: Movie Clothes and Swimwear Cinderella, The Little Mermaid and Other Fairy Tale Paper Dolls Alice in Wonderland Paper Dolls: Through an All New Looking Glass (English and English Edition) Madeline Paper Dolls (Viking Kestrel picture books) Sesame Street Classic Dress Up with Big Bird Sticker Paper Doll Little Flower Girls Sticker Paper Dolls (Dover Little Activity Books) Little Figure Skater Sticker Paper Doll (Dover Little Activity Books) Fairy Paper Doll (Paper Dolls) Birthday Girls Sticker Paper Dolls Japanese Kimono Paper Dolls Little Hispanic-American Girl Paper Doll (Dover Little Activity Books Paper Dolls)

More Paper Doll fun:

• Paper Doll Game
• Flower Fairies Paper Dolls (Flower Fairies)
• The Fabulous Book of Paper Dolls (Klutz)
• Barbie Fabulous Fashion (Paper Doll Book)
• Paper Fashions: Design Your Own Styles (Klutz)
• Paper Fashions Fancy (Klutz)
• Disney PRINCESS PAPER DOLL & STORYBOOK KIT
• Crayola Magic Princess Paper Doll Maker
• Littlest Pet Shop Activity Set Paper Doll Magnetic Tin
• Mary Queen of Scots Paper Dolls
• Fun and Fancy (Paper Doll Book)
• Famous Movie Wedding Gowns Paper Dolls
• Famous American Women Paper Dolls in Full Color