For Fall 2020, Black is Once Again "The New Black" The recent Fall 2020 Designer Collection runway shows have repeated the news that same-ol’ same-ol’ black is again the last word, a predestined top trend. More than just an expected, safe color story, black is a powerful dark force that expresses a sad state of affairs inspiring designers to create fashions that bring to mind monastic mourning. Everybody’s doing it. Many designers often choose to open and close their shows with dramatic black.  The ever-popular Black Statement that never ends: Akris, Balenciaga, Givenchy ..read more

Relevant Ready-to-Wear for Fall 2020 Hundreds and hundreds of fashion shows previewed the 2020 international designer collections in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Something for every woman, certainly. As always, an overwhelming variety of looks encompass the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly and the outrageous.  Most interesting was the surprising, long-overdue number of wearable clothes for real women. What a relief to see fashion that is relevant to reality! Ready-to-Wear that really IS ready to be worn by real women. Instead of too many silly masquerade costumes as is so of ..read more

The Show of Shows for Spring 2020 Jean-Paul Gaultier, a towering talent and fearless fashion kingpin shocked the fashion world by announcing his retirement after 50 years of success. To celebrate his declaration of independence, the oft-outrageous designer staged the most exciting fashion show seen during the recent Paris Haute Couture preview week. No small event, 200 amazing looks sauntered down the runway, worn by a cast of Gaultier’s favorite interesting and eccentric models and characters. The gender fluid extravaganza revisited some Gaultier classics themes including his blue/white s ..read more

Browsing Through My Archives How many paper dolls have I created since I began working with publisher Jenny Taliadoros way, way back in 2004? Seldom does a day go by that I’m not immersed in a pd project. Do I have a favorite? It’s always the one that’s just been published. Some seem to have slipped through the cracks in my memory. Case in point…"Bling!" was a special book tied-in to a spectacular exhibition at the OshKosh Public Museum. It was curated by fashion historian and vintage fashion collector and friend, Scott Jorgenson. I cannot recall the year of the impressive display of fashio ..read more

Royal Princesses, Regally Dressed I have just finished a new paper doll book, scheduled to be published mid-year by Paper Studio Press. “Royal Princesses of the 20th Century” features five real-life Royals, each with several outfits. Princess Alexandra of Denmark married the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria’s son, and thereby became the longest reigning Princess of Wales in history until she was crowned Queen Consort. Princess Margaret Rose, sister of Elizabeth II, was a glamorous personality with a devil-may-care air and a hedonistic attitude. Diana, Princess of Wales was so popular she be ..read more

Christmas at Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn It's that wonderful time of the year! My annual Paperdollywood paper doll Christmas card is my little gift for you! It celebrates one of my very favorite holiday movies, starring Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Marjorie Reynolds and Virginia Dale in a musical comedy based on Irving Berlin's year 'round holiday songs. Holiday Inn is a 1942 black and white classic, so it was fun to imagine the colors of the ladies' fashions. Click here for a PDF to save, print, collect, cut, craft and share with friends and family this holiday season! This replaces my usu ..read more

Europe's Grand Finale for Spring 2020 Spring 2020. A new decade. What will 2020s bring in fashion? The first season of this new beginning is off to a challenging start. The European Fashion Weeks in London, Milan and Paris staged scores and scores of runway shows.  New trends? Nothing that hasn’t been seen before, many times over, but given a different twist, a fresh spin, the fashion version of today’s “fake news”syndrome. Same old, same old blue jeans are presented as if they are news. Pantsuits also are hardly new but they are everywhere, as are trenchcoats, destined for another seas ..read more

Tomorrow's Talented Grads Parson’s School of Design’s 2019 graduate show in New York City provided a preview peek at 12 talented students who are possibly the fashion stars of the future. They are heralded as the masters of fine arts and if their collections are any indication, tomorrow’s fashions are going to be highly creative, surprisingly colorful and somewhat suggestive. As is often the case of fashion college collections, exciting they may be, but what works on the runway is usually a quantum leap away from reality.   Left: Sho Konishi. Center: Hualei Lu. Right: Meg Calloway.  Left ..read more

New Creative Collaboration In last month’s Blog, I wrote of the challenge I faced in working on a new paper doll book, “Stripes!” I wanted to re-concept the entire project, making the dolls and the clothes look more modern, more doll-like. I realized that my usual, vintage-style painterly artwork would not have the look I was after. What to do? I conferred with Jenny and together we came up with an experimental idea. Why not collaborate with a digitally adept, computer savvy artist, someone like the tremendously talented Julie Allen Matthews? (She illustrated Kitchen Kitsch Paper Dolls and w ..read more

Fall '19 Haute Couture Creativity Paris custom-made elitist fashion, known as Haute Couture, lives in a world of its own, governed by a confusing calendar that schedules Fall ’19 shows in July ’19. Confusing because the more realistic ready-to-wear designers have leapt ahead and already have shown Spring ’20 collections in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Confusing? Nobody seems bothered. A handful of designers demonstrate the diversity that defines fashion today. Each and every designer executes his or her own ideas, sometimes coincidentally agreeing on “trends” such as similar color p ..read more