Historical Disney Princess Coloring Pages

Thank you so much! That really means a lot! As I was writing everything down, I kept thinking, "I really need to organize this better. Surely no one will want to read this mess, especially on permies!" But, I didn't really have the time, and in the end I just kept going, figuring it would at least be a good place to record all my links and images and thought-processes.

It's really hard picking time periods for each princess, because they are fantasy. Lots of people have different opinions for what time period each movie was set in--some differ by centuries! But, I think most of the fun of this project is learning about the time periods, and how style changed so much from place to place, and what materials and dyes were available to get which colors, etc. The research into what technology and building styles are in the movie to help place the time periods is a lot of fun, too.

I've learned so much from this project, and I think my daughter has, too. She really enjoys seeing what's the same and what is different. I'm glad we're not the only ones enjoying my trip through history!

Elsa 1843, Norway. I was originally going to do both Elsa and Anna in this post, and only do Elsa's coronation dress. But, I ended up figuring out a way to make a historical version of the iconic blue dress! So, I'll be posting Anna in the next post!



First off, the coronation dress! Movie Elsa has a dark colored gown. Apparently, coronation robes (both in the 1800s and now) are white/cream and gold, with an ermine trimmed velvet cape (the cape seems to always be a dark color, like black, deep indigo, deep scarlet, or a deep plum, or--more modernly--deep violet.)

I found quite a few coronation attire from queens in the time period. The gold embroidery seems to be different for each gown, so I kept Elsa's embroidery, but made it gold. I also made the dress wider to fit the silhouette of the time period. I gave her a deep plum/tryian purple robe and crown, to give a nod to her brighter magenta movie robe. I also added in teal-ish marquise-cut sapphires in her crown and broach. It looks like the coronation robes/capes of the time period did not clasp at the front, but I was struggling for how to draw that, so I cheated and gave her the broach!

1840s Princess Eugénie of Norway

Joséphine, Princess of Norway 1837

Swedish royal family 1837

Princess Eugenie of Sweden, born 1830

princess Eugenie

Queen Victoria Coronation 1838 England

Danish coronation 1841

1840 Denmark coronation

1844 Queen Josephine coronation, Sweden

Swedish crown

queens crown Norway

For Elsa's blue dress, many people either give up and say, "It's magical, so it doesn't need to look historical." Or they make it look like a traditional bunad or other gown from the era.



I decided, instead, to think that if she's magicking up a dress, she'd make one based upon something she's seen. Maybe make Elsa's blue gown reminiscent of what her mother would have worn 20 years earlier? It's a more movable fashion, and something she would have seen and felt nastalgic about.

1820s

1825

1822

1820-23

1820

1823, Princess Josephine

1823

I was chatting with my husband about this, and he mentioned she would have had portraits from all eras. So I pulled out a woman's fashion timeline, to see which silhouette was closest to Elsa's



The silhouette of 1810s looks closest! And, looking closers, 1800-10s is even more like what Elsa is wearing:

1800

1804-05

late 1790s

1810

1807

Links:
Princess Eugénie of Sweden
Joséphine of Leuchtenberg, Queen of Sweden and Norway
Fashion History 1840-1849
Being a teen in 1823
The 1820s in Fashionable Gowns: A Visual Guide to the Decade
Dying with Cochineal extract
Bloshka 1800s fashion
Muslin: A Beautiful & Versatile Cloth for Regency Fashion
Costume Analytics: A White Wedding Gown from Tidens Toj Museum
Regency Fashion History 1800-1825 | Beautiful Pictures Empire Line Dresses

Nicole, thank you so much for putting this all together! The amount of work you have put in on this project is admirable, and I love how you went all in on trying your hardest to make something as -- well-- *Disneyfied* as the Disney princesses appear more historically accurate. My daughter is going to love this when I show it to her.

Brandi Hutcheson wrote:Nicole, thank you so much for putting this all together! The amount of work you have put in on this project is admirable, and I love how you went all in on trying your hardest to make something as -- well-- *Disneyfied* as the Disney princesses appear more historically accurate. My daughter is going to love this when I show it to her.

Thank you! I hope she enjoys them!!!