Brushstrokes

I was at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta yesterday for a Dutch masters exhibit, which included Girl with a Pearl Earring. I found a ton of artwork that you may see as inspiration for a future SIA! But most striking (and which I will be kind and not make you use for SIA) is this delightful portrait of Floride Bonneau Calhoun, a South Carolina debutante who was married to the one and only John C. Calhoun, a congressman from my very own South Carolina and vice president to John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Yeah, I googled all that shit. Everyone who walked by this portrait stopped in their tracks, including myself. It's rather unexpected, to say the least, for a historical portrait to be so honest about the less-than-perfect qualities of one's physical attributes.

Worktoberfest

Top: Old Navy
Belt: Target
Skirt: American Apparel
Wedges: Shoes Carnival
Book: This Beautiful Life by Helen Schulman
Drink: Pepsi



What does this outfit look like to you? Is it this?



If so, then YOU'RE RIGHT! Octoberfest has just ended and I live in an area with a large number of German immigrants, and best of all, the local oompah band came to the library to jam. I'm about as German as any other third generation American (so not really all that German) and I can honestly say all I needed to make my life complete today was some beer and a soft pretzel. I settled for a good book and some Pepsi instead. Compromise: it's what makes Germans great.

Or all that anger.

Ballerina, spin me round

Top: Old Navy
Skirt: JCPenney
Flats: Banana Republic



As a child, I wasn't keen on dance of any sort. Or anything involving moving, really, but that's not the point of this post. My best friend when I was tiny was big on ballet, and her mother took her to lessons weekly. The bug never bit me, thankfully, and to this day I only dance if I am drunk or cajoled by college friends at weddings.



But I'm an art lover, and I find inspiration in all forms of art. One of my favourite parts of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art was coming across a room dedicated to Edgar Degas' sculptures of horses (because I'm a horse fan) and ballet dancers (because while I don't dance, ballet is an incredible art in itself). One of Degas' great sculptures is The Little Dancer Age Fourteen, which I have had the luck to see multiple times in DC, and that, combined with his studies of ballet dancers and my purchase of this decidedly ballerina-y top, gave me inspiration. Do you see it? Perhaps? Maybe it's just me, but either way, I'm dressed and that's considered success in this household.

Graphic inspiration

Necklace: JCPenney
Scoop neck top: JCPenney
V-neck top: Target
Jeans: Walmart
Flats: Target
Nails: Zoya Dove



I think I've clarified once or twice that I have a bit of a girl crush on E. from Acadmichic. Her style is basically da bomb dot com and she mixes colours like no other. So when she offered up a challenge to style an outfit from a book cover, I had to jump in on it.



But what book to choose? The book I'm currently reading, How to Read the Air, doesn't have the most inspiring cover ever (though it is beautiful), and the only books currently in my room--which is in the middle of an eternal redecorating--are Middlesex and Half Broke Horses, neither of which stir the creative juices.

But yesterday a graphic novel I had on hold, Mister Wonderful, came in for me at work, and I was thrilled to see an outfit practically laying before me. Dark denim for the sky, a yellow shirt for the title. It was like a little spark, seeing this book.



And then I found this door behind the local overpriced-but-has-good-sales grocery store (you know that place) and it was like a sign. And THEN my poses weren't awkward for once and I finished my shoot in 10 minutes and very happy. It was like the stars aligned, all because of E. I can die happy now, and that's probably a good thing since the rapture is tomorrow. I might quit my job and sell my house* and wait on bended knee!



*haha I live with my parents

An ode to Mondrian

First of all, happy Veteran's Day! Hug a veteran today.



Cardigan: Target
Dress: Anthro
Belt: Target
Tights: Target
Wedges: Shoe Carnival

Second, have you ever seen this painting?



You have now!
I'm an avid art fan, and though De Stijl isn't my favourite school of art, one has to respect Piet Mondrian and how he revolutionized art.

I bought this orange dress from Anthropologie at the end of the summer when it hit the sale rack--originally I wanted the gray version of the dress, but it was sold out so I dove for the orange. It was great while it was still warm out, but since fall rolled around it's been hard to incorporate the dress into my wardrobe.

Mondrian to the rescue! At a certain point the two thoughts "there's no white" and "there's a lot less colour than this in Mondrian's paintings" crossed my mind, but there comes a time where one just has to make the move! I'll admit that not looking in the mirror before going to work helped me remain optimistic about my style choice--and I received a number of comments (not necessarily compliments!) about what I wore to work. My favourite was "on anyone else it would look stupid, but because it's you it's a pass". No matter what people thought when they saw my fashion choice, I'm really pleased with the final product. I may not necessarily make this colour combination a permanent installment in my rotation, it may become an exhibit.

Do you ever mix colours in an unexpected way? How do you make it work?