Hey y'all! It's Style Imitating Art time again! As a reminder, this week's inspiration was The Star by the inimitable Edgar Degas. Let's get started!
First is Stephanie, who looks absolutely charming. The scarf is an awesome touch!
Next is Kezzie of KezzieAG, and please oh please look at her post because there's an adorable collage at the end of her frolicking in the yard! IT's too cute.
Sacramento at MIS PAPELICOS is a first timer here at SIA, and she looks great! I love her pink skirt. It matches the artwork so well!
Isabella over at Adventures in HEL has a FLOWER CROWN, y'all. That's all you need to know.
Jen of Librarian for Life and Style sent in a twofer this week: Jen AND her husband Sam! It doesn't get much better than that.
My SIA co-creator, Salazar at 14 Shades of Grey, has a skirt with tiny dancers on it. (Cue Elton John.)
And lastly, here's my outfit. Unfortunately lacking a flower in my hair, but next time I'll remember!
Everyone did an amazing job this week. I love all the outfits and I especially enjoyed seeing some of your attempts to photograph your dance moves! Classy stuff, everyone. Great job!
Dress: Boden | Belt: Target | Heels: Urban Outfitters | Lips: NARS Annabella
This DRESS, y'all. I've wanted this dress since it showed up on Boden's website months ago, when it was $168. (Not. Joking.) When it finally went on sale for half off, I thought FINE, I'll get it. You have convinced me, Boden! So I ordered a size down (my usual Boden size) and it was ENORMOUS. I almost never feel small due to clothing, but the entire thing was two inches two big. Weak. So back it went and I decided not to switch out on sizes, since it just wasn't worth it to me to keep sending dresses back and forth looking for the right fit. So out of sight, out of mind it went.
Until last week, when Boden sent me an email that some of their clearance items had been marked down to 80% off. And this dress was one of them! $33.60. Whoaaaaaa. You can safely assume that I broke down and ordered the next two sizes down to find the right dress size, and obviously things worked out, since I am now wearing this dress. BAM.
Also: ew. I need a haircut so badly, y'all. It's time to break out the scissors.
The Star, by Edgar Degas
Pastel on paper, 1881
If there has ever been a master of the medium of pastel, it is Edgar Degas. Pastel is a really difficult medium to work with--finicky, grimy, and not for the faint of heart, because the colours aren't mixed ahead of time and application can't be pre-tested. There's no way to cover up the mistakes of a pastel error, like you could with acrylic or oil paint (or like you could rinse off, with some watercolour). I remember using soft pastels when I was very, very young; my grandmother had a small tray of them and let me do what I would with them, which was almost Degas quality.
Degas' skill is at its finest in The Star, which beautifully combines highlights and lowlights. If you look closely, you realize that solid colours aren't really solid--they're amalgamations of other, less delicately manifested hues. There's almost a texture to each part of Degas' painting: the cotton candy softness of the ladies' tutus; the scratchy, crisp texture of the prima ballerina's dress; the wooden, yet leathery footing of the stage. It's amazing.
Please send me your photos inspired by this painting by Monday, September 22nd. (God, it's almost October.) I can't wait to see how you all interpret this beauty.
#throwingshade
It's been a very busy two weeks.
I was pet and house sitting on the opposite corner of the county from my parents/pets/house, which was...a bit of a struggle for me. I missed my dog. And my parents! And my horse, even though he's a jerk. I had my camera, tripod and remote with me the whole time, but driving to the house and taking care of the animals after spending all day at work wore me out! And to be honest, I was packing three work outfits at a time, then going home and getting three more, so my outfits were REAL basic, y'all. I'm talking dress and shoes just about every day.
And then on top of all that, I made my second trip to DragonCon, which meant very, very long days from Friday to yesterday. I slept like a BRICK last night! I was so tired. We got a lot done--I went for work, not for fun, tragically, but I still got to do some fun stuff, like asking THE Amy Acker a question about Person of Interest and taking a photo with the cast of King of the Nerds (see above). I also saw Joel Hodgson (of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 fame) in the flesh AND met the lead illustrator of Archer, which gave me a mini meltdown. He was super nice!
A. and I at the Hyatt (above) and Daft Punk cosplay (below)
DragonCon was a lot of fun, but I'm glad to be back home after so long not at home. It's good to just...watch the news. (One of the things I miss most when I'm not home, even when I visit my boyfriend.) Pet my dog. Laugh at my cats. Sleep in my own bed. Et cetera. Life on the road would not be for me, that's for sure. So it's good to be home, with my full closet at my fingertips, an with plenty of options for what to wear tomorrow!
The Serenade, by Eugene de Blaas
1910, oil on canvas
Hello everyone! What a whirlwind my life has been since the last post I made. I'll explain more in my next post, but for now, Jen has returned from vacation just in time to post her next pick, which is happy and cheery and a lot of fun. Lots of warm and cool, skirts and pants, brick and water--so many complimentary subjects in one painting! It's awesome. Send Jen your photos by Monday, September 8th to be included in the next roundup!
