Aida ~

*Appointments were for my very senior kitty. It was not The Absolute Worst It Could Be, but not particularly good either :(

Gauguin - "Arearea"

Instead of looking primarily at color, for this art challenge I wanted to look a little more laterally for inspiration. For this piece I mulled a long time on a few ideas presented in the Musée d'Orsay's description:

• "where dream and reality coexist"
• "an enchanted world, full of both harmony and melancholy"
• Joyeusetés, an alternate name meaning 'Joyousness'

After some waffling around about how to approach the piece, I ended up boiling it all down to an overarching feeling of "dreamy".

Dreamy layers (#2/3). Light layering with an ethereal feel -- gauzy & sheer (tunic), silky (pants), and openweave (kimono cardigan). This one looks better in person because it's got all kinds of movement! It's a bit too many layers and too soft overall for me, so if I were to wear it out today I'd drop the cardigan (#3). Chose shades of green in honor of the lush landscape.

Dreamy light (#4/5). I adore wearing all white; it can have an otherworldly feel but can also seem out of place, especially in a casual setting. People definitely look again at all white. More arty layering including an old pair of pants I've got pinned for potential hemming (I think I'll go a little shorter, though) and one of the few pairs of heels remaining in my closet. Not in any way conventionally flattering but still pretty fun. I'd most likely wear it sans pants (#5) or with slim cropped jeans. Opted for a white dress in honor of the woman.

Dreamy style (#6/7). Romantic and joyous. This outfit epitomizes where I'd like my style to be right now: Modern Bohemian, with some romance, a little arty, and a little punk. Opted for light and dark versions of the same dress (I never duplicate items in different colorways, but for this dress I just had to make an exception). Am wearing the light dream version (#6) and feeling fab on a hot day; will wear the dark dream version (#7) in the near future ^^

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

Whiteley - "The Balcony 2"

Instead of looking primarily at color, for this art challenge I wanted to look a little more laterally for inspiration. Except with this piece, sorta ^^ On the page Sal linked to about the piece Whiteley's comment on the pigment itself is what really struck me:

'Windsor and Newton Deep Ultramarine oil colour has an obsessive, ecstasy-like effect upon my nervous system quite unlike any other colour.'

From a painting perspective, Ultramarine is my least used blue yet it's in my palette just the same because it's currently my only cool blue. I know maaaaany painters love this pigment but it definitely doesn't grab me the same way! I almost always opt for Cobalt instead; eventually I'd like to replace PV29 (ultramarine) with PB60 (indigo) which is much darker, though I'll probably still have a tube of ultramarine because I use it to pre-mix my preferred gray.

From a fashion perspective, I don't really wear this shade of vivid blue so instead I decided to focus on the colors that give me the same feeling Whiteley describes.

Color 1: Vivid red-orange. I will stop and check ANY item in this color, regardless of style or cut or fabrication, because it is my moooooost favorite. I did a quick count and found that roughly 10% of my wardrobe is this color or slight variation of (!). This color is tops for me regardless of season or trends and I don't expect that to ever change.

Color 2: Pale pink. This is my current trendy color crush. I've bought way too many pink things this season! Quick check clocks this color in at around 6-8% of wardrobe (yeesh, that happened quickly). I don't know if this will pass in time but it's been building for a while now, so it might end up sticking long term along with the orange.

And yet.... Today was too warm to wear either outfit and so I ended up with a deep blue just the same. I guess there's always room in the palette for Ultramarine ;) This deeper, darker shade of blue is more up my alley (it's a bit darker than in my photos) and I was very happy and comfortable in this new dress. I will definitely be wearing the other two outfits on cooler days, though!

I thought this piece would be the toughest of the challenge, but love how all three outfits turned out. Most of all, though, thinking on this specific piece inspired to pull my paints back out after several months not feeling like painting. I think might be the best thing to come from this challenge for me <3

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

Angus - "Cass"

Instead of looking primarily at color, for this art challenge I'm going to look more laterally for inspiration. The two main draws for me from this particular piece are space (vastness of the environment against smallness of the lone person) and, on a secondary level, signature (the description of Angus's style as flat/simplified colors, outlined elements, and "drawing with paint").

Fashion-wise it made sense to correlate "space" to "volume". While I was veerrryy tempted to simply go for a literal Maximum Volume Possible take, ultimately I decided that a wearable final outfit was more important ;) This one is still very voluminous, though!

The culottes were a no-brainer as my most voluminous bottoms, plus bonus that the tuxedo stripes echo the vertical elements in the painting. I picked this particular blouse because of the volume, color, the "ink drawn" look, and sleeve shape which echoes all the triangular geometry. Footwear considered only aesthetically, but upon later reflection I was amused that they are probably one of the few pairs I wouldn't wear in the environment depicted in the painting.

I took photos both tucked and untucked, and quite like them both though am actually wearing the untucked version. Tucked is definitely more traditionally flattering but I much prefer actual short tops over tucking these days. And while untucked is probably juuust at the edge of JFE, even with low-contrast flats, I'm really liking the funkier/artier/breezier vibe.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

Aaaand a few cooler early spring favorites (that's all for now, don't worry!). Not expecting much more of this weather ahead until fall, woohoo!

No spring purchases here but a couple from FW17: orange sweatshirt sweater, coral sharkbite sweater, oatmeal shawl cardi, black skinny jeans, plum plaid coat, and burgundy clutch.

Since these were faves I was happy with the whole lot :D I was super pleased at my discipline for repeating high happiness outfits, like these, this past season instead of wearing new combos "just because." Plus it's a lot easier esp. on those days when my brain just isn't going!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome ^^

Pretty happy with all of these but absolute highest happiness: #2/3, #10, #11, and #4 has been a great weekend casual go-to.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

We recently had a lovely week of unseasonably hot weather -- in the mid 80s, which is a solid 20-30F degrees warmer than usual for this time of year here. It was fun to pull out both old and new summer pieces, almost like a little summer test run. One of my summer goals this year is to wear dresses more but no worries I will continue to be a solidly representing member of Team Shorts.

photo #2 has a new jacket, rest are oldies but goodies. Loved the vibe this outfit has, would like more of it. Can't really see them but worn with big hammered gold hoops (they're in the Finds).

photo #3 is a go-to favorite outfit I've been wearing for a few years now (since 2015 maybe?). Updated with boho rose gold accents and new sunnies.

photo #4 is a mix of oldies worn in a new (?) way. A little hectic ^^ A rare outfit accented with silver. Ended up a lot warmer than expected so I was mostly sans jacket.

photo #5 is mostly newer (watermelon jacket, pink patterned dress). I got this cotton sack dress mainly for those really hot days when clothing just doesn't sound good and I think it will work really nicely for that!

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome.

Yesterday I thought I'd try another version of duster+culottes for some unseasonably warm weather. My initial purchasing thought for this semi-sheer navy duster was to wear with jean shorts and a breezy tank in high summer but this turned out pretty fun, too!

This is definitely one of those outfits that is extra tricky to photograph since every piece has both volume and a lot of movement (and me too during photo time, apparently ><). I very much enjoyed all the swooshing around ^^ Maybe not everyone's cuppa with the flats -- it would certainly be more conventionally flattering with a little heel -- but I liked the more relaxed vibe the flats offered.

Unfortunately the navy dye isn't quite set and rubbed off on various things throughout the day. Any tips on how to set it?

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!