A Fresh Green and White Spring Outfit for SIA: August Macke's Promenade

Marsha at Marsha in the Middle is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she selected the painting "Promenade" by early 20th century German Expressionist painter August Macke. She chose this artwork because she had heard of Expressionism but didn't know anything about it, and her search turned up this painting that she found delightful.

source: https://marshainthemiddle.com/

The bright greens of the trees appealed to me, so I pulled out my thrifted Eloquii green ankle pants. Most of the other colors were on the dark and/or moody side, so I picked up on the bits of white worn by the women in the painting with a summer cardigan.

Because this painting has so many different colors in it - and since full-on hot weather has yet to arrive in Minnesota - I wanted to wear a colorful scarf with my outfit. Looking at my predominantly green scarves, I had several options, but I decided to go with this thrifted boldly colored large scale fish scarf that refers back to the blue and pink tones in the painting but that has an overall spring-like vibe (compared to the more autumnal feeling of the painting, which has summer-to-fall transition colors).

I layered a white tank under my cardigan for a "modern twin set" look, which it turns out is something I haven't done with these pants before. One thing you learn from wardrobe and outfit tracking is that there can be a lot of new outfits (either undiscovered or considered but unworn) waiting in your closet.

OOTD 5/18/26

I love how the scarf works as a bridge between the white and green parts of my outfit. It's actually a really fun scarf that is perfect for spring/summer wear because (1) it is a very lightweight cotton fabric and (2) the short tassels along the edge has that free spirit/boho look that is perfect for summer. (That said, I do happily wear it in the colder seasons as well!) To see more of its fabulous print, check out this summer look in which I draped the scarf as a topper alternative.

While it would be very much my go-to style to wear tan animal print shoes with this look for some low-key print mixing, I chose my green flats in a brighter green that still coordinates with the pants and speaks to the "many greens" feel of the painting's foliage.

I don't have any bracelets made specifically to coordinate with this scarf, but I thought this DIY memory wire bracelet (made for a different multi-color scarf as shared in outfit #4 in this post) looked great with the outfit and brought in some of the other colors from the painting.

My earrings are a pair of world's easiest DIY hoops made with green crystals (in the same "pure green" as the pants) and gold spacer beads. (See earring design #2 in this post for more information.)

For 25 (!) other ways I've worn these green pants, check out my 30 wears posts:

Part 1

Part 2

Now for my favorite part of every SIA post: revealing our Rabbit Imitating Art!

Today's rabbit is an amazing blend of ridiculously soft and thoroughly disapproving...which only the Rex rabbit breed can attain! (Mini rexes are equally soft but their smaller size and slightly different resting face mean they do not achieve quite the same amount of daily disapproval as the big Rexes do.)

This bunny is the "blue" color...which results from recessive genes that dilute the black pigment in the fur to this lovely grey-blue tone. When a rabbit's coat is the same color all over, this is referred to as "self" coloring (also due to recessive genes). The term "self" feels a bit strange to modern ears, but it comes from Old English, in which the word self meant same or identical. Hence in Old English, "self-colored" (shortened to "self") meant something was the same color all over.

Given this rabbit's various recessive genes, moody blue color that matched the tree trunks, and "bullet loaf" pose with ears laid back and legs tucked under, I thought she was well positioned (haha) to hide in the park of the painting unbeknownst to the humans therein. Now to wait for someone to have a picnic!

Artwork "improved" with rabbit

Thanks for joining me today for this Style Imitating Art + Rabbit Imitating (and Improving) Art post!

To see other outfit interpretations of this artwork, check out the review on Marsha in the Middle.

What colors from this painting caught your eye? Which colors would you choose to interpret it as an outfit? What do you think of the green + white color combo for spring? Would you wear a lightweight scarf in spring/summer? Would you prefer to wear a printed top instead?

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