A Navy and Yellow Summer Outfit for SIA: Ogata Korin

This post is dedicated to the memory of our friend Iris from the Where Bloggers Live group. I think she would have appreciated this artwork!

Salazar at 14 Shades of Grey is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she selected the "Irises" folding screens by early 18th century Japanese artist Ogata Korin. In keeping with the summer season most of us are experiencing, she wanted "something summery and nature-themed" and thought this would be fun to interpret because "we've featured another iris painting on SIA before (Van Gogh's Still Life with Irises, which was greatly influenced by this very screen)." There are two screens that I am showing with one atop the other so we can better see what the artwork looks like.

source: https://14shadesofgrey.wordpress.com/

The color scheme and floral motifs made this an easy choice for me: a navy tank top with a floral print including both green and yellow plus a yellow cardigan to wear over it. My cardigan is more a light butter yellow than the dark golden yellow of the artwork, but I thought it still aligned to the inspiration.

I added my denim ankle pants (which are a lightweight material with a dark denim look though whether they are "true denim" is up for debate) to create a column of navy underneath the cardigan.

OOTD 6/13/26

I selected my gold loafers to boost the "gold/yellow" aspect of my outfit, and of course the metallic color also was a good bookend for my hair (which itself is contributing some artwork-consistent color to my look).

I built one of my typical 3 piece layered necklaces for this outfit, but with a bit of a twist: I often wear a paper pendant on a chain as the longest necklace (36-40" range) and a seed bead wrap necklace as the middle one (26-30" range). But I switched it up this time by flipping the paper pendant and the seed bead wrap necklace so the wrap necklace is the longest (wrapped 3 times at 40" per wrap) and the paper pendant is in the middle on a shorter chain. I made both the paper pendant {tutorial} and the wrap necklace specifically for this top. For my short necklace, I added an old statement necklace from Kohls (purchased 9/2014) that repeats the blue, green, and white colors from the floral top. I like how this layered necklace turned out!

My all-DIY bracelet stack started with an old paper bead bracelet set (page to bead details with outfit #2 here) supplemented with green and blue stone and glass bead bracelets. I used these bracelets to bring a bit more of the green color from the artwork into my outfit. I could say that the bracelets (and paper pendant) are artwork-aligned as well because they, like the folding screens, are made of paper, but if you've been around here a while, you know I wear paper jewelry with just about any outfit. This time it's just a happy coincidence. {stretch bracelet tutorial} {bicone paper bead tutorial} {tube paper bead tutorial}

For my earrings, I pulled out a DIY pair that I made to coordinate with a different bracelet set in a navy, dark yellow, and gold color scheme (see below). I couldn't resist the opportunity to include another floral motif with this stylized flower charm (see earring design #7 in this post for more information). None of my florals are irises, but that's okay with me.

Now for my favorite element of an SIA post: revealing our Rabbit Imitating Art selection!

I knew this would be a difficult role for a domestic rabbit to fill because all parts of the iris flower are toxic to rabbits (as well as guinea pigs and chinchillas). While wild rabbits will avoid eating them, domestic rabbits are always are savvy, so I had to qualify my applicants by presenting an iris flower and noting their reactions. Two very different rabbits passed this test to become finalists for the role.

(1) A gloriously fluffy white lionhead rabbit

(2) A sleek and heathery-furred Champagne d'Argent rabbit

Because the artwork was folding screens, I thought picking between the two rabbits would best be done with a panel interview...but the bunnies mistook the panel interview (multiple interviewers with one candidate) for a group interview (one interview with multiple candidates) and both hopped into the artwork at the same time! As luck would have it, I had not actually arranged for there to be another interviewer available for the audition, so the interview changed on both sides to a group interview.

When I saw the chemistry of the two rabbits together - the grey one dominant, active, and curious + the white one shy, passive, and hesitant (but definitely paying very close attention to the other) - I knew that I had found a Pleasing Pairing, rabbit edition. Both bunnies were too attentive to each other to even notice the flowers. I believe this is the start of a beautiful bunny friendship. To be fair, I am concerned that the paper-based screens are not actually long for this world when the rabbits discover how chewable they are, but if they destroy this artwork, they will do it together, and that's what matters most...

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 14 Shades of Grey.

Are you a lover of flowers in artwork, gardens, and/or wardrobes? Did you know that Van Gogh was inspired by an 18th century Japanese screens for his painting? How would you have interpreted this artwork from your closet?

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