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Combining Feminine and Masculine Outfit Elements in a Casual Look for SIA The Lovers

Marsha at Marsha in the Middle is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she selected a very personally meaningful artwork this time: "The Lovers" aka "Fancy Couple" by Indiana artist Maude Eggemeyer. As Marsha explains: "These prints hung in our bedroom for many years. My father-in-law bought a trunk at an auction in the early 60s. These two pictures were in the trunk."

Style Imitating Art selection
Source: marshainthemiddle.com








I liked the blue and pink color palette and feminine details of the woman's dress as a starting point for my outfit, but how to include something from the gentleman's side into my look? Because my husband is not a cooperative poser for photographs, I had to enlist another one of my loves into my version: a rabbit, of course! The adorable lop rabbit on my French bunny top is wearing a beret rather than a top hat but still makes a wonderful stand-in for the gentleman in the painting. The lop rabbit breeds are included in the "fancy breeds" (i.e., rabbits for showing or keeping as pets), and this particular debonair bunny doesn't have to try at all to embody the "fancy" part of this "fancy couple."

Plus size outfit idea for women over 40
OOTD 10/20/24

I took inspiration from the gentleman on the left to wear full length pants in my outfit...jeans in my case for a casual weekend outfit. I'm still taking advantage of the dry fall weather to wear "normal" jeans that almost touch the ground. I paired the jeans with pewter snakeskin-like loafers to add a touch of "fancy" shine to the bottom of my outfit.

Plus size outfit idea for women over 40

I layered up my rabbit with a vest (my take on the left gentleman's waistcoat), a feminine blue and pink floral scarf (to represent the left lady's dress), and a "fancy" and bling-y necklace that I consider a Pleasing Pairing with the bunny top.

Plus size outfit idea for women over 40

My all-DIY daily bracelet stack is based on a paper bead bracelet set in light blue, pink, and silver that I made in winter 2022 (for full details, including page to bead photos, see Set 4 in this post). I only wore 2 of the 3 paper bead bracelets because I wanted to downplay the black color in my outfit. I supplemented my stack with glass and stone bead bracelets in coordinating shades of pink and blue. {stretch bracelet tutorial} {bicone paper bead tutorial}

DIY paper bead bracelet set

Of course I had to wear a new pair of bead soup earrings that I made to wear with the bracelet set: a stack of 5 glass beads in varying shapes and sizes in the crucial light blue and pink colors.

DIY bead soup earrings

Now for my favorite part of the post: revealing our Rabbit Imitating Art selection! It was clear to me that I needed a lop rabbit who resembled the French bunny standing in for the gentleman in the painting...a Rabbit Imitating a Rabbit Imitating Art, if you will. This elegant lop with a broken fur pattern of black/dark grey on white passed his audition with flying colors.

Rabbit Imitating Art selection

As the lop rabbit entered the artwork, he quickly determined that the gallant gentleman on the left was successfully wooing his lady as befits "The Lovers." Turning his attention to the couple on the right, he saw that the sneering gentleman was provoking haughty disdain in his target. While humans have a whole popular genre of "enemies to lovers" romances that are inexplicable in rabbit terms, the bunny correctly calculated that this "Fancy Couple" was not en route to a Mr. Darcy/Elizabeth Bennet outcome. He chose to intervene. The bunny bowed graciously to the lady, and the stark contrast between the rabbit's quiet courtesy and the gentleman's snarky rudeness could not have been more apparent. The combination of respect and adorableness hit her like Cupid's arrow, and she thought, Why do I need an annoying man when I could have a well-mannered rabbit?! She picked up the bunny and took him home...

SIA artwork improved with rabbit
Artwork "improved" with rabbit

And, well, it's a good thing our lady had a full staff of human servants in that home because she found out quite soon that "well-mannered rabbit" and "chews everything he can reach" are not a contradiction. But she was very happy with her bunny that chewed many things but never chewed her ear off with boastful talk of his own superiority like that dreadful gentleman! (To her surprise and delight, she and her bunny later met a rabbit-loving and gentle man who became the human love of her life; Cupid's arrow can strike twice.)


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 on the Middle.


Does your personal style veer more toward the feminine, the masculine, or somewhere in between? Are you a fan of pink and blue as a color combination? Do you like wearing jeans in the fall? Do you like enemies to lovers romances? What artwork hangs in your bedroom?


Blogs I link up with are listed here.

6 commentaires


Di Cook
Di Cook
31 oct.

Love the eclectic combination of feminine and masculine in this outfit, that you created for the SIA challenge. Your bunny in the beret top is fabulous! The bunny does seem like a preferred companion to this dandy. Is it my imagination, or is that lop eared beauty giving him the side eye? I think my personal style leans more toward the feminine, and I have been known to go a little overboard with the pink and blue! However, I like a good taylored look, too. So enjoyed this post, thanks for sharing and hope you have a good weekend.

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jodie filogomo
jodie filogomo
30 oct.

The addition of the bunny makes it even more fabulous!!


BTW I'm still not getting your emails.

Can you add it yourself? Maybe we try a different one? Robjodiefilogomo@msn.com


Xoxo

Jodie

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Leslie Clingan
Leslie Clingan
26 oct.

Would take a bunny over a lot of the humans I know. Even if they do chew. They are quiet!! This is a great look of contrasts. I like the soft and feminine with structured and masculine. What a pretty statement necklace and of course, your beads are beautiful. So nice that you can have handmade pieces for every outfit.

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Kathrine Eldridge
Kathrine Eldridge
24 oct.

I also love to mix masculine and feminine. This look is fabulous! Loving the tee with the beautiful statement necklace and scarf. Your interpretation is wonderful!


https://wwww.kathrineeldridge.com

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Shelbee On The Edge
Shelbee On The Edge
24 oct.

Sally, I am dying over this cute bunny in a beret tee shirt! What a fun interpretation of the artwork. The combintation of your brightly colored scarf with your graphic tee is so good. But I most enjoyed your bunny story for this one. I laughed right out loud at this part..."But she was very happy with her bunny that chewed many things but never chewed her ear off with boastful talk of his own superiority like that dreadful gentleman!" Ha. Well done!


Shelbee

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