Shelbee at Shelbee on the Edge is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she selected the 1987 oil painting "Four Women" by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. She discovered the painter's exaggerated human forms through Google and chose this particular work because "the figures of the four women in various colors and styles of dress offer lots of sartorial inspiration." I agree! But one thing that struck me was what an autumnal color scheme the painting has: deep rich tones in brown, maroon, russet, red-orange, mustard yellow, and soft green...the colors of fall foliage. So this selection offered an interesting challenge in styling autumn colors in a spring outfit. Challenge accepted!
The color choices immediately reminded me of a print skirt that I have in a fall color palette with a spring-like floral motif, which felt like a great place to start with this outfit given that the four women are wearing dresses. My skirt has black (like the seated women's hair) instead of brown and no mustard, but the soft green, orange, and maroon colors are well represented.
I drew on various aspects of the four women in completing my outfit. My green open weave sweater was based on the woman in green (though I added an olive tank underneath for 100% less scandal in my outfit). I left my tank showing as a band below the sweater to mimic the yellow frill on the maroon dress. My scarf is a nod to the coral/red-orange dress. I was going to wear tights like the woman in yellow but it was too warm for them (to my surprise and delight).
My coral tie-dye scarf is the most spring-like aspect of my outfit, and I think it did a nice job of brightening and lightening the overall dark and muted color palette. I like the contrast in color and texture between the scarf and the aloe vera green sweater. And of course the floral print skirt + tie-dye scarf creates a fun print mix, which I always enjoy.
A grey-and-black leopard print is not the most obvious shoe choice, but I don't wear heels so the wedge style is my closest approximation of the women's dressy heels. Since it turned out I didn't need to wear tights (WHAT???), I could have chosen my nude wedges instead, but I have no problem adding a third print to my look. I have also been prioritizing wears of these shoes to bring down my cost per wear (CPW), which reached $2.02 in this outfit.
My daily bracelet stack is based on a paper bead bracelet set in black, beige, orange, olive, and silver that I made to coordinate with this skirt (page to bead examples in this post). This time I bolstered the olive green and orange colors in the bracelet set with my supplemental bead bracelets. The bracelet with the orange striped beads is a fun choice in this stack because it repeats the distinct stripes on the bottom paper bead bracelet. {bicone paper bead tutorial} {stretch bracelet tutorial}
I made a pair of bead soup earrings to match the paper bead bracelet set, using the good ol' "3 beads on a stick" design. I chose three beads in different colors (orange, beige, black) and different shapes (round, short tube, twist) but the same material (wood). Wood beads are great for earrings because they are so lightweight even when the beads are on the larger side. Wood is a good material to work with the relaxed, natural aspect of my style personality. And wood is also a nice choice to go with paper beads, of course.
Now for the main event: selecting our Rabbit Imitating Art! To fit in with the rounded female figures in the artwork, a lady bun with a prominent dewlap was in order, and I thought this gorgeous New Zealand rabbit's red-orange fur coloration was perfect for the reddish-haired women standing in the painting.
So what's better than Four Women? Four Women and a Rabbit, of course! Our bunny has found a comfy lap to curl up on, and she looks ready to relax. The woman in the yellow dress is holding up her glass to her friends, saying "Will someone get me a refill? I have a rabbit in my lap." Is it just me or does she look a bit annoyed that her companions are too buzzed and spaced out to immediately respond to her request? Meanwhile the bunny is thinking "I should have known this bar would be BYOC [carrot]."
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 Shelbee on the Edge.
Do the colors in this painting remind you of fall? Do you wear these colors only in the autumn or at other times of year too (or never)? How would you "spring-ify" a color palette of soft green, orange, maroon, and black? Is "I have a {insert pet type here} on my lap" a valid excuse for sending another person to fetch for you in your household?
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