How to Layer Gold Necklaces for SIA Diego Rivera

Shelbee at Shelbee on the Edge is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she selected the 1928 painting "Dance in Tehuantepec" by Mexican artist Diego Rivera. She chose this piece because she wanted to feature a Mexican artist during the week of Cinco de Mayo; she would have picked Frida Kahlo, but since Kahlo had been featured previously, she decided on a work by Kahlo's husband Diego Rivera instead. She describes the painting as "one of his famous works showcasing pure images of his home country and Mexican social life as he perceived it."

Source: https://shelbeeontheedge.com

I loved the dominant Red-Orange + Blue-Green color combination in the painting, which is a rich complementary color scheme, as a starting point for creating an outfit. And I thought immediately of this print skirt (thrifted Target, 2018) with shades of orange, teal, brown, pink, and cream that was perfect for the color palette while also bringing in the nature motifs and swishy skirt element from the painting. Today's outfit is the 18th wear of this skirt, with a current cost per wear (CPW) of $0.22!

I elected to lean into the Red-Orange + Blue-Green complementary colors by pairing a dark coral tank (CJ Banks, 2020) and dark teal marl cardigan (thrifted Walmart, 2018) over the skirt. Reviewing my outfit spreadsheet, I learned that I have never worn this top with the skirt, have only worn the cardigan with the skirt once (with a black top), and have never worn the top + cardigan together. So the challenge inspired me to make a new combination from my closet, and I really like how these pieces look together! I have worn a lighter/brighter version of this combo - sandstone coral tank + aqua cardigan - but I am enjoying the richness of this darker version as well.

OOTD 5/5/25

Since the woman in the painting is wearing gold jewelry, I followed suit, creating a gold layered necklace look using 3 relatively bold pieces: a short chunky curb chain (Ann Taylor, 2014), a gold/clear ruffled collar necklace (Target, 2014), and a long gold pendant with tassel (thrifted, 2019). While combining delicate gold necklaces together is always an option, I liked the eye-catching drama of putting together multiple statement pieces, which also feels truer to the inspiration artwork. Three is a great number for creating a bold layered necklace look, and I used my 3 go-to lengths: above the neckline, below the neckline, and long (below the bustline). I personally like the middle necklace to be closer to the top necklace than the bottom one, but you can experiment to find what lengths you like best. When I make 3 piece layered necklace sets for myself, I generally do 19", 21-23", and 36".

For maximum flexibility/adjustability of necklace lengths, I swear by chain necklace extenders that you can attach with its lobster claw clasp(s) to your necklace to make them longer. They come in a variety of lengths and finishes. I purchased mine on Amazon, but I'm sure you can find them lots of places; just search for "necklace extender chain" to see what I mean. I am using one on the middle necklace here because it is almost identical in length to the top necklace.

I thought about adding a nude-to-me shoe to mimic the barefoot dancers, but in the end, I just wanted to wear these brown ones, which are a favorite pairing with this skirt.

I deviated from the gold jewelry with a DIY memory wire bracelet that I made to coordinate with this skirt. This had nothing to do with the artwork - I just wanted to wear it!

In a shocking development, I did not make a pair of earrings to wear in this outfit! Continuing with the gold jewelry theme, I instead pulled out this pair of extra large gold hoop earrings that I found in a Boss's Bead Bag from Fire Mountain Gems. I think the idea is that you can wire wrap beads onto them, but I like them just as big hoop earrings. The dancer in the painting was wearing more of a straight drop earring, but I sort of feel that she should have been portrayed wearing big hoops, haha.

Now for my favorite part of the Style Imitating Art post: selecting our Rabbit Imitating Art! I was primarily concerned with finding a rabbit whose pose would fit well into a scene of dancers, but I also was thinking it would be fun if our bunny also worked well with the painting's color scheme. I got lucky with this red New Zealand rabbit who fulfilled both criteria! The slight blurring of the ears indicates this was a capture of a moving bunny, and the red-orange color of the fur is great for our color palette.

When a very large, exotic red rabbit showed up for the dance, no one wanted to offend her by excluding her from the festivities, but it was unclear how to incorporate a four-legged dancer into the Sandunga, which is performed in couples with the woman waltzing with her skirt held out while the man shuffles around her. She was dressed in fur in the same rich red-orange tones as the ladies' dresses, but she had no skirts to sway, and there was not a dancing male rabbit of sufficient bravery or skill to partner with her...indeed, there was not a dancing male rabbit in the town at all.

But when the bunny held her ears out before her and began to swish and swash them to the sound of the music, her grace and elegance charmed and delighted the townspeople. The most gifted human dancers in the town asked her to do them the honor of joining them in a dancing trio, and she accepted. Navigating with two other dancers, one of whom had a horizontal rather than vertical body orientation, was significantly more challenging for the human dancers than the traditional duo Sandunga, but the rabbit's speed, agility, flexibility, and sheer joy in movement lightened their steps such that they strode and glided and twirled and floated as they never had before.

To this day, the elders of Tehuantepec tell the tale of the year that the mysterious red rabbit danced the Sandunga, caused humans to fly, and cheered the hearts of all who saw her.

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 Shelbee on the Edge.

Do you like to layer necklaces? Do you layer all metal necklaces? Do you prefer more delicate or bolder necklaces when layering? Do you like to wear complementary colors in your outfits?

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