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Styling Blue and White for Winter for SIA: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Shelbee at Shelbee on the Edge is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she picked the 2001 portrait Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Lucian Freud. She has wanted to feature a painting of Queen Elizabeth since her death in September but had difficulty deciding which one to pick. She eventually settled on this "controversial" portrait, which some viewers hailed as a brilliant work and others as an "ugly" painting. I personally see it as a bit of both: it has a lot of character and depth but definitely makes her face look more unattractive, unfeminine, and oddly bulbous than it actually was.

Source: shelbeeontheedge.com

I quickly zeroed in on the blue and white color scheme and the queen's crown as the elements I wanted to represent in my outfit. As we are in the depths of winter in Minnesota, I chose a heavy sweater as my anchor piece: a classic cable knit Lands End cotton "Drifter" sweater in blue ombré. (I find wool and even cashmere itchy, so I stick with cotton when possible.) For the crown, I selected this sparkly crystal statement necklace that I purchased to wear at my mother-in-law's evening wedding.

I was actually able to tweak one of my pre-planned outfits featuring this sweater for the challenge, which was good because I was not feeling well over the weekend (nor was I when I wore this outfit on Monday, nor am I now writing about it) and was short on mental energy to start completely from scratch! I took this outfit with the cobalt blue pencil skirt, white quilted vest, striped scarf, and navy tights/boots and simply added the necklace to it. And by happy coincidence, this turned out to be the 50th wear of this necklace! Only one of those wears was a fancy event; all the others have been normal work or weekend outfits. The cost per wear currently stands at $1.04...I will have it down to $1 with just a couple more wears.

Plus size outfit idea for women over 40
OOTD 1/30/23

Normally I would have worn this infinity scarf wrapped twice around my neck in the traditional style, but because I wanted to feature the necklace, I left it as one long loop (which is basically the infinity scarf version of Method #1: Tuck a Scarf into the Neck of a Jacket [or Vest] and Let it Hang shown here with the same necklace). Luckily it wasn't so cold in my apartment that I needed the scarf wrapped around my neck for warmth...with the layers I was wearing (including a t-shirt under the sweater), the outfit was quite comfortable this way.

Plus size outfit idea for women over 40

My migraine brain fog did make me forget to add my white pearl bracelet to my DIY bracelet stack! That was a disappointment because of course the queen is well-known for her pearls, and she is wearing both pearl earrings and necklace in the portrait. Oh well, at least one of my paper bead bracelets has white glass pearls as spacer beads...that'll have to suffice.

DIY Bracelet Stack

I wore blue square crystal earrings that coordinate well with the blue in the necklace. I left my hair in its usual style, and though it is clearly very different from the queen's, at least the waves in front are reminiscent of her trademark curls.

Plus size outfit idea for women over 40

I really liked how this outfit worked out for the SIA challenge. Blue and white is a gorgeous color combination for winter, and mixing a variety of blue shades and fabric textures makes for an interesting outfit.

Plus size outfit idea for women over 40

Now it's time for our Rabbit Imitating Art selection for this painting. I considered looking for a senior white doe with presence and gravitas, but when I saw this cute little blue-eyed white Polish rabbit with her perfect match to the painting's color palette, I couldn't resist. Just look at that sweet face!

Blue-Eyed White Polish rabbit

To those who find the painting ugly, I hope that the addition of this adorable little bunny increases the cuteness quotient of the artwork for you. To those who think it's brilliant, consider the long hours the queen spent posing over the course of 19 months and how her strength and determination in all things comes through in this portrait...doesn't she deserve to have a lovely and charming bunny at her side through this ordeal?

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II "improved" with rabbit

Thanks for joining me today for this Style Imitating Art + Rabbit Imitating Art post!


To see other outfit interpretations of this artwork, check out the review on Shelbee on the Edge.


Do you like wearing blue and/or white in the winter? Do you prefer wool sweaters...cashmere...cotton...or other yarns? Would you wear a bling-y statement necklace in casual/business casual outfits?


Blogs I link up with are listed here.

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Jess Jannenga
Jess Jannenga
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Love the jewelry and your inspiration. I think you did a great job with the blue hues.

thanks for linking!

jess xx

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sallyinstpaul
sallyinstpaul
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Thanks, Jess! I always sneak the jewelry into the outfits as much as I can.

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awayfromblue
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Sorry to hear you were feeling unwell, hope you are feeling better now! :)


This is such a cosy outfit and I really like the blue and whit e- it is perfectly themed for the challenge and looks so stylish and comfortable too :)


Thanks for joining the Weekday Wear Link up :)

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sallyinstpaul
sallyinstpaul
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Thanks, Mica! I am feeling a lot better now. I enjoyed the blue and white so much.

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Julie Nyanyo
Julie Nyanyo
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I love what that bunny brings to the painting! I remember it being unveiled and how much some people hated it, I think it's the shadow on her chin, it just makes her look a little masculine. Your blue outfit looks great and I love that necklace. Hopefully you are feeling better now.

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sallyinstpaul
sallyinstpaul
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Thanks, Julie - I am feeling back to normal again now! Good observation about the shadow on her chin - that is exactly what gave it the masculine vibe to me.

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NC Sue
NC Sue
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Queenly indeed!

Thank you for sharing at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-few-images-from-chinese-lantern.html

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sallyinstpaul
sallyinstpaul
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Thanks, Sue - appreciate you hosting the link up!

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carolbenton
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I like the shades of blue in your outfit, and your necklace is certainly fit for a queen! Thank you for sharing this post in the Talent-Sharing Tuesdays Link-Up 52.

Carol

www.scribblingboomer.com

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sallyinstpaul
sallyinstpaul
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This was a fun outfit to jazz up with that sparkly necklace! Thanks for hosting the link up, Carol.

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