Brightly Painted Scarf for Sweet Dreams by Rus Khasanov

Welcome to my interpretation for this round of Style Imitating Art.

A Little Background

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey and me. We are looking for a third co-host. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday one of us selects an inspiration image and we each post the image on our blogs. The following Monday we share our art-inspired outfits. The following Wednesday, the curator shares all of the submissions on her blog.

This Round’s Curator

Today, Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey is the curator.

This grouping is part of a series entitled, “Sweet Dreams”. Salazar gave us a choice to choose whatever work we wanted or go with the general feeling of the works.

My Take

One of the things that I love about Style Imitating Art is that the greater percentage of the time, it makes me try out different items in my wardrobe that I have never worn together before. This round is no different.

Hand Painted Silk Scarf

When I saw the body of work of Rus Khasanov, I knew I was going to use the scarf that I hand-painted a few years ago. The colors I picked for this scarf are Blue, Orange, Yellow-Green, and Red-Violet. I did not choose these colors accidentally. They form what is called a Tetradic color combination, which is a grouping of three or more colors.

I have used the Square Tetradic, a square color scheme that consists of four colors spaced evenly around the color wheel. To create a square color palette, choose one favorite color to start with. Then identify the other colors that are equidistant from that color. You’ll basically end up with two complementary pairs. Also, note that there are two colors between each member of the group and form a square on the color wheel.

In my case, I used the complementaries of orange/blue and yellow-green/red-violet. The above color wheel shows how they are arranged to make the Square Tetradic. This photo is from a PowerPoint that I made and used when I taught a specialized color theory course for fiber artists. I also painted my silk scarf as a sample of this color arrangement for the class. I used colors of pure intensity in that I didn’t desaturate them into tints or shades of the colors. In the end, I got a very colorful scarf and nothing takes dye like silk! It is so amazing to work with when it comes to dyes or silk paints.

I hope you haven’t minded my deviation into color theory. It just was and is my favorite thing to teach in all my years doing this art thing.

The Other Elements

I decided to go with black for my two main garment pieces. The jacket is a second-hand piece by Juliana Collezioni, a company that is no longer in existence. I got on a JC kick right after I retired and kept finding these fantastic-looking jackets that were, for the most part, made in the USA. They were very expensive in their original life and I was getting them for a fraction of what they originally cost.

Although I liked this jacket’s style and the price at the time, I didn’t wear it much because of the buttons. They were gold dome and I thought they limited it (tended to look too dressy) on how I could style it. Finally, in December, I solved the problem. I went on ETSY and looked for pewter buttons with a bee motif. I have wanted some buttons with bees for a long time and love them. Now I can dress this jacket up or wear it with jeans, which opens up so many more possibilities.

On the subject of jeans, I chose my black Caslon (an older Nordstrom’s house brand) jeans.

I surprized myself by settling on a picking an older 85%silk/15% Cashmere yellow sweater. This thing is so old that the tag has long detached itself. I’m pretty sure I found it at TJ Maxx sometime around 2010 or earlier. My first thought, was,”I don’t want to look like a Bumblebee”. But then, I decided I did have Bee buttons on my jacket, so big deal. Because it’s a slightly dulled yellow, I don’t think it’s too much.

Bag and Shoes

I just wore these Marc Fisher shoes for the last SIA but they are going to work again. The metallic deep red violet goes perfectly for what I’m doing for this round.

For the bag, I chose one of my second hand Anthony Luciano. Anthony Luciano is a New York designer and all his bag come hand made from his workshop located at 347 W 36th St #1400, New York. His creations are unique, gorgeous and perfectly crafted. There’s usually a few on the second hand market and their prices run the gamut.

What caught my eye about this one was the colors used. The complementary colors of yellow and violet are featured. But he has also used deep red and orange. All colors have been de-intensified (less saturated and of a lower intensity) so those four colors work together. Black is thrown in for a bit of neutral.

This is probably the most color I’ve had on in quite a while and I had fun putting this one together!

Will You Join In the Fun?

I hope this art inspires you to create a look and that you will join us. Send a photo of your SIA-inspired outfit along with a small blurb on how you were inspired to Salazar whose email is 14shadesofgreyblog@gmail.com by tomorrow. She will share the submissions on her blog this Wednesday.

Anyone can participate and you certainly do not have to have a blog.

If you do share your inspirations on Instagram use the hashtag #StyleImitatingArt so we know you are there. You can also tag us in the images. Our Instagram names are @terrigardner_meadowtree and @14shadesofgrey.

And don’t forget…

Would you like to join Salazar and me as a co-host for Style Imitating Art?

We are looking for a new partner. If you decide to join us, you would not need to have anything ready until the end of January. The actual publishing date is January 31st. Salazar has set the deadline for applications on January 21st.

Take Care