Grey, Tan & Niki Dog for The Countess de la Maitrie by Charles-Albert Walhain

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, Shelbee of Shelbee On the Edge, and me. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday one of us selects an inspirational image and we each post the image on our blogs. The following Monday we share our art-inspired outfits. The next Wednesday, the curator shares all the submissions on her blog.

This Week’s Curator

Salazar picked this round’s work. It is The Countess de la Maitrie by Charles-Albert Walhain, a French painter. It is a rather simple work of art: a woman dressed in a riding habit and her dog, which he painted in 1910.

My Choices for this Challenge

As paintings go, this one is a relatively simple image. Not having many inspiration cues, I had a harder time than usual putting something together. The biggest problem was that the overwhelming color was light/medium grey. There is not one light grey blazer or jacket in my closet. But I do have a dog!

Working with what I had, I took my cue from the tan riding boots. I wore my tan boots and a tan blazer. The Countess also had a vest and this I could do also. Sometime in the 90’s I knitted Michael the vest I am wearing, using grey and tan yarns. This let me get some grey in the look. Then, I added a very old white shirt that I made back in the 80s. It’s oversized (most things were in the 80s), but so is the vest. San jacket, they look pretty good together.

I ignored the skirt and went with a newer pair of wide-legged jeans because my daily uniform includes jeans. These boots need a pair of wide-legged jeans. When I bought them sometime in the ’00s, our jeans were a bit wider anyway. But these Steve Madden’s are difficult to wear. I’ll show you a photo further down and you will see why they are a problem. The top detail is beautiful, but the boot tops are so wide!

The tan jacket is one of my thrifted Salvation Army finds from years ago. It is union made so you know it is old.

Accessories

The Countess has a Bowler, but I have a Made in the USA 100% Alpaca that design was inspired by the Australian Outback headwear. I bought this hat about a decade ago at a fiber event where I was teaching. It was made by River Hill Ranch. They still produce a lot of wonderful Alpace products, but alas, not this incredible hat anymore.

Of course, I had to have a bag ( in the style of a Saddle Bag) and picked my mini DeMellier Venice. It’s a great cross-over bag and holds just what I need when I go out.

Sunglasses and brown leather gloves were also added. Rather than a riding crop, I have a dog leash. It made sense to me!

And Then There Is Niki

The Countess had her Doxie, but I have my Poodle. Say hello to Niki, our Toy Poodle, who will turn twelve this February 26th. Niki was the family baby for so long, and now he is one of the elders. Time has so flown! With Valentine’s Day being tomorrow, he is sporting his candy-heart vest that I made him a few years back.

That’s it, I’m done.

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, @14shadesofgrey, and @shelbeeontheedge.

Time to go and see you later! Good-by from Niki and me.

I still remember getting these boots at Macy’s all those years ago. I think I tried on almost every boot they had. I always loved their style but remember having a difficult time wearing them. That heel still seems to harken back to the 90s to me. I have to wear them with skinny jeans to fully show the top knot.