An antidote to the whiteness of winter is to introduce strong colors into your wardrobe and combine them in interesting ways. I feel so fortunate to have recently seen the Monet & Venice exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum and Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helen Schjerfbeck at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. Both of these painters used color in such strong and specific ways. I’ve created some outfits based on the inspiration I felt after contemplating these works of art.
Red signifies energy, power and passion and when combined with brown and magenta it becomes more balanced. The denim blue of the handbag adds an unexpected ‘neutral’ into the outfit composition. I see the same colors in this detail of Venice, the Grand Canal Looking East with Santa Maria della Salute by Canaletto. You can swap in a brown ankle boot or low profile sneakers if it’s not quite sandal season where you currently are. Click any outfit image throughout this post to shop the look.
Combining green, blue and brown—muted tones of each—creates a soft yet bold color scheme. Add in some gold jewelry and it reminds me of this self-portrait in 1912 by Helene Schjerfbeck. Green signifies balance, blue represents peace and brown introduces stability. Style tip: scarves are having a big moment this spring—wrap this one around your neck with the blouse worn unbuttoned or tie one end of it to the white belt and let the scarf hang vertically down the leg of the jeans for a fashion-forward look. Notice that the blazer has a pinstripe in it, too, thus mimicking the striped blouse. Little details like that make a big difference in terms of the overall impact of an outfit.
Pastels feel less juvenile and sweet when paired with black or brown which is reminiscent of the shadows in this Monet painting of the Ducal Palace. Wear the blue sweater wrapped around the shoulders of the leather jacket or layer it over the white blouse and have the collar pop out and then put the jacket over top. One interesting curator’s note: In 1908, as it is today, the Grand Canal was a major thoroughfare of commercial traffic, always jammed with small and large boats and gondolas; but Monet choose not to paint all of that hustle and bustle therefore creating a myth of peacefulness about the city of Venice. Click on any work of art in this post to link to its exhibition page.
This outfit uses the muted tones of green as a neutral. The hand of the brown leather jacket contrasts beautifully with the silk of the slip dress creating a tension between hard and soft, masculine and feminine, structure and ease. Schjerfbeck’s Factory Girls on the Way to Work not only uses the same color scheme, but painted in 1922, references shorter hemlines of the ‘flapper’ period similar to this dress. Wear the jacket open with the belt hanging loose and tie the scarf around the handle of the bag.
A navy blue suit and striped shirt are elevated with white and pastel accessories. Note the white belt! A pop of white is always a good idea whether as a belt or shoe or simply a white T-shirt peeking out of a sweater—as in the next outfit. Chartreuse is a color that feels intimidating to try but happens to look good on so many skin tones. With any color that feels overwhelming to you, add some white near your face and see how that enables you to wear many more colors than you may think.
