Day 242: Frida Kahlo

The above is my favourite painting by Frida Kahlo. I've always had an affinity for Frida Kahlo, at least since the time I was ten years old and saw an article about Kahlo in an issue of Vogue. The issue included the painting above, and I've always loved it. I'm not sure what it means to me personally, but it's like something found in a dream. Foggy and unclear in how it speaks to you, but it exists in your soul and clings to your thoughts. Even though I've always been fascinated by Frida Kahlo, I've never really looked into her very much. How odd is that? However, after seeing an article about her closet, I was enthralled and inspired. Her fashion sense alone, and the number of medical aids that she made her own. It's amazing. I didn't even know that she had a prosthetic leg, little alone one with a beautiful red boot. I've been thinking about her a lot lately, and today I decided to do a Frida Kahlo inspired outfit and portrait.

I was primarily inspired by this image. It is not one of her self-portraits, but something about this image strikes me as particularly appealing, and it just hits a good chord with me.

I also love the wallpaper. Heck, everything about this image, really. Frida Kahlo was simply a beautiful woman.

My outfit is compiled from various pieces in my closet. Interestingly enough, with the exception of two items, all are things that have been given to me. What can I say? I have interesting things, and my family knows me well. The flower headband is from Urban Outfitters. The earrings, both necklaces, and the orange woven shawl were given to me by my grandmother. I treasure everything that she gives me, and I'm always thrilled when I put them to good use. The black shawl (it's actually made up of black, red, and purple velvet, with some mesh, and white painted detail) was a gift from my mother, from when she ventured to Italy. It's one of my favourite scarves. The orange top is from a shop in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. It's a little bit too big on me, but it's easy to layer with tank tops.

I'm giving a lot of detail as to what it took to compile this outfit. But don't worry, I will explain. I just feel like it's important to give a shout out to the places and people that have allowed me to have such neat things in my life. Here's a detail of the items.

I chose everything based on 1) images of Frida Kahlo and her clothing, and 2) bright colours with interesting shapes and details. Bold and bright colours make me think of Frida Kahlo. Probably understandable, because of her Mexican heritage and her wardrobe in general. I chose dangly and eccentric jewelry because of the dangly and bold jewelry seen in many photographs of her. I'm not going to lie. Dressing in a fashion based off of Frida Kahlo is very enjoyable. I'll probably pull inspiration from her again and again. Likely in my art as well.