fashion / new year's eve inspired by mickalene thomas
/i have thought about doing outfits inspired by artworks for a long time, i just never found the right inspiration/concept. then, one day as i was walking around the national museum of women in the arts (for my internship), i saw it. i had seen lots of mickalene thomas works, but this one was perfect. it had recently been hung and i was so happy to see it in person.
mickalene thomas (b.1971) is an african-american female artist who reembodies her own stereotypes. she takes inspiration from andy warhol's repetitive prints: originally this work was one in a series of forty, a-e-i-o-u and sometimes y (2009), that was displayed on a single wall. rather than silkscreen or paint, thomas uses rhinestones as her medium, and somehow creates so much depth and variation even when using just black. many of her works are multicolored and patterned, but i love the simple two-tone coloration of this work.
for this new year's eve outfit, i tried to use a simple palette of hot pink and black rhinestones (sequins are close enough right?). i got that velvet brand dress at the rack at the beginning of the year for no reason other than it was the best thing i have ever seen. we paired it with some pink leggings (that weren't quite the right color, but we were working with what we had). the shoes were old bcbg ones with the best wooden heel and patent leather. we had to add even more sparkle with the rhinestone bracelet. we used my favorite nars lipstick in 'schiap' with liquid eyeliner and all the other normal make-up.
ps. i'm so happy to have my model back! i love being able to style and photograph and not worry about modeling!
