frida’s personal style (or, dressing as an art)
ever since i saw the frida kahlo retrospective at the tate modern in london in the summer of 2005, i’ve had an little obsession with her. i am intrigued by her story, her intelligence, her work and her compelling persona, not to mention her exotic, irreverent beauty.
i have been reading her biography since last week. this book is like food! i cannot get enough.
the passage below struck me particularly deeply. why? because i have always believed that clothing, and style is an art, that it goes deeper than the surface, deeper than just fibers that cover and protect our bodies from the elements. clothing and fashion communicate, and are a form of personal expression. fashion is not always frivolous. the way frida presented herself was intertwined with her art, as she herself was the most common subject of her body of work.
“For Frida the elements of her dress were a kind of palette from which she selected each day the image of herself that she wished to present to the world. People who watched the ritual of her dressing recall the time and care she took, her perfectionism and precision. Frequently she tinkered with a needle before donning a blouse, adding lace here, a ribbon there. Deciding which belt would go with what skirt was a serious matter. “Does it work?” she would ask. “Is it good?” “Frida had an aesthetic about her dress,” painter Lucile Blanch remembered. “She was making a whole picture with colors and shapes.”
-from Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera
December 29 2006 | Posted in amazing art, fashion musing
December 29 2006 at 10:50 pm
Caseyfashion is not always frivolous.
So true. I always struggle to adequately express myself to people when I talk about my love of fashion (and thrifting!), because so many people find fashion superficial. I find that it is a way for me to visually impress people as to who I am; give them a preview of the creative personality underneath. I had an odd occurance today that ties into this: I ran into a classmate from a past semester today and we got to talking, somehow talking about a mutual aquaitance who had remembered me because of my vintage clothes I frequently wear to classes. Fashion is all about presenting a cohesive outer appearence to how I am inside! I like that the quote above mentions the definate aesthetic Frida had about her appearance: it is something that I strive for (as I think many of us creative/fashion types!).
Whew! What a long comment (I have such a bad habit of that, don’t I? ;). Thank so much for sharing this!!
December 30 2006 at 2:35 am
alexisI love Frida Kahlo too. Apparently her house in Mexico was amazing and it’s a riot of colour. I’ve never been, but my best friend has.
I know you’re not a big movie person, but I’d recommend seeing Frida, starring Salma Hayek. It’s quite beautiful.
December 31 2006 at 12:17 pm
EricaIt’s interesting that you posted this, because just yesterday I bought the film Frida at the record shop!
I like the passage you quoted because it is similar to how I feel about the way I dress, and what I’m thinking about when I get dressed in the morning. I don’t necessarily sew things up or add ribbons, but I will add other elements, wear an item differently, etc. I also like thinking about personal dress as an artform; it makes me even more inspired to design my outer appearance with creativity and precision!
January 1 2007 at 5:55 pm
Lisa-GabrielleI’m in on the Frida love. I discovered her about the same time I discovered Sylvia Plath in that whole “it cuts you up” phase from Hischool. As a performance artist who needed to express herself,I related to the eccentricities of Frida. Ofcourse Haydens book is the most definitive Frida biography,but another incredible source is her actual journal. It is filled with her drawing and daydreams with ,ofcourse, the text in Spanish,but the latter part of the book is all translations and commentary.
I love that Frida was captivated with common dimestore jewlry,and often added it to her look. years after discovering her I was in a play. The producers recieved a call on my behalf from a composer,that call ultimately led to my portraying Frida in a new musical based on her life ,La Casa Azul,that was workshopped in the Hal Prince new musical workshop. Needless to say ,I was prepared!
May 21 2007 at 12:31 pm
bits and bobbins » archives » georgia o’ keeffe: fashionista?[...] i absolutely adore reading about artists, particularly these women artists, and how their strong personalities and amazing life experiences affect their work. after reading the kalho book and nearly completing portrait of an artist, about o’ keeffe, it occurred to me that these artists, and others like them (female or male), have at least one shared secret to their success: they have a clear and nearly unwavering commitment to their own personal aesthetic vision, and to the way they want to live their lives. they have strong opinions about politics, art, and personal expression. but what really excites me (from a fashion perspective) about these two women (and perhaps more women (or men!) artists i’ve yet to read about!) is this: in the case of both o’ keeffe, and kahlo, there is a direct and strong connection between the art that they make, and how they express themselves through their personal being and personal style. i wrote about kahlo and the artful way she dressed herself here. but i want to now turn to o’keeffe, whose simultaneously lush and passionate though controlled and ascetic style is evident even in her everyday attire. [...]
September 12 2007 at 1:35 pm
CarolWriting about Frida for an art class and stumbled across this….
Hahahaa…. it’s true, one’s clothes tell people about oneself. I used to not put much thought into what I wore, as long as it was comfortable. I wound up seriously avoiding skirts, and sticking to casual tees or tanks in black, white, or red, + baggy jeans or gym shorts, and little or no jewelry. I never wore anything strapless or that required a strapless bra, as both are uncomfortable. I only wore eyeliner, I never wore heels, and I wore ponytails. As it turns out, I got the reputation of being a kind of mannish, sport-oriented, eccentric tomboy with a strictly no-skirt wardrobe. Which I thought was hilarious, because that’s exactly what I am! Now I do put thought into my clothes — I enjoy finding stuff that is similar to what I wore instinctively, before. It’s great fun!