Klimt Inspire and the Styling Tips behind the Look of Klimt’s Muses

Unlike the overly coiffed, maintained and somewhat harsh looks that many women wear today, we can all agree that the best kind of beauty is the raw, untempered and untamable spirit we find gorgeous in Angelina Jolie, Brigette Bardot and Audrey Hepburn. It is the type of beauty that shines from behind one’s eyes as they light up in excitement. It is not a carefully calculated study of contemporary beauty trends and standards, but instead a little messy and dishelved, but the warmth of beautiful woman’s(inside and out) spirit along with her attitude to live a life of passion, her interactions between strangers and those she knows and loves is what makes a woman beautiful and a stunning sight to behold-like art in movement.

All of Klimt’s muses seem to have this je ne sa quois. He is able to capture women in all the glorious moments playfully, confidently, softly, sensually and introspectively through their simple gestures of gracefulness, in their quiet noble and nurturing solitude and introspection, to their powerfully sexy and fearless stands remaining undaunted by the breadth of true power and beauty they so easily bestow. A true mark of the Empress that exists in every woman, Klimt doesn’t withhold the wide range of beauty to be seen, moments of child-like playfulness to the comfort of a motherly embrace are just as profound to re-witness every time as the moments of strong and steadfast serenity to the glory of peace and poise. All of these moments, portray the range of life, along with the sheer erotic ecstasy of sensuality, these beautiful moments of Klimt’s muses are made complete with full vulnerability when soul’s touch and bodies meld.

There is no doubt that Klimt has managed to successfully and beautifully capture the muse inside all women. Many other artists have been inspired and been able to capture Klimt in not only their artistic reanderings (as I have previously talked about in my last blog post) but also in fashion both runway and indie designers, product design, photoshoots, hair, make-up, jewelry, home decor and interior design. The poses, mannerisms, gestures, body language, hair, make-up and style are all very important elements to being this goddess/sensual lover divine. As a result, the details and dress and elements of sensual retreat.

Hybrid Vigor with Alexander McQueen and the Rise and Fall of Klimt Stardust

Fashion Designer Alexander McQueen Resort 2013 inspiration came from the brushstrokes, patterns, color palette(albeit a pared down in color) of Klimt’s painting style. McQueen remixed prints into fabrics that seriously mixed David Bowie’s oversexed adrogeneous look in styling and attitude for a crisper and structured look. I love that two very different and both very known for their erotic behvior artist and musician can clearly be seen in this collection and McQueen pulls this hybrid vigor off perfectly. Instead of some of the light, airy romantic feel of Klimt he achieve’s the throwback by pulling in common patterns, color palettes but goes for an equally empowered and confident look in shillouette very opposite of Klimt’s drapey fabrics and romantic tendencies.

Yum….pure sexiness, Bowie’s edginess with the under-stirrings of Klimt’s Romantic Ideals

Christian Dior Couture Spring 2008 collection contained the classic elements of Klimt

If one does not possess the artistic talent to replicate or even invoke the art inspired by Klimt, then rest assure because the following images will be the catalyst in not only one’s style, but also in your personal love abode.

Living Life with Klimt

klimt inspired boudoir minus the frill and pared down in off-white, cool grays, beige brown with bronze pops

Klimt shabby chic with rustic undertones

More modern play on scale, color palette focusing on cooler colors

Both interesting

Gold accent walls

Different color focus

Inspiration taken from The Kiss

Dining on Decadence with Gustav Klimt

Lighting, texture and color palette all significantly add flair and bohemian indulgence

Marble, leather, tiled mosiacs and brass hardware

Details in the Display

Wall Displays, color notes and gold accent pieces

Table Settings

Klimt in texture and details

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Klimt is the original mix master, never too matchy, matchy but he’s always kept a continued theme of colors and balance consistent, so even what would seem like a clash of patterns on fabrics becomes an exciting mix of textured beauty that feels cohesive to the eye.

Detail rich textures in materials like dichotic glass, mosiac tiles and other mediums can be mixed to achieve the perfect Klimt-esque feeling which always borders between the luxury of powerful emotions and the excitement of the material.

Romancing the Canvas with Gustav Klimt

Happy Birthday Gustav Klimt! With nearly a century between the legendary artist and contemporary ideals of romance reforming to new acceptable heights of online dating, social networking and friending there is something to be said that society on a whole still perceives, relates and loves the work Gustav Klimt. How could one not enjoy the beauty of his work? Something about the languid body postures, relaxed femininity oozing out of each muse embodies the ideals and enjoyment of being a woman. All the beautiful colors and textures in each painting reveals the all encompassing sensory experience and ambience that a woman can have or all the sensual experiences we take in every time we are in the embrace of the one’s we love.

Klimt captures the naturally rich opulence that radiates from the female essence. What his eye seems to notice and his art seem to pronounce is the details, all the little details that goes into celebrating the female spirit. It is truly all those small details like the smell of her favorite fragence, the way she does her hair, the sexpot look of smudgy eye make-up, bed head hair and the most effortless way that fabrics drape around the shilouette of a woman are the very images and instances that captivates audiences, silences a room and inspires the writer, artist and musician to devote hours to recapturing the feeling they have felt and sights they have witnessed.

A ReWork with Embroidery

Graffiti, Stencil and Some Humor ReWork

A Textured ReWork in a Personal Portrait Embroidery

Klimt on Art Being Perfectly Acceptable Form of Foreplay

“All art is erotic.”

The Kiss ReWork

The Kiss Reinterpreted Modern Twist and Humor

Harry Potter Lovin Kiss

Hans Solo and Princess Leia Kiss

Klimt on the Paradox of Being an Artist/Effective Multi-Tasker/Pro-ADHD

“Although even when I am being idle I have plenty of food for thought both early and late – thoughts both about and not about art.”

Klimt-scaping

Klimt Articulating His Most Effective Communication is Paint to Canvas and not Writing

“Even when I have to write a simple letter I’m scared stiff as if faced with looming seasickness.”

Digitally Warped Klimt

Klimt-mare

Klimt Teddy Bear

Kid Klimt ReWork

Klimt on the External/Internal Pressures/Anxieties an Artist often Feels

“True relaxation, which would do me the world of good, does not exist for me.”

South Beach Inspired Klimt and Zelda Mixed with the Romanticism of Klimt

“There is no self-portrait of me.”-Klimt

Tattooed and Pin Up Klimt

The Ladies of Klimt

Klimt-ish

Klimt on the Uncertainty of Artistry

“I can paint and draw. I believe this myself and a few other people say that they believe this too. But I’m not certain of whether it’s true.”

Inspired by Klimt Fish Blood and Semi Nude Woman Sketches

Klimtify

Klimt In Process and Readying for Gold Leafing

Voulue Boutique

I delight in the artistic images produced by world top fashion photographers and as I have said many times Annie Liebovitz is my icon. But she is only one of a few of the top and talented photo artists around and when it comes to colour and theatrical composition Miles Aldridge hits the bullseye with all three arrows.

Miles has grouped into several themes of which I will definitely write articles about over the coming months, but in particular it is one theme that was commissioned for Vogue Italy about a year ago, I find that its esthetics are particularly attractive.

It may seem unrealistic to put such bright colours as lime green and vibrant pink and put them together….but wow isn’t the finished product just fantastic. If anyone tries this colour arrangenment out, do send us a picture we would love to see it.

 

 

Take a look at…

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Life Rework

I have to apologize for the incredibly long break but my life has been swept into a frenzy and all sorts of plans and changes needed to take place. But now I’m back with more behind the scenes info, great stylist resources including a book that I have been privileged to be apart of and lots of photos for my la boheme series.

THE CULTURAL OMNIVORE

Trish Summerville is at the top of her game with a list of credits to her name that reads like a veritable who’s who of Hollywood.  Her latest work on the blockbuster movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and following collaboration with retail behemoth H&M have inspired a generation wanting to emulate the tough-as-nails aesthetic of lead character Lisbeth Salander.  Trish took time from her busy schedule to speak to me and Emily Sandbergabout her life and work.

Can you talk about the process of sourcing inspiration and the references you used when styling for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?

When I began making vibe and inspiration boards for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I sourced everything related to European and American culture with a specific focus on Swedish culture.  I referenced Söder kids for clothing, style, hair and makeup.  I also sourced inspiration…

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Starships with Nicki Minaj

I’m so excited about seeing my work, designs and styling on the Nicki Minaj video that was finally released today. It looks awesome to see my ideas actually in a finished format. Specifically with the Haka, Hula, Fire Knife and Free Style Dancers, as well as some party people. There are aspects to the styling and designs that I wish I had approached differently but overall I’m so excited and blessed to be apart of this. Nicki’s stylist is Jessica Bosch and it was nice working with her. There was also a talented duo who focused on the models. It was a team effort and I feel lucky that Hawaii Five-O was on hiatus long enough to have two really gifted tailors and to work with Charley and Cory, who both possess amazing costuming skills and experience. Although some of the politics and logistics were difficult, I really feel so happy, blessed and lucky to be apart of the experience and hope to have more opportunities to creatively expand in the future.

Actually, I have some other designs that collaborated with Nicki’s make-up artist, world renowned Donald Simrock. I took his same design and application and had designed outfits for 3 sets of twins that were pretty cool. However because of all the poor scheduling and time delays the video was cut a little earlier so there is a huge aspect of the storyline that is missing from the concept that focuses more on being a strange universe and Nicki being more of an alien.  Had the video been able to capture all of the directors vision with the treatment, it would have been even more impressive and made the concepts feel more complete and cohesive. The original vision, made Nicki seem like an alien coming to another universe, this other universe is strange, super color saturated and at the same time pulls from so many fashion references along with coming to a lush tropical paradise were the tribal feels otherworldly and not so specific to tradition. Metaphorically Nicki’s style, success were to seem alien and as a reference to how she is in the pop music and hip hop world. So the 3 sets of twins and some of the other scenes that were cut early could have made this concept feel more complete. I loved re-creating Donald’s look he created for Nicki’s album cover. I wish it was apart of the music video but it seems its also the nature of how changes can be made so quickly. I’ll post on the twins within the next few days.

Director’s Choice: Studio Pull for Nicki Minaj Starships Music Video

As I have previously mentioned before, I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with so many supportive, talented and amazing companies for the Nicki Minaj music video Starships. Here is just a few of the great items that I got to work with from some amazing and very talented people and companies. I feel so fortunate to work with them and many of them created one of kind pieces especially for the shoot in color palettes of neon orange, neon pink and neon yellow which was established by Nicki Minaj‘s album cover make-up that Donald Simrock did.

Thief and Bandit ooak clothing and amazing jewelry from Richmond VA. All fabrics are handprinted, which resulted in the perfect feel for neon tribal.

Thief and Bandit’s amazing necklaces, braided bracelets and turbans. Find out more about them here.

Pamela Love has the most INCREDIBLE jewelry ever. The director loved these pieces. They were so nice to work with and have so many other great pieces, check them out here.

Connie from Nutcase Jewelry makes amazing jewelry. She made a special necklace for Nicki Minaj called “Minaj”.  Her pieces are the answer to any outfit that needs a lift. She is incredibly professional and incredible fusion of glamorous and bright, check out more of her items here.

Joy from J Dot Designs has come up these feather ankle cuffs. They seem like the perfect way to upgrade your favorite heels. I hope to work with her in the future and ever-expanding collection. Find more of her items here.

This is just a few great companies from that list and I look forward to giving more updates and more photos from the fun array of items I had to pull from when dressing the background for the video.  I look forward to posting photos of my designs as well and I’m waiting for the video to drop before I do so.

Neon Saturated Sleep Deprivation

Since coming back to Hawaii after the holiday break, I was honing in on working another production for the pilot  Last Resort, which looks very promising. It was so nice to work with some of the same people I’ve worked with in the past. I felt so fortunate to work with them again, but I got involved with designing/dressing the extras for a Nicki Minaj music video “Starships” which was just shot here in Oahu, Hawaii the last week.  I’ve learned so much and feel so grateful, had the chance to really use some creative thought process which is refreshing from feeling otherwise drone-like. Here’s a photo Nicki twittered last week about 1 set of my dancers, the electric pink Haka Dancers. So many great things came out of this video but enjoy the teaser until later.

I had the chance to work with some really great companies, great and talented people and new materials I’ve never worked with before to create and achieve some beautiful contrasts in color and material and ultimately creating a meld between two very opposite worlds.

I’ve really enjoyed working with custom made vinyl stencils and some will-flex paint with heat gun application, great industrial choice for serious color and paint. I love the industrial rubberized paint effect you get from working with it. Other materials I loved working with include these beautiful Tahitian skirts. The material they were made of was one of the few organic materials I found, yet the local manufacturer was able to produce brillant neon colors in a spectrum so electric they were mesmerizing to work with.

Searching out for fabrics posed similar problems, all true hot neons were synthetic and had either a slinky shiny bad raver feel to them or complete opposite, hard and harsh to work with and easy and cheap to fall apart. Organic materials fit and laid right but never had the right colors. I was able to get the look I desired eventually by dying a linen that possessed a subtle metallic weave.

This whole shoot I was searching for electric neon colors in organic materials in order to achieve the look I wanted. It was nearly impossible but the skirts were amazing and the manufacturer was sweet enough to give me a bundle of rooster feathers in every bright and neon shade to use as sample material. I still look at the bundle every morning or as I drive around and I can’t help but to smile at how beautiful the colors are and how great they look together. It’s weird how some materials and colors do that to you.

I was excited to work with Dhrama Trading Company as well. They are based in California and have the most helpful team to assist neon obsessive color freaks like me in trying to achieve the brightest neon possible. I was excited to get my airbrush on, but it broke and I never got to use it. Luckily Cory gave me some Preval Sprayer bottles and I went to work just mixing up fluorescent textile paint super simple.

I think I pilfered every WalMart on the island for every bottle acrylic neon pink paint. Later I found out that all the MAC makeup girls got to the neons first, which would explain why I literally had my assistant chasing neon acrylic paint like they were pots of gold at the end of every rainbow we see here . I was spray painting for what seemed like years on materials that just gobbled the paint up, I swear I was huffing fumes and not by choice, I really needed to keep all the brain cells I could muster to get through the shoot. The best thing that came out of this was recreating an inspired look from the famed makeup stylist and artist Donald Simrock, and applying it to the 3 sets of twins I designed for on the shoot. I’ll post photos of this later as well.

Much was learned from this experience, along with good stories and new friends I truly hope that I will be able to have more opportunities like this. My experience seems so fresh in my mind that I was absolutely blown away by Hunger Games, it’s my new Blade Runner and I desperately want to rescan over scenes for those monumental iconic looks that I know that film is saturated with. The aging, the color palettes, etc were all so amazing and I look forward to posting on that as soon as I can.

The Inspiration Behind Lady Gaga’s Born This Way

Learning From Your Elders and Aging Stylishly with the Ladies of Advanced Style

I remember when I was younger, my brother seemed to have a strong disdain for elderly women dressing themselves with dull and dowdy clothing. He professed his wish to my mother that she would not enter into her 70s without a few neon colored jumpsuits and sequined numbers. Well now all women (and men) have inspiring role models to aspire to, the Ladies (and Gentlemen) of Advanced Style.

I’ve just recently saw the trailer for Ari Seth Cohen‘s Advanced Style documentary and it looks fantastic. Cohen’s mission states that “Respect your elders and let these ladies and gents teach you a thing or two about living life to the fullest. Advanced Style offers proof from the wise and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age.”

 

Advanced Style blog is a tribute to the eclectic and sometimes electric styling of senior citizens. Ari Seth Cohen, the founder of the blog and photographer roams the streets of New York looking for the most stylish and creative older folks. Although Cohen has honed in his creative eye towards the stylish ladies, he now is excited to add men back into the mix stating, “I originally started this blog to share the style and stories of both men and women.When it came to curating the photos for my book, I wanted to pay tribute to my wonderful grandmothers and decided to focus exclusively on pictures of stylish ladies. Now its time to once again add some wonderful gentlemen into the mix.”

Upon further study, many of these men and women live lives not only rich in style and beautiful clothing but also lives where their vision for style is also similar for their vision of life, which is a vision of constant experimentation and play. These fun ladies stand expressively and most animated for the camera, unencumbered by any type Paris Hilton-esque posing. They stand free from the rigidity of social norms and each spontaneously shine and shout their passion for life.

Ari say’s that “I often get asked how the Advanced Style ladies stay so beautiful and active as they age. I have learned over the past three years that it is important to stay interested in the world, to never stop learning, and constantly be inspired by new things.”  Ari asked 80 year old Joyce what her secret was and she responded, “The real secret is being in love with life and realizing what you have.”

Each day is a new day of play. The character whom these women choose to be is apart of the ever changing cast in the theater of life. One 90-something woman swears by Pilates at least once a week while others prefer the bicycle as their main source of transportation. Does having a preference for vibrant clothing and strong styling correlate with living a vibrant, deep and meaningful life?

What one can learn from Advanced Style is absolutely everything, but most importantly is that confidence is truly the best accessory when it comes to style, along with a good sense of humor. Tried and true Advanced Style-isms seem to chime in on the importance of pushing one’s boundaries, comfort-wise and creatively. Other sentiments are aligned with finding style anywhere and everywhere (through vintage and thrift stores), accepting non-perfection and dressing being a reflection of your mood. When one starts to feel disheartened by the vapid choices of daily dress, look no further than to the elders for the inspiration one needs.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the Ladies and Gents of Advanced Style share commonalities no matter how individual their swagger and attitude are. It’s the sort of take-life-as-it-comes attitude but make sure to do it while wearing the biggest hat, brightest smile and that shocking blue nail polish, all while piling on a melange of materials that comes out as high wattage ensemble. It’s the type of ensemble that declares a sense of who cares, live it up while you can and enjoy everything and everyone. It’s the sort of realization that one makes as a nearer finality comes closer in on the horizon of those sunset years. And wow, the horizon to come looks fabulous.

Steps Towards Dressing More Creatively

Thrifting with Debra

Dressing For How You Feel Now

Menswear Is Not Only For Men

You Don’t Have to Be Perfect

All photos and videos are from the blog of Advanced Style, for more information and inspiration click here