Artfully Awear: INTERNATIONAL KLEIN BLUE

Although green has been my favorite color since age eight, I've recently been gravitating toward various shades of blue (evidenced here, here, and here). Simply adding one new color to your wardrobe can help you see old clothes in a plethora of new ways.

The blue in this ensemble was inspired by French artist Yves Klein (1928-1962). Though his artistic career spanned only a short time, he made invaluable contributions to the history of art; most notably, International Klein Blue. IKB is a saturated cobalt color Klein specially formulated and patented for his own artwork.

Much of his art centers on the use of IKB, whether simply as the color itself, or in various iterations of texture and medium.

In Blue Venus, Klein was clearly inspired by Matisse's Blue Nude, mentioned before.

Klein further explored the Blue Nude concept, painting nude models with IKB paint and having them impress their bodies onto paper--the resulting work was quite a lovely figural action painting.

Isn't the wearing of an outfit really a figural action painting in itself?

For my IKB ensemble, I chose to pair the color with camel--a no-fail match in my opinion.

Since camel was heralded as the color of the season, I've been scouring out pieces from local thrift shops, including these Betty-Draper-esque slacks, which I foresee becoming wardrobe mainstays.