KIRCHNER'S COLORS

One of the main reasons I love art so much is that it is ruled by emotion--there is no right or wrong art. The same is true of fashion, to an extent. Though there are trends and forecasters who predict what will be "in" and "out", one's personal style ultimately relies on one's own emotion and how they choose to express themselves.

Have you ever awoken in a slump and combatted the mood by wearing your favorite dress or brightest tee?

Expressionism has always been among my favorite art movements because of its ability to do just that--capture emotion through color. This idea is evidenced in the work of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

Kirchner (1880-1938) was the most important member of Die Brücke, a group of Dresden artists who championed primitivism, bold color, and abstraction. His most known works are of Berlin street scenes; however, the works shown here depict other figural subject matter that is equally compelling.

Kirchner used bold, almost neon, hues of orange and green to give his works a vibrating sense of color and depth. Themes of primitivism and the exotic are also apparent in these works, important aspects of Die Brücke Manifesto.

To emulate the feel of these paintings, I paired Kirchner's go-to colors, green and neon orange, with a few "exotic" elements--leopard and zebra.

This skirt was a recent thrift find--part Jil Sander, part Royal Tenenbaums. I think it will prove to be quite versatile. Yes, I consider a pleated green zebra-print midi skirt to be a versatile piece. Like I said, there is no wrong answer in fashion!

I'm wearing a handknit vintage cardigan (which is even more neon in person--like construction worker orange), vintage silk blouse, vintage silk pleated skirt, Abercrombie & Fitch leather skinny belt, vintage leather clutch, Juicy Couture leather lace-up booties, and F21 rings.

Thank you to Aesthetic Alterations for the Stylish Blogger Award!

[Kirchner images from artinvestment.ru, flickr.com, and members.cox.net, respectively.]