Sometimes wearing black, white, and red seems like a cop out. It's just so easy and possibly a bit predictable, but it is an undeniably powerful color combination. It packs a ton of contrast, which in turn, is extraordinarily eye-catching.
This is one of the main reasons why the color triumvirate was championed by the Russian Constructivists, a post-World War I art movement.
Active from around 1919-1934, Russian Constructivism purported the use of art for social means, including propaganda and promotion of technology.
Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, by El Lissitzky, is one of the most well-known Constructivist posters. Aleksandr Rodchenko's Constructivist posters were also central to the movement.
The Constructivist architect Vladimir Tatlin was lauded for his model of the Monument to the Third International.
Intended to be erected in what is now St. Petersburg after the Bolshevik Revolution, Tatlin's Tower was never actually built. However, it became a symbol of the Constructivist aesthetic and championing of the technological machine age.
Above is a film poster by the Steinbergs. Constructivism owed much to the Suprematism of artists like Kasimir Malevich.
The influence of Constructivism is still apparent today, especially in street art (think Shepard Fairey).
For my Constructivist look, I paired an El Lissitzky-esque sweater with lots of black and a pop of red, and shot the photos at the base of an electrical tower reminiscent of the Monument to the Third International.
I'm wearing a vintage leather jacket, vintage sweater, H&M skirt, DKNY tights, and L.A.M.B. wedges.
[Constructivist images from p-adamek0912-dc.blogspot.com, mechanicrobotic.files.wordpress.com, shafe.co.uk, and forth.fi, respectively.]
