Mary Blair March

Sartorial Saturday…On a Sunday–Green on Green

Happy Mary Blair Week!

I think my favorite thing about Mary Blair’s artwork is her unorthodox use of color. Not only did she illustrate normal objects in unusual colors, like emerald skies and pink horses, she also paired unexpected colors with great success. This year, I decided to pair two shades of green I normally wouldn’t wear together in her honor, and I’m very pleased with the result…it’s the perfect green overload for St. Patrick’s Day!

Of course I had to add in green accessories, too, including an all green stack of Splendette Duchess Bangles, and my “lucky” green frog brooch from Erstwilder:

How do you like to wear green for St. Patrick’s Day?

Sartorial Saturday–Mary Blair Meets Magically Made

Mary Blair March is finally here!

I’ve been working on a way to combine one of my Mary Blair pieces (my clown print Natalie swing dress) with my Magically Made Celestina reversible capelet from Pinup Girl Clothing:

I love how well these two items go together! The reversible yellow side of the capelet is the perfect match for the yellow in the dress.

And this yellow starburst brooch from Luxulite goes great with both pieces!

This whole look just makes me happy!

I’m so excited to find more new ways to wear my favorite Mary Blair prints this month!

Sartorial Saturday–Mary Blair March

There’s still another week to go of Mary Blair March, but as Mary Blair Week winds down, I wanted to share some of the ways I’ve styled my Mary Blair prints so far. This year, I decided to focus on only one outfit for each of the ten Mary Blair pieces in my wardrobe, instead of multiple outfits for each:

I haven’t been able to get as many other people involved in this event as I had hoped, but I have really enjoyed learning more about the life and work of Mary Blair and wearing some of my favorite prints from my wardrobe!

Capturing the Magic of Mary Blair

I’ve shared many Mary Blair outfits featuring pieces from Pinup Girl Clothing over the last few years, but I think this outfit might be the one that catches the “Magic of Mary Blair” the best.

Why?

Well, one of the things Mary Blair was most known for was her bold and unconventional use of color. One of her credits in movies like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Cinderella, as well as the famous “It’s a Small World” attraction created for the 1964 New York World’s Fair (and later adapted at several Disney parks as a ride), was color styling. Her unusual color pairings were ground-breaking for the time, and she is credited with introducing Walt Disney himself to this unique style, as well as modernist art, and he became one of her greatest champions.

Getting back to this outfit…I think the addition of a bold green shrug to a primarily pink dress really reflects the way Mary Blair liked to play with color. The clouds on the dress are done in a similar shade, and pairing it with more of the same color really makes it pop. I often play it safe with over-pieces, sticking with white, black, and neutral denim when it comes to boleros, shrugs, cardigans, and jackets. But for Mary Blair March, going really bold just seems appropriate!

I also added an additional, more subtle pop of color with a blue necklace and bracelet.

It’s an unmistakably bright outfit, which I really hope pays homage to Mary Blair!

How do you embrace the “Magic of Mary Blair” in your outfits?

Mary Blair Monday

Time to kick off Mary Blair Week (a week I invented as the high point of Mary Blair March, which is a time to wear all of my favorite Pinup Girl Mary Blair prints and celebrate the life and work of that talented artist!) with a Mary Blair Monday outfit. I’m wearing the yellow train print Jenny skirt because it is the first Mary Blair print I purchased, and was what really introduced me to her art.

I decided to go bold with my Splendette bangle stack:

And while this Erstwilder brooch isn’t a Mary Blair piece, it is whimsical enough to fit right in with the outfit!

I’m looking forward to wearing more great Mary Blair pieces (and seeing the outfits other people put together) all week long!

Sartorial Saturday–St. Patrick’s Day Style

St. Patrick’s Day is only a week away! It’s one of my favorite holidays, and it just happens to fall during Mary Blair March. I have one Pinup Girl Clothing skirt that combines the color green with the artwork of Mary Blair…the boat print Jenny!

I decided to go with a bold, contrasting color on top, and I think it’s a really fun look. I also found as many green accessories as possible, including my favorite Splendette Duchess glitter bangles and a frog brooch from Erstwilder. And while the necklace may not have any green, it pretty much goes with everything!

What’s your favorite way to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day?

Sartorial Saturday–Mary Blair March

I had so much fun participating in Mary Blair March last month! Here is a wrap-up of some (but not nearly all!) of the outfits I wore, with a few favorites from other times thrown in for fun:

Next year, I’m going to choose a specific week in March to celebrate Mary Blair, and promote it. Hopefully, even more admirers of her work will join me then, in wearing lots of fun prints in different styles! And if we’re really lucky, maybe Pinup Girl Clothing will have added to their Mary Blair collection before then…I would love to add more items to my wardrobe!

Sartorial Saturday–The Skirtification of a Dress

I’ve been aware for some time that people have found ways to wear some of their Pinup Girl Clothing dresses as skirts. This usually involves folding the bodice of the dress down into the skirt, which is a little complicated for me, but I discovered that my two sundresses (the Nancy and the Lydia) are fairly easy to wear just by putting a peasant top on over the top of the dress.

The Nancy is the easiest dress to do this with. The neckline is low enough, and the straps thin enough that I didn’t have to do anything other than put a belt over the place where the top ends. And the olive-green peasant top is perfect with the colors of the Mary Blair butterfly print!

The Lydia’s straps aren’t quite as accommodating, so I had to fold them down into the bodice of the dress before putting on the peasant top. I was worried that this would result in a bulkier look, but I actually think it turned out ok:

I’m glad I experimented with a new way of wearing my dresses, especially these two, which are still a little too summery to wear on their own at this time of year. Anytime I can find more ways to wear my Pinup Girl items, and especially more ways to wear them throughout the year, I consider it a win!