The Quirky-Cool Style of Your Favorite Art Teacher Is Back and Getting Rave Reviews
She was eccentric, had a penchant for bold jewelry and clogs, and let you play with Prismacolor pencils: She was your art teacher and she’s back! Or her eclectic taste is, at any rate. Replicated by creative women all over the streets (and on Instagram), the pastiche of color-blocking, bulbous earrings, and improbably architectural footwear has left the hovel of the upstate art studio and emerged as the uniform of some of the chicest patrons in the city. A voluminous floral smock is an easy go-to piece for a day of gallery hopping or a night of twirling on the dance floor to Kate Bush playlists. Whether cradling a glass of white wine at a poetry reading or pre-empting photo shoots on the streets of the Lower East Side, wistful long skirts and knee-high boots conjure up the elan of the evocative poetesses one studied in comp lit class. With sculptural earrings dangling from their lobes, their selfies recall Vermeer; the oversize (and, presumably, overflowing) totes they favor likely contain a journal, a change of clothes, and an Anaïs Nin book or two. Yes, a conceptual fashion renaissance has begun and demands the exacting eye of your former AP art teacher to pull off.
So why not not reimagine your closet as a blank canvas and start with the most inspiring pieces? See by Chloé’s velvet frill-sleeved frock recalls the dramatic work of the Old Masters, and Gray Matters’s Mildred Egg mule is the perfect low-heel footwear for a day of wandering through exhibitions. Lizzie Fortunato’s Ernesto earrings offer a fun lesson in color play and are a far cry from the macaroni jewelry you used to make, while Balenciaga’s Bazar leather cross-body bag is a stylish way to store away watercolors and that coveted Whitney Biennial invite.
