Spring going on Summer

Art x Outfit Edit #37

Finally, after literal MONTHS of rain in the French capital, the sun seems to be settling back. For how long you ask? Well, let’s be delusional and say: for a decent amount of time.

Whatever, this sun has made me excited for the Summer to come and has me daydreaming about the Mediterranean Sea and South of France. Especially the Arcadian interpretation of the Côte d’Azur by Nabi painter Pierre Bonnard…

The Nabis were a group of French artists active in Paris from 1888 until 1900, who played a large part in the transition from Impressionism and academic art to abstract art, symbolism and the other early movements of modernism.

Bonnard was famous for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. He painted landscapes, urban scenes, portraits and intimate domestic scenes, where the backgrounds, colors and painting style usually took precedence over the subject.

Spring is the season of transitional outfits in the form of not too short shorts worn with cowboy boots that are going to go back into the closet for the hot season. As short as the season might feel, especially with global warming, I have always liked Spring as a season for experimentation and fun.

It allows for outfits that do not necessarily make sense and bold mix and matches. Long coats with ultra short bottoms on bare legs, knee-high boots and crop tops. For a transition season, it can also be the ones of odd extremes…

Extreme like the color contrast in the painting that inspired this outfit. Bonnard juxtaposes pastel blues and pinks and saturated yellows and greens. The contrast is accentuated by the white fading into the soft hues and the touches of black underscoring darker shades.

While this outfit is softer on the color contrast, it mixes long and short pieces, high and low, hot and cold… It is perfect for Summer Fridays in the office, for an evening drink at a sunny terrace or for a city stroll including an ice-cream stop, or for anything you want to do really!!