SIA Inspiration: Jan Van Eyck

It’s my turn to host SIA, and I’ve decided to pick an absolute classic:

This, of course, is the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck (aka the painter that makes everybody look like Putin, including the women.) There have been many theories and debates about this painting (the most easily debunked is that the woman in the painting is pregnant. She’s not. She’s just holding up her heavy dress), but I picked it for two reasons. One, I just watched a BBC mini-series called “A Stitch in Time”, in which they recreate clothes from famous paintings (as in actually making the clothes using traditional methods.) This is featured in one of the episodes, and it is absolutely fascinating to watch how the dress is made, from dying the fabric to pinking the trim on the sleeves. Two, it’s St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow, and since green is such a prominent color in the painting, I thought it would be appropriate.

So get inspired, put an outfit together, and remember to send it to me by next Tuesday, March 24th. Have fun!

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