Guest Post: The Foolish Aesthete

Get to the Pointe: The Foolish Aesthete Dances with Fashion with a Passion.

 If you don't know Jenny from The Foolish Aesthete, you are missing out. A fellow Californian, she is a self-described perennial aesthete, style hound and an eclectic collector. She also happens to be a ballet dancer, photographer and masterful with costumes. Her world is saturated with literary references, the arts and a love for beauty. Her blog pushes you to see the world as a place to play and dress up. For The Foolish Aesthete, the world conspires to inspires, and you'll find that she does too.

NEW BEGINNINGS

By Jenny of The Foolish Aesthete

 

Thank you so much, Bella, for sharing this space with me.  It is an honor and pleasure to be here!

January is often associated with New Beginnings.  What does that mean for our wardrobe? We all face “What do I wear?” moments, particularly when there is nothing new in our closets aside from a few, sparkly holiday purchases.

Now, I have complete confidence in Man (or Woman) and our civilizations’ achievements.  Mainly, we can dream, imagine … create!  We may not all be creative geniuses, but at some elementary level, we create daily.  We rustle up something for dinner.  We string words together to convey our thoughts.  And everyday, we face the world in an outfit not chosen by our mothers (generally by our 7th birthday).

My Radio City Christmas Rockette look, circuitously inspired by the Muppet movie + "Devil Wears Prada."

One of my favorite artists, Pablo Picasso, said “Bad artists copy.  Good artists steal.”  He further elaborated that to copy ones’ self is more dangerous than copying others. I’ll take that as license to steal Picasso’s thoughts, since my own are reportedly dangerous, and certainly not on a genius scale like his.

Inspiration is necessary for creation.  We have to try new things -- even if it means stealing someone else’s look!  This is one kind of theft for which we can be forgiven.  So let’s take each day as a New Beginning, style wise.  Now… where should we go for inspiration?

I like to be inspired by of-the-moment free association.  It can be as simple as hearing a program on the radio discussing the Roaring 20's or seeing an image of Clara Bow.  Out comes a Jazz Age-inspired Ensemble.  

My Jazz-age Ensemble

Or reading a book involving Time Travel that allows me to step into a wardrobe wormhole.

An Edwardian Heroine sort-of look

Or encountering a new blog (for me), like Susie Bubble’s, which produces a top knot.

My Mondrian Meets Susie Bubble Look

Or seeing my husband’s bowler hat, which inspires a Charlie Chaplin spoof.

Who cares if you are way out of your comfort zone?  You might just discover how enjoyable being “out of character” is.   I think of it as adopt-a-character, just for a day.

Die Zauberflöte inspiration, after a day at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

Of course, we never forget who we really are.  We may suppress it, but our own personal style always bursts through these adopted characters.

Just Me- No Character Overlay

I take that as a good thing.   All of Picasso’s "thievery" culminated in genuine Picassos.  Does anyone really remember who he stole from?  We are just left with his brilliant images.

With that, I wish you a happy year exploring new characters through your wardrobe!

Dance with this Beauty!

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