[Alternative Muses] Style Guide: Schokko with a Red Hat

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 Schokko with a Red Hat by Alexej Jawlensky is my favourite painting. She lives at the Columbus Museum of Art: I like to visit her when I go home.

Schokko with Red Hat by Alexej Jawlensky, 1909

Schokko with a Red Hat by Alexej Jawlensky, 1909. Columbus Museum of Art.

Schokko was an artist’s model. She adored drinking hot chocolate so much that it inspired her quirky nickname. I wonder if it kept her warm during long hours of working in drafty ateliers?

Her gaze in this painting is simultaneously direct and circumspect, which nicely mirrors her unnaturally presented yet magnetic appearance. She’s a woman with something to say, but what?

Did Schokko like or care how she was presented to the world, through other people’s eyes?  Was she a fan of modern art? Was drinking cup after cup of hot chocolate, between poses, the highlight of her day?

What did she look forward to, go home to, do in her spare time? Did she even like the colour red?

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A MODERN GUIDE TO DRESSING LIKE SCHOKKO:

There’s more to style than what they tell you about in the pages of Vogue. Inspiration is everywhere. In this case, it shines at us from inside a picture frame. 

What does it say?

Colour is expression. Hats are relentlessly chic. Boldness is armour.

Building an unusual colour palette, deliberate and nuanced, isn’t just for paintings.

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This hat is everything:

A smaller version of this fascinator would look great pinned to the hat:

A navy base layer, in a classic shape, is more interesting and just as versatile as a neutral counterpart:

A small neck scarf is a short-cut to looking put-together:

A fan is a work of art, as well as an accessory:

Fan by ARTintersect

Fan by ARTintersect. $27.00

Forget the humdrum rules and pair black-rimmed eyes with bold lips:

Sweet Schokko-inspired indulgences:

9 thoughts on “[Alternative Muses] Style Guide: Schokko with a Red Hat”

  2. I need that hat and that lipstick!

    My newest way to ‘relax’ is to spend time on pinterest looking at different color schemes, palettes or colored glass. I am sure the followers I have just LOVE the way I am flooding the boards but color is my way to change my mood and these work perfectly.

    Now I want hot chocolate too 🙂

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    • I love that hat, too, although it is more than I would spend for one. The lipstick, though, is a great price!

      Ah, Pinterest! I’ve been on there since it was in Beta. I go through periods where I am on 3 or 4 days a week, and then I’ll skip it for a few weeks. It is definitely an addiction. Colour is a great way to change one’s mood, but it had not occurred to me to make boards based on it. Your boards sound cool.

      It’s almost genuine hot chocolate season! I had a cup the other morning. I am sick, so that was my justification.

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