“Brown Cow Stunning!”

Style Imitating Art…

Welcome to Style Imitating Art! Style Imitating Art comes from Salazar, Shelbee, and me. You can think of this series as fashion meets art museum! SIA challenges people to find inspiration in different art works, create looks based upon that art work, and share them with the curator for that piece.

How it works…

Every other Monday one of us selects an inspiration piece of art and posts the image on their blog. We then invite others to interpret that art work through their style. The following Monday, we share our outfits. The curator shares submissions the following Wednesday on her blog. Shelbee chose this week’s art work for this round of Style Imitating Art. If you’d like, you can read why she chose it here. Please send your photo to Shelbee (shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com) by Tuesday, February 27th by 10 pm EST. Style Imitating Art is an interesting way to inspire your outfits. You can see a few of my looks here, here, here, and here.

“Atom Heart Mother”…

About the artists…

Hipgnosis was a design group based in London. They created album covers for many bands and individuals with whom you’re probably quite familiar. Among their clients were Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, Paul McCartney & Wings as well as the Alan Parsons Project, Peter Gabriel, Yes, ELO, Styx, and Al Stewart. Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, film and art students at the Royal College of Art, began the group sometime prior to 1968. Eventually Peter Christopherson joined the group. While they were at school, they were able to use the darkroom for their projects. After completing school, the Hipgnosis built a small darkroom in Powell’s bathroom, but in early 1970, they rented space and built a studio in London’s West End.

“When first starting out, Powell and Thorgerson adopted their name from graffiti they found on the door to their apartment. Thorgerson said they liked the word, not only for punning on ‘hypnosis’, but for possessing ‘a nice sense of contradiction, of an impossible co-existence, from Hip = new, cool, and groovy, and Gnostic, relating to ancient learning (source)'”.

A little more…

In 1968, Pink Floyd asked the group to design the cover for A Saucerful of Secrets. With the success of that collaboration, EMI employed the group to produce album covers and photos for additional musicians. In 1973, the album cover for Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon garnered international attention. There were several versions to choose from, but the “prism/pyramid” design was ultimately the only true choice. That album was on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart for 988 weeks and certified platinum 14 times! By 2013, Dark Side of the Moon had sold over 45 million copies worldwide which made it the band’s best selling release, the best selling album of the 70s, and the fourth best selling album in history (source).

Still more…

In addition to the groups and musicians listed above, Hipgnosis also designed the cover for a UK paperback edition of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In 1970, the group designed our album cover for Atom Heart Mother. The album was released in 1970 and didn’t have any words or even photos of the band members. Instead, there was a single Holstein-Friesian cow. When Hipgnosis asked for an artistic direction, they were told “something plain.” Thorgerson drove out into the country and took a photo of the first cow he saw. Her name is Lulubelle III. Cows are also on the back and in the gatefold.

Finally…

In 1983, the Hipgnosis split up. Thorgerson continued work on albums until he passed in 2013. Powell worked with Paul McCartney and The Who in film and video production. He also is the creative director for both Pink Floyd and David Gilmour. Christopherson produced some music videos as well as being an electronic musician in several bands until he passed in 2010.

About “Atom Heart Mother”…

Well, if you are one of the over 1.3 million people who bought this album, you have a copy of “Atom Heart Mother” in your music library! Most albums are made from paperboard and usually measure 12.375 inches (31.43 cm) square. I don’t happen to have any LPs so I know I don’t own one. And, by the time I discovered Pink Floyd, we were buying CDs.

My interpretation…

OK, so there is a backstory to my interpretation! I’m a huge fan of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” In season 10, Monique Heart, AKA Mo Heart, had to design and sew an outfit for the runway. These design challenges are usually fraught with queens who can and can’t sew. This particular challenge found Monique just a bit confused…here’s a tidbit!

So, I thought she had actually worn a zebra print, but turns out it was a giraffe print! Oh, well! I’m going with it! I have absolutely no cow print of any kind…not one thing! That meant I had to either go with a brown and white look or stick with my original idea of zebra print…you can tell which one won out! I added the cyan blue skirt from J Jill (seen here) and a moss green slip (seen here and here) to the brown and ivory zebra print cardigan from Talbots. I know they are opposite of the art work, but just work with me here! The blue represents the sky; the green is the grass! I didn’t really like the neckline of the sweater so I added a scarf in a different shade of blue, but I think it worked really well.

The Lewk!

The only boots I have that are remotely cowgirl/cowboy boots are my L’Artise Rodeha boots! But, I surely wouldn’t wear them out traipsing around in a cow pasture! I’ve done that, and you want to wear something that can be hosed right down! Because I was leaning into the greens and blues, I pulled out these Kantha Waves earrings and spiral bracelet from World Finds. I really like how they add just a subtle hint of color to a pretty bold outfit.

Wrap it up, Marsha!

Ooooh, Shelbee! This may have been the hardest SIA challenge yet! But, as you can tell from the photo below, I had lots of fun styling it. I like the scarf and the sweater together, but I can’t make up my mind about the skirt. It seems to be hogging (or cowing) the spotlight! So, can we talk? Do you own lots of cow patterned items? How about Lulubelle? Is she black and white or brown and white? What do you think about Pink Floyd’s decision to go with an album cover with no words? Please leave me a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise I do respond within a day or two!

Don’t forget…

If you want to be included in the Style Imitating Art round up, send Shelbee your photo by 10:00 EST Tuesday, February 28th (shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com). Photos of everyone participating will appear on Shelbee’s blog on Wednesday, February 29th!

Thank you!

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.

Affiliate links, discount codes, and such:

Just a reminder that Marsha in the Middle may use an affiliate link. Those links are usually italicized. If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link I provide, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. I am an April Cornell Brand Ambassador for another season. You can use my code, MARSHA15, for $15 off any order over $100. Use Marsha12 for 12% off any order of $65 or more at Buykud. I also have an affiliate code for Kantha Bae! Use MarshaintheMiddle in the promo code box for $5 off any order (excluding Bestie restocks)! I have also become a Halftee Partner. Use the code, MARSHA2098, for 20% off any purchase. I am also an affiliate with Clara Sunwoo. You can use my code, MARSHA10, for 10% off your entire order. For the Zuvi Halo Hair Dryer, use Marsha12 to get 12% off your order at this link: https://www.zuvilife.com/products/buy-zuvi-halo-hair-dryer?sca_ref=4039595.v4RNNsWxxF. If items are on sale, you can use Marsha5 for an extra 5% off sale prices. In case you didn’t know, bloggers must disclose the use of affiliate links. That’s why I include this in each post.

Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style,  Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World and A Fresh Cup of Coffee. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, Style Splash and Elegantly Dressed and Stylish. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday with Melynda, Lisa, and Sue. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!

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