In the style of Frida: 10 fashion trends that Kahlo predicted

Frida Kahlo got into not only the history of painting - what she wore literally does not leave the pages of fashion magazines and from the top of Instagram. Frida managed to predict the development of fashion for many decades to come. Anastasia Orlyanskaya, editor of the Puzzle English educational online service, visited the Brooklyn Museum in New York at an exhibition dedicated to the artist's work and outfits.

Anastasia Orlyanskaya Puzzle English

Yes, Mexican Frida Kahlo was born more than a hundred years ago, but it may seem that her influence on modern fashion is only getting stronger every year. An artist in a traditional South American dress first appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine in 1937, and - on a rare occasion - the entire issue was dedicated to her! Today, an outfit in the spirit of Frida is not only one of the most popular Halloween costumes (even Beyoncé wore it), it seems that the trends that Kahlo set at the beginning of the 20th century are gaining relevance.

Inscriptions and slogans on clothes

Popular T-shirts with prints and slogans begin their history in the early 70s, when Vivienne Westwood and her partner Malcolm McLaren revolutionized fashion by launching T-shirts with political statements of the civil rights movements and the campaign for nuclear disarmament. They quickly became a fashion hit.

However, Frida Kahlo, 50 years before Westwood, came up with the idea of decorating clothes with slogans and drawings. True, she painted not T-shirts, but corsets. After the young artist had an accident and suffered a spinal fracture, she had to wear plaster corsets for many years. It was on them that she painted political symbols, slogans, as well as Mexican nature - flowers and wild animals. Between 1940 and 1954, she wore 28 different corsets. So it was Frida who was the first to come up with the idea to paint clothes.

Jean-Paul Gaultier and other stars who were rebels in their youth

For more than 30 years of his career, the rebel Jean-Paul Gaultier has managed to never repeat itself and not seem boring, his shows are rightfully considered real fashion shows, and the pointed bra, in which Madonna performed in 1990, has gone down in history forever. The l'enfant terrible of fashion himself also likes to dress very extravagantly: he walked the kilt more than once, promoting it to the masses.

Men's suit and androgynous fashion

In family photographs with her sisters, cousins and parents, Frida always appeared in a man's suit. Until the mid-1920s, this gesture was considered defiant. One can only imagine what the mother said to young Frida when she put on a man's suit for family photos. Only 60 years later, the pair of trousers will become familiar, as in Woody Allen's film "Ann Hall" with Diane Keaton - the actress who popularized oversized jackets, loose trousers and ties. Frida's contemporaries recall that the artist not only often wore a man's suit, she did not recognize "masculine" and "feminine" at all - she smoked cigars, could swear and professed free love.

Brows

Throughout the twentieth century, women of fashion stubbornly got rid of excess facial hair. We remember the phrase: "A woman's eyebrows should be as thin as a thread!" And only for the last 10 years, wide natural eyebrows have been in trend, and the most daring imitate Cara Delevingne.

While Greta Garbo and other Hollywood stars plucked their eyebrows, Kahlo not only left them natural, but also specially darkened them with the help of cosmetics, carefully drawing each hair. Even then, Frida knew: thick eyebrows are sexy. Frida's monobrow then looked very unusual and defiant, but that is what she wanted.

Traditional Dresses

Traditional Mexican outfits are the most recognizable part of Frida's wardrobe. Most often, the artist wore embroidered teuana dresses, popular in southern Mexico. Today, something like this can often be seen on Instagram, and more and more designers are turning to South American sources of inspiration. Bright birds, flowers and geometric shapes, natural fabrics - wool and cotton - are more relevant today than ever. Frida also loved to wear Tehuana dresses because her mother, who was indigenous to Mexico, loved to wear the dress. The artist drew several self-portraits at once in this outfit.

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Mexican-style dresses are only part of the artist's enormous influence on contemporary fashion. Her art inspired one of the most futuristic designers of our time, Jean-Paul Gaultier, to create an entire collection. It happened 90 years after her birth. And the famous costume of the alien Leelu from "The Fifth Element" is completely copied from one of Frida's paintings.

Large necklaces

Frida Kahlo was a big fan of flowers, bright colors and antique stones. One of her favorite necklaces is the pre-Columbian jade necklace. The artist often created unique jewelry on her own. Colored statement jewelry is still at the height of fashion today. The vibrant colors and quirky designs on them are an element that can be combined with almost any outfit, it will help to make the outfits you have worn much more effective.

Scarves and slings

Another recognizable detail of Frida Kahlo's wardrobe is the colored Mexican rebozo scarves. The artist wore this accessory not only around her neck, but also woven it into her braids. Fringed scarves were produced in Aztec villages and decorated with embroidery. They were used as baby slings, and the Mexican revolutionaries smuggled weapons into them. The scarf was even a symbol of freedom. Fringe and pom-poms are in trend now, we recommend!

Cascade of golden chains

Until recently, several gold chains with pendants at once would have been considered inappropriate, but for several seasons in a row, a cascade of gold chains of different lengths with medallions and pendants can be seen on the neck of almost every second fashionista. On display at the Brooklyn Museum is Frida's necklace of exactly this style. Aztec gold, coins and medallions - the artist did not skimp on jewelry. Nowadays, you can wear a chain necklace in different ways - over a T-shirt or sweater, or as an addition to a dress with a deep neckline.

Color block

The artist's color-blocking dresses have inspired generations of designers. Not only Gaultier, but Roland Mouret, Chris van Assé and Riccardo Tisci were inspired by Kahlo's style and art. Frida's famous dresses, consisting of two contrasting colors, are on display at the Brooklyn Museum. The bold trend, built on a combination of two color blocks, has been popular for many years in a row, and in the spring of 2019 interest in this direction will increase again. This season, the combination of toxic, almost neon shades will be at the height of fashion. Frida would definitely like it.

Frida's wreath

It is about the colors in our hair that we think when we hear the name of Frida. And that image materialized on the snapchat app for International Women's Day a couple of years ago. Braids and a flower wreath adorned the head of actress Salma Hayek when the star appeared as Frida at an event at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The hashtag with the name of Frida Kahlo on Instagram gives out dozens of followers of this trend. Of course, this is not her personal invention - Mexican women wore such hairstyles for many centuries before the birth of Frida, but it was Kahlo who made them famous all over the world.

Anastasia Orlyanskaya, Puzzle English