Frida Kahlo

Next up in the Artist Series is the stunning and tragic Frida Kahlo. As many of you know, Frida was a Mexican painter who worked in the first half of the 20th century. She’s famous for her self portraits which reveal the trials of being a woman in a stifling patriarchal society. Frida was a queer feminist who used art to show female power and to reveal the truth about the female experience (spoiler: it sucks).

This outfit reflects Frida’s brightly colored, Mexican ensembles. She often wore flowers in her hair and a shawl. When she was a child Frida was in a terrible bus accident and spent the rest of her life in constant pain, some days not even able to get out of bed. She began painting during those long infirmed hours and many of her works reflect the pain she felt, for example this piece called “Without Hope.”I recreated one of her best known self portraits. She’s rarely smiling in any of her works. Although she was quite positive and often very happy despite her condition, her paintings show the other side, the feelings she kept from the world. In addition to her health problems, Frida had a turbulent marriage to Diego Rivera, a fellow but lesser artist. Both partners cheated and fought and Frida was constantly tormented by Rivera’s affairs, particularly one with her younger sister Cristina. Shirt: H&M, Skirt: Chicwish, Scarf: Purchased in Paris, Shoes: TJ Maxx, Flower Crown: Urban Outfitters