Simultaneous Dressing
the independent life of color
If you know me at all, even peripherally, you know I love color, that it’s one of my great joys. At the risk of being found out as a plebeian, I’ll admit that watching black and white movies has always been a challenge for me. My eyes and mind become dejected without a robust palette on which to feast. Winter, for this reason and others, is particularly gruelling on my spirit, and the rejuvenation brought by springtime is potent as a fractional CO2 laser resurfacing and 3 CCs of Juvederm Volbella®. What’s that? You haven’t been obsessing over skin elasticity for the past 6 months as your face becomes somehow both increasingly pallid and sallow? You don’t understand the reference? Well, surely I don’t have to convince you of the healing powers of fecund spring gardens. The colors are abundant right now and it is resuscitating my soul!
This spring, while in the thick of my seasonal style meditations, I came across this painting by Sonia Delaunay from 1925, entitled Simultaneous Dresses (Three Women, Forms, Colours).
It led me down a delicious internet rabbit hole where I learned about Simultanism, an art practice conceived by Delaunay and her husband Robert. As a response to Cubism’s exploration of form, Simultanism was an investigation of color and light, specifically the use of contrast to enhance the impact of a painting. Sonia described color as "the skin of the world." She continued this technique during her tenure as fashion designer, a profession to which she devoted herself beginning in 1917 as a means of subsistence after the revolution cut off her money supply. Sonia began designing costumes for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes that brought an edge and awareness of high fashion to the world of ballet. Following her immediate success on the stage, she opened her own popular fashion and interior design shop, ‘Casa Sonia’ in Madrid in 1918, and later a Parisian studio where she served high profile clients like movie star Gloria Swanson. In 1921 she began incorporating Dadaist and Surrealist poetry into her designs and created the Dress Poem. The application of Simultaneous color philosophy in her textiles resulted in magnetic pieces. She designed textiles with their corresponding garments in mind - an approach that may seem practical but was actually radical - and constructed in accordance with the female form. In an era when women were rejecting the corset in favor of ease of movement, Delaunay’s designs were an exuberant celebration of women’s liberation.
I suppose, in a way, I am already a Simultanist as I am constantly thinking about the rhythm of color. Nevertheless I find Delaunay’s methods very inspiring. Her work is a conversation with color but equally an investigation into it, like the hours-long talks one has with an old friend or lover - intuitive yet replete with the discovery of new affections years into the relationship. Simultanism requires a strong sense of color intuition, which Delaunay clearly possessed.
The only way to develop one’s color intuition is by study and practice, so let us observe some examples of impactful color and then play with our own recipes.
Observe: the independent life of color
Play: simultaneous dress
Sonia Delaunay said “painting is a form of poetry, colours are words, their relations rhythms, the completed painting a completed poem.” The same could be said for a good outfit, no?
My favourite color combination: blue and red, especially in their purest forms: cobalt and fire engine.
The vivacious turquoise of this vest brings dynamics to a sage green vintage silk skirt and dove grey heels. An ochre bakelite bangle adds an extra splash of incongruity.
Double the stripe = double the punch added to a simple outfit of tshirt and jeans.
Simultaneous shopping
clockwise: Perry Ellis Fall 1984 abstract knit wool sweater inspired by Sonia Delaunay, The Local Woman Recess Stripe, Issey Miyake Pleats Please dress that resembles Delaunay’s first Simultaneous dress, Super Yaya multicolor panelled skirt
L-R: Dries Van Noten striped sandals, vintage polka dot skirt, Ungaro polka dot jacket
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