Songful Style Link Party | “When Doves Cry” by Prince & The Revolution
My musically inspired friends and I are back with the sixth edition of Songful Style, a monthly style challenge that encourages us to use music as our sartorial inspiration. We not only learn about new (and old) songs which is so valuable for expanding our music knowledge but we also have the opportunity to view our wardrobes in entirely new and creative ways.
Suzy chose this month’s song, an iconic one from 1984, that many of us are certainly familiar with, When Doves Cry by Prince & The Revolution. For more details about this song as well as videos and album covers, visit my post, Songful Style | “When Doves Cry” by Prince & The Revolution.
About Songful Style
Songful Style is a new ageless style challenge series hosted by Suzy of The Grey Brunette, Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, Michelle of My Bijou Life, Marsha of Marsha in the Middle, and Anne of Spy Girl.
Each month we will share a song with the lyrics and video and we invite you to use whatever aspect of the song that inspires you to create an outfit.
It is similar to Style Imitating Art where we use artwork to inspire our outfit creations. Except Songful Style gives you lyrics, music, video, and album artwork to inspire your fashion creativity. You may even find inspiration in a memory triggered by the selected song. It is all open to your own personal interpretation and just a fun way to discover new music and get a little bit more creative with your wardrobe.
Anyone is welcome to join us on a permanent basis or you can just play along without any obligation to do anything other than feel inspired. We are flexible and fun and just want to find more ways to play dress up because it’s what we enjoy doing!
We will be posting on the last Monday of each month and will announce our song choice for the following month at the end of each post.
Be sure to check out my fabulous friends and how they have interpreted this song into style…just click their blog links for more songful style inspiration! Unfortunately, Anne will not be joining us this month but we hope to see her back for our August song…which is my pick, but you must scroll to the bottom for the new song.
- Suzy of The Grey Brunette
- Michelle of My Bijou Life
- Marsha of Marsha in the Middle
- Anne of Spy Girl
I will admit that I was completely stumped on this style challenge. I have nothing in my closet room that is anywhere near as phenomenal as Prince’s wardrobe. Prince was a human being with the most spectacular style and one of my favorite fashion icons of all time. He pushed the boundaries of “gender dressing” and broke all the rules with a quiet disregard for mainstream expectations. As a result, he is recognized as one of the greatest musicians of his generation and is widely known and praised for his flamboyant, androgynous style. If you are ever stuck in a style rut, look to Prince’s sense of fashion and take a few creative tips. You never know what ideas will come to life.
When I think of Prince’s style, my mind always goes to deep shades of purple, rich and luxurious fabrics, and lots of ruffly things. While I do have purples and luxurious fabrics in my wardrobe, it is definitely way too hot right now to wear any of them. That actually got me wondering how Prince dressed for the hot and humid summer seasons. He was a master of layering and rarely bared any skin except for his chest and midriff. But I bet he rocked out in short shorts and tank tops when he was chilling at home during Minnesota summers.
I watched the video and listened to and read over the lyrics waiting for styling ideas to strike me and all I could come up with was my purple satin slip skirt. I pictured high heeled boots and a ruffly white shirt paired with the skirt but alas I have no such ruffled things. And then I received an email from Torrid letting me know that I had $20 in rewards cash that was about to expire. Not wanting to waste it but also not wanting to spend more than the allotted $20, I began scanning through their clearance accessories when I stumbled upon this modal wallpaper floral print scarf for under $10. The floral print very much resembled the background floral print on the Purple Rain album cover, the album which features When Doves Cry as the lead single, and so I quickly added it to my cart.
Initially, I had planned to turn this giant scarf into a big poofy ruffled thing around my neck in true Princely fashion but it was not working in my favor especially not in this ongoing heat and humidity. Then I tried the scarf as belt and as a sarong layered over the purple skirt. Both of these ways actually looked super cute but then I simply could not find a top that worked with it. That is when I decided to make the scarf my top and I absolutely loved how it turned out.
I wasn’t thrilled about my bralette showing so much. But these styling challenges are all about stepping outside of our comfort zones. And my lacy bralettes are too cute to always keep hidden beneath my clothes anyway. So I made sure the color coordinated (I have a rainbow of fancy bralettes) and I let it be!
I wore long feather earrings to represent the crying doves of the song, my “Let’s Rock” cigar box bag to honor Prince’s musical talents, and white heeled ankle boots because I don’t know if Prince ever wore flat shoes. Prince stood at just 5’2” tall and when asked about his stature and choice of footwear, he once replied, “People say I’m wearing heels because I’m short. I wear heels because the women like ’em.” (Source)
And there you have it…my outfit inspired by Prince & The Revolution’s When Doves Cry. How did I do?
Featured Favorite from “Behind the Wall of Sleep”
Angie of Your True Self Blog
I have chosen the next song for our August 29, 2022, post which is Mama by Beth Hart. I will share more details including lyrics, video, and other inspirations that I can find relating to the song on Tuesday. If you are interested in joining us, you are welcome to begin styling now or check back on Tuesday for additional inspiration relating to the song.
Feel free to link up your posts especially if you have a Songful Style post or any post related to fashion and/or music.
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Joining these Fabulous Link Parties.
Outfit Details: Scarf and Bralette: Torrid / Skirt-Target / Boots-MIA / Feather Earrings-Gift Shop in Sylva, North Carolina / Cigar Bag-Thrifted
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
18 Comments
Marsha Banks
Oh, Shelbee! I love it!!! This was a tough one and yet it shouldn’t have been! Maybe it we’d done it in the cooler months? Anyway, I thought about purple (duh), but I don’t have any purple that isn’t packed away! I love that scarf as your top. I need to experiment with that! Love your little Rock On bag!!! You have the best accessories! That man was one sexy human being…yet so intelligent and caring…we really need him in this world.
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Marsha! Jeff couldn’t believe that I turned the scarf into a top like this…he was super impressed! Haha. I have been having fun experimenting with scarves lately. I am an accessory collector, for sure! And yes, Prince was one sexy human who brought great things to this world. We do need him and people like him! I will be making my rounds shortly to see what you all came up with for this one!
xoxo
Shelbee
Nancy
What a eye for detail that scarf and the background of the album. I totally loved all the rushes and ruffles he wore especially in the beginning! Also thought Sheila E was such a cool woman!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you, Nancy! Oh Prince definitely knew how to style frills and ruffles like no other! Sheila E is definitely an iconic musician in her own right! What a fabulously talented and badass woman!
xoxo
Shelbee
Jennifer
I’m really loving the purple!!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Jennifer! I particularly love this shade of purple. It is very regal to me!
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
Very nice. You nailed it. Very cool.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Patrick!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
I love this outfit! The purple skirt is “purfect!” Just the type of rich tones I associate with Prince’s attire. And the scarf is amazing! It does look so much like the album cover. You made it into a beautiful blouse. Awesome!
I considered florals, but almost all of my florals are tropical prints. Not the right vibe! And since I was going to have to buy something anyway, I went with butterflies.
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you, Michelle! Whenever I wear this purple skirt, I think of you because I know how much you love these deep saturated purple hues! I didn’t want to buy something new for this challenge, but I couldn’t resist this perfect scarf! Plus it’s just a scarf, it doesn’t take up too much room in my wardrobe storage. Jeff and I were recently joking that if the apocalypse came upon us, I have enough scarves to make clothing and blankets and all sorts of other things for our whole family and probably our whole community! Haha. I would be the camp-wife, staying back and cooking and making clothing while the others went hunting and foraging and defending us! We love to have hypothetical apocalypse conversations! Is that weird? Do other people do that?
xoxo
Shelbee
Sally in St Paul
Between the purple silk, the white boots, and that crazily on point floral print, you nailed it!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Sally! The floral is crazily on point, isn’t it?! I gasped with delight when I spotted the scarf!
xoxo
Shelbee
Your True Self
Hi, Shelbee – Wow, I am so honored to be the Featured Favorite from “Behind the Wall of Sleep”! Songful Style is such a unique linkup. Thank you so much – Angie, http://www.yourtrueselfblog.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Angie! We have so much fun with this series. I also really enjoy its uniqueness!
xoxo
Shelbee
Joanne
What a fabulous scarf turned top; it definitely looks just like the album background!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Joanne! I was so excited when I spotted this scarf. I couldn’t get over how closely it resembled the floral pattern in the album cover!
xoxo
Shelbee
Emma Peach
The scarf was a great find – it’s very similar to the album cover! It looks great with the purple satin. I was a huge Prince fan – I played the Purple Rain album over and over when I was 12/13. He was such an incredible artist, a one of a kind. Thanks for linking up!
Emma xxx
http://www.style-splash.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Emma! I was unsure how the scarf would work with purple since there is no purple in the floral print, but I was happily surprised by how well it worked! Prince truly was one of a kind and an amazing artist!
xoxo
Shelbee