Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit

Style Imitating Art: London Underground Posters by Austin Cooper

April 4, 2022 / 28 Comments
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Terri of MeadowTree Style, and Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as curator, selects an inspiration image that they will each post on their blogs. The following Monday, each host shares her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the curator by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the curator will share all of the submissions on her blog.

You don’t have to be a blogger to join! You are invited to share your images on Instagram or other social media platforms. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Terri, and Shelbee or use #TeamLOTSStyle and #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!

The Inspiration Artwork

The inspiration artwork was chosen by Salazar. You can read why she picked this work here.

London Underground Posters by Austin Cooper (Posters, 1924)
London Underground Posters
London Underground Posters
London Underground Posters
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
About the Artist: Austin Cooper

Austin Cooper was a Canadian-British commercial artist and illustrator. Born on March 5, 1890, in Souris, Manitoba, Canada, to an Irish farmer, he left in early adulthood to study at the Cardiff School of Art & Design in Wales. He was then awarded a scholarship to continue his artistic studies at the Allan-Frazer College of Art in Arbroath, Scotland.

Cooper then returned to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and began his career as a commercial artist alongside a fellow Arbroath student Adam Sherriff Scott. In 1913, the two young artists painted “Christ in Calgary” which measured 4 m × 2 m (13.1 ft × 6.6 ft) and depicted Jesus being ignored by crowds on a busy city street. The painting caused religious controversy while it was on exhibition, unsigned, for six months at the Royal Picture Gallery. When Cooper was eventually identified as one of the artists, he replied to a newspaper reporter, “We have nothing to say about it except what appears on the canvass.” Later, Cooper and Scott established their own company, Shagpat Studios, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

During World War I, Cooper rose to the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major in the Canadian Black Watch before his discharge in 1919. He relocated to London in 1922 where he had met his soon to be wife. From 1936-1940, Cooper held the position of principal for the London branch of the Reimann School of Commercial and Industrial Art.

The Studio published Cooper’s book “Making a Poster” in 1939. In this work, Cooper shares his design philosophy for poster creation…

“The functions of a poster are dual: to arrest the attention and then, having caught the eye of the passer-by, to deliver a message swiftly, convincingly, effectively.”

Cooper’s commercial work included cover illustrations for the Radio Times as well as marketing posters for the London and North Eastern Railway, the Empire Marketing Board, London Transport, and the General Post Office. Examples of his London Transport and General Post Office works are currently in the collections of the London Transport Museum and the British Postal Museum.

By 1943, Cooper had given up commercial art completely in favor of abstract painting, holding his first solo exhibition at the London Gallery in 1948. The Tate Gallery currently houses several of Cooper’s abstract paintings. Austin Cooper died in 1964 at the age of 73 or 74.

Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
About the Art: London Underground Posters

The “Warmer Down Below” poster was commissioned by the London Underground in 1924 to promote the warmth and comfort of traveling by Tube during the cold winter months. The complementary “Cooler Down Below” poster was issued in the summer of 1924 to promote the cool comfort of traveling by Tube in the hot summer months. Between 1922 and 1943, Cooper had designed 54 posters for London Transport.

Cooper used a graphic design that featured cascading blocks that appear to represent the rising of hot air in the way the colors change as your eye moves vertically up and down the poster image. The colors in the “Warmer” poster are the colors of a flame just below a dark blue belt of bitter cold across the top. The oranges and yellows you see as your eye moves down the graphic generate that cozy feeling of comfort the Tube is offering. The colors used in the “Cooler” graphic are representative of cold blue ice and refreshing water near the bottom of the graphic with the fire colors (orange and yellow) rising to the top, giving the impression that it is refreshing to travel by cool Tube in the hot summer. And the catchy little tag lines are good for eliciting a smile or a chuckle as well.

Resources/References
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
About My Outfit Inspired by “It Is Cooler Down Below” London Underground Poster

My first thoughts upon seeing the posters were gingham and color blocking. The little cascading blocks in the graphic remind me of the perfect little checks of a gingham print. And the blocks themselves made me think of color blocks since that is exactly what they are…little blocks of color. So I decided to combine the two ideas into one…a color blocked outfit incorporating two different gingham prints.

I ended up having more of the softer colors that appear in the “Cooler” poster than I do of the bolder brighter shades in the “Warmer” poster so I used that image as my inspiration. I combined light blue gingham pants with an orange/coral gingham top adding my picante (orange) ankle boots to tie it together. I topped the first look with my yellow vintage cape coat (which made an appearance in a previous SIA post) and added hints of minty green in my earrings and neckerchief and shades of blue in my hat, gloves, and handbag.

But it ended up being a bit too cold for the yellow cape so I also grabbed this old mint trench coat as an extra layer. I couldn’t decide which jacket I liked better so I am sharing both. I like the liveliness of the yellow and it works better for representing the colors in the “Cooler” poster, but I also really like the softness of the minty green and the trench coat style with the overall look. But I’ll let you decide.

Which is better…the yellow or the mint?

Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit
Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, thrifted style, double gingham, color blocked outfit

Be sure to check out Salazar’s interpretation of the painting as well as Terri’s take on it. And please visit Salazar on Wednesday to see her round up post of outfit submissions. I love to see all of the interpretations together in one place! It makes my soul so happy.

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.

Outfit Details: Bag and Yellow Cape Jacket-Thrifted / Mint Trench Coat, Pants, and Shirt-Old Navy / Scarf-Gap / Hat and Gloves-Wona Trading / Belt-Torrid / Boots-Shoe Dazzle / Earrings-Handmade by me

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.

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