Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40

Style Imitating Art: Solar System Quilt by Ellen Harding Baker

November 17, 2021 / 36 Comments
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks, Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, and Terri of MeadowTree Style. 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 Daenel 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 curated by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey. You can read why she has chosen this specific piece as her inspiration artwork here.

Solar System Quilt by Ellen Harding Baker (Cotton, Wool, and Silk Quilt, 1876)
Solar System Quilt by Ellen Harding Baker
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40, Solar System Quilt by Ellen Harding Baker
About the Artist: Ellen Harding Baker

Ellen Harding Baker (born Sarah Ellen Harding) was an American astronomer and teacher who is known for her famous Solar System Quilt which she used as a teaching aid in her astronomy lectures. She was born on June 8, 1847, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Stephen and Ann Harding.

In 1867, she married Marion Baker and they settled in Cedar County, Iowa, where Ellen was an astronomy lecturer in rural schools. In 1878, the Bakers moved to Johnson County where Marion ran a general merchandise business and Ellen continued to lecture on astronomy in the rural towns of West Branch, Moscow, and Lone Tree, Iowa. They had seven children together before Ellen passed away from tuberculosis on March 30, 1886, at the age of 38.

There isn’t much more information to be found about the woman herself as all of the articles are hyper focused on her Solar System Quilt and not at all on her life and education.

Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
About the Art: Solar System Quilt

As a lecturer of astronomy in the rural Midwest of America at the end of the 19th century, Ellen Harding Baker needed to find creative teaching tools to better illustrate her lectures. She spent seven years embroidering a quilt that accurately portrayed our solar system as it was known to be at the time. This artistic interpretation of a scientific field was such a groundbreaking concept that it made national news in 1883 after an article was published in a local Iowa newspaper.

In October of 1883, a newspaper in our nation’s capital reported that “an Iowa woman has spent seven years embroidering the solar system on a quilt” under the heading of “Current Gossip”. Eventually the story was also picked up and reprinted by The New York Times and other widely syndicated newspapers throughout the country.

Wanting to ensure the accuracy of her depiction of our solar system, Ellen traveled to the Chicago Conservatory to use the professional telescope there for viewing sunspots and comets. She was 29 years old when she would begin this 7 year project.

The quilt was created before we knew that other galaxies existed outside of our own. It features the sun prominently at the center with the 8 planets orbiting around it, the asteroid belt, and lots of random stars. Also included in the embroidered image is Earth’s moon, Jupiter’s Galilean moons, and several moons of Saturn. Saturn’s iconic rings are displayed with yellow fabric appliqué. She also included a comet in the image which has been speculated to be Halley’s Comet.

The top of the quilt is constructed of wool embellished with wool-fabric applique, wool braid, and wool and silk embroidery. The lining is a red cotton-and-wool fabric with a cotton fiber filling. It measures 89 inches x 106 inches (225 cm x 269 cm), large enough for Mrs. Baker’s lecture students to see the details from their seats.

The quilt is currently housed in the National Museum of American History in New York City, but it is not currently on display. It was donated to the museum in 1983 by Patricia Hill McCloy and Kathryn Hill Meardon.

References/Resources:

Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
About My Outfit Inspired by Solar System Quilt

Well, you all know that I am a huge space geek so any space theme makes me giddy with delight. I found the black background of the quilt with the tiny embroidered lines in pale shades of color to be very striking. Darker backgrounds always appeal to me and I knew immediately that I would have to style one of my black star printed dresses for this style challenge. I went for this black tulle dress all covered in gold stars but it is little big on me (as most of my wardrobe is these days), so I layered and belted the best I could to make a cohesive wearable outfit.

The dress is also sleeveless and it is not the season for bare arms so I added a black turtleneck underneath. It is super poofy, too, and definitely needed a belt. I am wearing a lace corset style belt but I flipped it backwards because I preferred the gold snaps to the lace for this look.

My sparkly tights seemed appropriate to reflect the night skies all twinkled up with the glowing stars and, of course, my black and gold velvet star boots were an obvious choice for footwear.

This pale yellow vintage jacket was a given to me by an ex-boyfriend’s mom about a million years ago. The texture of the fabric and the shade of yellow closely resembles the sun appliqué in the center of the quilt so I wanted it to be the focal point of my outfit as well. I kind of pictured the quilt if you picked it up by the sun at the center and let it fall into a conical shape with the sun at the top…that is how I wanted my outfit to look. Does that make sense?

When I added the jacket over the dress the proportions had serious frump factor. To minimize the frump, the dress needed more length so I added a longer black tulle skirt underneath it. I added gold tassel earrings that remind me of comets and then I serendipitously spotted this old necklace hanging in a tangled mess of other necklaces that I haven’t worn in ages. The colors are the exact same shades of pale blue and pink that appear in the asteroid belt on the quilt. And the design of the necklace has a sort of galactic vibe as well. Plus it added a little bit of extra color for some added interest.

Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40
Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, star print dress, tulle dress, vintage jacket, star boots, velvet boots, fashion over 40

After I photographed this outfit, I changed into my favorite comfy tie dye pants. I had the Solar System Quilt image on my phone and when I laid it upon my lap against the tie dye I wondered if I should create a whole different outfit for this Style Imitating Art prompt. Look how perfectly my pants reflect the art! Turns out I was too lazy to take new photos so this is what you get. But it goes to show that you can create endless outfits from one tiny bit of inspiration! Go on and get creative in your closets!

Solar System, Style Imitating Art, Shelbee on the Edge, tie dye

To see more outfits inspired by Ellen Harding Baker’s Solar System Quilt, please visit Salazar’s post for the complete roundup of submissions. You can also read the details of Salazar’s own inspired outfit here, Daenel’s here, and Terri’s here. Have you joined the Style Imitating Art challenges yet? Be sure to check for the next prompt on Monday, November 22, 2021.

Before I go I wanted to share with you all Archie’s Solar System project that he recently completed with one of his friends. They did such a great job on it and I am so proud of them! They planned the whole thing out on their own, gave me a shopping list for the craft store, and basically did everything themselves with some minor parental help with ensuring the base was secure and cutting out Saturn’s ring. Check it out!

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.

Outfit Details: Dress-Kohl’s / Turtleneck and Tulle Skirt-Charlotte Russe / Jacket-Thrifted and Gifted / Belt-Torrid / Boots-DSW / Necklace, Earrings, and Tights-Old

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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