Style Imitating Art | “Tying Her Shoe” by Walter Westley Russell

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, and Marsha of Marsha in the Middle. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as presenter, 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 presenter by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the presenter will share all of the submissions on her blog.

You don’t have to be a blogger to join either! In fact, you don’t even have to join but you can still use the art to inspire an outfit just for the sake of trying something different. If you want to share your inspired outfit, we invite you do so on Instagram or any other social media platform that you prefer. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Shelbee, or Marsha 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!

This Week’s Presenter

Salazar chose this week’s artwork. While the color palette is a bit summery, it is still very hot where Salazar lives so she wasn’t feeling fall colors quite yet. Because Salazar’s art picks for recent SIA challenges have been a bit trickier to interpret into an outfit, she wanted to make this round a little simpler for us. Maybe it was simple. Maybe it wasn’t!

The Artwork

“Tying Her Shoe” by Walter Westley Russell

About the Artist: Sir Walter Westley Russell

Sir Walter Westley Russell was a British painter, an art teacher, a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, and Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools. Born on May 31, 1867, in Forest Gate, Essex, he was the third of four children of artist and bookbinder William Henry Russell and his wife Charlotte Emily (Bradley) Russell.

Russell studied under Professor Frederick Brown at the Westminster School of Art, leaving in 1891 to work as an etcher and illustrator. From 1895 until 1927, he was a teacher and then Assistant Professor at the Slade School of Fine Art, taking a hiatus from 1916-1919 to serve in the Royal Engineers as a lieutenant during the First World War where he worked on camouflage designs.

Walter Westley Russell was known for his landscape art as well as portrait painting and genre pictures. He was chosen as one of 150 artists to represent Britain at the 1912 Venice Biennale Exhibition. His artwork was also included in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

On April 22, 1920, Russell was elected as an Associate Member of the Royal Academy of Art. He became a full Academician on February 23, 1926, and a Senior Academician on January 1, 1943. He was appointed as the Keeper of the Royal Academy of Schools on June 28, 1927, serving in this role from October 1927 until his retirement in 1942. Russell also became a trustee of the National Gallery in 1927, a member of the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1930, and a trustee of the Tate Gallery in 1934. He was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1931 and was knighted in 1935.

On June 2, 1900, Walter Westley Russell married Lydia Burton at Putney, Surrey. The couple never had children. They lived in Chelsea but Walter’s work often took him to Yorkshire, Shoreham, Sussex, and Blakeney, Norfolk. In 1939, the Russells were residing at 75 Old Fort Road, Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex. Lydia predeceased her husband, passing away on January 29, 1944, at the age of 63. Russell died on April 16, 1949, in his home at 4 Pembroke Road, Kensington, London. He was 81.

About the Art: “Tying Her Shoe”

“Tying Her Shoe” is a 1910 oil painting on canvas measuring 36.6 x 28.9 inches (93 x 73.5 cm). Gallery Oldham, a free public museum in Manchester, England, purchased the painting directly from the artist in 1912. Search as I might, I cannot find any other information about this painting. I would love to know who is this woman and what book is she reading? But it seems these things will remain a mystery. Unless, of course, Marsha found something!

Helpful Links:

• Wikipedia: Walter Westley Russell
• Suffolk Artists: Russell, Sir Walter Westley
• Wikimedia Commons: Walter Westley Russell-Tying Her Shoe
• ArtUK: Tying Her Shoe by Walter Westley Russell

About My Outfit

At first glance, I thought this would be really easy. At first try, it was not. Until it was again.

It went like this…

I knew I was going to wear this new kimono robe. Its vintage rose print and lacy accents are a perfect match for the couch in the painting. That part was easy. Then it wasn’t.

I had imagined a blue and white striped dress beneath the robe. But I didn’t have any that would work well. I was on a thrifting adventure with my mother-in-law last week when I found a long cotton sundress with blue and white vertical stripes. I tried the dress on in the thrift store and it wasn’t great but I thought it might be okay once I added the robe on top. Boy, was I wrong. It was the worst thing ever. I should have listened to my gut and left that dress at the store. Oh well. Maybe I can turn it into something else. But that’s a project for another day. I needed to figure out what the heck to wear with this pretty floral robe.

My thrifting adventure with my mother-in-law was actually a two day shopping adventure with visits to all sorts of retail stores, resale stores, and restaurants. At one retail store, I snagged these white linen pinstriped pants on summer clearance not even considering them as a potential partner for my floral robe.

But when I gasped at the horror of the striped dress and robe combination, it was almost as if I could hear my new linen pants whispering, “Try me. Try me. I know I’m not a dress, but I have stripes. Please try me.” Who am I to ignore the desperate pleadings of discounted pants begging for a chance to be seen during their intended season?

I answered the pants’ prayers and put them on, added a basic cropped white tee shirt, and suddenly the whole challenge became easy again. Thank you, pleading pants for standing up and speaking out!

I accessorized with my white felt Panama hat, some new thrifted earrings from last week’s shopping adventures, a big bold tassel necklace, and stacks of bracelets on both arms. Because my outfit doesn’t have any blue (the stripes on my pants are gray), I added bits of blue in my earrings and bracelet stacks. I also tied some green silk ribbon bows in my braid to represent the big blue bow at the woman’s neck. Finally, my shoes had to have ties to successfully complete an art challenge called “Tying Her Shoe”. I went with a very old pair of burgundy brogues which resemble the heeled Oxford shoes of the woman in the painting.

I loved this combination so much that I wore it for the first segment of my two day date with my husband last week. I wore this outfit for the drive to Utica, New York, and then out for dinner before changing into a different outfit for the outdoor concert in the evening, and a third outfit for breakfast and the drive home the next day. I photographed all three at the hotel and I will share the others soon.

I hope you enjoyed my outfit inspired by this painting of a woman tying her shoe. Be sure to check out Salazar‘s and Marsha‘s interpretations as well. If you would like to participate in this challenge and have your photo included in Salazar’s round up post on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, be sure to email your photos to her at 14shadesofgreyblog@gmail.com by Tuesday, September 23, 2025, by 10:00 p.m. EST.

I am excited to see what you all wear.

Happy styling! 

Keeping it on the edge, 

Shelbee