Style Imitating Art | “Young Betsy Ross” by Paul Stahr

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

It was my turn to choose the artwork for this round. With our nation celebrating its 248th birthday this week, I thought it would be fun to choose an inspiration piece with a bit of United States birthday history. Betsy Ross was an American upholsterer who has been credited with creating the second official U.S. flag, known as the Betsy Ross Flag. However, this story is not generally accepted by modern scholars of American history and vexillology. I was taught the Betsy Ross story and did not realize that it has been disputed by modern scholars. Apparently I did not go to school during the modern age!

The Artwork

“Young Betsy Ross” by Paul Stahr

About the Artist: Paul Stahr

Paul Carl Stahr, Jr. was an American illustrator of books, posters, and magazine covers. He was born on August 8, 1883, in New York City to Paul Carl Stahr, Sr., a brewer of beer, and Tilde Stahr. His parents were both born and married in Germany and later immigrated to the United States in 1883, the year that Paul Jr. was born. He was the eldest of the five Stahr children. The family lived in an overcrowded tenement building in a predominantly German neighborhood on East 95th Street in the Yorkville district of New York City.

After graduating from Morris High School, Paul Jr. began his art studies at the National Academy of Design in 1902, eventually graduating with honors. On June 15, 1904, at the tender age of 19, Stahr witnessed the burning of the SS General Slocum near his home in the East River. Responsible for the deaths of 1,021 passengers, the SS General Slocum tragedy devastated his German community in Yorkville. (That story is a rabbit hole worth visiting.)

In 1905, Stahr began studying figure drawing at the Art Students League with George Bridgman. Later he worked for a lithographic company producing show posters for Broadway theaters.

On his 23rd birthday, Paul C. Stahr, Jr. wed Edith M. Delaney on August 8, 1906. He moved in with her family at 60 Third Avenue in New York City. The couple had two children, Edith (born in May 1909) and Jerry (born in January 1915).

Stahr maintained an art studio in the Washington Heights district of New York City, which was becoming a popular artists’ colony at the time. In 1913, he began working as an illustrator for various publications with his drawings appearing with regularity in magazines such as People’s Home Journal, Life, Collier’s, Judge, Woman’s Home Companion, and The Saturday Evening Post.

Due to his age, he did not serve in the military during World War I. Instead he illustrated posters for Liberty Loans, Red Cross, National Defense, and the Hoover Food Administration. During the early 1920s, he contributed illustrations for serialized novels that appeared in syndicated newspapers. From 1924 through 1934, Stahr worked as a pulp cover artist for Argosy Magazine. During the Great Depression, he began using the pen names J. J. Sterling and J. O. Sterling for his pulp covers.

Throughout his life in New York City, Stahr spent every summer at Long Beach, Long Island, eventually settling there year round in his later years. Paul C. Stahr, Jr. died from a cerebral hemorrhage at Long Beach Hospital on January 5, 1953. He was 69 years old.

About the Art: “Young Betsy Ross”

“Young Betsy Ross” is a 1927 oil painting on canvas that measures 36 x 27.5 in. (91.4 x 69.8 cm.) It was created for the July 1927 issue of The Elks magazine.

The relined and framed painting, measuring 43.5 x 34.5 in. (110.5 x 87.6 cm.), from the Estate of Charles Martignette, was sold at auction on October 15, 2010.

References/Resources:

• Paul Stahr: Wikipedia
• “Young Betsy Ross”: Heritage Auctions
• “Young Betsy Ross”: Artnet
• Paul Stahr: The Saturday Evening Post
• Paul Stahr: American Art Archives
• Paul Stahr: Pulp Artists

About My Outfit

I chose the artwork and then I was stumped! This one definitely required a lot more thinking than usual.

At first, I was going to wear this yellow dress to represent Betsy’s yellow gown but I simply could not figure out the rest of the outfit. Then I remembered my star print jeans and decided to go in a more casual direction, like a modern day Betsy Ross.

Once I had the blue stars represented, I found myself stumped again. I have plenty of blue and white stripey things, but I really wanted red and white stripes to properly represent the stripes on the flag. But I do not have any red and white striped things. I do, however, have this burgundy and white striped tunic that was tossed into a raggery bag of unwanted things when I thought of it.

Now that I had the blue stars and reddish stripes, I needed some yellow. I started with this yellow ruana as a topper which not only represents the color of Betsy’s gown but also captures the flowiness of her dress. I initially intended to wear these yellow sandals but they were buried deep in my closet room and I was feeling much too lazy to go on that digging expedition. Then I spotted my black slip-on Converse at the same time that I realized Betsy is wearing black shoes. They seemed like the perfect footwear for a casual modern-day Betsy Ross style!

Finally, to pay homage to the indigenous peoples of our nation, I added my black Panama hat with the colorful tribal band and my favorite feather earrings. The hat also has a similar shape and color to the tricorne hat that George Washington is holding in the background of the painting. To tie all of the colors of the outfit together, I completed my accessories with a long layered neckmess in red, blue, white, and black.

These are definitely not wardrobe pieces that I would have combined if not for this art challenge. And once again, I really liked the outcome and wore this outfit yesterday for running errands. I think I will keep the striped tunic out of the raggery bag for now!

How did I do with this challenge?

Be sure to check out Salazar’s interpretation of this painting as well as Marsha’s take on it. 

If you want to play along and be featured with your art inspired outfit in my gallery post on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, be sure to submit your photos to me at shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com by 10:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. 

Happy styling, my friends!

Keeping it on the edge, 

Shelbee

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