“The Leader of the Luddites” by Walker & Knight | Style Imitating Art

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 #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the next SIA challenge!

This Week’s Presenter

It was my turn to choose our inspiration artwork. Ever since learning about the Luddites in a literature class in college, I have loosely identified as one myself! With AI increasing its presence in our world and me not liking it, I thought this was a fun choice of artwork to bring attention to the dangers of our technological advancements. 

The Artwork

“The Leader of the Luddites” by Walker & Knight

About the Artist: Walker & Knight

The actual artist is anonymous but the print was published by Walker & Knight, a prominent 18th century British print publisher and bookseller. The firm began in the late 18th century when John Walker partnered with George Lynam to operate a publishing company at 7 Cornhill in London. In 1789, Walker dissolved his partnership with Lynam, bringing in Charles Knight as his replacement. By 1811, the company was operating under the name Walker & Knight. When John Walker died in 1811, his wife Elizabeth took over the printing operations.

As Walker & Knight, they became celebrated for their publication of politically charged caricatures and other satirical illustrations and prints, many which were created by prominent well-known British illustrators and artists. The business relocated to 3 Sweetings Alley, Royal Exchange, in 1812. By 1813, Samuel Knight (no relation to Charles Knight) was granted complete ownership of the publishing house by Elizabeth Walker. Knight continued the printing trade in the same location until 1840.

In 1840, a committee was appointed to rebuild the Royal Exchange. Knight was awarded £1,500 (£198,353.82 in today’s money) for the purchase of his freehold property. He then relocated his print shop to 6 Change Alley, directly across from the famous Garraway’s Coffee House.

About the Art: “The Leader of the Luddites”

“The Leader of the Luddites” is an 1812 hand-colored etching published by the 19th century British printmaking firm Walker & Knight. The artwork measures 13 3/8 × 9 1/4 inches (34 × 23.5 cm) and includes an inscription that reads, “Drawn from the life by an Officer / Pubd May 1812 by Messrs Walker & Knight, Sweetings Alley, Royal Exchange”.

The illustration shows a male anti-industrial protestor wearing a woman’s dress and bonnet in front of a burning building with a crowd of other agitators waving weapons (and their hats) in the air. While I don’t condone violence of any sort, I still love what this illustration represents…opposition to technology taking away human jobs. And that seems to be even more of a threat today than it was in 1812.

The artwork is credited by the Met to The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959, with the British Museum purchasing the original from print dealer Andrew Edmunds in 1990.

Helpful Links:

• The British Museum: The Leader of the Luddites
• The British Museum: Walker & Knight
• The Met: The Leader of the Luddites

About My Outfit

I focused my look entirely on the central figure’s outfit. All of the men in the background are donning the traditional male clothing that working class people of the era wore. But our main character is wearing a lady’s dress in teal with black polka dots. He has added other feminine accessories such as a woman’s bonnet and scarf.

Once upon a time, I had an adorable teal dress with black polka dots that would have been absolutely perfect for this style challenge. But alas, that adorable dress was hideously uncomfortable, prompting its move out of my closet room many years ago. I have other polka dot dresses but none in the correct color palette so I opted instead for this teal maxi dress with a black floral print.

Because the rest of the Luddite’s outfit features rusty orangish-brownish colored accessories, I kept my accessories in the same color palette. First I added a burnt orange boho duster and my thrifted brown macrame belt. I chose a newly thrifted infinity scarf in the same colors. The print on the scarf brings in a bunch of wild patterns including some polka dots.

To mimic the stripes on his socks, I added a newly thrifted vintage straw hat with a blue striped pattern. It’s kind of a silly little hat, but it was only $2 and I don’t have any other hat like it. When I spotted it in the thrift store, there was a pile of about 5 or 6 similar hats. I would have bought them all but this was the only one that fit my giant noggin!

To complete the outfit, I wore my teal key necklace with a newly thrifted beaded choker in ivory and rust, a pair of seed bead earrings in tan and teal, and my blue and brown cowgirl boots.

You may have noticed that I styled the infinity scarf in two different ways. First, I have to say that I really don’t like infinity scarves that much. I usually open them up so they are regular open ended scarves, but this one was too short and wide to make an adequate scarf if cut open.

In the first two sets of photos, you’ll see that I draped the scarf around my neck once and then belted it at my waist to create a little apron effect below the belt line. I thought it was a really creative way to style an infinity scarf, but after taking a few photos my husband said that it was making me look pregnant! So I switched the scarf to a simple double loop around my neck. However, after editing the photos, I still like it better belted and looking like an apron. But I think either way works. Which way do you prefer?

This style challenge prompted me to create another unlikely combination that I actually really liked. I never would have paired teal, rusty orange, and browns together but the odd concoction certainly makes an interesting outfit!

I hope you have enjoyed this round of Style Imitating Art. If you want to play along and create your own outfit inspired by this satirical illustration, I will feature you in my gallery post on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Just be sure to submit your photos to me at shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com by 10:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. In the meantime, be sure to check out Salazar’s interpretation as well as Marsha’s take on it. 

Until then, happy styling! 

Keeping it on the edge, 

Shelbee