Celebrating the personal style of Frida Kahlo
Dark braids, bursts of bright flowers, eclectic jewellery, traditional embroidery, painted lips and monobrow, Frida Kahlo is not only a feminist icon, but a fashion touchstone. Her meticulously cultivated look was not frivolous, but a tapestry of reference points and allusions that rendered her outfits highly symbolic – her Tehuana dresses as manifestations of traditional Mexican femininity, her long skirts concealing her eventual prothesis.
Frida's clothes were hidden away by her husband Diego Rivera after she died at the age of 47 in 1954, and they remained that way until they were unearthed in 2004. Now, as the contents of Frida Kahlo's wardrobe leave Mexico for the first time to be showcased in London, we track the wonderful ways in which she used clothes and cosmetics to transcend ideals and cultiavate her identity.
Frida was often photographed, or rendered in her paintings, wearing a Rebozo scarf wrapped around her body in ranging shades of pink and red. The Rebezo is traditionally a long, woven scarf made by women for women, and handed down through generations from mother to daughter for both functional uses, like carrying babies, and added grace.
On another note, the picture on the left depicts Frida's little hairless Mexican Ixquintle dogs – an ancient breed.
