YELLOW WALLPAPER FEAT. FREE PEOPLE

You probably remember reading The Yellow Wallpaper in your high school english class. It’s one of my favorite short stories because it’s one of the first American feminist metaphorical of mental health and “hysteria.” I’ve always found it interesting because whenever I have a thought or feeling that others might deem ‘crazy’, I think of the narrator of this 1892 work. If you need a Sparknotes version, essentially it tells the tale of a “hysteric” woman trapped in a nursery with yellow wallpaper. She begins to see stories, signs, symbols, women! in the wallpaper and begins to tear away at it in hopes to help them “escape.” The image of the yellow wallpaper is captivating, and reminds us to step back and take care of ourselves (especially during this dire time in the world!)

As a nod to the classic novella, I put together this very fall inspired look — starting with a pretty marigold top I got a few years back at Free People (see similar style here). I paired it with a black denim skirt from BDG, and Old Skool Vans. To wrap up the look, I added a vintage brown and black shoulder bag and of course an Evolve Face Mask.

Shakespeare also wrote of some notorious female characters in “hysterics” — here’s one of my heartbreaking favorites.

“Oh, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown! The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s eye, tongue, sword,

Th’ expectation and rose of the fair state, The glass of fashion and the mold of form, Th’ observed of all observers, quite, quite down!”

[Ophelia, Hamlet 3.7]

Don’t get caught up in your yellow wallpapers, take care.

xx, A. Martine

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