This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Stanford chapter.
Last month, I gave you all a snippet of Kate Spade’s new book, “The Guide to Living Colorfully” on traveling colorfully. Comprised of six chapters on how to charm, travel, decorate, think, celebrate, and of course, dress colorfully, Kate’s tidbits of advice are simple, thoughtful and most important, easy to adapt. Each week, I’ll be sending out little snippets of advice from one of the chapters. This week, I’ll be giving you her top ten tips on how to think colorfully. Thinking colorfully opens up your imagination and resets your brain, if you ask me!
- Watch a colorful film. Kate recommends The Darjeeling Limited (exuberant colors of India), The Wizard of Oz (the quintessential “Technicolor dream”), An Affair to Remember (burnt oranges, deep teals, rich reds of the 1950’s), Goldfinger (the “gold standard of spy films”), or Strictly Ballroom (sparkles, feathers, and lame, oh my!).
- Create the perfect playlist. Avoid cliché, overplayed songs. Kate recommends sticking to a genre, because Tupac does not follow Ella Fitzgerald on a mix tape well.
- Experience music! Listen to it live, learn the guitar, watch a harmonica lesson on YouTube—who knows, it could inspire you!
- Look up some colorful artists, and buy yourself some posters of their work. Kate recommends Alex Katz, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Frida Kahlo, or Liza Lou.
- Google search the work of fashion photographers, seriously. (How did I miss Nigel Barker on campus? Devastating.) Kate recommends Lillian Bassman, Tim Walker, Richard Avedon, or Peter Beard.
- Make a bucket list of must-see museums. For you cultured abroad ladies, see how many you can hit! The Getty Center, Museo Nacional del Prado, the MOMA (NY), The Art Institute of Chicago, and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence are all on Kate’s long list!
- Seek public art and take pictures of it. You’re in luck, because the murals in the Mission District of San Francisco is striking, soulful, and just plain awe-inspiring.
- DO art, even if you think you’re terrible at it. Sign up for a drawing, painting, or pottery class, or take pictures of anything and everything.
- Try your hand at a short story, start a journal, launch a book club (even if it’s just you and a friend), or ask to audit a literature class.
- Remember this quote from Pablo Picasso: “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
Kate Spade’s book is in stores and online for $35.00.