Art Feelings Study: Madeline Haney

In my adventure to find the many secrets of personal style, there’s a dreamy flower farm somewhere-in-ontario that has a handful of answers, and luckily, I am related to its fluttering, fairy-owner. 

I asked my cool older cousin Madeline Haney, if she was a cartoon character who always wore the same outfit, what would you wear? “Well, I'm really into ballet flats right now, but, ooh, okay, can I think about it?” she muses. “I love–have always loved–fairies. So I guess, if I was a cartoon character, and I wore the same outfit every day, and it got to be whatever I wanted, it would probably be some kind of very chic but practical set of overalls. With fairy wings.” As the very observant, always following at the heels, little cousin, I had already pictured exactly that. 

I always looked to Madeline as a ‘put-together’ character in my mind. In my deep interest and research of constantly trying to learn from women, the art of life, and style, I called her to talk about a lot of little things; Audrey Hepburn, her floral artistry, curating her space, and what my Oma calls, ‘Art Feelings.’

When I called her, she was in and out of her car, buzzing around, running very whimsical errands for the farm. “I was buying nasturtium, a special tip-top Alaskan salmon–it’s peachy coloured, and creeping thyme, and then I also bought watermelon radish because they make salads look so special.” This is a girl who, from her closet to her grocery-list, has an air of authentic essense about her.

That First Fashion Memory 

As the youngest girl in the family, much of my fashion history has come from hand-me-downs, most of which come from Madeline. Without a doubt, these bags of clothes I get from her are always creamy white feather-light materials, blush pink cottons, and always an eclectic item thrown in the bottom, sometimes a notebook or a small pillow, most recently, a swirly little wall hook I’ll be using for a blown glass sun catcher.

Madeline’s own style, while changing with the practicality of her farm-and-city surroundings, always has a distinct sense about it. Her flittering nature is mixed with what I can only try to describe as an untapped ballerina quality, which gives her the ability to make overalls and muckboots look chic as ever. 

While fashion inspiration is one thing, I think of someone’s first fashion memory as something that holds a lot more volume in terms of the way people engage with fashion as a whole. So when Madeline tells me her first “fashion tingle” came from Audrey Hepburn in the opening scene of Charade (1963), I can see the inspiration in her closet but I can totally feel the deep emotional integration this iconic scene has had in her style. 

Audrey’s character wears a devastatingly glamorous Givenchy coat, sunglasses, and fur hat. This veiled outfit and deadpan demeanor could easily stop at that, but it’s the mystery mixed with charisma of Audrey’s unmatched conversation skills that make it all so alluring and timeless. “She’s wearing this very specific outfit and I think I honestly equated it to Oma and I was like ‘oh this is more than fashion…it’s her being.'” Audrey’s such a unique character. Her movies come across as though they’re written just for her: with such unpredictable wit, that suits her pure unusualness. A quality comparable to our Oma. Audrey wears an iconic Givenchy coat, oversized sunglasses, and fur hat. With her deadpan humour, she could easily come across as guarded, but the charisma and playfulness of Hepburn that has long been studied, is what gives her glamour a consistent side of playfulness. The fashion in that scene, like most of her movie looks, stands out in terms of sheer style, but tied together with her peculiar being, blends together and creates this mesmerizing character that people love, and what charmed Madeline in the first place. And this is where I understand Madeline when she says it’s very equated to our Oma. 

Much of what I’ve been studying in terms of personal style, has resulted in truly stylish women telling me about how much practicality dictates their closet. Where Madeline  once studied drawing and painting at OCAD (Ontario College of Art & Design) in Toronto, her life, and thus closet, has shifted since the farm. But the essence and inspiration always seems to stay the same. “So much of my twenties, living in the city, working retail, was conforming or trying on different ‘hats’ to see what felt most like me–and now I’m finding a lot of joy of reconnecting with my younger, pre-teen/teen self on what made ‘her’ spark creatively and artistically…glitter, fairies, etcetera” she says. 

This struggle of having a major environment shift could definitely present an issue of identity in personal style, but having observed Madeline with ‘little cousin’ eyes–her inspirations; Audrey Hepburn, fairies, painting, nature, and of course our Oma–I think has allowed her moral (or style) compass to stay on course. She tells me since moving to the farm, “I don’t want to lose myself in overalls entirely. But you have a challenge to make sure you’re playful and you look like you look.” And I think she does. 

Art Feelings

I talk about my Oma a lot. To say she’s a source of inspiration feels wrong, because I think she teaches me to find inspiration, which feels a lot more valuable. The first time I interviewed my Oma about style, she told me that Madeline and I have “Art Feelings.” Everyone in my family has some sort of creative spark, but Madeline and I were specifically gifted by our Matriarch with Art Feelings. 

Beyond clothing, the practice of personal style is happening throughout her home. Renovating an old abandoned house, and turning it into her flower farm has been an ultimate show of her Art Feelings. She tells me:

“I found that a way to make my job, and make the way that I engage in spaces when I’m finding that the atmosphere is flat, is to approach it all very playfully. And if I can play in those spaces, then that's where I think I find myself, that's where I create something that's unique. And I think that, for the sake of practicality and for the sake of just like getting through the day, people need routine and they need it to be a formula, And so, I find that the vacuum that we exist in on Pinterest and social media, especially Millennials, [is] just training everyone to do things that are safe and to replicate a picture. That's why you can't buy a house today that doesn't have white walls, gray vinyl flooring, with pictures of wood, and black matte handles. It's so boring. And I think that people have lost that bandwidth to play. And so they just are creating these carbon copies of one another. And you see it too in florals–it's an algorithm–it spits itself out again and again. And then you're seeing the same thing over and over and over again. And, people are afraid to engage in that playful side, but that's where you get those Art Feelings.” 

Her house, her flowers, and her style are a curation of many things, all looked at through a lens of appreciation for art and design. Madeline tells me, “curating a space in a way that is intentional is an act of devotion to future generations.” I think if I can learn anything from my older cousin in terms of style it’s inspiration and intention from and of art. Many women have told me about personal style as an ongoing process, but here I can learn that process is one half of the job and meaning and thoughtfulness is the other.

After our conversation she texted me a quote from Georgina Reid on Wonderground that encapsulated this feeling: “To garden is to care deeply, inclusively and audaciously for the world outside our homes and our heads. It’s a way of being that is intimately interwoven with the real truths of existence—not the things we’re told to value (money, status, ownership), but the things that actually matter (sustenance, perspective, beauty, connection, growth).” 

“Love the last sentence” I say. 

“Same, it’s so Art Feelings” she says.

– Gill