Kahlo would carefully decorate her shoes with bows, pieces of silk embroidered with Chinese dragon motifs, or add little bells. Her footwear has a distinctly contemporary and avant-garde feel; a pair of lilac Converse style shoes demonstrates Kahlo's visionary aesthetic. A series of three identical red boots decorated with green Chinese embroidery match her prosthetic leg—they are arguably the most enigmatic and modern objects in the collection.
Evidence of the trauma Kahlo suffered is also evident in her orthopaedic devices. Kahlo's relationship with the corset was one of support and need—her body was dependent on medical attention—but also one of rebellion. Far from allowing the corset to define her as an invalid, Kahlo decorated and adorned her corsets, making it appear as though she had explicitly chosen to wear them. She included them in the construction of her style as an essential wardrobe item, and they functioned as her second skin. Her self-fashioning was not purely visual; most of her clothes were made of lightweight fabrics such as cotton and silks, which she chose for comfort. The breathability of these fabrics allowed her to wear corsets comfortably beneath beautiful Mexican blouses.
The heavily adorned and fragmented composition of the traditional Tehuana dress enabled Kahlo to manipulate the geometry of her body's proportions. Comprising three key elements; below, a long skirt—the enagua—with a gathered waistband; above, a square-cut geometric blouse—the huipil; and, lastly, a hairstyle composed of braiding and flowers (as in the painting above), Kahlo's stylistic interpretation of the Tehuana attire allowed her to draw attention to her head and torso, shifting the viewer's focus away from her lower body. The huipil, thanks to its geometric construction, helped Kahlo to look taller and, when she was seated, prevented the fabric from bunching up around her waist, thereby avoiding discomfort. Kahlo always worked within this tripartite template, even when combining European pieces with Tehuana dress.
