Aging can be a scary – and inevitable – life process for many women, especially considering how the fast-paced fashion industry greatly glamourizes youth, casting smooth-skinned models and often disregarding their older customers. But one’s sense of style doesn’t disappear with age. Quite the opposite, in fact, like fine wine it only improves with time. […]
Over the past few years, photographer Ari Seth Cohen has introduced us to the world’s finest dressers through his blog Advanced Style. The blog, focusing on stylish 50+ women, has become a treasure trove for those who think outside the box, breathing some much-needed fresh air into the often ageist fashion industry. It’s safe to say the blog’s been a hit, resulting in a hardcover, a colouring book, modeling campaigns for its subjects and now a full-length documentary. On Tuesday night, Advanced Style had its world premiere in Toronto as part of the Hoc Docs film festival and technical difficulties aside; it was a sight to behold. Following Cohen and his cohort of vibrant subjects, director Lina Plioplyte delves deep into the philosophy behind over-the-top dressing at any age.
A few hours before its debut, we sat down with four of the film’s fabulous subjects—Lynn Dell Cohen (a.k.a. “The Countess of Glamour”), Tziporah Salamon, Deborah Rappaport and Joyce Carpati—and learned a great deal about confidence, thrifting and talking over each other.
Photography by David Pike
Photography by David Pike
Photography by David Pike
Photography by David Pike
Photography by David Pike
1/5
Advanced Style Tziporah Salamon
“I don’t do lady. That’s just not me. I appreciate lady but it just doesn’t work for me.”
—Tziporah Salamon
2/5
Advanced Style Lynn Dell Cohen
“I think it’s in our DNA, and then we all get influence from our grandmothers and our mothers who encourage us to go in the direction of who we are.”
—Lynn Dell Cohen
3/5
Advanced Style Joyce Carpati
“I love getting old, I want to be well but I think it’s a wonderful time of your life.”
—Joyce Carpati
4/5
Advanced Style Deborah Rappaport
“I’ve been a recycler forever, I used to teach it, I did my masters degree in it”
—Deborah Rappaport
5/5
Advanced Style Lina Plioplyte
these ladies have their distinctive styles and they don’t care what’s in fashion right now.”
We don’t want to call it a Snowmageddon, but we did have to wear over-the-knee boots just to make it into work this morning. While most of Southern Ontario and New York is covered in up to 25 centimetres of snow (that’s almost 10 inches, for our American friends) we’re not going to let this almost-blizzard bring us down. Whether you’re at the office or cuddled under your duvet, everyone deserves a few diversions on a snow day. As such, here are 17 things we’ve been enjoying online that will make your snow day more stylish, hilarious, and overall, just better.
Image courtesy Lainey Gossip17. Blair Waldorf is dating Seth Cohen, there is basically nothing better than that [Lainey Gossip]
First Dolce & Gabbana, then American Apparel and now Lanvin have all given their stamps of approval on the real-person-as-model phenomenon, with Alber Elbaz being the latest to prominently feature non-models in his designs. After images of Lanvin’s Steven Meisel–lensed fall campaign first surfaced online last week, the interweb was desperately trying to pinpoint who […]
Perhaps the most shocking part about American Apparel’s latest ad campaign is that it’s really not shocking at all, at least not for the reasons AA has become known: instead of high-rise thongs or bared breasts, a “senior” model serenely poses in AA garb, her silver hair flanking her shoulders. Though it wouldn’t be AA if there weren’t at least one gratuitous crotch shot, Jacky (whose last name or exact age hasn’t been released yet) still manages to keep it classy.
“There was something so compelling about Jacky’s look and energy when we first spotted her in a New York restaurant this winter, we introduced ourselves and pulled up a chair. During a long discussion that touched on everything from career choices and nutrition to insights on relationships, age and beauty, we asked if she would consider being photographed by us. We were thrilled when she agreed,” AA posted on their Facebook page, which also has an entire album devoted to the senior beauty’s campaign.
We have to admit that American Apparel’s latest campaigns have grabbed our attention for all the right reasons, which is a welcome departure from some of their tackier fare in earlier years. Take their last campaign, for example, which featured transgendered model Isis King of America’s Next Top Model fame sporting the label’s “Pride” tees and tanks. Instead of a 16-year-old waif who only a tiny fraction of the population can relate to, AA seems to be expanding their market and their demographic, making the brand more inclusive.
Though we’re normally wont to question the sometimes-shady brand’s motives, we’re all for timeless beauty and style, and this campaign and King’s are definitely a step in the right direction for making advertised fashion and beauty more relatable. What do you think about AA’s latest campaign: are they making positive strides in their latest batch of ads, or is this simply a ploy to change the public’s opinion about them?
Through his blog, Advanced Style as well as our collaborations with him over the past year, Ari Seth Cohen lets us inside the shimmering worlds of some of the finest (and we mean in the fine wine sense) ladies of style. They’re aged 50 and over and rather than their style transcending their age, it’s defined by it. In fact, as many of Cohen’s subjects have attested to, their adventurous styles have not only matured throughout the years, but they are brightly characterized by the fact that they no longer dress for anyone but themselves. For anything but the joy of it.
Oldsters at the New Museum converged in technicolour flocks while young things, no longer bright by comparison, looked greenly on. For once on a champagne-soaked night in New York City, the “it” girls weren’t girls at all. They were women with lives as rich as their Chanel bags, faces to live up to their fascinators. They were maybe even, unironically, “ladies.”
It was the launch party for Ari Seth Cohen’s new coffee table book, Advanced Style, published by Powerhouse and based on the popular blog of the same name—and accompanied by a several-minute video that premiered on Nowness.com in March. Guests were happy to watch it again: with advice like “young women, you’re going to be an old woman someday, so don’t worry about it!” and “someone doesn’t like what I’m wearing? I don’t give a shit!” it’s probably the feel-best fashion film any of us has seen. Iris Apfel‘s in it, and so is Tavi, for whom rad granny style is a major inspiration.
“These women are some of my best friends,” said Cohen, who wore a Floridian pink suit he’d bought for $80 in Chinatown. “They’ve definitely influenced my own style—they’re so liberated!” Ilona Royce Smithkin, an ebullient half-pint of a woman with Tang-dyed hair and mink eyelashes to match, tugged impatiently on his sleeve. He had another book to sign. “We don’t have all night,” sighed an elegant woman in mounds of paste jewellery and piles of clashing silk. “We might not even have another five minutes!” replied her friend, and they cackled together. They did not seem to care when the party ended, so long as they were the stars of it.
Vanessa Paradis, stylish at 35. Photography by George Pimentel/WireImage
Gone are the days of teenage style icons (okay, maybe not the eternally best-dressed Fanning sisters), when Britney Spears’ plaid miniskirts were the norm. A British study by retailer CC has found that a woman reaches her sartorial prime at age 35. Three out of four women felt their style improved after their 20s with one in three women saying they looked the best they ever had in their 30s.
What gives? Apparently it all comes down to self-confidence, wisdom and maturity. Empowered mid-30-year-olds know how to reference the latest trends with enough confidence to carry them off.
So naturally, we made a list of our personal style icons (think: Chloë Sevigny, Kate Lanphear, Vanessa Paradis, the list goes on) and found that—shocker—they’re all around 35.
And it doesn’t stop at 35. Arguably the best part of this whole study was that iconoplastHelen Mirren beat out Kate Middleton (another 30-year-old) as the celebrity woman most considered to be in her prime. She’s 66! We can’t say we’re surprised though—have you seen her in a bikini? She’s a total knockout.
It’s high time we recognize the style contributions of the mature set. The success of blogs like Advanced Style has shown that style doesn’t fade with age. We aspire to dress like those women. Just look at two of M.A.C’s most recentcollections: Carine Roitfeld and Iris Apfel. Both mature ladies and both with closets we’d gladly dive into.
From our photo shoot with 82 year-old China Machado to top tips from icons like Sophia Loren and Twiggy, we’re celebrating all things age-appropriate with a jam-packed guide.
Iris Apfel is exactly what we want to be when we get older. She’s inspired everything from a M.A.C collection to a pair of Jimmy Choo pumps to a tattoo on the body of Alexis Bittar PR Director Samantha Shaw‘s body. But don’t get the sassy granny wrong, she has more than fashion on her […]
This week we’re taking a look back at the year that was by highlighting some of the best (and worst) moments. First up, we’re turning to you, our dear readers, by re-blogging the top 10 original posts, as clicked by you! We count down your favourites:
