Ageless Style

• "I never care much what people think. I honestly don’t; I don’t pay any attention to the fashion police.
• I don't do minimal."
• "Clothes are not frippery. Properly done, they can be an art form... They are a great vehicle for explaining who you are."
• "I’ve never tried to be a rebel or upset anybody. I just figured if I pleased my husband, and my mother didn’t get upset, then I was okay."
• "People with a lot of money don’t dress as well as people who have to make do, who have to be inventive. Those are the people who are always more interestingly dressed, I think."
• "Diamond necklaces don’t appeal to me at all. I prefer fun jewellery with big stones - so large they would be untouchable if they were real."
• "Now, don’t get me wrong. I do appreciate Daddy Warbucks-size stones, like a big, flawed emerald. I love stones that are inherently flawed: rock crystal, turquoise with big veins."

We have a very special centenary today - and, for once, the celebrant is very much alive!

Many happy returns, fashion muse, Patron Saint, style icon, model, businesswoman and inpiration to everyone concerned about getting older, Miss Iris Apfel!

Iris Apfel: Ageless Style

Iris Apfel (née Barrel, born 29th August 1921)

This weekend, I'm mostly dressing casual...

...like style maven and all-round inspiration to us all, Miss Iris Apfel, who celebrated her 92nd birthday yesterday! (No doubt by upstaging Cher, GaGa and Madge at some swanky Noo Yawk party venue.)

Here she is in conversation with Ari Seth Cohen, Miss Apfel's number one fan and curator of that tribute to all stylish older ladies, Advanced Style blog:

Iris Apfel and Ari Seth Cohen - Drug of Choice

"More is more, and less is a bore."

We love Miss Apfel.

Iris dishes the dirt.

Cover star

The remarkable Iris Apfel is the cover star of the November issue of British style magazine Dazed & Confused.

Of course.
The woman is a marvel!

Hairspray Confessions

"More is more, and less is a bore!"

A mantra by which we should all live our lives.

Here is a most fabulously camp video featuring that most inspirational of nonogenarians (and house favourite style icon here at Dolores Delargo Towers), Miss Iris Apfel...

Hairspray Confessions with Derek Blasberg: Iris Apfel

[Thanks to Ari at Advanced Style once again]

Check out my previous feature on the wonderful Miss Apfel.

“I don’t do minimal”

At the grand old age of 90, former interior designer, fashion maven and New York socialite Iris Apfel is a sudden superstar. She has been photographed by Bruce Weber; Simon Doonan devoted a whole window at swanky department store "Barneys" to her, and in 2005 the Metropolitan Museum of Art mounted a full-scale exhibition dedicated to her wardrobe!



The self-proclaimed "geriatric starlet" is certainly a walking art-form, with trademark out-sized glasses and exquisite - and deliberately clashing on occasions - outfits.


Iris Apfel by Bruce Weber

She also has a lot to say about style...

• "I never care much what people think. I honestly don’t; I don’t pay any attention to the fashion police.
• I don't do minimal."
• "Clothes are not frippery. Properly done, they can be an art form... They are a great vehicle for explaining who you are."
• "I’ve never tried to be a rebel or upset anybody. I just figured if I pleased my husband, and my mother didn’t get upset, then I was okay."
• "People with a lot of money don’t dress as well as people who have to make do, who have to be inventive. Those are the people who are always more interestingly dressed, I think."
• "Diamond necklaces don’t appeal to me at all. I prefer fun jewellery with big stones - so large they would be untouchable if they were real."
• "Now, don’t get me wrong. I do appreciate Daddy Warbucks-size stones, like a big, flawed emerald. I love stones that are inherently flawed: rock crystal, turquoise with big veins."

In September 2011, she launches her own jewellery line Rara Avis ("Rare Bird" - a nickname of hers), which we look out for with trepidation...

A fascinating woman indeed, and a worthy exhibit in the Museum of Camp!

Iris Apfel’s Exuberant Apartment in The Architectural Digest, June 2011.

The book Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel is available now.