Iris Apfel on the fashion mistakes older women should never make
As the world enters its bi-annual hysteria around all things fashion, the focus (as usual) is on all things new. But rarely do we get an opportunity to take a little time and celebrate the old alongside the new.
Luckily, we have a secret weapon.
At 95, style icon Iris Apfel knows a thing or two about clothes. The fashion legend has spent the majority of her career behind the scenes, so is the ideal untapped source of strong opinion (and cynicism), when it comes to the largely youth-orientated fashion industry. And she’s not short of ideas on what ‘mature’ women should and shouldn’t wear…
“There are just some certain things that older women shouldn’t do,” she said. “Older women shouldn’t show excess flesh. They should wear sleeves. They shouldn’t wear mini skirts. They shouldn’t wear very high heels. They shouldn’t wear too much makeup. They shouldn’t have long, flowing hair. Things like that which are just common sense.”
“I think a lot of designers create very expensive clothes for women [in their] 60s and 70s — people who wear them — and they create them for 16 and 18-year-old bodies. The kids can’t afford to buy them and the women look like a horse’s ass if they put it on. So it’s all out of whack.”
This year, Apfel is putting her money where her mouth is, launching a colourful 40-piece collection in collaboration with Macy’s and rolling out her own jewellery line. No doubt she’ll continue to be controversial and awe-inspiring, and she’ll certainly never go out of style…
Edited by Sarah Huntington
