A Rare Bird is best.

I am sick to death of opening the pages of totally now, hip and happening magazines, you know the ones?….and reading about the absolute frigging joy of the hottest 16 year old right now. All dressed up and absolutely nowhere to go in mummies jewels and daddies old rock t-shirts. Snore. All this adoration for wealthy, beautiful youth is tiresome, unimaginative and boring. It’s hard for me to be inspired by someone just because they look good in lingerie. Especially when you’re inspired, as I am, by women that have lived life, I mean really lived life. Women that have done things you could only dream of doing with time on your side and with a wealth of experience behind you. Highs, lows and some serious high fives along the way.

Thank god for women such as Iris Apfel, an oldie and an absolute goodie when it comes to super style and inspiration. Dressing with no boundaries and inspired so much by her worldly travels, an understanding of cultures, an incredible knowledge of global textiles and a wisdom of life known only by her years. Long live Iris Apfel!

Far from being a dedicated clothes horse, Apfel was a successful businesswoman, starting up the textiles company Old World Weavers with her husband, Carl. Her remarkable wardrobe was the subject of an exhibition, Rara Avis: Selections from the Iris Barrel Apfel Collection, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2005. The show featured 82 ensembles and more than 300 accessories!!!, chosen from a wardrobe amassed over the last 50 years. You can buy the glorious book “Rare Bird of Fashion”: The Irreverent Iris Apfel here – full to the brim with serious outfit inspiration. Inspiration for life actually.

 

Images include portraits of Iris and shots taken from Eric Boman’s “Rare Bird of Fashion” and the exhibition at the Met in 2005.