Iris Apfel
fashion designer
Iris Apfel
fashion designer
timeline
born 1921The instantly recognizable Iris Apfel, with her oversized, owlish glasses, is a style inspiration to generations, but her first inspiration was her mother. The fashion boutique owner had a more classical look than her playful {and often outlandish} daughter, but taught her the first and last thing of style ~ the value of a good accessory. From starting a vintage eyeglass collection at age 11 to her decades-in-the-making jewelry collection in her 90s, Iris knows less isn't always more {except in the case of skincare ~ she simply uses Cetaphil}.
The brightly plumaged "geriatric starlet" was a darling of style photographers when she was a young interior designer, running the much in-demand textile company she started with her husband of almost 70 years, but it wasn't until a Metropolitan Museum of Art showcased her personal clothing collection that she became an international sensation ... at the age of 84. The self-proclaimed "world's oldest teenager" now has several accessory and makeup lines to her name, a modeling gig, and a smash hit documentary, Iris ~ and has no plans to stop there.
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her quotes
all quotes by Iris Apfel (16)
"Taste you can learn. But style is like charisma. You know it when you see it."
Iris Apfel's Exuberant Apartment | june 2011
"If you can't find it in New York, it doesn't exist."
New York doll | october 2011
"When I needed to wear glasses, I decided I'd wear glasses. All the better to see you with."
New York doll | october 2011
"My overnight took seven decades. Sometimes it's just the right time for things."
Rare Bird of Fashion—and Academia | january 2012
"Getting older ain't for sissies."
Iris Apfel | january 2012
"The worst fashion faux-pas is looking in the mirror and seeing somebody else."
The Age of Iris Apfel | november 2012
"Just because you get to a certain number doesn't mean you have to roll up into a ball and wait for the grim reaper."
The Age of Iris Apfel | november 2012
"I think getting dressed is wonderful and I love it, but there's a whole big world outside of the closet."
The Age of Iris Apfel | november 2012
"What's a guilty pleasure?"
Avant-Garde Diaries | november 2012
"It's all attitude. Attitude, attitude, attitude."
Rookie Editor Tavi Gevinson Talks To Style Icon Iris Apfel | august 2013
"I'm the world's oldest living teenager."
Rookie Editor Tavi Gevinson Talks To Style Icon Iris Apfel | august 2013
"Only one trip. Might as well live it up."
American Icon Iris Apfel | december 2013
"I've always liked vintage or things that look old. It makes me look better."
American Icon Iris Apfel | december 2013
"Have some mistakes that you love."
Refinery29 | march 2014
"I love clutter. I think being totally minimal shows a lack of history and soul."
Iris Apfel Doesn't Do Normcore | april 2015
"I think it's better to be happy and comfortable than well dressed."
Iris Apfel, Rare Bird | april 2015
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