Iris Apfel: "If you are ugly - this is a plus"
Founder of Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days, Style.com correspondent and video director Nowfashion.com Daria Shapovalova continues to talk with professionals from the fashion industry. In a new interview, interior designer Iris Apfel talks about how to remain a model of style at 92 years old and why it is better to be ugly.
Iris, let's talk about what excites many. Do you have a big wardrobe?
Yes, he occupies three rooms in my New York apartment. I am 91 years old (in August 92 will turn out - Approx. Ed.), My wardrobe is growing, but the waist is not. I still have a dress that I put on for the first date with my future husband.
At the same time you combine things in an unusual way. How do people react to your avant-garde outfits?
I love to dress up, and I do not care who and what thinks of me. I like the party preparation process much more than the party itself. Maybe in a past life I was a hunter, traveler or collector. I feel a special pleasure from the search process - most of all I don’t like to come to the store and listen to the story of a well-trained sales assistant about a new collection. I love to find things on my own, because then I feel like a breadwinner. At first, I was even afraid to get acquainted with the designers, whose clothes I bought - I didn’t want them to see how I changed their original image. But in the end they liked everything.
How do you combine things? How much time does it usually take?
My secret is very simple: I wear only what I like. I never go to the store to buy the whole outfit there. I buy one thing I like, and when it comes time to form an image and put together very different elements, I quickly cope with this task. Clothing, of course, is very important to me, but it does not take all my time. In life, I do a lot, and sometimes I do not even have the opportunity to think about what I wear today.
What do you usually do?
I work a lot with museums, hospitals, universities. I like to go to museums without thinking about what I wear. When I have a bad mood, I put on a regular sweater and jeans. I started wearing them back in the forties. I was one of the first women in America to start wearing jeans at all. For a long time I had to buy men, because women in those days did not know how to produce. In 1940, I studied at the University of Wisconsin, and I really wanted to wear jeans with a huge turban. I had to go to the naval work clothing store. Then all the workers were of such enormous size that they resembled cartoon characters who could easily tear down a tree in one fell swoop. Naturally, my size jeans in the store could not be a priori, and indeed, when the saleswoman heard why I came there, I was quickly put out the door. But later, I still found a pair of the right size. Since this all started.
Do you think a girl with limited financial resources can be even more creative in her style?
Erik Boman, the author of a book about my Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel style, once told me that wealth can have a detrimental effect on people — they can buy anything they want. If you have less money, you are more creative. Style is certainly an innate feeling: you either have it or not. But at the same time, you can constantly work on improving it, regardless of your own talents and field of activity. If you do not have innate talent, then you can become more or less creative person. True, the artist will not.
I was one of the first women in America to wear jeans.
There is such a thing - "Style Icon". What does it mean to you?
I do not know how to describe the concept of "style icon", but I know for sure that Jackie Kennedy-Onassis has never been. Yes, she dressed as befits a woman of her class, but this was nothing original. Here Ginger Rogers style icon was. And Jackie dressed like thousands of other people of her level.
You welcome originality.
Yes, but I do not welcome painful originality, such as that of Lady Gaga.
What decade in fashion was your favorite?
I liked everything except the one we live in today. I do not understand what is happening with young people. Some are dressed extremely well, while others wear a kind of uniform, consisting of jeans in a pair with a jacket. Most young people look very sloppy. To be honest, I’m very upset when I see unkempt girls.
And what is real female beauty for you?
It all depends on the woman, because there are a lot of types. When there is any one standard of beauty, it means that something is wrong with culture. Not so long ago, the world experienced a boom of glory far from the slender singer Adele. But you must admit: she is beautiful!
Yes, she stands out from the background of other pop performers.
She has a gorgeous face and an angelic voice. Why should she be like someone? That would be ridiculous. It is better to be happy, than from head to foot, dressed in designer clothes. By the way, this is a great title for a book!
What do you advise women who dream to age with dignity?
Coco Chanel said: "Nothing ages a woman like her attempts to look younger." Whatever you do and no matter how much money you have, in 80 years you will not look at 30. Why spend so much effort and money on these manipulations with your appearance? It would be much better if women add mind to their heads, and not Botox on their face.
And if a girl does not have a winning appearance - what then?
If you are unattractive - this is only a plus. All the beautiful girls with whom I studied at school and who went on all dates, then spent all my life in fear of losing their beauty. They were always so beautiful that they didn’t develop anything in themselves. With age, they worked only on how not to lose their youth. And if you are outwardly unattractive, you develop charm and wit, maybe some talent or a unique trait. If you are ugly, you are more likely to become attractive. And if you are beautiful - often you are just beautiful and everything.
Photography: Iris Apfel via Shutterstock