CHIC AND YE SHALL FIND: WHO DOESN'T WANT TO GROW UP TO BE IRIS?

Mrs. Iris Apfel turned 100 in 2021. She also became an accidental icon...model, influencer, cover girl, and muse in her last decade. She resides in Manhattan and Palm Beach.

She has been photographed and blogged about. I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to her curated style. Click here:

Books have been written about her. A movie was made about her life and several museums have displayed hundreds of her outfits and accessories. She signed a modeling contract with IMG in 2019 as a model at age 97 and was the subject of a 2014 Emmy nominated documentary called "Iris" by Albert Maysles. In 2013, she was listed as one of the fifty "Best-Dressed over 50" by The Guardian. There is even a Barbie doll styled after her.

Iris and her husband, Carl, were married for 63 years before he passed at the age of 101.

After several career starts, the couple launched Old World Weavers, a fabric company, that makes the highest end upholstery fabric using antique textiles and museum textiles as inspiration.

But it is Iris, herself, that has gained notoriety the past decade. Following a successful exhibit of her clothing and jewelry at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she became an instant success for her multi cultural clothing style.

Here are some of my favorite photos of her style:

Here are photos from the display at the Met. The collection was called: "Rara Avis" (Rare Bird.)

My daughter, Katy, gave me the book which chronicled the exhibition: "A Rare Bird of Fashion The Irreverent Iris Apfel." I refer to it constantly!

Purchase it here:

More photos showing her fabulous jewelry. She says she likes to shop at flea markets and will be just as happy with a $3.00 bracelet as an expensive one, because she likes the thrill of the hunt!

At 100 years old, she inspired a collection of clothing for H & M this year. Here are a few of the offerings.

I tried to buy several pieces the day that the email came out announcing the new collection was now for sale and when I went to look, it was ALL sold out!

Here is Iris in the H & M suit, shoes and jewelry.

Today, I bought her book, "Iris Apfel Accidental Icon...Musings of a Geriatric Starlet."

Purchase here:

Here are a few gems of knowledge from her.

"I don't buy clothes to collect them, I buy them to wear them!"

"I don't dress to be stared at. I dress for myself. When you don't dress like everyone else, you don' t have to think like everyone else."

"Refuse to be invisible."

"You have to try it. You only have one trip. Remember that!"

"More is more and less is a bore."

"You have to be true to yourself. You have to know yourself. Not be a trend follower. You have got to learn to take a few risks."

"If something sounds exciting and interesting, I do it and then I don't worry about it later. Doing new things takes a lot of energy and strength. It is very tiring to make things happen, to learn how to master a skill, to push fear aside. Most people would rather go with the flow, it's much easier but it's not very interesting."

"If you don't learn constantly, you won't grow. You will wither To many people wither on the vine. Sure it gets a little harder as you get older but new experiences and new challenges keeps it fresh."

"I don't like a minimalist look for myself; I like stuff. I like being surrounded by a lot of things that give me pleasure to look at."

AMEN!!! She nailed it for me!

You can find video interviews with Iris on YouTube.