Jenna Dublin took this great photo of Mimi Weddell and I inside of her apartment. We met with our friend Lisa Hampel, from Austria, for a nice chat and a few photos with Mimi and me. Lisa has a design company that specializes in product design for elders!
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Mimi and Sheila
I met this wonderful fellow named Charles Crutchfield at a dance performance last week. We got to talking about things and it turns out that he has worked with Mimi Weddell in the wardrobe and costuming of some film projects. He came across this photo of his good friend Sheila Winters and Mimi at an event for the movie “Marci X”.Me and Mimi
I had the pleasure of working with the incomparable Mimi Weddell at the Lorick fashion show last night. When I picked her up she was wearing an over-sized tuxedo shirt, black leggings, and vintage Chanel shoes. Her look is both theatrical and super modern with a mix of classic details and exaggerated proportions. She is definitely a style inspiration for me and I look forward to spending more time with her in the future.
It’s All About Attitude
I have been thinking a lot about my process and what it is about each person that I stop on the street that draws me to want to take their photograph. In those conversations I have also tried to dissect the elements that make up one’s style and have wondered if it’s even something that can be put into words. I created Advanced Style as a forum for sharing the style and stories of men and women over 60. People who I have always admired and looked up to, but also a segment of the population that is oftentimes marginalized, ignored and made to feel invisible. Style has the power to create a conversation. A great accessory can be the starting point to a deeper exchange about life, vitality, and spirit. In creating my blog I never looked at Advanced Style as being a fashion guide, but rather a place to share, to inspire, and to celebrate the wisdom, creativity, and freedom that comes with age. I try to present a varied approach to style and lifestyle.
As a photographer much of my work is done on the street, looking for people who catch my eye. I’m not really looking to define what is in good or bad taste and I believe style to be very personal and subjective. What I have noticed is that each personal I photograph, whether they dress classic and elegant or eccentric and avant garde, has a spirit that shines way brighter than any piece of clothing they have on. They way we tie a scarf, put on a touch of red lipstick, or mix accessories can a make a world of difference, but above all else it’s our attitude, they way we stand and carry ourselves through life that truly characterizes our style. Why is that we can look at two people wearing very similar outfits and be drawn to one over the other?
One of my earliest muses Mimi Weddell put it best when she said, “You dance as you walk through life, as you sail through life. And furthermore, it heightens your living as of the moment. If you don’t dance, for heaven’s sake, you can not aspire, you don’t lift up from this earth.”
When I asked Gerry (pictured above) how she felt about style she told me that she like to try a bit of everything, but she prefers classic looks and has always been inspired by Audrey Hepburn. This conversation quickly shifted to the revelation that Gerry is about to turn 91 and as of late she is surprised by the attention she has been receiving. As a younger person, she said that no one ever asked for her photograph, but I was the second person that week who approached her about taking her picture. When I asked her what her secret was she announced proudly, “I eat like a horse”.
Advanced Style’s 10th Anniversary
Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the first time I ever logged onto Advanced Style and posted a photo I had taken of two older women walking through a Seattle park. I had just moved to New York a few weeks before with a heavy heart. My beloved grandma had passed away and I had no idea which direction my life would take. I was 26. I started working various jobs in retail and finally landed a job at the @newmuseum bookstore, which provided me with almost enough to live on and health insurance! It was around this time that I started to befriend 93-year-old Mimi Weddell the most elegant woman I have ever known. I had seen a film about her life called, Hat’s Off, a few months before and decided to reach out to her. When we finally met at her uptown apartment filled from floor to ceiling with antique hatboxes I knew we would become dear friends. My move to New York was inspired by my grandmother telling me as a little boy that one day I should live in Manhattan if I wanted to do something creative. She had gone to graduate school at Barnard in the 1930s and constantly recounted stories about the glamor and excitement of New York City. Meeting Mimi helped to ease the pain of losing my best friend and greatest teacher. It was in Mimi’s apartment, ten years ago today, where I decided to start a street style blog documenting the style and sartorial savvy of the senior set.
I came up with the name Advanced Style because I wanted to show images of older people that would inspire others to look at aging differently– to change the visual language around growing older from images that focused on decline to an archive that would show advancement, growth, and increased freedom of expression, creativity, wisdom, and vitality. I had never taken a photo before, but I borrowed my roommate @kristopherwhitman ‘s @canonusa cool pix camera and hit the streets looking for inspiring older people. On my days off from the @newmuseum I’d hunt for hours dreaming of day that this would be my full time job. In these first few months I met Lynn Dell, @debrarapoport, Alice Cary, Mary Efron, Jacquie Murdock, @carolmarkel @beatrixost @suekreitzman — strong and creative women who expressed themselves boldly and lived vibrantly while dismissing so many of the biased and ageist views on growing older. Almost immediately news outlets started writing about my work. When I received a call from my now dear friend @lucywillis asking whether I would consider doing a photo installation at @selfridges in London, I had to decide whether I would stay at my job or take a risk and try and make Advanced Style a full time job. Now ten years later I have had the incredible honor and privilege to photograph, befriend, and share the stories of thousands of older men and women around the world who have not only impacted my life in countless ways, but have helped to create a movement that has helped to shift perceptions of aging.
I want to thank everyone who has ever taken the time to write an article, share a post, and helped spread the wisdom, stories and creativity of the senior set. There is so much more work to be done, but as I watch a whole new community of older men and women continuing to spread images of positive aging online I realize that we will no longer accept the idea that invisibility is inevitable result of a lifetime’s worth of achievement, learning and growth. We must celebrate those that have come before us. I realize that my grandmother sent me to New York for a reason and that she has been with me the entire time. Thank you to everyone who has ever stopped to allow me to take your photograph, to all who have emailed or commented on my blog and Instagram, attended a talk or book signing, watched the Advanced Style Documentary and helped to encourage me to keep hitting the streets looking for Advanced Style. My grandma Bluma started me on this path when I was a little boy, Mimi and all the women I met in New York guided me to take this early inspiration to new creative heights and all of you have allowed me to express my love and appreciation for my grandma for the last ten years. I can’t thank you enough. As Debra Rapoport says at the end of the Advanced Style Documentary, “Cheers to another glorious Advanced Style Day!”