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Should We Ever Stop Playing Dress Up?

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[Interview by Maayan Zilberman]

Debra and Maryann share a love of fashion and creativity. Like many of the women I photograph, they feel that style should be fun and not taken too seriously. Each one of them has a unique sense of personal style, but their approach to life and dressing is very similar. Both of these wonderful ladies will have a featured section in my upcoming book . Do you think that we should ever stop playing dress up? Check out Maayan Zilberman’s great interview with the Debra and Maryann below and decide for yourselves.

What are some of your earliest memories of expressing personal style?

Debra: I grew up in a very creative and open household, my parents encouraged my sister and I to play dress-up with clothes and to express ourselves. I was always very opinionated about layering. When I was 4 yrs old we moved to Florida, and I had a cotton harlequin jumpsuit that to me said, “THIS is Florida!”… It was my first favorite item; it was freeing and made me feel like I could do no wrong in it. Dressing up was always fun, it was never precious or formal.
MaryAnn: When I was a child, my aunt was a buyer for the upscale department store Gimbels (this building is now the Manhattan Mall in Herald Square!) so I got to browse her closets and have access to all the high fashion items. She would send me boxes and boxes of outfits, and every time they would be more fantastic. I got to learn early how to play with style, and none of it felt precious. Because it was a gift, nothing ever felt off-limits to play with.
Debra: (chimes in after we realize how similar their approach is): If you want an item in your wardrobe, you have to enjoy it…. Don’t be too precious with special items, make them casual- like a diamond brooch on a t shirt, or a tutu as a shawl… its about incongruity!

Do you feel like age should affect how much skin you show?
Debra: I have a great neck and shoulders, thanks to yoga and good genes, so I like to bare them. I’d say that every woman should try things on before purchasing them or leaving the house, because sometimes you think it looks like too much but its gorgeous.
We have to get over these outdated assumptions, that women (or men) can only wear certain things.
MaryAnn: A smart woman knows how to play to her good side, with the operative word being PLAY. Dressing up should be fun; you can’t take it too seriously.

Many women I talk to have a hard time putting together an outfit, or as we might say, “building a look”. How do you get dressed in the morning?
MaryAnn: Dressing up is a creative process that brings me closer to my “Self”. It doesn’t really occur to me that people would have a hard time with this; it’s a natural part of my day. My husband asked me recently “What would you call that look?”, and I answered, “It’s just me!”
Debra: Building an outfit is a morning meditation. It gets me prepared for the day ahead, and is what will determine my mood for the day.

What would you say to someone worried about age taking a toll on his or her appearance?
Debra: Wrinkles? If you have wrinkles I’d say… So what?! If you eat right, you’ll feel right. You have to keep this consciousness into your 40s, 50’s, 60’s and on…
MaryAnn: In order to keep looking young you have to do youthful things, like dressing with expression. If you feel young mentally, you will look young.
Debra: As you get older you have the confidence to take different style risks, which is inherently youthful.

How do you transition your look into hotter summer months?
MaryAnn: I wear a lot of leather layers all year, but I play with it, less layers and lighter weight. It’s the same aesthetic though. The jewelry I wear changes, I use more seasonal materials, like shells, for summer.

Who are your favorite designers?
MaryAnn: I’m in love with the Rodarte girls. Those sisters are the most creative designers right now; I love their aesthetic and fabric combinations. My dream would be to meet them.
Debra: I love the look of Rick Owens, and Comme des Garcons, but its more for inspiration- once a year I splurge on a designer item, but for the most part I like to work with what I have and just explore different looks.

Do you swear by any beauty regimens? How do you have such amazing skin?
Debra: I really don’t buy products, my main rule is to only use on your skin what you would consider putting in your mouth… so I use a lot of oils like jojoba, olive, etc… I just recently started using Weleda products; they make a lot of creams for babies.

What items do you think every woman should have? And does this change as you get older?
MaryAnn: You always have to have accessories, and lots of jewelry…. And black ribbon. I often have some in my purse if I need to tie something, or I put it in my hair.
Debra: Yes, everyone should have layers of accessories, and recycled items (things you use for more than one purpose)…. I always have velvet ribbon or elastic ribbon around to use as a belt, headpiece, bracelet, or for my hair.

What about someone who’s never tried dressing this way, what if they want to try something new?
MaryAnn: So much of the time people are cemented in their ideas of dressing and don’t want to change their look to be more creative- I used to try giving more friends advice, but its hard as you get older to change these habits!
Debra: To succeed with this I think you need to take it 180 degrees… go to thrift shops so the changes are less of an investment. Spend very little on just a few things so you can play and see what you want to do to express yourself. Go buy some new eye shadow, get a free makeover… anything that feels like PLAY!

Richard and Carol: A Lifetime of Style Together

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Carol and Richard are one of my favorite couples. They are both fantastic artists who bring style into every part of their lives. Check out the short interview below for more insight into how style and art impacts their life together.

1. You say you are extravagantly exuberant in your lifestyle, but minimal in your living space. Can you expand and explain?
We like our environment to be neat and organized. We are selective in what we put in our live/work space which is a one-bedroom apartment. In Philadelphia we had over 4,000 square feet. When we moved to New York, we had our architect create a loft-like esthetic on a small scale. Our walls are white and bare, but we have favorite objects and our books on shelves. Art materials are put away at the end of each day and stored in boxes. This lack of clutter lets us focus on our art.
In our lifestyle we are exuberant because we have fun and laugh together. We go out to lunch and dinner, go to museums and keep in touch with indy happenings like theater and puppet shows. We always dress for these occasions. We love to travel. I have been studying French, so we go to France each year. Many of our dear friends were Richard’s students at Tyler School of Art, and we see them as often as we can. We take advantage of the unique offerings of New York City.
2. Did you and Richard always dress up?
We have always dressed up, but perhaps not as consciously as we do now. In the 60s and 70s we lived in Philadelphia, and the great department store, Wanamaker’s, had a wonderful men’s shop. When we shopped there, the charming salesman would greet us with “How are you folks today?” Richard bought a fantastic pair of Bill Blass cotton pants in multi-colored stripes — very magical mystery tour. I have always loved fashion touches. Influenced by Diana Vreeland’s shoots for Vogue, I once made a maxi dress from strips of ribbon and wore it to a gallery opening at Tyler. A guard asked me if I was dressed up for Halloween!

Richard in his Blass pants, Orient, NY. Carol in pink shorts from Nan Duskin. the fanciest store in Philly.
3. Have you influenced one another’s style?
We must be soul mates to have been together for 45 years, so it follows that we must have influenced each other’s style along the way.
4. How have your styles changed throughout the years?
You get more confident with who you are as you get older. That goes for clothes too.
5. Do you think a couple that styles together stays together?
It seems to have worked for us.
6. You are both artists, is this one reason that you dress up?
Dressing up is definitely a creative activity. You get to exercise all of the same impulses you use in your art such as love of color, drama, emotion, humor and beautiful materials. Styling is a form of making a collage on your body.
7. Do you shop together?
I always shop with Richard. We go to Paris and buy his shirts at Coton Doux. Lately, we’ve been going to Paul Stuart for trousers. Richard knows what he likes, and I act as a sounding board. Richard shops with me most of the time. He finds a chair and waits for me to try on things. If he doesn’t like something, he makes a funny face. Sometimes I dart into Zara, H & M or J. Crew (my secret vices) on my own.

Style as Art

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Carol Markel

Sue Kreitzman
The ladies above are two of my favorite Advanced Style artists. Sue Kreitzman splits her time between London and New York, where she works on her amazing sculptural collages and paintings. Carol Markel,in the amazing Prada sunglasses, lives and works out of New York.She makes everything from hats and jewelry, to wonderful collages and videos.

People always ask me what I look for when I am shooting on the street. For me, its all about personal expression and spirit. Most of the ladies I photograph look at style and fashion as a form of art. They incorporate their creative spirits into how they dress everyday. Style is a wonderful way to add some creativity into your life. Rose, one of Advanced Style’s most elegant women, could only explain her style as, “It’s like how an artist picks out his paints everyday. That’s how I choose a certain scarf or belt.”

If you aren’t used to dressing up, try this experiment. Choose a favorite painting and look at the color combinations. Try and use these colors as a template for your outfit. You can use accessories like hats,necklaces and bracelets to work against a black or more neutral base. You can also follow 90 year old artist,Ilona Royce Smithkin’s advice, when she says, ” You can wear any colors in combination as long as you have a repeat.” The most important thing is to have fun and don’t take yourself too seriously. I’d love to hear about your dressing up adventures!

The Development of Personal Style

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I was talking to a friend the other day about why I photograph and interview older people. We went over how I was very close to my grandmother and how I wanted to bring focus on the advanced style set and show that beauty, style, and creativity don’t disappear at a certain age.She had an interesting point. She feels that many of these people continue on from a peak moment in their lives. Their hairstyles, way of dress, and manner of decorum are carried over from a time when they first began to feel comfortable in their own skin and elements of this moment become frozen in time.This form of developed presentation is what I am capturing on Advanced Style. A majority of the ladies and gentleman I talk to tell me that although they have had interests in style throughout their lives, that it is in their later years that their personal style really developed as a result of years of experience.


I try and feature a range of styles in my photographs, but I am particularly interested in this idea of a “peak moment”,frozen in time, where street style portraits speak not only about fashion history but also personal development. I spent most of my youth watching black and white movies with my grandmother. Seeing an older woman walking down the street dressed in the same style that she has been wearing for 40 years brings me back to these beautiful and graceful images.That’s not to say that people don’t continue to “advance” their sense of style.This is what makes my subjects so interesting to me,the combined wisdom and experience of a lifetime of dressing along with a willingness to adapt new ideas and trends into one’s lifestyle.The woman below mixes old fashioned charm with contemporary chicness. Her orange suit, although classically cut is made of Neoprene. She is a wonderful example of how one becomes comfortable with certain things like her vintage gloves and classic tailoring, but the unexpected material of her suit exemplifies a willingness and desire to continue to learn, progress and advance.The key to looking stylish is confidence and older people have had time to develop not only a personal sense of style, but a comfort in who they are.

Gitte Lee : The Art of Personal Style

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I am back in London finishing up some projects and I had the honor of meeting with my new friend Gitte Lee again. Gitte is one of the most charming and elegant women I have ever met. She has a great instinct about style and how to enjoy life and she shared some of her secrets with me.

Gitte Lee modeled in London over 50 years ago and now is returning to the fashion spotlight. Expect some exciting things from Gitte in the near future including some of my photos of her and some other fashionable ladies in Time Out London and Stella Magazine. Gitte and I started discussing why as of late older men and women are becoming more in vogue in fashion and advertising .Not only are positive and beautiful images of older men and women who are aging gracefully and living life the to the fullest inspirational, but they give people of all generations something to aspire to . A picture of an elegant older lady in an ad campaign adds an element of history, quality, timelessness, and it tells a story. These images are so powerful because there are very few of them and the more they are put out into the world, the more positively people will respond to them.

Like many of the ladies I feature on Advanced Style Gitte has a unique sense of personal style that perfectly suits her. She has her own timeless and elegant and uniform ready for all occasions . Her outfits are the same for every season, a sweater, long coat, and pair of loose trousers. She wears her signature black glasses and different hats to protect her skin from the sun. The true secret to Gitte’s style is that she changes fabrics to suit the season, lighter cotton for the summer, and heavier fabrics during the colder months, but sticks to a simple and clean color palette and structure and accessorizes to suit each outfit. Each beautiful combination is subtly different with the change of a hat or bag and they can be worn day or night in all types of weather.

Gitte was very particular about the way she dressed as a young girl, so she decided to start making her own clothes at the age of nine. I asked her if her style had developed over time, but she told me that she has dressed the same for as long as she can remember. Her signature overcoats were purchased in India and she know longer feels the need to shop as she has everything she needs inside of her closet. We can all take some style cues from Gitte and look out for more of her soon and if you are in London stop by Selfridges Forever Shop to take a look at my photos in person!