This woman was a joy to photograph. She was visiting The New Museum with some friends and I took my break from work to go and talk to her. Not only is her colorful mix of patterns inspiring but her wonderful attitude as well.She told me that she loves living in New York because of how culturally and ethnically diverse it is. I talk to a lot of people about their experiences in New York and one of the things that I hear most is that the city keeps people feeling alive and vibrant, that life happens on the street and that living in New York forces people to be culturally aware and active. Its a great town for young and old alike!

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!”

Meri 73 and Jerry 78
San Francisco meets New York in 1979 at an I. Magnin Union Square fashion show.

It was LOVE at first sight.Her City girl style and his New York flair. We had everythingin common. Family, fashion, likes and dislikes. Meri growing up in San Francisco and Jerry in the Big Apple.

The most important thing is that we realized what we loved about each other.Nothing is perfect in this complicated world. We always remember why we are together and lean on each other and hold ourselves up. With respect and kindness. It always seems to work out. Never give up.That IS the formula for lasting love.

And here we are 38 years later friends first and lovers forever.

I have been following Grece Ghanem on Instagram for a while and finally got to meet up with her during New York Fashion Week. After posting a small video of her on the Advanced Style Facebook Page I was flooded with inspiring images of silver haired beauties from all over the world. If you would like to share your silver style shots CLICK HERE.

Mary Efron was one of the first women I ever photographed for Advanced Style. I met her while walking around New York and then she came to visit me at my job at The New Museum a few days later. She has always had the chicest style and sharpest wit. I asked Mary to share some of her life and style advice for  my latest book . Check out her essay below:

Big Girl Time

My life is the story of a woman and her wardrobe. No doubt an x ray of my brain would primarily show closets and racks containing my current wardrobe. Yes, this is the confession of an obsessive clothes piggy, but it’s also my way of coping with the world as I age and shrink. To paraphrase Audrey Hepburn– enchanting universal icon– looking my best is my way of dealing with the world; I interpret this to mean the better one looks the more one is treated respectfully and taken seriously. We who begin with diminutive stature and are over 70 years old have a special problem in obtaining Presence in an ageist society, and by Presence I mean conveying a sophisticated intelligent adult persona. While not presuming “to give advice” I am happy to share my strategies and tactics for coping with the transformations of the aging process, and making a happier and easier time of it.

What follows are my personal formulae for makeup, shapewear and wardrobe for my petite antique state, along with brief sketches of some famous personalities.

So many surprisingly tiny women have achieved colossal Presence with their personalities, brains and modes of dress: for instance, Gloria Swanson‘s character Norma Desmond so aptly said in SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950), “I’m still big. It’s the pictures that got small.” Ms. Swanson was, in fact, 4’11”. In real life Hollywood’s exotic glamour queen of the 1920’s did not have a problem with her age: “I don’t let age bother me. Whenever I am a year older, everyone else is too.”

“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. de Mille”, Norma Desmond announces in that classic heartbreaking moment in SUNSET BOULEVARD; I get ready for my close-up every time I leave my apartment. At 75 nature needs a lot of help, and I have no problem with artifice over nature. Developing the skill of makeup application has been close to a lifelong practice; I’ always tried to assess needed changes as time advances. Obviously, the cosmetics industry gives us more than enough options. I’ve found an effective way to discover appropriate products is to visit a multi brand cosmetics store like Sephora and ask one sales associate to show me the various brands. Of course, I buy a few items and subsequently make purchases at stores that give discounts or have a points system of cash rewards, like Bloomingdales.

I celebrate the freedom to improve my appearance with a variety of products. While I can’t look younger I can look better and fresher. Madame Helena Rubinstein used to say, “There are no ugly women, only lazy ones.”

Madame Rubenstein was another diminutive (4’10”) force of nature whose accomplishments are astonishing, especially considering her background: born in a small Jewish town near Krakow in 1872 to an Orthodox Jewish family, Madame created a huge cosmetics empire, amassed a magnificent eclectic art collection, had palatial homes in Paris, London and New York, and was remarkably progressive, culturally and politically. In spite of her small size she wore masses of large jewelry, which looked stunning. The recent exhibition, BEAUTY IS POWER (Helena Rubinstein’s slogan since 1904), organized by the Jewish Museum, New York, was a revelation of Madame’s extraordinary biography.   The frontispiece of the excellent catalogue for the exhibition, distributed by Yale University Press, has the image of Picasso’s tapestry CONFIDENCE, which was in Madame’s posthumously dispersed art collection.

Now let’s consider underpinnings. “Flatter-U corsets do what you wish Nature would do—that is , a scientific equalization of the flesh,” proclaims a girdle ad, ca. 1930.   Modern shapewear has even improved on the corsets that had formerly conquered Nature, but experience has taught me I need help to find the right garment. Bloomingdales has a large inventory and, wonder of wonders, still offers the free services of knowledgeable bra fit specialists, who can also help with compressors, formerly known as girdles. Uniqlo has serviceable low cost compressors for everyday wear. Modern shapewear, if properly fitted, is comfortable, confidence building and yes, rights the wrongs of nature.  

Wandering past various come-and-get-it-boys lingerie boutiques at Bloomingdales, I think of blond bombshell Mae West, who was Confidence personified. Her outrageous character seduces with her brains and humor, lusty smirk and rolling hips, never doubting the power of her beauty to rule the male human animal. Ms.West is so smart and sexy, her ample curves squeezed into embroidered and beaded satin gowns, happily slithering toward the camera or her male prey on six inch platform shoes, which are always hidden by a long dress. Five foot tall with a giant personality, she would say things like, “When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I’ve never tried before.” Way before the feminist movement, Mae West turned the tables on men, treating them the way they were mistreating women. In the early 1930’s Ms. West once spotted an extremely attractive young man on the Paramount lot and said, “If that boy can talk he’s in my next picture. “ The picture was I’M NO ANGEL, the “boy” was Cary Grant, and she told him to “Come up and see me some time. Any time.” Playwright, screen writer, actress (on the stage since age 7 and 40 years old in her first movie), aka The Statue of Libido, Mae West had—and still gives us—a wonderful time, always beautifully and fully dressed, and under all she no doubt wears the very best foundations to be had.

At last we come to the final stages of our “armor to face the world”, more flattering and confidence boosting with just the right clothing and, most important, accessories. Style is eternal and fashion is ephemeral: I look for pieces that will be wearable for many years and span multiple generations, since I have a lovely daughter-in-law and glamorous granddaughters. My wardrobe consists primarily of items devised during the 1920’s—skirts, sweaters and trousers—and the 1930’s—shirtdresses, fitted sheath dresses, fitted jackets and swing or straight skirts. In other words, what used to be called All American Sportswear that can go anywhere, depending upon accessories. By keeping lines simple and colors on the dark side, either monochrome or harmonious, a longer illusion is created. Baby Jane moments are to be avoided, so all hem lengths must at least cover my knees.  

From the bottom of my heart, as stated by a slogan contest winning window dresser I used to know, “Accessories are your Successories”. Not only are they that idiosyncratic touch which set one apart, there is also The Halo Effect, known in retail display as the charm exceptional pieces can have of enhancing the beauty of surrounding items.

Hollywood studio designers and stylists of the past seem to have known everything about making under-sized women look like normal mid-height adults. Apparel for Judy Garland (4’11) and Natalie Wood (5’) exemplify this skill: outfits designed for these megastars made the eye travel vertically; eye catching details such as jewelry or embellishments were up near their heads, proportions were never exaggerated and fit was always perfect. Practical, timeless and flattering, the styling devised for Judy Garland and Natalie Wood is the mode I’ve followed for many years.

How we put ourselves together sends a message about Presence in this ageist superficial world, so why not use some artifice to advantage? Of course, take it or leave it, it’s just personal– and we are in “Big Girl Time. – From the book Advanced Style: Older and Wiser available HERE.