
She worked for Womens Wear Daily, was an in-demand interior designer for decades, owned a textile business, was fashion muse for many and has several accessory lines in her name. Iris Apfel is the epitome of a style icon. This month, Harper's Bazaar Magazine interviewed the fascinating and highly opinionated Apfel, and many of her statements are quotes to live by. A few of my favorites:
āWhat I donāt like about fashion is when itās too dictatorial. Everything is not for everybody. I donāt like to be trendy; I donāt get crazy with whatās in or whatās out.ā
āHonestly, women today take dressing way too seriously. Fashion shouldnāt get to a point where it makes you unhappy. Because when youāre unhappy, you look older. I do not intellectualize what I wear. I just put on what I feel like.ā
āIf your hair is done properly and you have on good shoes, you can get away with everything. That and having a good attitudeātry to keep yourself on an even keel. All the plastic surgery in the world isnāt going to help if youāre unhappy.ā
āGood taste is very nice, but then you can have too much good taste and you end up looking square and very uptight. Itās okay to be a little offāI mean, you donāt want to have any whoppers when it comes to bad taste, but looking perfect is not real.ā
When asked if she believes in making fashion mistakes:
Why not? The fashion police are not going to pull you over and put you in jail! Sometimes itās good because your friends see you the day after and say, āOh, you look so much better!ā
āIām proud that Iāve been able to have so many different careers, and at 91, Iām still doing new things: I have a collection of eyeglasses for Eyebobs and a line of handbags, shoes, and jewelry for HSN. Iām always trying to help women be themselves and teach them not to roll up in a little ball when they are a certain age.ā
To read more from the interview, check out the April 2013 issue of Harperās Bazaar!

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