A Fashionable Exit

Advanced Style Cast

Ari Seth Cohen

This weekend I had the leisure of watching a documentary based on Ari Seth Cohen’s street style blog and book called Advanced Style. The documentary films the lives of seven eclectic New Yorkers whose unique style and spirit has guided their approach to aging. Cohen is very passionate about his subjects, women between the ages of 62 and 95, he calls them the “fashion and wisdom of the senior set.” They were filmed intimately to reveal their independent personas, the project defined a new outlook on beauty and youth, opposite to what our current Western culture obsesses over.

The ladies were filmed to showcase their elements of style. Each subject colorfully painted a picture of not only her outfits, but what inspired her life. The ladies came from all sorts of backgrounds, such as publishing, art, retail, fashion, and performing. The positive energy they projected radiated through the screen, each and every one of their stories was told with wisdom and passion. 

Tziporah Salamon

What intrigued me to watch this on Netflix was that I grew up with elderly people, my mother owned an assisted living facility. Ever since I was younger, I enjoyed listening and learning from their journeys and I related to Cohen’s passion in telling these women’s stories. He mentioned the start of his blog came from his grandmothers being his best friends while growing up, this inspired him to start documenting them when he “noticed a lack of older people in fashion campaigns and street style sites.” After his blog became distinguishable, Lanvin decided to recognize the beauty of these older women in an advertising campaign around the same time. Tziporah Salamon, 62, a favorite model of Cohen’s and Bill Cunningham’s, was chosen to be in the ad. She excitedly said, “I am totally honored, jazzed, and thrilled. I am so grateful for this opportunity. In my early 20s I would have never realized that I could do something like this. It wasn't until I was in my 40s that I began to see my beauty. By then I felt that there weren't many opportunities for older models. How ironic is it that i am having my big break as a model in my 60s? This is a great day!”

Zelda Kaplan

Instances like these are inspiring and they prove to me that age is an evolution, not a demolition. In conclusion, the documentary ended suddenly when Zelda Kaplan, a fixture in New York’s art, nightclub, and fashion world died on set during a fashion show. Her trademark style and life was celebrated through this documentary along with the rest of the women. It just goes to show what a fashionable exit a 95 year old can make!