May 11, 2014
Advanced Style
Another film from the Hot Docs Festival, but one that I fortunately got to see, “Advanced Style” profiles 7 of New York’s most stylish elderly women. The documentary, directed by Lina Plioplyte, is based on the blog and book of the same name by photographer Ari Seth Cohen, who was a writer/producer of and presence throughout the film. 
Watch the trailer and I dare you to not have your heart warmed. After the blog’s popularity, these women have been thrust into the limelight and are having such fun with it. Some are the face of fashion lines, some are in meetings about a TV show called “Elder-Skelter”, and most have been following the film as it goes from festival to festival, they had already flown to London by the time I saw the film at its third screening. 
Each woman’s style and eccentric personality have helped shape their approach to the aging process, and it’s such a refreshing take. One line from the film that really stuck with me was, “I never wanted to look young, I wanted to look great” – and I think that’s an amazing message for our often youth-obsessed culture. After watching this movie, aging is no longer something to fear, these women are incredibly down to earth about their age, a 93-year old fashionista stating “I can’t buy green bananas anymore”, but they are hopeful nonetheless. I’m actually really excited to be a stylish 90-year-old some day. 
Watch the trailer and I dare you to not have your heart warmed. After the blog’s popularity, these women have been thrust into the limelight and are having such fun with it. Some are the face of fashion lines, some are in meetings about a TV show called “Elder-Skelter”, and most have been following the film as it goes from festival to festival, they had already flown to London by the time I saw the film at its third screening. 
Each woman’s style and eccentric personality have helped shape their approach to the aging process, and it’s such a refreshing take. One line from the film that really stuck with me was, “I never wanted to look young, I wanted to look great” – and I think that’s an amazing message for our often youth-obsessed culture. After watching this movie, aging is no longer something to fear, these women are incredibly down to earth about their age, a 93-year old fashionista stating “I can’t buy green bananas anymore”, but they are hopeful nonetheless. I’m actually really excited to be a stylish 90-year-old some day. 