- Thu, Oct 6, 2011 3:48 PM EDT
Photo by: Ari Seth Cohen/Advanced Style
Cat eyes and mix-and-match tartan prints-
"When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple," Jenny Joseph wrote in a 1961 poem that hit a nerve for a generation of Baby Boomers. She couldn't have predicted they'd also be wearing elaborate hats, chunky jewelry and statement sunglasses.
The over-60 set is challenging every traditional notion of style and becoming fashion trailblazers. Their credos: mix prints, flaunt your figure and over-accessorize all you want. Age is beauty, darling.
The fashion industry agrees. Just last month, 71 year-old model Veruschka took the London runway by storm. This month, designer label Celine launched a print campaign featuring 75 year-old actress Gitte Lee. Today, the style section of The Huffington Post spotlights the designs of 94 year-old New York style icon Zelda Kaplan. For fifty years, Kaplan has refashioned cloth from remote African villages into her own head-turning couture.
In the past few years, much has been made about prodigal young fashion bloggers, like 13 year-old Tavi Gevinson and 18 year-old Jane Aldridge, reinventing industry coverage. But less attention has been given to their senior muses. Tavi, for one, dyed her hair gray last year. And Aldridge draws her inspiration from her mom's vintage wardrobe.
Perhaps the first young fashion blogger to take cues from an older crowd was Ari Seth Cohen, the creator of the street style blog, Advanced Style. The 29 year-old has spent the past few years canvasing the sidewalks of London, San Francisco and New York, in search of stand-out elder style to post on his site.
"The people I photograph have developed a wonderful sense of personal style over time, mixing together, high and low, vintage and contemporary," says Cohen."They carry themselves with confidence and dress for themselves rather than to impress others."
What might be considered "risky" or "fashion-forward" on someone under 40, is worn with character and flair by the seniors on Cohen's site. It's proof, that at a certain age you stop following other people's rules and start making your own.
Take a look at 10 trendsetters on Advanced Style...
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