Accent with Animal Print

[Photo by Smilla]

I can't resist posting Helga once again courtesy of Smilla. This woman is daring and vibrant and and always has a unique way of putting an outfit together. Smilla calls her the "Queen of Charm", which definitely is expressed with each new photo of this fantastic lady.

Another Dapper Man

[Photos and text: Ari Seth Cohen]

I saw this dapper man through the window while having lunch at Spring Natural and I quickly ran outside to take a photo of him. He was visiting from Argentina and seemed flattered that I'd ask for his photo. I love how older men take pride in how they dress and pay attention to the finest details. You can look dapper while still feeling comfortable and casual. We can learn a thing or two about the art of presentation from these charming and dignified gentlemen!

All About the Buttons

[Photos and Text Ari Seth Cohen]

I ran into this lovely woman on my way uptown and I asked her if she worked in fashion because of how stylishly she was dressed. She told me she has been a seamstress her whole life and that her mother was a seamstress as well. They used to sew on buttons together, "That's why I am looking at your buttons, so closely," she replied. She told me that her name is Louisa with an "A" and that she has lived in New York her whole life, but that her family was from Genoa. I couldn't quite make out how old she said she was but amazingly it is between 95 and 97. When I asked her about her lovely hat she said, " I made it, anyone can make a hat all you have to do is roll the fabric back and add a few buttons." What an inspiring lady!

Jack on the Ladies' Mile

[Photos: Ari Seth Cohen, Text: Maayan Zilberman]

While taking a lunch break with my friends Ari and Debra from Advanced Style, we came upon this handsome gentleman waiting for his date in front of The Gramercy Tavern. “Just Jack”, as he’d like to be called, stood out because of his excellent posture and impeccable (and subtle) choice of fabric combinations. Jack was born in Greenwich Village, and has lived in New York City all his life. We were standing in his very favorite section of town, called “The Ladies' Mile”, which most now know as the Flatiron District. During the “Gilded Age”, at the turn of the century, this neighborhood south of Madison Square was the most magnetic center of all America, according to Jack. His eyes lit up when we started talking about the beautiful architecture along 6th Avenue, and he told us that the neighborhood is protected, which is a big reason why all the nice restaurants are right here.

In 1892, Richard Harding Davis of the New York Sun noted that "private carriages line the curb in quadruple lines, and the pavement is impressively studded with white-breeched grooms. It was here that the most elegant ladies came to buy the finest objects sold in America. “

I asked Jack if he always dresses so nicely for a Tuesday afternoon lunch (felt like I was flirting, maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t) and he said it was actually his “Bloody Mary Afternoon”, and he wore a tie especially.

Looking Fine Rain or Shine

[Photo and Text Ari Seth Cohen]

Debra has been in California for a few weeks and we met up today and decided to dress up for the rainy weather. Who says you can't have fun and look fantastic in the rain. The great thing about Debra is that most of her fabulous wardrobe is either "Thrifted or Gifted". She always looks like a million bucks but has set a rule for herself not to spend over 5 dollars on any item. Once a year she may splurge on something more expensive, but she follows her rule pretty strictly. The outfit she wore for these photos was a jacket dress given to her by a friend in California and an old belt ties around her head for added dramatic effect! If you have any questions about Debra's mantra "Frugality is Fun" or if you are looking for a great licensed Reflexologist email her at:

Debrathenutritionista@gmail.com

A Dream in Neoprene

[Photos and Text Ari Seth Cohen]

Advanced Style runs the gamut from eccentric to chic. I always try and capture people with a unique perspective on personal style and talk to them about how aging has influenced and affected their style. The most usual response is that with age they have grown comfortable with who they are and are free to express themselves. This woman from St. Tropez came to the New Museum in this brilliant orange neoprene suit she purchased in France from designer Elizabeth de Senneville. She told me that she was surprised by all the attention she was receiving from people and showed me a text that she had sent to her designer friend saying that Americans were loving her outfit! She makes a nontraditional material look classic and elegant.

Prince Williams a.k.a Bill Boiz

I have seen Bill Boiz around town and have always admired his amazing coordinated style.I was so happy to run into him in Union Square and get the opportunity to chat and take a few photos He is a fashion week staple and the New York Times called him A "New York Fashion Icon" in an article which you can read an excerpt from below:

"To those who stop to chat with Prince Williams, out of curiosity, or admiration for his style, the narrative is always the same: The cane comes from the Ivory Coast, where his father was born, the son of an African king. His love of fashion came from his father, a diplomat in Paris who impressed upon his son the importance of making an elegant first impression. Age 50-something, he’s a longtime designer for private customers, now working on his first collection.
Prince Williams’s business card names him as Bill Boiz, and has a ’30s-style illustration of a man in coat and tails; the business, it reads, is located in Suite 329 at an address in Times Square."

Check out the full article HERE.

Elaine"JAZZY" Rush

[Photos Ari Seth Cohen/Text Maayan Zilberman]

Ari burned three meals worth of calories running after this woman to interrupt her afternoon power-walk. The mad rush was well worth the effort, because when we finally caught up with her on the Upper West Side, she was an absolute delight and even more colorful than we realized at first glance.
Elaine, who is known amongst her friends as “Jazzy”, is originally from Montreal (where she was known as “Pepper”, for the condiments she’d put on Poutine). She moved to New York City to enroll at The New School, we’re guessing for DRAMA. This remains a mystery since we focused our chat on more important matters, such as color and where to find the best sandals.
When I asked Jazzy about her layers, she was especially excited to tell me about her romper, a staple in her wardrobe. “I always wear one-pieces. They’re all I wear.” Since Jazzy has lived everywhere from Los Angeles to Florida to Massachusetts, she has done her fair share of dressing for different climates, and prefers light and airy items like this one and the ivory leather studded sandals she’s wearing today.
My favorite thing about Jazzy’s look is her choice of hair color/lipstick/eyeglasses. She says her daughter helps with coloring her closely cropped cut to neon yellow, and her eyeglasses are “just $8 on St Mark’s Place, but the prescriptions cost a fortune!”

Maryann

I met Maryann at The New Museum and we made a date for me to come visit her home to take some more photos. She is a wonderful self taught artist, who really started concentrating on her craft in the last few years after selling her business. Maryann, like many other people feature makes beautiful things and dresses up because it lifts her spirit and makes her happy. I will post some more pictures of Maryann and her story in a later post!

Advanced Style in Laguna Beach

I was in California visiting my family over the weekend when I ran into this dashing gentleman in Laguna Beach. It was my mom who first spotted his elegant and dapper style amongst the casual beachwear and told me to run up and ask for his photo. She has a great eye for Advanced Style!

The Legendary Hilda Longinotti

As Maayan mentioned in the previous post, the great thing about New York is the opportunity to meet such amazing people, even on the street. The other today I had an incredible run in with design world superstar Hilda Longinotti, an Architectural and Design Liaison for Herman Miller. I didn't know about her career but admired her wonderful style and especially her red sunglasses. Hilda, 78, told me that she'd love to be the face of T.J. Maxx, in fact The Diva of T.J. Maxx as she buys most of what she wears there and is constantly complimented on her style. She told me that you don't have to wear Chanel to be in style, that good design doesn't necessarily mean expensive design.

Everything she was wearing was from T.J. Maxx except the sunglasses which are about 45 years old. Hilda's favorite colors are red, orange and chartreuse. When I asked her if she had any style advice for young generations she said, "Set yourself apart from the crowd, young people need to find their zone. Style is an evolution, a process."I hear a lot about the process of finding one's style from the people I talk to and how with age they have grown to know what they look and feel good in.

After we talked a bit Hilda invited me up to the Herman Miller design showroom and I had the privilege to take her photo amongst some of the world's best designed furnishings. It was an extraordinary experience. Here is an expert from an article about Hilda from Metropolis Magazine:

I started out as George’s(Nelson's) receptionist. I think it paid $55 a week. They were so thrilled with me that the designers completely redesigned the reception area, and they made the colors of the space complement me—behind me was a purple felt wall with an orange-and-white Howard Miller clock and the Herman Miller daybed. It was amazing. Whenever they needed to take photographs of anything, they would march me to the roof, and I was the in-house model for all of the prototypes: the Coconut chair, the Marshmallow sofa—whatever they were designing that needed a body, I would sit on it.

Every Monday there were project meetings. Everyone would sit at this huge table, and George would attend. They’d go through the projects, where they were going, the billings, et cetera. In ’62 I bought an old gate house in Whitestone, and Dolores Engle and everybody else at the office was helping me withthe interiors. So one morning George said, “What is the biggest project on the boards that we have at the moment?” And some smart aleck said, “Hilda Longinotti’s house.” And he banged on the door and said, “Goddamn it! I mean paying client!” But he said it with good humor.

Hilda in ads for Herman Miller

The Amazing Ilona Royce Smithkin

[Photos Ari Seth Cohen/Text Maayan Zilberman]

One of the things we love most about living in New York is meeting gems like 90 year old Ilona Royce Smithkin while going about our day. Ari met this beautiful lady on the street recently and insisted I meet her to discuss our mutual interests in painting, dancing, and making our own lingerie.What most first notice about Ilona are her long eyelashes that she crafts out of her own flashy red hair. With a youthful figure and delightful ease in conversation, its obvious she is also a performer with plenty to tell.
I'll be sitting down with Ilona this weekend to discuss it in detail.

Stay tuned for tips on making your own clothes, how to balance careers, and who should wear false eyelashes..

Helga The Queen Of Charm

When Smilla first sent me photos of Helga, " The Queen of Charm" I was awe struck by her beauty and style. I couldn't wait til she'd have the opportunity to interview and visit the home of this fascinating lady.

Smilla writes,"On Friday I visited her; The lady of the block. Planned since a long time it finally came true, and I definitely can say that one visit won't be enough to explore the world of this extraordinary women. She told me many things and showed me quite a lot. We talked about this and that and the other, and than we came back to the beginning.

Please check out Smilla's Post for some more information on Helga:

http://anders-anziehen.blogspot.com/2010/04/im-salon-von-lady-helga.html