Advanced Style [DVD]

As a writer of fashion fiction I was drawn to this. This is a true story about a group of amazing inspirational woman of a certain age who all have their own love of clothing and all that goes with it. In the UK we might describe some of them as a little eccentric. You have to admire their energy, creativity and zest for life, getting up everyday and having the motivation to dress and present themselves in their own inimitable way. But in terms of style, I cannot say I felt they did have great or advanced style with the exception perhaps of Joyce Carpati and Jacquie Murdock. Style somehow seems totally the wrong word, because what they all have in spades is a love of colour, art, textiles, jewelry, makeup, accessories and their own form of glamour. To me, the way the majority of these ladies dressed was much more a form of 'art expression' or 'haute couture' that had nothing necessarily to do with our traditional image of style. They certainly are all very individual, never dull and certainly not at all slaves to the mass market dictates of the fashion world. Wonderful. You could see these woman as muses to top couturiers, because they bring with them great knowledge of fashion, quality and dressing from the past. Yet they are pushing the boundaries by also showing us a new future, that the art of dressing and fashion can be enjoyed by everyone, and that it's not only something people under 30 with younger skin, hair and figures can enjoy. Fashion magazines and designers please take note.

I attended a showing of this film recently in London that included a Q&A with the director. She said that if this documentary were only about style, that would juust take care of the first ten minutes of the film. I agree with that wholeheartedly. This film is about so much more than style alone. Its about how we will choose to live our lives as we get older, something that invariably happens to most people so its worth thinking about! The director chooses to explore these ideas through the medium of style and with a fabulous, insightful (as you would expect them to be given their age) group of women.In a world where western people are often living into their nineties, where generational divides have broken down (I listen to the same music as my teenage nephews - this wouldn't have happened to people growing up in the 1960's and 1970's), I suspect that there will be more Ilona's et all as my generation age but for the moment, take guidance from a truly inspirational group of individuals. I absolutely loved this film.

Well I choose the film because I bought the book Advanced Style by Ari Seth Cothen and loved the pictures and also liked the way these women of advanced years expressed themselfs eg in cloths, outlook on life etc, talk about their own personal style they were an insperation, we need these sort of women with there fun outlook on life, I thought they were wonderful,one of the ladies Joyce is charming and elegant while Iiona is a real character with amazing eyelashes she makes from her own hair! I think the film could have shown more of some of the other women that have been vidoed on youtube who were also great characters eg Ruth 100yrs old who does weight lifting and Pilates and is perfectly dressed every day and others that were missing from the film hence the four stars.But yes I am glad I bought it.

I pre-ordered this as I'm fascinated by how women deal with ageing in different ways. The positives about this are that it's upbeat and life affirming. None of these women is going down without a fight and their spirit is inspirational. One of them is very irritating but the other six made me want to sit with them, order a bottle of wine and just listen.My gripe with the film - and Cohen generally - is that all the women have the same style. The lack of diversity spoils it for me. Most of the time all the women look as if they're in fancy dress, with elegance an alien concept. They virtually all wear hats all the time, clank with vast amounts of costume jewellery andor wear weird glasses and sunglasses. One of them was described by her partner as looking like a clown; this scared him off initially leading to her toning down her look - who knows what she looked like before?I'm really glad I've seen the film and would recommend it on the basis of the spirit of the women Cohen has filmed, but stylistically they're one trick ponies and few people are likely to find any style inspiration here. It's a shame because the concept is brilliant.

Viva 60+ Fabulous For Ever! How to be amazing after 60 years of age! These ladies are amazing, why should we "disappear" after the age of 60, women are still beautiful and interesting, these ladies show you how to do it. Live life, keep an eye on style, and have fun!Everything you need to know, inspirational. Contains new fashion, and vintage fashion looks. Beautiful things do not date, you can up date if you need to with fashion twists.most of all ENJOY!

An inspiring photographic book by Ari Seth Cohen. An appreciation of the older woman (and couples in some cases) and their own unique fashion style in New York City. The film is also great to watch, which focuses on several of the women from the original book.

Fay and I both felt lifted and enchanted by these women and their styles. I understand as one reviewer said that they are not to everyone's taste, but isn't that the whole point? Anyone over 60 in the west will understand the feeling of quietly vanishing from society while still being present. Not these ladies! Not while they can draw breath! You go girls!

I enjoyed Ari Seth Cohen's Advanced Style book very much, but the DVD, which looks only at a handful of women, is very limited in its scope. The women, instead of being larger-than-life, come across as petty and uninteresting. Not enough fashion, low on colour. Buy the book.