The first thing I saw when I opened instagram this morning was the fact that Iris Apfel had died, just two days after celebrating being 102 and a half.
I’m not sure when or how I discovered this legendary woman, but what an inspiration she was. Thank you Iris for showing that women don’t have to conform and can bring vibrancy and joy to the world at any age.
I dug out some of her quotes that resonated with me and I want to be able to easily refer back to when I need a reminder of how to be more Iris.
“When you don’t dress like everybody else, you don’t have to think like everybody else.”
“Great personal style is an extreme curiosity about yourself.”
“Understated jewellery is not for me. It’s too itsy-bitsy. My husband is lucky, as I’ve never had a yen for real jewels.”
“I’m a hopeless romantic. I buy things because I fall in love with them. I never buy anything just because it’s valuable.”
“Clothes are not frippery. Properly done, they can be an art form.”
“Fashion really is women’s liberation in a lot of ways. Look at how many women in this country are depressed about how they look and how they think they have to look! It’s really sad. And it’s not about money.”
“I never buy what someone says is ‘in’ or a ‘must-have.’ I buy what makes me happy.”
“Nothing I ever did I expected to do. It just kind of happened.”
“Self-exploration is very painful, but unless you do that, you will never know who you are and who you want to be.”
I have no desire to live as long as she did but I only hope that I can continue to live my life with some of the joie de vivre that she demonstrated.