advanced style interview and ticket giveaway

Do you remember a little website called Advanced Style that we introduced you to way back when? Well, the style blog for seniors has aged just as elegantly as its subjects, and six years on it comes to us in motion picture form. Yippee!

The doco – which goes by the same name – features interviews with wonderfully sassy golden oldies of New York, and more fabulous fashion than our brains can compute. In preparation for your viewing of the flick, we had a wee chat with Advanced Style creator Ari Seth Cohen – read on and have a squiz at the bottom for a chance to win some tickets for nix.



Tell us a little about yourself and your blog, Advanced Style. I have always had an affinity for older people. My grandmothers were my best friends and because of them I have a deep appreciation for the past. I started my blog in 2008 after moving to New York and meeting so many incredibly dressed, vital and creative older people. I wondered why they weren't the ones we were looking up to as role models. My blog features the styles and stories of some of the world's most fashionable, creative, and vital seniors.

How does the approach to fashion tend to differ between the older and younger generations? The women I photograph dress for themselves. They have come to a point in their lives where they no longer have to impress anyone and there is a great sense of freedom and personal expression in how they put themselves together. They also have the benefit of being able to shop within their closets and wardrobes full of items from decades of collecting.



Where do you find the individuals featured on the blog? Everywhere I travel. I always have my camera on me and am always on the look out for grey hair, a great hat or turban, or cape, or arm full of bangles.

These men and women come from a time before camera phones and street style blogs – how do they usually react when you ask them for a photo? It's always a bit different, but I think because I approach them with genuine respect and interest they tend to act very positively. I have definitely had people ask me why I would want to take their photo and have been yelled at once or twice.

Have you picked up any style tips along the way? Yes, first of all to dress in what makes me feel most comfortable, whether that is a sequin jacket or white t-shirt. Second to not follow trends but make my own trends, and third to take joy in the act of dressing.



What made you want to bring the blog to life in your recent documentary? I met the director of the film, Lina Plioplyte, in a coffee shop right when I moved to New York. We became friends and I told her that I wanted to start a blog about stylish older people. She loved the idea and told me that she was just about to start an internship making fashion videos for a magazine. We ran into each other a month later, after I had started the blog and she asked me if she could make some video portraits of the women I had been photographing. We both knew that their stories were even more captivating than their style, and I was excited to share my subjects' wisdom on the blog. The videos quickly gained tremendous feedback from people telling us that the women had changed their perspective on aging.

250 hours of footage and two years later we knew we had to make a film. We didn't start out expecting to make a feature length film that would be shown all around the world, but we are thrilled with its success and the fact that people are really responding to the women's stories.

How has this project changed your perception of what it means to grow older? I am inspired by how full of energy and hope the women are. They prove to us all that it's never too late to follow your dreams or start something new in life.



Advanced Style is now out in cinemas around Australia through Madman Entertainment. We're rather chuffed to have some double passes to give away - simply send an email here with your name and address to enter. Pretty easy, huh?