We deeply think that being old or not is just a state of mind. It’s in your head. You might look old but you’re not as long as you don’t feel old. Unfortunately, sometimes people remember you how they see you when…
1. …they let you sit in the subway
I can stand, thank you
2. …they don’t ask for your ID when you require the senior rate
Did I really look that old?
3. …they ask you if you know who Jay-Z is
Jay Z and you’re grandma!
4. …they stop putting candle on your birthday cake
You’re passed the age, and anyway, it will cost too much and you’re not able to blow them anymore
You’re grandma birthday!
5. …they ask you how you handle living without Internet and cellphones
Old phone…
6. …you have to explain them how to hit on in the “real world”
Hey You!
7. …they don’t beg you to dance during weddings anymore
Your grandma dancing!
8. …they give you a panicked look when they pronounce the word « Internet » because they think they’re already reaching your intellectual limits
wtf?
9. …they send you letters rather than emails
letters, letters everywhere
10. …the first question they ask you is about your health condition
Everytime I see a tweet of Dorie Jacobson (@seniorStyleBibl), I think « Gosh, this lady really knows how to dress and has a real style! »
And then I feel ashamed. I am 23, I feel older than her, always complaining about everything and never enjoying life. This woman has been through a lot and still smiles.
Who said elderly and fashion only rimes with old pullovers, house slippers and aprons?
Well, the men and women we’re going to show you right now will prove those clichés’ wrong. Let us introduce you to the amazing “ Advanced Style ” project, by Ari Cohen.
Last month we were telling you about how badass grandmas had become icons for the new generations. Among those famous ladies, we told you about Jacquie Murdock, who had been modeling for Lanvin’s 2012 campaign. Well, she’s just one out of many examples of elderly who definitely deserve to be part of all those “street fashion” websites that have sprouted during the last decade (Streetpeeper, The Sartorialist…). Unfortunately, “senior” models represent only a very small percentage of the pictures taken. One man, Ari Cohen, decided to offer fashionable seniors a place to show us all that, just as good wine, style can actually get better and better with ageing.
He created the blog called “ Advanced Style ”, and here is how he describes his project : “I roam the streets of New York looking for the most stylish and creative older folks. Respect your elders and let these ladies and gents teach you a thing or two about living life to the fullest. Advanced Style offers proof from the wise and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age”. By looking at his beautiful shots, you can only be amazed at those persons that emanate class and distinction. And fun. And joy. And much more.
As an appetizer, here are some of the clichés we particularly enjoyed:
Advanced Style best clichés
Ari Cohen was actually the one person who led Jacquie Murdock to be part of the Lanvin campaign. He noticed her as he was walking down Union Square, stopped her and asked if he could take a picture of her. As reported by Jacquie herself, here is what happened next : “I said ‘For what?’ He said he had this website called Advanced Style for elders who are stylish. The jacket I had on was from Paris, and I threw my hands in the air and said ‘Ta-da!‘”. Ari later told her about the opportunity with Lanvin, and… ta-da!, as Jacquie would put it:
Jacquie Murdock for Lanvin
But the “ Advanced Style ” story doesn’t stop here. The blog actually led to a documentary, whose synopsis couldn’t be more inspiring for us : “ Advanced Style examines the lives of seven unique New Yorkers whose eclectic personal style and vital spirit have guided their approach to aging. Based on Ari Seth Cohen’s famed blog of the same name, this film paints intimate and colorful portraits of independent, stylish women aged 62 to 95 who are challenging conventional ideas about beauty, aging, and Western’s culture’s increasing obsession with youth.”
Come on, watch the trailer below, and listen to those fantastic women. Seriously, we just fell in love with them in less than 2 minutes:
And apparently we’re, not the only ones:
Just watched @_AdvancedStyle and I am DYING over these goddesses! Such an inspiration. Fabulous, adventurous and rocking it in every way.
It’s 7 o’clock, you’re still in your bed, without any will to get up and go to the bathroom take a shower and get dressed before going to school or to work.
You’re trying to avoid the unavoidable by surfing on the internet, looking at instagram pictures and suddenly you find a surprising picture of.. an old hipster published by OIC_project!
And you think “God, that’s not how I imagined elderly people!” or “This old man is quite sexy in his way!”
YES, we are going to show you 5 kinds of elderly people who ROCK!
1. The old hipsters
Old hipsters
2. The Golden Athletes
Here are some photographs of the artist Dean Bradshaw, who captured hilarious scenes of of elderly men and women in sports. His work is amazing!
The Golden Athletes
3. The Tattooed Grandparents
Tattooed Grandparents
4. The Gangsta Grandmas
Gangsta Grandmas
5. The Bearded Classy Men
Bearded Classy Men
And you? Have you ever spotted such cool old people? Send us photos, will share them on the Old is Cool Instagram!
From now on every Thursday we will post a portrait of a grandpa / grandma. Our first TBT is about a love story.
“At that time, I just had to walk down the street to find love”
Charlotte told us a nice « old is cool » love story she got from her grandma!
Yesterday, a friend advised me to download Tinder. Or, at least, I should try Once, she said.
I’m 23 and still unmarried. Probably the main reason my grandmother worries so much about my romantic life. But this time I decided to turn the question upside down: so, how did she manage to find her “great love”?
First you have to know that my grandmother has been married with the same man (my grandfather) for 53 years. A man she actually met on the street.
And here the story is… !
After the war, at 17, she was more or less penniless. Without money but not without style, she did not left my grandpa indifferent.
My grandmother and my mother when she was 17 (apparently style is hereditary in my family)
Let’s rock the 80s!
As she walked down the main street of Hyères, a small city in the Provence, he just asked her out. Just like this. Face to face. Straight to the point. And she remembers it as if it was yesterday.
Even if she was young, she was not naïve and, you can imagine why, she lied to him. But my grandpa was not stupid either, a quality she always liked about him, and decided not to go to this fake “rendez-vous”. Instead, he went to the cinema.
And never was a ticket better sold! At the intermission – yes back in the 50s they had intermissions at the middle of the films – he saw my grandmother. And, well, he bought her some candies. There is a French saying that in order to keep a man you have to take care of his stomach. Let’s say that my grandfather used the very same trick to win my grandmother’s heart.
So maybe I won’t download Tinder or sign up for Meetic. Instead, I will try the old-fashion-way and speak to some strangers (let’s just pray they won’t be psychopaths who will try to kill me…). Because, at the end, old is cool!
And yes they are still living in Hyères…
And you? Do you have any idea how your grandparents met? Go ask them and leave us a comment or send us the story with a portrait of them!
