New York City Does Granny Chic Like No Other

Posted by Styloko

Former Sunday Times Style Features Editor Ruby Warrington recently relocated to New York, where she’s now based as a US correspondent for the paper.

In her weekly Styloko column, Ny-loko, she dissects NY style through British eyes – will she ever dress like one of them?

A reformed shopaholic, her wardrobe mantra these days is ‘quality over quantity’ (check out her Lust List), while her idea of shopping heaven is her new West Village apartment, complete with walk-in wardrobe.

Carrie Bradshaw, eat your heart out.
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Whatever happens in the short term, I’ve decided I definitely want to get old in New York City. Not a day goes by when I don’t pass a super stylish septuagenarian in the street, and there seems to be a completely different set of rules when it comes to ‘granny chic’. The grannies here really are chic, embracing the concept of personal style with all the gusto of their 20, 30 and 40-something counterparts.

Queen bee is, of course, Iris Apfel, the 90-year-old interior designer and fashion icon who hails from Queens and described herself as “the world’s oldest living teenager” at a talk she gave at the Met with Style Rookie’s Tavi Gevinson on Sunday. Favourite quote of the day? “When the fun goes out of getting dressed, you might as well be dead.” So that’s what’s keeping her going.

Dressed in an elegant trouser suit, with her trademark oversized specs, sash of red lipstick and killer accessories, she’s actually just a souped-up version of the older ladies who really own Manhattan’s sidewalks. Like the woman I spied in the toilets before the talk, with her navy and white striped blazer, skinny jeans, Chanel sling-backs and outsize neon orange clutch, her hair in a sky-high bun. Or the one I passed in the street on the way there, in a gothic floor-length net skirt and fitted purple silk peplum jacket.

What are women like them thinking when they get dressed? “I would never go out in anything that would offend my husband or my mother – otherwise, who cares what people think?” advised Apfel. Spoken like a true style icon – and a true New Yorker.