Advanced Style

Advanced Style has enough leopard-print fabric, oversized sunglasses, wide-brimmed hats, and chunky jewellery to sink Manhattan into the Hudson River. The key word here is eccentric, not exactly a surprise considering this breezy little documentary focuses on seven of the most colourful subjects of Ari Seth Cohen's blog and photo book of the same name: New York glam-mas, from their 60s to 90s, who show you're never too young to fly your fashion freak flag. The central characters include Tziporah Salamon, the youngest at 62, who confesses to sometimes taking years to assemble her thrift-store ensembles, from her ornately embroidered fezzes down to her carefully matched mules. Ninety-three-year-old Zelda Kaplan, on the other hand, wears Creamsicle-orange-hued false eyelashes to match her hair. Thankfully, most of these decked-out dames dont have the means or the interest to seek out expensive designer labels; dressing up is more of an art form to them. Former Cosmo marketing director Joyce Carpati is the most elegant of the lot, with her silvery hair pulled up into perfect, folded braids, a string of pearls seemingly sutured to her neck, and a closet overflowing with Chanel purses that she promises to bequeath to her enamoured granddaughter. Director Lina Plioplytes resolutely unpretentious documentary follows each of the women into their homes and shopping haunts, focusing on the outsized characters who pour their lives, and savings, into their outfits.