That Advancement

I NEVER QUITE UNDERSTOOD women who idolize females younger than themselves. To me it feels backward. Retrograde. That said, I adore these portraits of Joyce Carpati, Lynn Dell, Linda Rodin and Ilona Royce Smithkin for Karen Walker, which perhaps epitomize my adoration for women who had lived through styles and times we could only read or dream about.

The glamorous elderly have always been to me so striking, that since moving to this little barrio of mine, I had secretly taken both style cues from, and stolen shots of, the señoras that walk by. I told myself I'd eventually start a blog or Instagram account featuring these wonderful women, but the Karen Walker Forever campaign makes known to me via its photographer, a blog that already does exactly that! Well, not the women from my sleepy barrio in particular, but on the contrary: women from the city that doesn't sleep.

The four ladies above are all New Yorkers, sporting the current Karen Walker Eyewear collection. Perfectly appropriate for capturing the portraits is Ari Seth Cohen, who is creator of the fabulous Advanced Style blog, and is also completing a documentary of the same name, coming this 2013.

So marvelous. I say the best role models for style, or for life, are those with experience to flaunt.

Joyce Carpati, Lynn Dell, Linda Rodin and Ilona Royce Smithkin for Karen Walker Forever. www.karenwalkereyewear.com Photographed by Ari Seth Cohen, advancedstyle.blogspot.com