December 26, 2015 -- This rambling portrait of fashion icon Iris Apfel and her husband Carl, was directed by documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles. Both Maysles and Carl Apfel died this year. Carl Apfel was nearly 101 years old when he died. Maysles,88, made scores of documentary films dating back to the 1950s. This film, along with Maysles' “In Transit” were released for theatrical distribution posthumously.

Iris Apfel is an outgoing, ambitious and energetic woman in her 90s, who delights in colorful clothes, jewelry and other accessories. She wears oversized, colorful glasses, and so many plastic bracelets that she clatters like a chime in a wind storm when she moves her arms. Her keen fashion sense made her famous, especially after a popular exhibition of some items from her vast collection in 2005 at The Costume Institute, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. There was also a traveling exhibit.

Iris and Carl Apfel founded the textile firm Old World Weavers in 1950 and ran it for over 40 years. During that time, they traveled the world looking at textiles, clothes and furnishings. An avid collector, Iris amassed a huge collection of rare textiles, clothing, accessories and furnishings. The Apfel's New York apartment is a carnival of colors, stuffed animals, toys and odd items like a huge dog statue from an old RCA “his master's voice” advertising display.

The film gives us some idea of Iris' busy schedule, 50 phone calls a day, interviews with reporters, appearances on TV shows, photo shoots, a sales pitch on the Home Shopping Network, overseeing the selection of items from her collection to be put on display, or sold. She hates to sell anything, but feels it is time to start thinning out the collections in the warehouse.

Iris talks about her involvement with interior design and restoration projects at the White House during the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Clinton administrations. She talks about her looks, and how they influenced her. She said she was never pretty, and was never able to rely on her looks, so she developed other skills. “I don't like pretty,” she said. Pretty looks fade, but the skill set she developed still stands her in good stead.

People marvel at Iris' energy, but she said she used to have a lot more. After a broken hip and many other aches and pains, she is determined not to give in to the pain and fatigue. The secret, she says, is to keep pushing ahead. She teaches students at the University of Texas at Austin and laments the decline of the old skills, like sewing and weaving, in the fashion industry. Soon, she said, everything will be made by machines, resulting in blandness.

Fashion doesn't exist in a vacuum, Iris says. It is a combination of history, science, architecture, culture and politics. It is inextricably linked to everything. Looking at a dress, she can see evidence of the society that created it. Few, if any, now living know what she knows and can see what she sees when she looks at fashion.

Fashion has always been a mystery to me. Why would anyone care about fashion at all? More than any other film, this film provides some answers to that question. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2015 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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