In Remembrance: 102-Year-Old Iris Apfel Was a Beauty Icon, Too

Iris Apfel, the interior designer-turned-fashion icon who was known for her collection of costume jewelry and love of bold colors, passed away on March 1, 2024. And while there will be many worthy tributes in the coming days remembering 102-year-old’s fearless sense of fashion, I’d like to take a moment to appreciate her signature beauty look: large, circle glasses and a vivid lip. 

Her documentary Iris, which came out a decade ago, is filled with quotable tidbits about her views on her own appearance. “I’m not pretty,” she mused at the time. “And I’ll never be pretty, but it doesn’t matter. I have something much better. I have style.”

A 2015 interview with Allure shed light on her incredibly minimal routine: “I wear only Cetaphil moisturizer and lipstick,” the street style darling shared. “Sheer lipstick is not tolerable for me. Red on the orange side or a shocking pink.”

But what Apfel was actually did for the world of fashion and beauty—beyond “having style” and wearing bold lipstick was much more special. We still live in a world where many women “of a certain age” feel like they must simply shrink into the background. But what Apfel chose to do was anything but shrink herself. By simply existing with her snowy-white hair, vivid lip, and coke bottle glasses, she was proudly taking up space—and giving other women of any and every age permission to join her in doing just that, too. 

Hopefully, it’s a legacy that will continue to grow and live on.