The CHARME POUDRE ~ Iris Apfel

This month's issue of Architectural Digest pays tribute to the fashion guru, decorator and cofounder of Old World Weavers, Iris Apfel. Here some pictures in the New York City apartment she shares with her husband, Carl.The octogenarian grande Dame's apartment boasts all the delights of a well-lived life. Here her eclectic fashion sense in some bold and playful ensembles from her extensive wardrobe (Photograph courtesy of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art). "Clothes are not frippery. Properly done, they can be an art form" says Apfel. 

A Dutch painting is displayed above a Louis XVI daybed covered in fabric Apfel reproduced from a 17th-century French document.

A collection of singerie tops an 18th-century Venetian bombé chest in the living room;
the back of the English chair at right is painted with chinoiserie designs.

In the entry, an 18th-century English gilt chinoiserie mirror and an Italian console

The first painting Apfel ever bought—a portrait of the Infanta Margarita she
picked up 60 years ago at an antiques shop in Florence.

Dog paintings and 19th-century English bookcases, volumes on fashion,
decorative arts and Chinese costumes and texiles

My own beat, Iris Apfel in Vogue Nippon gioiello, August 2009

A circa-1985 House of Lanvin silk-faille evening gown designed by Jules-François Crahay,
a Bhutanese upper-arm bracelet, and Tibetan bracelet and necklaces.

A wool-pile Lanvin jacket, circa 1990, designed by Jules-François Crahay, and accessorized with
turquoise necklaces, silver-and-ceramic cuffs, and a silver-and-turquoise belt.

A vintage Geoffrey Beene wool-jersey jumpsuit, a silver-and-turquoise brooch and belt,
and silver-and-ceramic cuffs.

{ click over to the AD's site to have a gander at: more images, an exclusive interview (in which she both quotes rodin and talks about making bracelets out of masking tape tubes), and a peek into her famous wardrobe }