Advanced Style

The recent emergence of street style as a cultural phenomenon has changed the way we look at fashion forever. In 2008, Ari Seth Cohen, a recent transplant to New York City, began a journey to document the style and stories of the city’s senior set.

Advanced Style is a documentary that examines the lives of seven unique New Yorkers aged 62 to 95 whose eclectic personal style and vital spirit have guided their approach to aging. Director Lina Plioplyte follows these fashionable ladies’ daily adventures of living in the city, capturing their most entertaining and poignant moments. From the instant that Cohen first meets these vibrant characters on the streets of New York, it is evident that they are destined for fame. From a glamorous 81-year-old dancer from the legendary Apollo Theater, to an 80-year-old owner of a storied boutique on the Upper West Side with a penchant for over-the-top accessories, to a 93-year-old West Village artist known for her colorful ensembles and iconic red eyelashes crafted from her own hair, these ladies offer their own unique perspective on overcoming life’s obstacles with style and grace, proving that age is merely a state a mind. Advanced Style paints colorful and intimate portraits of independent, stylish women who are challenging conventional ideas about beauty, growing old, and Western culture’s increasing obsession with youth.