The word eclectic is defined as: “Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles”.  To define the word “eclectic fashion” one has to go no further than Iris of this style and the master of the genre. The proof of her perfection resides in the well deserved and on-going attention that the contents of her closet demand. 

If you missed the MET’s exhibit of her collection in 2005, then you definitely want to add Nassau County  Museum of Art to this summer must see and do list. Beginning next week, May20th, the museum will be exhibiting the amazing collection of her wardrobe and even more amazing finds have been pried from Iris Apfel’s closet. Iris Apfel:  Rare Bird of Fashion is not to be missed. 

Now in her 80’s, Iris continues to be a role model and inspiration to legions of women both past and present. She doesn’t really follow fashion despite being an intimate of many designers, nor did she really go forth into fashion design despite a “fling with dressmakers, bag makers and shoemakers”. She admits to being “a closet designer who could never sew or cut”. She even claims that she didn’t collect for the ideal of having a collection, what amazes and inspires us is simply her wardrobe. 

Born an only child in Astoria, Queens in 1922, the appreciation for beautiful things and art began when she read art history at NYU and attended the University of Wisconsin art school. By 1950, with husband, Carl, she began Old World Weavers, a textile and design company, which specialized in ancient techniques and exact reproductions of antique fabrics.  She was a famous interior designer, with clients such as Greta Garbo, Estee Lauder and White House, and hob knobbed with high society of the time, but it is not her fame or notoriety that makes her worthy of her legendary status.  It’s simply the contents of her closet, collected over a range of 60 years from around the world, and then, her art of combining those items with their polar opposites  that begets her reign as a true original. For Iris Apfel, true style was not dictated to her or even by her, but was fun and serious and whimsical and amusing, all at once.

It is beyond fitting that Loehmann’s is sponsoring the exhibit as for Iris, like a Loehmann’s shopper, the “thrill was in the hunt”.  And hunt she did just like the rest of us. In an interview with Marilyn Kirschner, Iris speaks of her finding a “true gem”:

“Oh there’s something I just found in Loehmann’s….. For my birthday I go to Loehmann’s because I get a 15% discount, it’s very exciting…and I found this wonderful, wonderful completely beaded coat from Ralph Lauren and it is so gorgeous …all the way down to the floor and I won’t tell you its price because it’s ridiculous…it’s divine and very Marlene Dietrich with crystalline beads on white chiffon…and it was way too long although I am fairly tall…and I went to three dressmakers and they all said they were afraid to tackle it and I didn’t know what to do…Ralph Rucci said he’d fix it but I didn’t want to trouble him…then I met Mr. Ralph Lauren and when I told him he said “Oh we’ll fix it”. So it’s now being fixed.’”

The pieces in the exhibit are from flea markets, houses of haute couture, East Indian Bazaars, thrift stores, discount department stores, Old European artifacts, and handmade boutiques from all over the globe. With over 60 years worth of collecting, Iris was able to pair brand new finds and old:  “mix something I bought last week with something I’ve hoarded for 30 years.” 

From a fashion stand point alone, the exhibit is worth seeing as it features exciting couture clothing from every major European and American designer including Chanel, Dior, Armani, Galanos, Ungaro, Ralph Rucci, Geoffrey Beene, Lanvin, Norell, and Bill Blass among others. Separately, the results of her collection bespeak of a journey though time and fashion that could set the pace for a who’s who in the history of couture. In addition, her accessories and jewelry collections are incredible and also historic. What makes this all so much more is that her outfits are displayed “exactly’ as she put them together herself including her signature oversized black glasses on the mannequins. It’s not so much as the “what” she wore, but the “how” she wore it. 

The originality of her style is revealed in her mixing of Dior haute couture with flea-market finds, Dolce & Gabbana lizard trousers with nineteenth-century ecclesiastical vestments, pink Lanvin worn with ropes of Navajo turquoise. A selection of audacious accessories also comes under the spotlight: a giant necklace made of bear claws, a turn-of-the-century Indian horse ornament worn as a necklace, a parrot’s-head brooch in colored glass and rhinestones.

The final results are unforgettable. When fashion defies limits, creativity soars and taste is redefined.  What Iris Apfel does is remind us that we must be true to ourselves and what we love. Our “look” is then defined by ourselves and what we adore, what we resonate with, what is the outside epitomey of our own souls. It is an opportunity for our self defined inner beauty to be seen on the outside and therefore is nothing that can be prescribed by the trends of the seasons or other outside influences. 

When we view the now “art” that is Iris’ closet and see that this non-conformity is beyond our wildest dreams, it can indeed re-inspire us to find our own inner Iris.

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This exhibition was first seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute as Rara Avis: Selections from the Iris Barrel Apfel Collection. It has been adapted for its showing at NCMA and now includes even more stunning items of clothing, accessories and jewelry from Apfel’s collection. Later shown at the Norton Museum in Palm Beach as “Iris Apfel: a Rare Bird of Fashion”, the exhibit at the NCMA is sponsored by Loehmann’s with support from Astoria Federal Savings. 

“Iris Apfel: a Rare Bird of Fashion” opens to the public on May 20^th at Nassau County Museum of Art and runs through September 7^th. Located off Northern Boulevard in Roselyn Harbor, admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $4 for children with an additional $2 parking charge on weekends. Museum members are free. For more information go to the museum website at: www.nassaumuseum.com or call (516) 484-9338. 

In addition, cultural historian Dr. Charles A. Riley II presents “Extreme Iris” a multimedia presentation and “interdisciplinary exploration of genius at work” on Sunday June 22 at 4pm. 

For a rare treat, the museum also offers a Private Tea & Tour of the Exhibition on June 11^th at 2:30 pm. This behind-the-scenes glimpse at the museum’s current exhibition is introduced by the museum’s director, Constance Schwartz, and features a private guided tour followed by a menu of tea, sandwiches, scones and sweets in the beautifully refurbished Café Musée. Space is limited so reserve early.

Admission for Dr. Riley’s lecture is $10 for museum members and $20 for guests.Admission for each Tea & Tour is $35 (museum members, $25) and includes admission to the museum. To reserve, call (516) 484-9338, ext. 12 or write to reginaforlenza@nassaumuseum.com. 

 If you just can’t make it there at all, then check out the book from the original collection shown in 2005 at the Met show in NY: “Rare Bird of Fashion; the Irreverent Iris Apfel” is available at Amazon. With an essay by the fashion maven herself, an introduction by Harold Koda, director of the Costume Institute, and  169 photos by fashion photographer, Eric Bowman, it’s the next best thing to being there.

“Loehmann’s is like a drug.”

“I once went on a 4 hour lunch break, no kidding! How did that happen? Loehmann’s. “

“My heart races, my palms sweat, the fervor to get. that. bargain. doesn’t end until it has been gotten”.

“Confession: I once spent $1000 in a day here getting that bargain. Sick.”        

Real quotes from Real Loehmann’s Shoppers 

The concept of discounted clothing is not a new idea anymore. With the economic slowdowns and everyone watching their dollars, it is the sale that rues the day and brings the majority of shoppers into a store. Call it a sale, call it a discount, or call it an outlet; no one really wants to pay full price.

If we go back in time, there is a noticeable absence of the true discount clothing department store. It wasn’t invented yet. The history of every single discount store owes homage to one woman: Frieda Loehmann.

In 1921, Frieda Loehmann, a confidante of NY’s 7th Avenue designers started purchasing the  seasonal overstocks at a fraction of wholesale prices and passing the savings to consumers. That idea took hold and grew, obviously, into Loehmann’s, but also into all the discounted fashion stores and mainstream culture as well. When you shop at Loehmann’s, you are shopping the original.  Loehmann’s has kept true to their origins as well; obtaining merchandise directly from the original manufacturers. 

 Another distinguishing trait of Loehmann’s is the way the products are merchandized. Many discount clothing establishments will groups all the “like” clothing together making a shopper comb though racks and racks of generic “skirts” to find the real treasures. In Loehmann’s, however, due to their emphasis on discounted designer wares, clothing is separated by the actual name brands on the racks.   This allows a time sensitive shopper to “only hit the DKNY finds”.

Depending on what is available, Loehmann’s buyers also purchase designer collections directly form Europe, not just the US fashion market.  The original price tags are marked in Euros and can bring a unique international feeling to a suburban shopping experience.

Of course, one of the most original traits about Loehmann’s is The Fitting Rooms. They are so legendary that they require their own post.  The famous “Back Room” is not always a separate room or even in the back depending on your local stores layout, but still demands to be “the” place to find the hottest designer looks at mere fractions of the original pricing.

All and all, Loehmann’s still reigns as the first and the original. The fashion steals that are found here will continue to be passed down as mythical stories from generation to generation. While the “shopping tales” might get slightly embellished over time and cause the listener to question the truth of the bargain, true Loehmann’s hunter’s will nod their heads in understanding. If we could only click our heels and be in a shopper’s paradise, there is no place we would rather go.

“I am a shopaholic and Loehmann’s is my holy grail.
No matter what I’m doing or where I’m going, casual or formal,my first shopping stop is at Loehmann’s…it’s where my favorite designer jeans came from, my  interview suit, all my favorite shoes…there is nowhere better and nowhere I’d rather go.”