Conversation – 15

Iris Apfel (née Barrel; born August 29, 1921) is an American businesswoman, interior designer, and fashion icon.

Early life
Born Iris Barrel in Astoria, Queens, New York, Apfel is the only child of Samuel Barrel, whose family owned a glass-and-mirror business, and his Russian-born wife, Sadye, who owned a fashion boutique. Both were Jewish.

She studied art history at New York University and attended art school at the University of Wisconsin.

Career
As a young woman, Apfel worked for Women’s Wear Daily and for interior designer Elinor Johnson. She also was an assistant to illustrator Robert Goodman.

On Feb 22, 1948, she married Carl Apfel (born Aug 4, 1914 – died Aug 1, 2015).[4] Two years later, they launched the textile firm Old World Weavers and ran it until they retired in 1992. From 1950 to 1992, Iris Apfel took part in several design restoration projects, including work at the White House for nine presidents: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Clinton.

Through their business, the couple began traveling all over the world where she began buying pieces of non-Western,and unique clothes. She wore these clothes to clients’ high-society parties.

In 2016, she performed in a television commercial for the French car DS 3, and was the face of Australian brand Blue Illusion. In March 2016, Apfel announced a collaboration with technology startup WiseWear on an upcoming line of Smart Jewelry.

Legacy
Museum retrospectives
On September 13, 2005, The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York premiered an exhibition about Iris Apfel’s style entitled Rara Avis (Rare Bird): The Irreverent Iris Apfel. The success of the exhibition, curated by Stéphane Houy-Towner,[10] prompted an initial traveling version of the exhibit at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn Harbor, New York, and later at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.

The Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History in Boynton Beach, Florida, is designing a building that will house a dedicated gallery of Apfel’s clothes, accessories, and furnishings.

Advisory and academic roles
At age 90 in 2012, Apfel was a visiting professor at University of Texas at Austin..

Apfel consults and lectures about style and other fashion topics. In 2013, she was listed as one of the fifty “Best-Dressed over 50” by The Guardian.

Documentaries
Apfel is the star of a documentary by Albert Maysles, called Iris. It premiered at the New York Film Festival in October 2014, and was subsequently acquired by Magnolia Pictures for US theatrical distribution in 2015.

Apfel was also featured in the documentary If You’re Not In the Obit, Eat Breakfast, a television film which premiered in 2017.

Awards
Iris Apfel was awarded the Women Together Special Award of the Year at the 12th Annual Women Together Gala at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, June 7, 2016. Joana Caparrós Masip is president and founder of Women Together. Iris Apfel was accompanied by other awardees, such as Hollywood actress Rosario Dawson, the Punta Cana Foundation, Loewe Foundation and others. Iris Apfel was handed the award by Malu Edwards Hurley, who is a board of directors of Women Together and who was MC of the gala event, together with Carlos Jimenez, representative of Spain at the United Nations Headquarters in Brussels.

In November of 2016, Apfel was awarded the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Pioneer Award for her work in the Fashion field at the United Nations in New York City.

Personal life
Apfel’s husband of 67 years, Carl Apfel, died on August 1, 2015, just three days shy of his 101st birthday.

All I want is one luncheon with her. 🙂 I have so many questions.

This is Class. ♥

Fabulous at any age. ♥

I have to one of those on my desk. Go Girl. ♥

Iris Apfel I am doing a gallery of this HSN Icon. ♥

This is HSN.

She certainly did. ♥

Cherie my post was supposed to go here. This is for you. ♥ Love the Disney Queens. ♥

The Changing Nest

As the nest empties, parents can alleviate the sadness by rediscovering themselves and honoring the strides their children have made.

Once individuals become parents, they are parents forevermore. Their identities change perceptively the moment Mother Nature inaugurates them mom or dad. Yet the role they undertake when they welcome children into their lives is not a fixed one. As children move from one phase of their lives to the next, parental roles change. When these transitions involve a child gaining independence, many parents experience an empty nest feeling. Instead of feeling proud that their children have achieved so much–whether the flight from the nest refers to the first day of kindergarten or the start of college–parents feel they are losing a part of themselves. However, when approached thoughtfully, this new stage of parental life can be an exciting time in which mothers and fathers rediscover themselves and relate to their children in a new way.

As children earn greater levels of independence, their parents often gain unanticipated freedom. Used to being depended upon by and subject to the demands of their children, parents sometimes forget that they are not only mom or dad but also individuals. As the nest empties, parents can alleviate the anxiety and sadness they feel by rediscovering themselves and honoring the immense strides their children have made in life. The simplest way to honor a child undergoing a transition is to allow that child to make decisions and mistakes appropriate to their level of maturity. Freed from the role of disciplinarian, parents of college-age children can befriend their offspring and undertake an advisory position. Those with younger children beginning school or teenagers taking a first job can plan a special day in which they express their pride and explain that they will always be there to offer love and support.

An empty nest can touch other members of the family unit as well. Young people may feel isolated or abandoned when their siblings leave the nest. As this is normal, extra attention can help them feel more secure in their newly less populated home. Spouses with more leisure time on their hands may need to relearn how to be best friends and lovers. Other family members will likely grieve less when they understand the significance of the child’s new phase of life. The more parents both celebrate and honor their children’s life transitions, the less apprehension the children will feel. Parents who embrace their changing nest while still cherishing their offspring can look forward to developing deeper, more mature relationships with them in the future.

@hsn