the ultimate style icon...iris

The definition of originality, Iris Apfel is The Top when it comes to personal style. Her bold, passionate and true-to-herself approach to fashion gives us enough inspiration to last a lifetime.

As we chant her mantra while getting dressed everyday, we can only hope that a small fraction of her fabulousness will sink in.

"I'm a hopeless romantic. I buy things because I fall in love with them. I never buy anything just because it's valuable. My husband used to say I look at a piece of fabric and listen to the threads. It tells me a story. It sings me a song. I have to get a physical reaction when I buy something. A coup de foudre - a bolt of lightning. It's fun to get knocked out that way!"

"I think dressing up or down should be a creative experience. Exciting. Fun. Whenever possible, it's really great to start with a marvelously cut designer piece and build on it. For me the key to personal style lies in accessories. My friends tell me that my oversized glasses and my pairs of bracelets have become my unwritten signature. I have amassed an enormous "collection" of bags, belts, bangles, and beads without which I would be lost. One can change the entire look of an outfit by substituting one accessory for another. I love objects from different worlds, different eras, combined my way. Never uptight, achieving - hopefully - a kind of throwaway chic."

"It's not what you do, it's the way that you do it. Of course, if you wear lovely things, it's all the better....My mother worshiped at the alter of the accessory. And I, I got the bug."