We should all be as sharp at 40 as Iris Apfel is at 93. Since I shop exclusively in the Ed Asner Collection at Sears, this is the first I’ve heard of Ms. Apfel, the purple-haired style arbiter famous for worshipping at the altar of the accessory. Don’t let the eccentric attire, nasal drawl, and fixed, slightly fermished gaze radiating through her canted Swifty Lazar mondo-frames fool you: she’s one tough cookie, quick-witted and willing to barter down to the last penny before handing over her AmEx gold card. Who better than Albert Maysles — half of the team who exposed the open-casket charms of the Beale gals in Grey Gardens — to follow the fashionista as she peddles her wares at Loehmann’s and on HSN between putting in personal appearances and fielding hundreds of phone calls a day. The lifelong love affair between designer and her doting husband Carl is the sweet, smoothly applied icing that densifies the confection. (2014) — Scott Marks
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