DV Magazine — December 2014
Grande Dames: Documenting Street Style for ‘Advanced Style’

Director and cinematographer Lina Plioplyte’s new documentary feature, Advanced Style The Movie, is the story behind the fashion blog of the same name that became an international phenomenon. Following a successful two-month theatrical run, the film was released on DVD in October. It examines the lives of seven unique New Yorkers, aged 62-95, whose eclectic personal style and vital spirit have guided their approach to aging.

In 2008, newly arrived in New York City, street photographer Ari Seth Cohen began documenting the style of the city’s fashionable older women. His blog caught immediate attention, catapulting his subjects into the spotlight and even landing several of them lucrative modeling gigs. The Advanced Style blog also garnered a book deal for Cohen, who began to look for new ways to promote the brand.

Plioplyte found herself drawn to the project, initially planned as a series of web videos, because of her close relationship with her own grandmother. The Lithuanian-born, Brooklyn-based filmmaker captured over 200 hours of footage of her subjects — ranging from a glamorous 81-year-old dancer from the legendary Apollo Theater and an 80-year-old owner of an Upper West Side boutique to a 93-year-old West Village artist known for her iconic red eyelashes crafted from her own hair — before finally acknowledging that she had embarked on creating a full-length feature documentary. (Read full story…)