IRIS APFEL

Peering up over her cards, Iris Apfel listened as her aunt waxed lyrical about the importance of ladies being able to play bridge. It’s New York in 1940 and any female worth their salt in the city sat at the card table. The women played cards and the men talked. That’s the way it was.

But for Apfel, the notion of fitting neatly into the background was something she simply couldn’t fathom, not even at 19. “I went home and I thought about it and said, ‘I am not going to spend my life living in somebody’s image of what a certain person of a certain class of a certain age is supposed to do,” Apfel explained to marie claire. “I’m not going to be a rebel and offend anybody, but I’m not going to live in somebody else’s image. Simple as that.”

Fast forward to today, and everything from her unique sartorial style – taking in the self-styled mullet, trademark