The process starts Ruto Must Go T-shirt with me bringing in pieces from my wardrobe that hold meaning for me: There is the sleeveless A-line dress with pastel green and purple flowers that I wore under my doctoral gown the day I received my PhD; the Yohji Yamamoto suit I wore to my first day of class as a professor of social work and law. There is an oversized burnt-orange coat that covers me like a blanket, which I wear when I want to feel warm and safe, and a paisley Indian print dress I wore in the 1970s and now throw on when I go to the beach. Its colors are faded, and the thin cotton fabric is almost transparent after being worn for so many years — it seems on the brink of disintegration. We have many conversations about the experiences attached to clothing during different periods of my life. We discuss how what I wear now, or want to wear, can allow experiences from different times of my life to be remembered. My young friends are curious about how I came to be empowered to wear what I want, to use clothes as devices to tell my personal stories and see style as being unique to every person.
Ruto Must Go T-shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt
In her 90s Ruto Must Go T-shirt she was the face of a Kate Spade advertising campaign, created her own makeup line with MAC Cosmetics and designed her own range of accessories, clothes and furniture for the Home Shopping Network. She had already been featured in fashion magazines including Vogue Italia and Dazed & Confused when, in 2019, prestigious agency IMG offered her a modeling contract at the age of 97, joining a coterie of leading models including Karlie Kloss, Joan Smalls, Chrissy Teigen and Bella and Gigi Hadid. She may have had her own label, but Apfel wasn’t motivated by designer names. She was just as happy to rummage through flea markets as high end stores for unusual pieces to pile high on her small frame. She had 2.9 million followers on Instagram but expressed a disdain for social media. “It’s too damn nosy,” she told CNN in 2018. I don’t give a damn what you ate, and I don’t care who you’re sleeping with… It’s an enormous waste of time.” Apfel was once asked to define her attitude to life in just three words. “Only one trip,” she said. Then she added a few more: “Might as well live it up.”