Mark Kermode, Observer film critic 

Advanced Style review – affectionate documentary about later-life followers of fashion

A group of feisty older women create a stir as they prepare to appear on the Ricki Lake show, writes Mark Kermode
  
  

Advanced Style: finds 'cause for celebration in the extravagant couture of its later-life subjects'.
Advanced Style: finds 'cause for celebration in the extravagant couture of its later-life subjects'. Photograph: PR

There has been some heated discussion on Radio 4 recently about the politics of ageing fashion, but this affectionate documentary finds nothing but cause for celebration in the extravagant couture of its later-life subjects, one of whom describes her age as "somewhere between 50 and death". Inspired by the success of Ari Seth Cohen's blog in which he "roams the streets of New York looking for the most stylish and creative older folks", this on-the-fly film follows a group of very feisty women as they head to Culver City to appear on the Ricki Lake TV show, sparking flashbulbs and headlines wherever they go. Although the doc doesn't dig very deep, it allows plenty of space for each of its divas to flaunt their unique style, which ranges from classic elegance to colourful adventure. Most of them have more life than people half their age; what a brilliantly rejuvenating double bill this would make with Anson and Hugh Hartford's brilliant Ping Pong.

 

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