I started this project because I was intrigued by the ladies in the blog Advanced Style, showcased on TikTok with over 500k followers, in extravagant clothing, talking about things we do not usually associate with people of their age. They are loud, confident, cocky and rude some might say. They do not fear the future of their ageing minds and bodies. The Ladies advise on style, confidence and how to deal with ageing My favourite quote is, Lauren Ezersky’s 69, words while in a ballgown, holding a chihuahua, “...you just gotta go with it because what's the alternative? DIRTNAP, Don't wanna do that!!” (Ezersky, L., 2023) The message is, that sometimes ageing is very hard, but you just have to keep living to the fullest because the alternative is not living. This captures perfectly the values and the messages that A.S. is based upon. (Beach, 2022)
Ari Seth Cohen created a wonderful platform, since the release of his first book in 2012, he has expanded by creating the blog (Kholiavinski and Cohen, 2020), documentaries, Instagram and videos on TikTok. Personally, the reason I was so drawn to them was the initial impression of the fashion and the way that they spoke about ageing made me less fearful of my own.
Inspired by this content I decided to make a fictional wine brand, which is covered in quotes by a few select ladies from A.S. videos. The ladies were the inspiration for one bottle each. I would make a wrap for the bottle, (Figure 11) which would be colourful outside, representing the wrinkles, the fashion, the glamour and the first impression. If you saw one of these bottles on a shelf you would still stop and stare, much like the ladies. The Quotes would reflect the attitude and personality.
