Iris Apfel: Colorful: A Treasure Trove of Inspiration, Influences, and Ideas

With all due respect to my “colleagues,”I have never heard Iris speak at length only sound bites. So, whether or not it’s in her voice or not— I wouldn’t know.Is the books aesthetic a match for Apfel’s style or the best designed coffee table book— I would say not.However, I’d like to believe that this represents one of the many facets of this extraordinary individual. And, in lieu of having Iris here with us— I’ll feast on every morsel, I can get.This book deserves more than one or two measly crumbs.

I didn’t learn about Iris until her death March 1st of this year, but as soon as I started researching her I fell in love! This book is wonderful. She tells stories from her adventurous life traveling the world looking for the perfect bangle, fashionable clothes, or fabric that she could bring home to their company Old World Weavers. She talks a lot about her mother’s influence on her style and of her journeys with her husband Carl. If you like eclectic fashion this book is definitely one for your collection!

A book of memories of truly “one of a kind”!!

I read the entire book and found it interesting and motivational. Photos on most every page. A good coffee table book. Would be an easy book to read a page or a few pages at a time.

I've admired Iris for years... her zest for life and clothing choices made my eyes dance. I was looking forward to her loosely-structured autobiography packed with photos of her in her gorgeous ensembles. What I received was her story scattered across bright pages with textile backgrounds, large fonts that consumed space and not enough photos of her many ensembles and jewelry. Even the b & w family photos were minimized. I wished for more yet her inspiration will stay with me.

As others have said, this is not a book you'd expect for such an artful woman. For example, see the image which states, "what is the color of happiness, I have a few thoughts" then nothing follows. For $45 you are paying for the pink trim around the pages. I thought since the publisher was Abrams, I could trust their treatment of the subject. Wrong.Even though the cover says over 300 personal photos (I counted less than that) very few are of her outfits. Most are small polaroid images (most black and white) with 5 - 6 on a spread. I saw more breath taking pictures of her work with Old World Weavers on 60 minutes.If you want the "history" of the woman, buy Accidental Icon (which also doesn't have many images of her looks). But this is a book of quotes and maybe journal entries.

It's a gorgeous book, but I was hoping for more of her fabulous fashion! A tour of her closets perhaps???? She was fascinating, and I love her story, but her style is what I wanted more of.

iris Apfel was unique in so many ways. Her new book is a reflection of her life. Her love for colors and her passion for traveling and living. It is not an auto-biography instead it is an inspiring book that shows how amazing life is when you live it in your own terms, accept your mistakes and falls and move on. Colors are not on her clothes but it was her life.Amazing read.

I just love this book the pictures are great and the read was so interesting .

This book is great fun What a wonderful woman

Firstly, I am an Iris fan but I did feel that this was just an expanded version of the previous book of hers. From "Colorful" I inferred that there would be more photos. Hopefully the other one I have ordered will have more photos of outfits. Failing that I shall buy the DVD as that is lots of fun.