Style for the ages
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
A blue-haired beauty who grew up in postwar Germany, Beatrix Ost tends to post shots of her glamorous, turbaned get-ups, her grandkids and her upstate farm. But the artist doesn’t take selfies; the photos are taken by family members, the gardener, even strangers on the street.
Instagram “is a great amusement to me,” says the 76-year-old Upper West Sider, who doesn’t own a computer. When a friend suggested she use social media to promote her book of stories and interviews, “The Philosopher’s Style” (Grey Magazine, out now), Ost, using her phone, was hooked. Her Instagram landed her a gig designing for Article22, which turns bomb scraps into jewelry. A post highlighting the scar on her forehead inspired the founders to reach out, she says. “It fits in with my motto of turning horror into beauty — that optimism and zest for life to turn something negative into an opportunity.”
BELLE OF THE BALL
Designer Arlinda McIntosh was running a small, 10-year-old business making poofy, crinoline skirts for family and friends when her daughter urged her to grow it via Instagram. “I thought, ‘I already have Facebook!’ ” says the 59-year-old, who likes to pair her ballgownlike skirts with patterned head wraps, sneakers and hoodies. She tried it anyway.
That was two years ago. Now, the Verona, NJ, resident, whose Instagram got the attention of fashion blog Advanced Style (which posted her get-ups and Instagram handle), is fielding orders worldwide. “I [lose] a lot more sleep,” says McIntosh, who’s hiring some help.
“[Instagram is now] like breathing,” she says. “It’s a daily thing.”
GOLDEN GIRL
Suzanne Golden’s fashion-forward wardrobe and gleeful social-media persona has won her accolades from Vogue as well as Rei Kawakubo, the designer behind the cultlike Japanese label Comme des Garçons. “Rei asked me to make a necklace for her once,” says the 74-year-old. “I was ready to die and go to heaven.”
A Bronx-born artist who specializes in beadwork, , Golden only learned about Instagram a year ago. Now, she sets up herer tripod and takes a selfie daily, tagging all designer labels. She loves the new attention. “I was always a very good d daughter and sister and took care of everybody,” she says. “Right now is all about ‘me.’ ”