Long before the rise of street style blogs, Instagram and other social media, Iris Apfel was the mother of fashion individuality. For almost three-quarters of a century, her idiosyncratic style has inspired designers and store window displays, been the subject of museum shows and a coffee table book.

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Shopping with Iris Apfel

Long before the rise of street style blogs, Instagram and other social media, Iris Apfel was the mother of fashion individuality. For almost three-quarters of a century, her idiosyncratic style has inspired designers and store window displays, been the subject of museum shows and a coffee table book. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Not since the early 1990s, when she still traveled for her home furnishings business, Old World Weavers, has Apfel gone shopping in Los Angeles. Apfel examines the selection at the Way We Wore, a modern vintage store on South La Brea Avenue. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Fashion icon Iris Apfel eyes some bracelets at the Way We Wore during her visit to Los Angeles. She ended up buying some wooden bangles. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Apfel says she got her fashion sense from her mother, Syd Barrel, who owned a store in Queens, N.Y., where Iris grew up. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

A feathered 1980s Dior jacket with balloon sleeves, $1,500, caught her attention. “I’m crazy for this one.” Then, hand to heart, “It has to feel good here.” (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Store manager Sarah Bergman helps Iris Apfel try something on at the Way We Wore. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Apfel tries on a yellow-beaded Sioux collar that stretches from neck to waist ($895). (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Iris Apfel searches the Way We Wore for the next “totally mad” fashion find. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Apfel gets help as she considers jackets and shawls brought out on a rolling rack. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Apfel is a tsunami of style. And she knows her stuff. She’s an encyclopedia of fashion history who can easily recall designer names and stores. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

A collector of clothing and accessories for more than 70 years, Apfel is as happy shopping at Loehmann’s as at Louboutin, so long as she’s looking at things that are “totally mad,” as she describes her style. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

“I want either interesting couture or offbeat things. Run-of-the-mill stuff I don’t need or want,” she explains. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Apfel, a 93-year-old inveterate New Yorker, has gone Hollywood. She’s now the star of the new documentary, “Iris,” the final work of the late filmmaker Albert Maysles. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Apfel says her mother taught her that if you have a basic black dress, you can change it a thousand ways with accessories. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

A hip injury has Apfel in a wheelchair most of the time. But the moment she walks into the Way We Wore, it’s as if the retail god himself has laid his hands on her. (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)