Issac Mizrahi Says "Sarah Palin Looks 1,000 Doesn't She?"

Lesley Jane Seymour, Editor in Chief of MORE interviewed Issac Mizrahi, fashion designer and creative director for Liz Claiborne at yesterday’s More Magazine Reinvention Convention. Their Q&A focused on age appropriate fashion, and how 40+ women can pack a punch into their wardrobe.

An excerpt of the conversation follows:

On Sarah Palin’s look – and why she should get rid of her $35,000 personal tanning machine: “Oh she looks 1,000 doesn’t she? All that makeup and tan and the hair up. Very 90’s and 80’s to me.”

On the worst body mistake a woman can make after 40: “Working out too much [after 40]  is rough. I call it beef jerky [arms]. Like when the skin starts clinging to the bones.”

Avoiding sales – at all costs!: “Never buy sales clothes, don’t go to Century 21. It’s the most depressing place on earth. I think it makes everyone hate clothes. It’s poorly lit and it has all this merchandise that nobody else wants. So why do you want it? Cause it’s cheap – and it just collects dust in your closet!”

The hair coloring slippery-slope: “So I’ve been coloring my hair since I was 25 years old… Now I’m going gray, so I think I might stop coloring. But then if I stopped coloring my hair, then I’d really have to be thin. And now I’m not exactly the thinnest. But then you look like a fat queen who colors her hair anyway.”

Simplest advice on skirts and women over 40: “Err on the side of shorter [skirts]. Unless you have hideous legs!”

How do you know you’re dressing too young?: “People start looking at you funny. It’s like they smell something bad…”

Charmingly wrong: “In Sex and the City, the reason [Carrie] is considered so stylish is because she goes full-force with the mistake. Like when you see Sarah Jessica Parker’s roots down to here, you know she means that, it’s not like she can’t afford to get her roots done. She has a Garnier Nutrisse contract for God’s sake.”