Anna Della Russo and Carine Roitfeld. One Italian, the other French. Both fashion editors, both known for their fabulous style. And both over 45. In the fashion industry — an industry filled with 20-somethings — how do you keep up when you’re a “woman of a certain age”? What do you think — are these ladies’ styles aging gracefully? And which one do you prefer?

Anna:

Carine:

I personally love Carine Roitfeld’s style. I just think she always looks so chic, stylish, sophisticated and age-appropriate — even when she’s wearing a low-cut blouse or a sheer midriff. How does she do it?? Now that she has stepped down from her post at French Vogue, it’ll be interesting to see how her style changes. I’m sure she’ll still manage to catch the eye of all those fabulous streetstyle photographers. Can’t wait for Paris fashion week!

Anna Della Russo images and 1st 2 Carine Roitfeld images via All the Pretty Birds; 3rd Carine image via The Sartorialist; bottom 3 images via Style.com.

So, as you can probably tell, Arlene and I have been less than inspired lately, so we’d like to give a giant shout-out to Ms. Carine Roitfeld for bringing us out of our funk. In addition to writing 2 blogs, Arlene and I run an online boutique. There are just 2 of us — we write everything, buy everything, ship everything, style everything, conceive everything… you get the picture. Well, the jobs that we’ve created for ourselves — which we love — require that we be creative and inspired pretty much all the time. A scary proposition.

Anyway, today something finally caught my attention. The 2009 French Vogue calendar, shot by Terry Richardson and styled by Carine Roitfeld. Ms. Roitfeld gets a lot of props for her confident personal style, but we don’t hear that much about her as an editor and stylist. Well, to browse through these shots, her talent is clear. 

And from what I’ve gleaned from the things I’ve read about her, this is 100% her. It’s perfect down to the finest details — a kitty in the crotch???? With a jaunty little straw boater?? I mean, come on. 

Anyway, thank you Carine. Thank you for your inspired personal style, for your amazing creativity and talent, and for always managing to bring inspiration to both Arlene and me when we need it the most.

images from Fashionologie.