We've covered Stylelikeu's "What's Underneath" series of video interviews before, but none has ever charmed us like Lisl Steiner's. Style website Stylelikeu launched the project — which captures women removing their outfits piece by piece on camera as they discuss what style means to them — to convey that style is synonymous with self-concept, and that clothing is just one mode of self-expression.
Lisl introduces herself as 88 years old, but clarifies that she's actually 87: She doesn't want to "look younger or be younger," instead preferring to be "one year ahead." The freewheeling globetrotter and former LIFE photographer has snapped subjects from Castro to Kennedy and has rubbed shoulders with Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. Whether discussing how she lost her virginity or the double mastectomy she chose in response to her breast cancer diagnosis, Lisl shies away from nothing in her video, above. Read on for a few of her hard-won observations.
Lisl on networking
"I had my birthday in Vienna, November 19th. The first thing they all did, my friends and some other, they exchanged cards. Networking! I don't want to have 10 new friends. If I like somebody, yes, but that's something else. We are living in this crazy period of superficiality."
Lisl on sex
"At 88, I don't have a sex life. I am so happy to be alone; I wouldn't want somebody in my bed right now."
Lisl on death
"There are ways of exiting. I have a wonderful doctor who's going to help me... He said, 'Part of it is champagne,' and then something else, and that lets you go fast, because I am not going to linger if I have a stroke or whatever. If I die — if I know it's going to happen — phewt! — out the door." Lisl on money
"You should only have the money you need for subsistence, and one should end one's life without possessions." Lisl on beauty
"The first thing I do in the morning is put my war paint on. I favor right now the look of a madame in a whorehouse. Green here, maybe a little lipstick — because now, recently only, I have all these little lines coming down vertically, and if I use red lipstick, it doesn't look too good, because the red goes up there. But, who cares at this point? It's what I am and not what I look like, and excuse me, but go fuck yourself if that's a consideration."
"I had my birthday in Vienna, November 19th. The first thing they all did, my friends and some other, they exchanged cards. Networking! I don't want to have 10 new friends. If I like somebody, yes, but that's something else. We are living in this crazy period of superficiality."
Lisl on sex
"At 88, I don't have a sex life. I am so happy to be alone; I wouldn't want somebody in my bed right now."
Lisl on death
"There are ways of exiting. I have a wonderful doctor who's going to help me... He said, 'Part of it is champagne,' and then something else, and that lets you go fast, because I am not going to linger if I have a stroke or whatever. If I die — if I know it's going to happen — phewt! — out the door." Lisl on money
"You should only have the money you need for subsistence, and one should end one's life without possessions." Lisl on beauty
"The first thing I do in the morning is put my war paint on. I favor right now the look of a madame in a whorehouse. Green here, maybe a little lipstick — because now, recently only, I have all these little lines coming down vertically, and if I use red lipstick, it doesn't look too good, because the red goes up there. But, who cares at this point? It's what I am and not what I look like, and excuse me, but go fuck yourself if that's a consideration."