If Bill Cunningham ever saw this post, he’d probably laugh and say, “Child, I’m no hero!” But that would be typical of Bill to downplay his accomplishments and his incredible career capturing and documenting decades of fashion and beauty for The New York Times.

I saw the documentary Bill Cunningham New York this summer (at the Crest Cinema no less). Immediately, within the first few minutes, I was mesmerized by this 80+-year-old modern day monk in a French working man’s bright blue coat, riding a Schwinn bicycle through the pandemonium that is Manhattan, snapping photos at every turn.

Here’s what the film is about, quoted directly from their web site.

“We all get dressed for Bill,” says Vogue editrix Anna Wintour.

The “Bill” in question is 80+ New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham. For decades, this Schwinn-riding cultural anthropologist has been obsessively and inventively chronicling fashion trends and high society charity soirées for the Times Style section in his columns “On the Street” and “Evening Hours.” Documenting uptown fixtures (Wintour, Tom Wolfe, Brooke Astor, David Rockefeller—who all appear in the film out of their love for Bill), downtown eccentrics and everyone in between, Cunningham’s enormous body of work is more reliable than any catwalk as an expression of time, place and individual flair. In turn, Bill Cunningham New York is a delicate, funny and often poignant portrait of a dedicated artist whose only wealth is his own humanity and unassuming grace.

Bill lives in a modest apartment filled to the hilt with file cabinets full of photo archives. He has no need for a kitchen because he doesn’t cook. He eats out for all of his meals and likes “simple things” like an egg toast sandwich and coffee. Even though he photographs beautiful clothes all over New York, he has just a few utilitarian pieces for himself. Every day, he photographs people, often working from morning until late at night. He loves his work and at 80+ years old, he’s still going strong.

I love the quote Bill says while receiving a momentous honor in France: “He who seeks beauty will find it.” His life is a manifestation of the Super Frug philosophy of knowing what is important to you. Bill is a shining example of how you don’t have to be rich to have a remarkable life.

Hats off to you, Bill!

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I look for inspiration every day. I don’t do it on purpose, I just try to notice when the spark happens. When inspiration hits, I try to do something with it–even if it’s just sitting still for 5 minutes to think about how I can incorporate that spark, that learning, that catalyst for action, into my life.

I was incredibly inspired when I watched the movie Herb & Dorothy earlier this year. These people are some of the most bomb Super Frugers you will ever meet! They inspired me to live my life doing what I love. And who cares what other people think.

I was so inspired by their story that I had to watch the movie twice. I keep it on my Netflix streaming queue on my Roku so I can watch it anytime I want. (For $7.99/month, Netflix streaming on a Roku gets the Super Frug seal of approval.)

Here’s what the story is about. I am quoting directly from the movie’s ABOUT page.

HERB & DOROTHY tells the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means. In the early 1960s, when very little attention was paid to Minimalist and Conceptual Art, Herb and Dorothy Vogel quietly began purchasing the works of unknown artists.

Devoting all of Herb’s salary to purchase art they liked, and living on Dorothy’s paycheck alone, they continued collecting artworks guided by two rules: the piece had to be affordable, and it had to be small enough to fit in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment.

Within these limitations, they proved themselves curatorial visionaries; most of those they supported and befriended went on to become world-renowned artists including Sol LeWitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, Robert Mangold, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Lynda Benglis, Pat Steir, Robert Barry, Lucio Pozzi, and Lawrence Weiner.

After thirty years of meticulous collecting and buying, the Vogels managed to accumulate over 2,000 pieces, filling every corner of their tiny one bedroom apartment.

“Not even a toothpick could be squeezed into the apartment,” recalls Dorothy.

In 1992, the Vogels decided to move their entire collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The vast majority of their collection was given as a gift to the institution. Many of the works they acquired appreciated so significantly over the years that their collection today is worth millions of dollars. Still, the Vogels never sold a single piece.

Today Herb and Dorothy still live in the same apartment in New York with 19 turtles, lots of fish, and one cat. They’ve refilled it with piles of new art they’ve acquired.

Watch the movie. It is an incredible example of how you can follow your heart and live the life you want to live, even on a modest income.

Herb and Dorothy Vogel, you are my Super Frug heroes. And props to first-time filmmaker Megumi Sasaki for making such a fantastic film.

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