Clothes by a man who doesn’t know women, never had one, and dreams of being one! Coco Chanel, re Dior’s new look
I wanted to give a woman comfortable clothes that would flow with her body. A woman is closest to being naked when she is well-dressed. Coco Chanel
A beautiful dress may look beautiful on a hanger, but that means nothing. It must be seen on the shoulders, with the movement of the arms, the legs, and the waist. Coco Chanel
She wears her clothes, as if they were thrown on her with a pitchfork. Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation
Haute couture should be fun, foolish and almost unwearable. Christian Lacroix
Isn’t it grand! Isn’t is fine! Look at the cut, the style, the line!
The suit of clothes is altogether, but altogether it’s altogether
The most remarkable suit of clothes that I have ever seen. Frank Loesser, 1952 song
Thy gown? why, ay; – come, tailor, let us see’t.
O mercy, God! what masquing stuff is here?
What’s this? a sleeve? ’tis like a demi-cannon:
What, up and down, carv’d like an apple-tart?
Here’s snip and nip and cut and slish and slash,
Like to a censer in a barber’s shop:
Why, what I’ devil’s name, tailor, call’st thou this! William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew IV iii 86
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man. William Shakespeare, Hamlet I iii 70
See where she comes appareled like the spring. William Shakespeare, Perecles
It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit and the emperor remains the emperor. Neil Gaiman
Don’t spend two dollars to dry-clean a shirt. Donate it to the Salvation Army instead. They’ll clean it and put it on a hanger. Next morning buy it back for seventy-five cents. Tennessee Williams
Stanley: Look at these feathers and furs that she come here to preen herself in! What’s this here? A solid-gold dress, I believe! And this one! What is these here? Fox-pieces (He blows on them) Genuine fox fur-pieces, a half a mile long! Where are your fox-pieces, Stella? Bushy snow-white ones, no less! Where are your white fox-pieces? Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire
When you’re all dressed up and have no place to go. George Whiting, 1912 song
The finest clothing made is a person’s skin, but, of course, society demands something more than this. Mark Twain
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. Mark Twain
If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies. Albert Einstein, cited Treasury of the Christian Faith: An Ecyclopedic Handbook of the Range and Witness of Christianity
Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes. Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Oh it was fine. The King was wearing enough for the both of us. Mahatma Gandhi
I can’t wear fashionable clothes. You see I’m a throwback. Edith Sitwell, BBC interview 1959
Tell me the history of that frock, Judie. It’s obviously an old favourite of yours. It’s lovely. Is it a furnishing fabric, dear? You’re very wise to remove the curtain rings. Dame Edna Everidge, An Audience With Dame Edna Everidge, to Judie Steel, ITV 1980
The sense of being well-dressed gives a feeling of inward tranquillity which religion is powerless to bestow. Miss C F Forbes 1817-1911
Every day we give thousands of bags of our old clothes away to charity shops, and I’m on a journey to find out what happens to it all ... Some of the world's poorest people pay good money for them. This World: Te Secret Life of Your Clothes, BBC 2014
On April 24 2013 a factory building in Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than a thousand people. Many of those who died in the Rana Plaza were making clothes for western companies. This is the story of the worst industrial disaster of the 21st century. (Clothes & Factory) Clothes to Die For: This World ***** BBC 2014
After China, Bangladesh would become the world’s largest supplier of clothes. ibid.
‘I never thought that I’d have to amputate my own arm.’ ibid. victim
[Sohel] Rana [owner] was caught trying to flee to India. ibid.
The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. Deuteronomy 22:5
Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together. Deuteronomy 22:11
Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. Ecclesiastes 9:8
You have a more interesting life if you wear impressive clothes. Vivienne Westwood
‘There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself, Do trousers matter?’
‘The mood will pass, sir.’ P G Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters
Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it. Yves Saint-Laurent
He had a chain of dry cleaning stores. He asked me if I wanted to come in and upgrade my wardrobe. American Hustle 2013 starring Christian Bale & Bradley Cooper & Amy Adams & Jeremy Renner & Jennifer Lawrence & C K Louis & Jack Huston & Michael Pena & Shea Whigham & Alessandro Nivola & Elisabeth Rohm & Paul Herman et al, director David O Russell, her commentary
There was a young belle of old Natchez
Whose garments were always in patchez.
When comments arose
On the state of her clothes,
She replied, ‘When Ah itchez, Ah scratchez.’ Ogden Nash
May I suggest that wherever possible a white shirt be worn by the deacons, teachers, and priests who handle the sacrament. For sacred ordinances in the Church we often use ceremonial clothing, and a white shirt could be seen as a gentle reminder of the white clothing you wore in the baptismal font and an anticipation of the white shirt you will soon wear into the temple and onto your missions. Jeffrey Dodo Holland, article Ensign November 1995, ‘This Do in Remembrance of Me’
And proceeded to take off all her clothes. Tabloid: Sex in Chains, Kirk, BBC 2012
You ripped off his magic underwear? ibid. reporter to Joyce
Costume designers don’t care about trends. They appreciate, above so many other qualities, that tailoring is everything, which is a mantra for the way I dress. Ladies: The most important thing in clothing is to find a good, inexpensive tailor, because clothes at the stores are made for bodies that are anomalies. Ginnifer Goodwin
Here in Turkey there has been the most extraordinary backlash against Western modes of dress in recent years. Modes of dress for women that is. Niall Ferguson, Civilisation: Is the West History? II, Science, 2011
In 1978 more than three quarters of a million people were employed in textiles and clothing – that had slumped thirty years later to less than ninety thousand. Robert Peston Goes Shopping II, BBC 2015
It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before. F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby