Nothing goes out of fashion sooner than a long dress with a very low neck.
—Coco Chanel (1883–1971) French Fashion Designer
The only medicine that does women more good than harm is dress.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
They may talk of a comet, or a burning mountain, or some such bagatelle; but to me a modest woman, dressed out in all her finery, is the most tremendous object of the whole creation.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
Persons are often misled in regard to their choice of dress by attending to the beauty of colors, rather than selecting such colors as may increase their own beauty.
—William Shenstone (1714–63) British Poet, Landscape Gardener
Had Cicero himself pronounced one of his orations with a blanket about his shoulders, more people would have laughed at his dress than admired his eloquence.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Good clothes open all doors.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
From the cradle to the coffin underwear comes first.
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German Poet, Playwright, Theater Personality
In clothes clean and fresh there is a kind of youth with which age should surround itself.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
Those who make their dress a principal part of themselves will, in general, become of no more value than their dress.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
When a woman dresses up for an occasion, the man should become the black velvet pillow for the jewel.
—John Weitz (1923–2002) German-born American Fashion Designer, Novelist, Historian
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, but not expressed in fancy; rich, but not gaudy, for the apparel oft proclaims the man.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Two things in my apparel I will chiefly aim at—commodiousness and decency; more than these is not commendable; yet I hate an effeminate spruceness, as much as a fantastic disorder.—A neglected comeliness is the best ornament.
—Anonymous
Where’s the man could ease a heart, like a satin gown?
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American Humorist, Journalist
If men can run the world, why can’t they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a little noose around your neck?
—Linda Ellerbee (b.1944) American Journalist
Any affectation whatsoever in dress implies, in my mind, a flaw in the understanding.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
The difference between a man of sense and a fop is that the fop values himself upon his dress; and the man of sense laughs at it, at the same time he knows he must not neglect it.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
So dress and conduct yourself so that people who have been in your company will not recall what you had on.
—John Newton (1725–1807) English Clergyman, Writer
The plainer the dress with greater luster does beauty appear.—Virtue is the greatest ornament, and good sense the best equipage.
—George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax (1633–95) British Statesman, Writer, Politician
She wears her clothes as if they were thrown on with a pitch folk.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
I hold that gentleman to be the best-dressed whose dress no one observes.
—Anthony Trollope (1815–82) English Novelist
How to dress? When the money is going from you wear anything you like. When the money is coming to you, dress your best.
—Common Proverb
The body is the shell of the soul, and dress the husk of that shell; but the husk often tells what the kernel is.
—Anonymous
All women’s dresses are merely variations on the eternal struggle between the admitted desire to dress and the unadmitted desire to undress.
—Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese Author, Philologist
No man is esteemed for colorful garments except by fools and women.
—Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) English Courtier, Navigator, Poet
Women’s sexy underwear is a minor but significant growth industry of late-twentieth-century Britain in the twilight of capitalism.
—Angela Carter (1940–92) English Novelist
Great men are seldom over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
Those who think that in order to dress well it is necessary to dress extravagantly, or grandly, make a great mistake.—Nothing so well becomes true feminine beauty as simplicity.
—George D. Prentice (1802–70) American Journalist, Editor
A fine coat is but a livery when the person who wears it discovers no higher sense than that of a footman.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it.—What custom hath civilized is become decent; till then, ridiculous.—Where the eye is the jury, thine apparel is the evidence.
—Francis Quarles (1592–1644) English Religious Poet
A rich dress adds but little to the beauty of a person; it may possibly create a deference, but that is rather an enemy to love.
—William Shenstone (1714–63) British Poet, Landscape Gardener
Clothes make the poor invisible. America has the best-dressed poverty the world has ever known.
—Michael Harrington (1928–89) American Socialist, Writer, Political Activist, Academic
Judge not a man by his clothes, but by his wife’s clothes.
—Thomas Dewar, 1st Baron Dewar (1864–1930) Scottish Businessperson
A gentleman’s taste in dress is, upon principle, the avoidance of all things extravagant.—It consists in the quiet simplicity of exquisite neatness; but as the neatness must be a neatness in fashion, employ the best tailor; pay him ready money; and on the whole you will find him the cheapest.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
He was a tubby little chap who looked as if he had been poured into his clothes and had forgotten to say “when!”
—P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) British Novelist, Short-story Writer, Playwright
For women… bras, panties, bathing suits, and other stereotypical gear are visual reminders of a commercial, idealized feminine image that our real and diverse female bodies can’t possibly fit. Without these visual references, each individual woman’s body demands to be accepted on its own terms. We stop being comparatives. We begin to be unique.
—Gloria Steinem (b.1934) American Feminist, Journalist, Social Activist, Political Activist
No man is esteemed for gay garments, but by fools and women.
—Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) English Courtier, Navigator, Poet
Out of clothes, out of countenance; out of countenance, out of wit.
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637) English Dramatist, Poet, Actor
I have heard with admiring submission the experience of the lady who declared that the sense of being perfectly well dressed gives a feeling of inward tranquility which religion is powerless to bestow.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
As you treat your body, so your house, your domestics, your enemies, your friends.—Dress is the table of your contents.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
It is not every man that can afford to wear a shabby coat; and worldly wisdom dictates the propriety of dressing somewhat beyond one’s means, but of living within them, for every one sees how we dress, but none see how we live unless we choose to let them.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
The beauty of the internal nature cannot be so far concealed by its accidental vesture, but that the spirit of its form shall communicate itself to the very disguise and indicate the shape it hides from the manner in which it is worn. A majestic form and graceful motions will express themselves through the most barbarous and tasteless costume.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist
One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
We act the way we dress. Neglected and untidy clothes reflect a neglected and untidy mind.
—Unknown
In civilized society external advantages make us more respected.—A man with a good coat on his back meets with a better reception than he who has a bad one.—You may analyze this and say, what is there in it?—But that will avail you nothing, for it is a part of a general system.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Brevity is the soul of lingerie.
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American Humorist, Journalist
Next to clothes being fine, they should be well made, and worn easily: for a man is only the less genteel for a fine coat, if, in wearing it, he shows a regard for it, and is not as easy in it as if it were a plain one.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
An emperor in his night-cap would not meet with half the respect of an emperor with a crown.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Dress yourself fine, where others are fine, and plain, where others are plain; but take care always that your clothes are well made and fit you, for otherwise they will give you a very awkward sir.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters