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
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
We act the way we dress. Neglected and untidy clothes reflect a neglected and untidy mind.
—Unknown
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
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
One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
We sacrifice to dress till household joys and comforts cease. Dress drains our cellar dry, and keeps our larder clean; puts out our fires, and introduces hunger, frost, and woe, where peace and hospitality might reign.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
Beauty gains little, and homeliness and deformity lose much by gaudy attire.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–95) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
As to matters of dress, I would recommend one never to be first in the fashion nor the last out of it.
—John Wesley (1703–91) British Methodist Leader, Preacher, Theologian
Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Be careless in your dress if you must, but keep a tidy soul.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
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
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
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, 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
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
Out of clothes, out of countenance; out of countenance, out of wit.
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637) English Dramatist, Poet, Actor
No man is esteemed for colorful garments except by fools and women.
—Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) English Courtier, Navigator, Poet
Too great carelessness, equally with excess in dress, multiplies the wrinkles of old age, and makes its decay more conspicuous.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
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
Brevity is the soul of lingerie.
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American Humorist, Journalist
Sir, a man who cannot get to heaven in a green coat, will not find his way thither the sooner in a gray one.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
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 Television Journalist, Author
In clothes clean and fresh there is a kind of youth with which age should surround itself.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
Great men are seldom over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
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
A fine woman shows her charms to most advantage when she seems most to conceal them. The finest bosom in nature is not so fine as what imagination forms.
—Unknown
A loose and easy dress contributes much to give to both sexes those fine proportions of body that are observable in the Grecian statues, and which serve as models to our present artists.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
Clothes make the poor invisible. America has the best-dressed poverty the world has ever known.
—Michael Harrington (1928–89) American Political Activist
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
Leave a Reply