Great men are seldom over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
Be not too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it; nor at any time in the extremes of it.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
Dress shabbily, they notice the dress. Dress impeccably, they notice the woman.
—Coco Chanel (1883–1971) French Fashion Designer
Without depth of thought, or earnestness of feeling, or strength of purpose, living an unreal life, sacrificing substance to show, substituting the fictitious for the natural, mistaking a crowd for society, finding its chief pleasure in ridicule, and exhausting its ingenuity in expedients for killing time, fashion is among the last influences under which a human being who respects himself, or who comprehends the great end of life, would desire to be placed.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
We act the way we dress. Neglected and untidy clothes reflect a neglected and untidy mind.
—Unknown
The beggar wears all colors fearing none.
—Charles Lamb (1775–1834) British Essayist, Poet
Fashion, which elevates the bad to the level of the good, subsequently turns its back on bad and good alike.
—Eric Bentley (1916–2020) British-born American Drama Critic
Nothing is so hideous as an obsolete fashion.
—Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle) (1783–1842) French Writer
In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking but now, God knows, anything goes.
—Cole Porter (1892–1964) American Composer, Lyricist
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
He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
We worship not the Graces, nor the Parcae, but Fashion. She spins and weaves and cuts with full authority. The head monkey at Paris puts on a traveler’s cap, and all the monkeys in America do the same.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
She wears her clothes as if they were thrown on with a pitch folk.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
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
Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
A fashion that does not reach the streets is not a fashion.
—Coco Chanel (1883–1971) French Fashion Designer
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
Any affectation whatsoever in dress implies, in my mind, a flaw in the understanding.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
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
The fashion wears out more apparel than the man.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Fashion is, for the most part, nothing but the ostentation of riches.
—John Locke (1632–1704) English Philosopher, Physician
Judge not a man by his clothes, but by his wife’s clothes.
—Thomas Dewar, 1st Baron Dewar (1864–1930) Scottish Businessperson
It is new fancy rather than taste which produces so many new fashions.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Model. Two mobile eyes in a mobile head, itself on a mobile body.
—Robert Bresson (1907–99) French Film Director
One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Glamour, that trans-human aura or power to attract imitation, is a kind of vessel into which dreams are poured, and some vessels are simply worthier than others… A beautiful woman can turn heads but real glamour has a deeper pull… Glamour is the power to rearrange people’s emotions, which, in effect, is the power to control one’s environment.
—Arthur Miller (1915–2005) American Playwright, Essayist
When a person is in fashion, all they do is right.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
Society is founded upon cloth.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Fashion is the science of appearances, and it inspires one with the desire to seem rather than to be.
—Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–80) American Preacher, Poet
Fashion is a tyrant from which nothing frees us.—We must suit ourselves to its fantastic tastes.—But being compelled to live under its foolish laws, the wise man is never the first to follow, nor the last to keep them.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian