Adage Provenance: Before You Leave the House, Look in the Mirror and Remove One Piece of Jewelry

Coco Chanel? Gracie Allen? Joan Rivers? The McGuire Sisters? Polly Bergen? Nancy Abraham? Maggie Daly? Helen Hennessy? John Robert Powers? Beatrice Molinsky? George Burns? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Fashion sense is always subjective, but many agree that wearing too much jewelry looks gaudy and ostentatious. The style maven Coco Chanel supposedly gave the following …

Fashion Is Always a Reflection of the Time, But It Is Forgotten If It Is Foolish

Coco Chanel? Gabrielle Chanel? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: When a fashionable new item or design is created it is always embedded in its time period. The item is certain to lose favor eventually and become unfashionable. Yet, some fashions transcend and endure. These items can be revived and become fashionable again and again. The fashion …

The Only Beautiful Eyes Are Those That Look At Us Tenderly

Coco Chanel? Gabrielle Chanel? Pierre Reverdy? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The eyes of a lover gazing at you are beautiful. The fashion icon Coco Chanel (Gabrielle Chanel) said something germane: The only beautiful eyes are those that look at us tenderly. Would you please help me to find a citation for the original statement in …

Our Homes Are Our Prisons; Let Us Find Freedom in Their Decoration

Coco Chanel? Gabrielle Chanel? Pierre Reverdy? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: People spend many hours in their homes. The fashion icon Coco Chanel (Gabrielle Chanel) recommended beautifying one’s abode. She said something like this: Our homes are our prisons; one finds liberty in their decoration. This saying resonates powerfully in 2020 because of the Covid-19 restrictions. …

When You Are Young, You Have the Face Your Parents Gave You. After You Are Forty, You Have the Face You Deserve

George Orwell? Coco Chanel? Mae West? Ingrid Bergman? Albert Camus? Abraham Lincoln? Edwin M. Stanton? Lucius E. Chittenden? Albert Schweitzer? Maurice Chevalier? William H. Seward? Edward Lee Hawk? William Shakspeare? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A person’s true character can be deduced by the careful study of the face according to believers in physiognomy. This notion …

Fashion Is Architecture: It Is a Matter of Proportions

Coco Chanel? Marcel Haedrich? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Did the famous fashion designer and style arbiter Coco Chanel say that “fashion Is architecture”? Would you please help me to find a citation showing the context? Quote Investigator: Coco Chanel died in 1971, and in that same year Marcel Haedrich authored a biography in French titled …

Nothing Is Ugly as Long as It Is Alive

Coco Chanel? Marcel Haedrich? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Did the famous fashion designer and style arbiter Coco Chanel say that “nothing is ugly”? Would you please help me to find a citation showing the context? Quote Investigator: Coco Chanel died in 1971, and in that same year Marcel Haedrich authored a biography in French titled …

In Order To Be Irreplaceable One Must Always Be Different

Coco Chanel? Marcel Haedrich? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A cookie created with a cookie cutter is easily replaceable, and this fact lowers its perceived value. This baking utensil is employed in a metaphorical insult targeting lack of originality, e.g., cookie-cutter clothes and cookie-cutter houses. Understandably, people like to view themselves as irreplaceable. Yet, to achieve …

“Where Should One Use Perfume?” “Wherever One Wants To Be Kissed”

Coco Chanel? Arlene Dahl? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The brilliant fashion luminary Coco Chanel was once asked about the proper application of fragrance to the body, and she gave an entertaining reply about osculation. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence located by QI appeared as a short …

The Secret to Creativity Is Knowing How to Hide Your Sources

Albert Einstein? C. E. M. Joad? Nolan Bushnell? Coco Chanel? Conan O’Brien? Franklin P. Jones? Charles Moore? Bruce Sterling? Joe Sedelmaier? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I have a difficult challenge for you. Here are three versions of a popular maxim: 1) The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. 2) Creativity is …