Coco Chanel? Diana Vreeland? Francine du Plessix Gray? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Statements about stylish clothing and beautiful furnishings are often opaque. Here is an example: Elegance is refusal. This statement has been attributed to two prominent fashion mavens: Coco Chanel and Diana Vreeland. I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please …
Tag Archives: Coco Chanel
Quote Origin: There Are Three Things a Person Can Make Out of Almost Nothing — a Salad, a Hat, and a Quarrel
Mark Twain? Coco Chanel? John Barrymore? Marlene Dietrich? Jackie Kannon? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A creative person can fashion a hat out of almost any scrap of fabric. An imaginative person can combine a wide variety of ingredients to create a salad. An irascible person can generate a quarrel from a mild disagreement. These …
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 …
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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 …
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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. …
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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 …
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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 …
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“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 …
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