Fashion and style have been a major cultural preoccupation since man first admired himself in the skin of a woolly mammoth whilst gazing at his reflection in the primordial swamp.
Since then quite a lot has been said on the subject.
Below we’ve gathered up our favorite quotes – because being able to whip out a witty quip at short notice is almost as important as the art of dressing well, itself.
Style isn’t just about what you wear, it’s also about what you say:
“A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life.”
– Oscar Wilde
“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”
– Mark Twain
“Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance.”
– Arthur Ashe
“Dress like you’ve made something of yourself, even if you haven’t”
– Men’s Health
“Clothes don’t make a man, but clothes have got many a man a good job.”
– Herbert Harold Vreeland
“One pretends to do something, or copy someone or some teacher, until it can be done confidently and easily in what becomes one’s own style”.
– Cary Grant
“A man should look as if he had bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care, and then forgotten all about them.”
– Hardy Amies
“A well-tailored suit is to women what lingerie is to men”
– Anon
“Like every good man, I strive for perfection, and, like every ordinary man, I have found that perfection is out of reach – but not the perfect suit.”
– Edward Tivnan
“It is totally impossible to be well-dressed in cheap shoes.”
– Hardy Amies
“To achieve the nonchalance which is absolutely necessary for a man, one article at least must not match.”
– Hardy Amies
“Never wear anything that panics the cat.”
– J. O’Rourke
“Looking good isn’t self-importance; it’s self-respect.”
– Charles Hix
“Dressing well is a form of good manners.”
– Tom Ford
“The boor covers himself, the rich man or the fool adorns himself, and the elegant man gets dressed.”
– Honore de Balzac
“Men’s fashions all start as sports clothes and progress to the great occasions of state. The tailcoat, which started out as a hunting coat, is just finishing such a journey. The tracksuit is just beginning one.”
– Angus McGill
“He who goes against the fashion is himself its slave.”
– Logan Pearsall Smith
“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.”
– Henry David Thoreau
‘Trendy is the last stage before tacky.’
– Karl Lagerfeld
‘Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.’
– Oscar Wilde