In the immortal words of Heidi Klum: "In fashion, one day you're in and the next you're out." And while this may be true, a well-placed maxim can surely outlive one's fashionability. Some fashion quotes have become so iconic that they now live far beyond their initial context and have entered fully into the pop-culture vernacular. By now, who doesn't know that "florals for spring" are "groundbreaking" thanks to Miranda Priestly, or that Carrie Bradshaw likes her "money right where I can see it: hanging in my closet"? Fashion designers create the clothes that shape the way we look, so why should they not also provide us with a motto or two about we should live—to help guide us to be the most stylish and fashionable versions of ourselves? So whether they be words to live by, be inspired by, or just a perfectly backhanded quip to make you cackle, to follow are some musings on fashion, style and a life well-lived. 

By Joseph Errico

"I make clothes, women make fashion."

"The difference between style and fashion is quality."

"Elegance is elimination."

"The trick of wearing a mink coat is to look as though you were wearing a cloth coat. The trick of wearing a cloth coat is to look as though you are wearing a mink."

"My style icon is anyone who makes a bloody effort."

"You better check your lipstick before you come and talk to me."

"Women of the world today dress alike. They are like so many loaves of bread. To be beautiful one must be unhurried. Personality is needed. There is too much sameness. The world seems only to have a desire for more of this sameness. To be different is to be alone."

"Dress like you are going to meet your worst enemy today."

"The prettiest dresses are worn to be taken off."

"There is no such thing as an ugly woman—there are only ones who do not know how to make themselves attractive."

"Dressing well is a form of good manners."

"Good clothes open all doors."

"Style is wearing an evening dress to McDonalds, wearing heels to play football. It is personality, confidence and seduction."

"Elegance is the balance between proportion, emotion and surprise."

"It’s always the badly dressed people who are most interesting."

"The little black dress is the hardest thing to realize because you must keep it simple."

"You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it."

"Life is a fashion show, the world is your runway."

"For something to be beautiful it doesn’t have to be pretty."

"Come on, now. It is a known fact, that a woman do carry an evening bag at dinnertime. There is no getting around that!...An evening bag is a must. You have to carry something. No lady is sure at night."

"Trendy is the last stage before tacky."

"I don't believe in God, I believe in cashmere."

"A good shoe is one that doesn’t dress you but undresses you."

"Fashion should be a form of escapism, and not a form of imprisonment."

"Style doesn’t have seasons."

"Remember this: No one is looking at your imperfections; they’re all too busy worrying about their own."

"Lacroix, sweetie."

"Good taste doesn’t exist. It is our taste. We have to be proud of it."

"Fashion is a movie. Every morning when you get dressed you direct yourself."

"The coolest thing is when you don’t care about being cool anymore. Indifference is the greatest aphrodisiac—that’s what really sums up style for me."

"If you wear a short enough skirt, the party will come to you."

"It is what a woman leaves off, not what she puts on that gives her cachet."

"Fashion is instant language."

"The fashionable woman wears clothes. The clothes don’t wear her."

"I think you are born chic. You cannot be chic. It is something you cannot learn."

"We’re all born naked, the rest is drag."

"How can you live the high life if you do not wear the high heels?"

"We must never confuse elegance with snobbery."

"In difficult times fashion is always outrageous."

"You can never have enough hats, gloves and shoes."

"What is comfortable fashion? To be comfortable, that can’t be in the vocabulary of fashion. If you want to be comfortable, stay home in your pajamas."

"You dress elegant women. You dress sophisticated women. I dress sl---."

"A little bad taste is like a splash of paprika. We all need a splash of bad taste—it’s hearty, it’s healthy, it’s physical. I think we could use more of it. NO taste is what I’m against."

"I’d rather buy a dress and put it up on the wall than put up a painting, wouldn’t you?"

"You can never be overdressed or overeducated."

"People will stare. Make it work their while."

"Either you know fashion or you don't."

"Fashion cannot make you sexy. Experience makes you sexy. Imagination makes people sexy. You have to train yourself, you have to study. And you have to live your life."