Iris Apfel Quotes

If you hair is done properly and you're wearing good shoes, you can get anyway with anything.

I’m a great believer in common sense, and the older I get I see that common sense is not that common

It's not easy to know who you are and it's very painful and takes a lot of time and that is why a lot of people don't want to put in the effort.

You have to look in the mirror and see yourself. If it feels good, then I know it's for me. I don't dress to be stared at, I dress for myself.

I'll spend more time getting dressed than I spent at the actual event.

I don’t expect to find inspiration. It just sort of comes. Sometimes you step on a bug and you get inspired.

When you're older, no matter how good your humor is you don't always feel perky and peppy. But if you sit home all day and brood about it, it gets worse.

You have to know yourself and know what you can carry. If you're not comfortable, no matter how well dressed you are, you're not going to look right. I'd rather be happy and feel comfy.

I decided when I was 19 that I didn't like all these stereotypes that I was supposed to fit into. I wasn't comfortable and they made me very unhappy. So I tried and I spent a miserable summer, and then I went back to school and said, 'I'm going to do my own thing because I think I have a thing to do. I'm not going to live in anybody else's image because I don't like that.' I felt much better. I didn't do it to rebel against anybody or anything.

I think fashion is just part of my life and if it hadn't of been fashion then it would have been something else.

I've always been attracted to unusual eyewear. I thought glasses were an interesting accessory, depending on the shape of your face. People would always ask me, "Why are your frames so large?" And I would say, "The bigger to see you!" And that shut them up.

I was never hurt by what anybody said about my clothes, because I dress to please myself. If somebody doesn’t like what I’m wearing, it’s their problem, not mine

You only have one trip. You might as well enjoy it.

You're not pretty, and you'll never be pretty. But, it doesn't matter. You have something much better. You have style.

I think dressing up or down should be a creative experience. Exciting. Fun. For me the key to personal style lies in accessories. I love objects from different worlds, different eras, combined my way. Never uptight, achieving - hopefully - a kind of throwaway chic

Society should emphasize personality. Accomplishment. Interest. Intelligent things. I think everybody should look as good as possible too.

I don't happen to like pretty things. I don't like pretty dresses. I like more attractive. I like people that look a little bit more offbeat. I don't like the classic pretty face. That doesn't mean it's not pretty or it's not wonderful, and most people don't agree with me, but that's the way I think.

These are things I love, things I've worn. I get more compliments on accessories than anything else. I think they're kind of like herbs and spices. They give zest and zing to an outfit.

You don’t have to look like an old fuddy-duddy, but I believe it was Chanel who said, ‘Nothing makes a woman look so old as trying desperately hard to look young’. I think you can be attractive at any age. I think trying to look like a spring chicken when you’re not makes you look ridiculous.

Never be afraid to stop traffic.

My mother gave me very good advice years ago. I grew up in the Great Depression and she always told me to get a good little basic black dress - well-cut, well-made, good fabric - and it could take me through everything. I could go to the office in the morning and stay out all day in the same dress. Just by changing accessories, because they are so transformative, you can make six different outfits. I find that very useful. My mother worshipped at the altar of accessories and I'm an accessory freak, as everybody knows. That, I got from my mother.

I never had a fondness for gems or the extravagance of Harry Winston or Van Cleef & Arpels. I've always liked the more flamboyant, imaginative things. I lusted after costume jewelry. My husband was a very lucky man.

I don't happen to approve of plastic surgery. I think God put plastic surgeons on this earth for good reasons - people get burned or people might have a nose like Pinocchio and that has to be fixed. But to just chop yourself up to look a few years younger? You could come out looking like a Picasso picture. And you still have your hands to contend with. If you're 70, no one is going to think you're 35. The whole concept is kind of stupid.

Fashion you can buy, but style you possess. The key to style is learning who you are, which takes years. There’s no how-to road map to style. It’s about self-expression and, above all, attitude.

Caviar used to be my drug of choice, but since my husband is on a no-salt diet, I've kind of given it up. I still have dreams of sitting down and gorging, though. I love it with a good vodka; I don't like it with champagne.

It's more important to be happy than well-dressed.

The fun of getting dressed is it's a creative experience.

I think being appropriate is what you have to do. I think these trend things are terrible, like 'Ten Things You Must Have.' Why must you have them? They're a 'must' for some people, but for some they're not. It's silly. Again, it's all a matter of knowing who you are. You'll never run out of ideas once you do. But it's hard work and some people don't want to put in the time or effort. So they don't. And that's their issue. I don't sit in judgment on how they look.

I think that if you have to work very hard at dressing up and it makes you nervous or uptight, then you won't look very well because you won't be comfortable. I think it's much better to be comfortable and happy than well dressed.

Given the choice, I would spend my money on accessories.

When you go to a nice restaurant, you want to be relaxed and have a drink and everything, you want to look at people who look well. You don't want to look at some slob with an open shirt and a hairy chest. At least I don't.

I never felt pretty. I don't feel pretty now. I'm not a pretty person. I don't like pretty. So I don't feel badly. And I think it worked out well, because I found that all the girls I know who got by on their looks, as time went on and they faded, they were nothing. And they were very disappointed. When you're somebody like myself, in order to get around and be attractive, you have to develop something, you have to learn something, you have to do something. So you become a bit more interesting.

Coco Chanel said take one thing off. I always said put another one on.

I can't tell people how to have style. No amount of money can buy you style. It's just instinctive.

If you don’t learn constantly, you don’t grow and you will wither. Too many people wither on the vine. Sure, it gets a little harder as you get older, but new experiences and new challenges keep it fresh.

The biggest mistake people are making when it comes to fashion is looking in the mirror and thinking you're somebody else. People sit and watch the runway and then some nice little plump lady in Squeedunk will see Angelina Jolie in a very glamorous dress from the runway and she thinks if she buys that dress she'll look like her. It's sad, but it's true.

I think fashion is just part of my life and if it hadn't been fashion then it would have been something else.

I do have a dominant shopping gene but, unlike a reasonable person, I never plan for what I need each season. I enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the discovery and the endless search. In another creation I was, perhaps, a hunter/gatherer. After all these years, I’ve learned that it’s not the end result or finished product but the process I most enjoy. If my experimenting, searching and juxtaposing turns into an exciting outfit well, it’s just a big fat bonus!

If you're lucky enough to get old, I think you should celebrate it.

Being attractive lasts longer than being pretty.

I'm happy if I can help anybody. I'm more than happy to, but you have to find your own path.

I'm delighted that gay people want to get married and I say why not! It's nobody's business and I would happily give my blessing.

Jewelry is the most transformative thing you can wear.

If you can't be pretty, you have to learn to make yourself attractive. I found that all the pretty girls I went to high school with came to middle age as frumps, because they just got by with their pretty faces, so they never developed anything. They never learned how to be interesting. But if you are bereft of certain things, you have to make up for them in certain ways. Don't you think?

I don't have any rules, because I would only be breaking them, so it's a waste of time

To find out who you are is like putting yourself on a psychiatric couch, but you have nobody to help you. Really it isn't easy. I was talking with my nephew this morning and he gave me one of the best quotes I've heard in years 'Personal style is curiosity about oneself.'

Humor is important in everything. Dress with a little humor and you can go a long way.

Sometimes I think fashion is going to hell.