Best 86 quotes of Iris Apfel on MyQuotes

Being attractive lasts longer than being pretty.

Everything that's happened to me, nothing's been planned. I've never had a business plan. I just kind of fell into it, and I liked it, and I took a chance. I took a lot of chances in my life.

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.

First you have to know who you are. That is the most important thing, as if you don't know who you are you will either get swallowed up or you follow some unsuitable trends and just become a nonentity.

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

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

I always feel that if you're gonna be uncomfortable and unhappy in something, just because you think it's in or it's chic, I would advise you to be happy rather than well-dressed. It's better to be happy.

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 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!

I don't believe in rules. It's different for everybody. Everyone has to make their own decision and find out what's comfortable for them.

I don’t care what people think…I learned a long time ago…I was 19 and had a very traumatic experience….and I learned that I have to go to bed with myself at night and that I have to please myself…and as long as I don’t go out of my way to offend anybody that I love, upset my mother or my husband…I’ll do my own thing. And if the public doesn’t like it, it’s their problem, not mine.

I don't count myself as a fashionista because I do a lot of other things. That's just a small part of my life.

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

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.

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.

I don't have too much time to shop. I have such a back log of stuff at home. I tend to get temperative once in awhile. I don't need anything, so if I see something that knocks me out, then I'm buying it. It's getting harder and harder because things are getting more homogenized.

I don't pay attention to things like the talent for style. I don't meditate on things like that. I just do whatever I think I should do and go with it, and if people like it, then I'm very happy about it. And if not, I always figure it's their problem not mine.

I don't spend my life getting dressed! I have to put clothes on during the day; I don't get dressed up at all when I'm working. I'll wear jeans, or something very simple.

I don't think dressing has anything to do with numbers. I know people of 30 who act like they're 97, and I have a few old-bag friends who are very hip.

I find that if I get up and push myself, I get lost in what I'm doing, and I forget about everything else until I stop doing it.

If there was a choice on spending a lot of money on accessories or dress, I always chose accessories. I think jewelry can change an outfit more than anything else.

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?

If you don't have any individuality and you're happy just being one of the girls (or boys) be my guest. I'm not the fashion police. I won't fault you.

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.

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

If you put something together and it doesn't look so good, the fashion police are not going to come and take you away. And if they do, you might have some fun in jail.

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

If you're over 60, arms are not pretty, so I think you should stay covered up. But wear what's appropriate for what you're doing, how you live, and what your lifestyle is.

If your hair is done properly you can get away with anything

I had a great example with my mother, who was extremely chic.

I had to be my own person and live my own life if I wanted to be happy, and I just did it.

I live in the 17th century. I don't have a computer. I don't look at the internet. I use a cellphone, and that's about my only connection to the modern world.

I love a nice hot pink. I like thick lipstick, otherwise it doesn't look like you're wearing any.

I'm a color person, I've never been known to play it safe. Plus I like big bags. My eyeglasses are so big; they don't fit into smaller bags.

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

I’m a hopeless romantic. I buy things because I fall in love with them. I never buy anything just because it’s valuable. My husband used to say I look at a piece of fabric and listen to the threads. It tells me a story. It sings me a song. I have to get a physical reaction when I buy something. A coup de foudre – a bolt of lightning. It’s fun to get knocked out that way!

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

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.

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.

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 never just went to look for clothes and style; I always find that wherever I go.

In my view you can't go to the future if you haven't come from the past.

I say, dress to please yourself. Listen to your inner muse and take a chance. Wear something that says 'Here I am!' today.

I see myself as the world's oldest living teenager... I try to get as much kick out of things as possible.

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 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

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 think fashion today is horrible. Just open your eyes and look! What's good about it? There's no originality. Here and there, there is, but in general, en masse, there's very little creativity and very little originality. It's kind of boring. Everybody looks alike. Everybody seems to strive to look alike.

I think if women put some more of the time and money they put on their heads in their heads, they’d be better off.

I think I still keep my sense of wonder, which I call childlike, not childish, childlike. I still have a vivid imagination, and I like to try a lot of new things.