Quotes by Coco Chanel

I don't understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little -- if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that s the day she has a date with destiny. And it s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.

Dress like you're going to meet your worst enemy today.

I like fashion to go down to the street, but I can't accept that it should originate there.

Wear perfume wherever you want to be kissed.

I don't care what you think about me; I don't think about you at all!

Keep your heels, head, and standards high.

When putting on accessories, take off the last thing you've put on.

I simply value Arthur Capel friendship. And even so, he knows very little about me.

For a woman betrayal has no sense -- one cannot betray one's passions.

Winston Churchill is a dandy and a visionary. Unfortunately, in winning wars, principles are inevitably debased. That's politics.

A women needs ropes and ropes of pearls.

Some people pursue unhappiness because happiness is too mild a sensation.

One can get used to ugliness, but never to negligence.

Creativity is the art of concealing your sources.

Coquetry, it's a triumph of the spirit over the senses.

Traveling is so complicated. There are so many people everywhere. I make my best journeys on my couch.

I have steadfastly refused to make concessions that would undermine my ideals.

An elegant woman should be able to do her marketing without making housewives laugh. Those who laugh are always right.

It is best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.

I'm for style -- fashions change too often.

Chanel is above all a style. Fashion passes, style remains.

I imposed black; it still going strong today, for black wipes out everything else around.

My heart has always leaned towards England, and with the close friendship of Winston Churchill, the hero who brought hope to the world, I could not imagine a happier life for myself.

A style does not go out of style as long as it adapts itself to its period.

In the act of deciding what to eliminate, you place value on what's left behind.

If my boy had perished in a Nazi compound, I could never have gone on living. I would have killed myself.

My life didn't please me, so I created my life.

The age of a woman is not important: you can be wonderful in your 20's, amazing in your 40's and stay fabulous for the rest of your life.

People laughed at the way I dressed, but that was the secret of my success. I didn't look like anyone.

I am no longer what I was. I will remain what I have become.

True generosity means accepting ingratitude.

Why am I so determined to put the shoulder where it belongs? Women have very round shoulders that push forward slightly; this touches me and I say: 'One must not hide that!' Then someone tells you: 'The shoulder is on the back'. I have never seen women with shoulders on their backs.

Fashion: a beautiful thing that becomes ugly. Art: an ugly thing that becomes beautiful.

In truth, women are the strong ones.

A young lady ought to be two things: tasteful and breathtaking.

A dress made right should allow one to walk, to dance, even to ride horseback.

After a fashion, they did, mingling the sale of perfumes with anti-Nazi propaganda. In the event, my tirelessly publicised determination to wrest back control of the business neutralised most of the adverse repercussions on me from an unwilling association with their propaganda.

I consider lace to be one of the prettiest imitations ever made of the fantasy of nature.

One should refrain from contempt for the baser specimens of humanity, for whom liberation amounts to shaving the heads of women who have slept with Germans.

A woman's education consists of two lessons: never leave the house without stocking, never go out without a hat.

Everyone marries the Duke of Westminster. There are a lot of duchesses, but only one Coco Chanel.

I remember confuting one of Westminster's favourite maxims, better the devil you know than the devil you don't. In the annals of popular wisdom, this is one of the most cretinous sayings I have come across.

As extended as you know most males are like young children, you understand all the things.

Yves Saint Laurent is a young man of excellent taste; the more he copies me the more taste he displays.

A beautiful dress may look beautiful on a hanger, but that means nothing. It must be seen on the shoulders, with the movement of the arms, the legs, and the waist.

I wanted to give a woman comfortable clothes that would flow with her body. A woman is closest to being naked when she is well-dressed.

A woman is closest to being naked when she is well-dressed.

It is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion that heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure.

Fashion has two purposes: comfort and love. Beauty comes when fashion succeeds.

J'aime la vie! I feel that to live is a wonderful thing.

I invented my life because I wasn't pleased with it.

The best accessory for a woman -- handsome man!

There are rich people, and there are those who have money. They are not the same people.

No elegance is possible without perfume. It is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory.

Good manners on a man are like wearing an exquisite suit. They never go out of style.

Beauty Should Begin in the Heart and Soul, otherwise cosmetics are useless.

With four pairs of shoes I can travel the world.

It's not the appearance, it's the essence. It's not the money, it's the education. It's not the clothes, it's the class.

If you are sad, If you are heartbroken, make yourself up, dress up, add more lipstick and attack. Men hate women who weep.

The best colour in the whole world is the one that looks good on you.

A woman can be over dressed but never over elegant.

To achieve great things, we must first dream.

Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.

You live but once; you might as well be amusing.

Men always remember a woman who caused them concern and uneasiness.

There is a time for work, and a time for love. That leaves no other time.

When I find a colour darker than black, I'll wear it. But until then, I'm wearing black!

There are no ugly women, only lazy.

Caring about beauty, it is necessary to start with the heart and soul, otherwise no makeup will not help.

A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life.

Adornment, what a science! Beauty, what a weapon! Modesty, what elegance!

Elegance comes from being as beautiful inside as outside.

Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future.

Fashion is in the sky, in the street.

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only.

A woman with good shoes i never ugly!

My reason for choosing diamonds is that, dense as they are, they represent the greatest worth in the smallest volume.

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something, but to be someone.

Youth is something very new: twenty years ago no one mentioned it.

Perfume heralds a woman's arrival and prolongs her departure.

Success is most often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.

Guilt is perhaps the most painful companion of death.

The best things in life are free. The second best are very expensive.

You can be gorgeous at thirty, charmimg at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life.

Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.

Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.

Fashion changes, but style endures.

My friends, there are no friends.

Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty.

There have been several Duchesses of Westminster but there is only one Chanel!

Those who create are rare; those who cannot are numerous. Therefore, the latter are stronger.

I am not young but I feel young. The day I feel old, I will go to bed and stay there. J'aime la vie! I feel that to live is a wonderful thing.

Women must tell men always that they are the strong ones. They are the big, the strong, the wonderful. In truth, women are the strong ones. It is just my opinion, I am not a professor.

Fashion is made to become unfashionable.

Fashion is always of the time in which you live. It is not something standing alone. But the grand problem, the most important problem, is to rejeuvenate women. To make women look young. Then their outlook changes. They feel more joyous.

It is always better to be slightly underdressed.

Gentleness doesn't get work done unless you happen to be a hen laying eggs.

Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.

Great loves too must be endured.