Coco Chanel's Quotes

The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.

A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.

A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.

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

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

In order to be irreplaceacle, one must always be different.

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

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

Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.

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

It’s probably not just by chance that I’m alone. It would be very hard for a man to live with me, unless he’s terribly strong. And if he’s stronger than I, I’m the one who can’t live with him. … I’m neither smart nor stupid, but I don’t think I’m a run-of-the-mill person. I’ve been in business without being a businesswoman, I’ve loved without being a woman made only for love. The two men I’ve loved, I think, will remember me, on earth or in heaven, because men always remember a woman who caused them concern and uneasiness. I’ve done my best, in regard to people and to life, without precepts, but with a taste for justice.

Fashion changes, but style endures.

If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing.

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

A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future.

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.

Where should one use perfume?" a young woman asked. "Wherever one wants to be kissed.

There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.

I don't do fashion, I AM fashion.

As long as you know men are like children, you know everything!

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.

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

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

Elegance is refusal.

Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity.

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.

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

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

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 who cuts her hair is about to change her life.

A woman can be over dressed but never over elegant.

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

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

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

Only those with no memory insist on their originality.

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

Arrogance is in everything I do. It is in my gestures, the harshness of my voice, in the glow of my gaze, in my sinewy, tormented face.

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

Passion goes, Boredom remains.

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 don’t know why women want any of the things men have when one of the things that women have is men.

There are people who have money and people who are rich.

I invented my life by taking for granted that everything I did not like would have an opposite, which I would like.

Elegance comes from being as beautiful inside as outside.

Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.

Sin can be forgiven, but stupid is forever.

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

Be classy. Anything but trashy.

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

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

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

Women have always been the strong ones of the world.

Fashion is made to become unfashionable.

Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.

There is nothing more comfortable than a caterpillar and nothing more made for love than a butterfly. We need dresses that crawl and dresses that fly. Fashion is at once a captapillar and a butterfly, caterpillar by day, butterfly by night

There is nothing worse than solitude. Solitude can help a man realize himself; but it destroys a woman

I love luxury. And luxury lies not in richness and ornateness but in the absence of vulgarity. Vulgarity is the ugliest word in our language. I stay in the game to fight it.

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

Elegance does not consist in putting on a new dress.

Look for the woman in the dress. If there is no woman, there is no dress.

A woman has the age she deserves.

A fashion that does not reach the streets is not a fashion

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

Innovation! One cannot be forever innovating. I want to create classics

Coco Chanel used to talk about wearing more than one string of pearls. Why wear one if you can wear two, or something to that effect. I think that one string of pearls is just fine. But that's because my pearls are black, hers were white.

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

In 1919 I woke up famous. I'd never guessed it. If I'd known I was famous, I'd have stolen away and wept. I was stupid. I was supposed to be intelligent. I was sensitive and very dumb.

If you're sad, add more lipstick and attack. Men hate women who weep.

Costume jewelry is not made to give women an aura of wealth, but to make them beautifu

Don't be like the rest of them, darling.

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

A double bed can seem awfully small if your'e sharing it with someone you don't love. (Misia)

Capel said, "Remember that you're a woman." All too often I forgot that.

Nature gives you the face you have at twenty. Life shapes the face you have at thirty. But at fifty you get the face you deserve.

Luxury lies not in the richness of things, but in the absence of vulgarity

You're not exactly the father I'd choose for my children. (Coco Chanel)

A woman with good shoes i never ugly!

No one is young after forty, but one can be irresistible at any age

Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity.

Over the next hour and a half, I came to the conclusion that Emilia Rhodes was either the devil incarnate or the second coming of Coco Chanel.

Saint Laurent has excellent taste. The more he copies me, the better taste he displays. - Coco Chanel

I only drink Champagne on two occasions, when I am in love and when I am not.

There are few things less stylish than a boring, self absorbed twit...

Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.

If you're sad, add more lipstick and attack.

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

to achieve great things, we must first dream

Women hide their imperfections instead of accepting them as an added charm.

Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity,” said Coco Chanel.

But I've wept so much,' she said to Delay. 'Now I don't cry any more. When you don't cry it's because you no longer believe in happiness.

He will soon be claiming that the Resistance has liberated the world.

No matter the age, a woman who is unloved is lost - unloved she might as well die.

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

...Chanel didn't start out with a mission statement, nor a corporate vision, nor a roadmap for success, nor timeline for achieving her goals, nor an action item list, nor any of those other high-falutin' concepts we associate with mega modern multinational success stories.

Women have always been the strong ones of the world. The men are always seeking from women a little pillow to put their heads down on. They are always longing for the mother who held them as infants.

Una Mujer de ser dos cosas: fabulosa y de lujo

The more stupid and unlucky man is, the more claims he makes to the woman.

Always keep your head, heels, and standards high.

I wanted to escape, and to become the center of a universe of my own creation, instead of remaining on the margins or even becoming part of other people’s universe.

Today, Chanel sells nothing other than its griffe; the griffe is an absolute symbol for 'fashion' which, having become historical, is now able to sell this history better than it could sell fashion. Chanel's lasting success proves that fashion has become self-referential: the fetish of the mere name shows how it has begun to revolve around itself. The House of Chanel produces what Coco most abhorred: a thing of the past, dead. The visible, outwardly displayed griffe has become the opposite of individualized style: instead it confirms the latent uniform collectivity, which had always defined Chanel-wear; in the end, it signifies membership of an expensive club. The Chanel woman does not want to display her own taste, she wants to belong. In order to be certain, she is laden with Chanel signs and accessories, like amulets to protect against the evil eye; on the pocket, on the belt, on the dress buttons, on the watch, on costume jewelry, proudly stand the initials of the founder of the house, to which she knows she belongs.