With a career spanning four decades, Talley was the living embodiment of the pop-cultural evolution of fashion. He was always hard to miss, standing tall at six feet six inches in a room filled with fabulously dressed people.
To celebrate the life of the late fashion icon, we take a look back at some of his most popular witticisms on fashion, life and everything in between to give you an insight into the man that was Andre Leon Talley
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ON FASHION
- “I love people – it is not the fashion, it is the people in fashion I love.”
- “The zenith of elegance in any woman’s wardrobe is the little black dress, the power of which suggests dash and refinement.”
- “Wearing clothes should be a personal narrative of emotion. I always respond to fashion in an emotional way.”
- “You can never have too many black pumps. Never!”
- “The little black dress expresses a moment of freedom and individuality every time.”
- “Uggs are comfort shoes, and it’s important to have a shoe that gives you a sense of comfort. I have about 15 pair of Uggs – the same shoe, the same color. And I also have the bedroom slippers.”
- “You cannot live your life in the elitist world of fashion and not step out or you’re disconnected. You have to realize that fashion is not the endgame.”
- “There is room in today’s world for men to wear dresses.”
ON PERSONAL LIFE.
- “I have always admired stylishly confident women who dress with great authority. This lifelong love of elegance began with the humble wardrobe of my late grandmother Mrs. Bennie Frances Davis.”
- “I know what it is like to be brought up with unconditional love. In my life that came from my grandmother.”
- “I came to Paris with 13 unmatched pieces of luggage. By the time I left, I had 34 matched sets.”
- “I’m usually at home and in bed by 10 o’clock. I do not want to be out at anybody’s New Year’s Eve party.”
- “I like the idea of being warm and secure. That’s what home should be. That you have a sense of warmth, security, love, and you love the things around you and surround yourself with beauty.”
- “When I was a young boy, growing up in Durham, North Carolina, the women in my family were truly passionate about their clothes.”
- “I’d like to be remembered as someone who made a difference in the lives of young people – that I nurtured someone and taught them to pursue their dreams and their careers, to leave a legacy.”
- “When I have interns, I always say, ‘Handwritten thank-you notes can make a difference.’ People remember that – not an e-mail, a handwritten note in an envelope.”
- “In my day you didn’t speak until spoken to.”
ON LIFE.
- “The most luxurious item is a beautiful bed and beautiful, simple sheets.”
- “Beauty is health. Health is beauty.”
- “I just need green. I need to wake up and see grass and squirrels. I don’t want to see skyscrapers.”
- “I always feel comfortable, basically in any situation except perhaps airports.”
- “Reality TV, although I’m a part of it, I think reality TV is a terrible thing.”
- “People need to be edited; life needs to be edited. I need to be edited.”
- “I don’t tear down. I prefer to build up.”
- “It’s always great to have things from France at a wedding. It’s symbolic of style, of culture, of taste.”
ABOUT DESIGNERS.
- “The late Estee Lauder says you can never wear white shoes after Labor Day. But of course, in today’s world, that does not exist.”
- “Stella McCartney, not only is she a designer, she is a mother of four, and she lives for practicality. She understands what a woman needs to wear to work and what a woman needs to wear when it’s time to go out and put on the Ritz!”
- “There are no more Elizabeth Taylors. You could be fascinated by her, she lived so many lives, she lived far, she loved the jewels; she had gaudy taste but she had extraordinary talent.”
- “If Marc Jacobs can wear a lace dress, I can wear a kaftan or anything else I want, at any time.”
- “It’s lovely to have friends like Karl [Lagerfeld]. When I turned 50, he gave me $50,000.”