DRESS

Related Subjects: Appearance, Fashion, Hat, Modesty, Nudity, Ornament, Shoe, Style, Tailor, Vanity

1. It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.—AESOP, The Jay and the Peacock
   

2. Garter: an elastic band intended to keep a woman from coming out of her stockings and desolating the country.—AMBROSE BIERCE, The Devil's Dictionary
   

3. Trust not the heart of that man for whom oId clothes are not venerable.—CARLYLE, Sartor Resartus
   

4. Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he's well dressed. There ain't much credit in that.—DICKENS, Martin Chuzzlewit
   

5. Strip the bishop of his apron, or the beadle of his hat and lace; what are they? Men. Mere men. Dignity ; and even holiness, too, sometimes are more questions of coat and waistcoat than some people imagine.—DICKENS
   

6. A sweet disorder in the dress Kindles in clothes a wantonness.—ROBERT HERRICK, Delight in Disorder
   

7. It is principally for the sake of the leg that a change in the dress of man is so much to be desired. .. . The leg is the best part of the figure . . . and the best leg is the man's. Man should no longer disguise the long lines, the strong forms, in those lengths of piping or tubing that are of all garments the most stupid.—ALICE MEYNELL, Essays
   

8. I hate to see men overdressed. .. . A man ought to look like he's put together by accident, not added up on purpose.—CHRISTOPHER MORLEY, Kitty Foyle
   

9. Where's the man could ease a heart
   Like a satin gown?—DOROTHY PARKER, The Satin Dress
   

10. The wasting moth ne'er spoil'd my best array;
    The cause was this, I wore it every day.—POPE, Paraphrases front Chaucer
    

11. Fine clothes oftentimes hide a base descent.—Proverb

12. Better go to heaven in rags than to hell in embroidery.—Proverb
    

13. Borrowed garments never sit well.—Proverb
    

14. Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse;
    Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse.—Proverb
    

15. When you have bought one fine thing you must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all of a piece.—Proverb
    

16. We are all Adam's children, but silk makes the difference.—Proverb
    

17. Good clothes open all doors.—Proverb
    

18. Motley's the only wear.—SHAKESPEARE, As You Like It
    

19. Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
    But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
    For the apparel oft proclaims the man.—SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet
    

20. In nothing am I chang'd But in my garments.—SHAKESPEARE, King Lear
    

21. Through tatter'd clothes small vices do appear;
    Robes and furr'd gowns hide all.—SHAKESPEARE, King Lear
    

22. She wears her clothes as if they were thrown on with a pitchfork.—SWIFT, Polite Conversation
    

23. Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.—THOREAU, Walden
    

24. Much of the charm that invests the patent-leather shoe, the stainless linen, the lustrous cylindrical hat, and the walking-stick, which so greatly enhance the native dignity of a gentleman, comes of their pointedly suggesting that the wearer cannot when so attired bear a hand in any employment that is directly or immediately of any human use.—THORSTEIN VEBLEN, The Theory of the Leisure Class
    

25. The womanliness of woman's apparel resolves itself into the more effective hindrance to useful exertion offered by the garments peculiar to women.—THORSTEIN VEBLEN, The Theory of the Leisure Class
    

26. The corset is, in economic theory, substantially a mutilation, undergone for the purpose of lowering the subject's vitality and rendering her permanently and obviously unfit for work. It is true, the corset impairs the personal attractions of the wearer, but the loss suffered on that score is offset by the gain in reputability which comes of her visibly increased expensiveness and infirmity.—THORSTEIN VEBLEN, The Theory of the Leisure Class

27. All his reverend wit Lies in his wardrobe.—JOHN WEBSTER, The White Devil