17 Quotes About Style That Bring Sexy Back

Let’s be real. Who’s going to want to have sex with you if you’re not well dressed?

Fashion isn’t all about sex, but as an industry it’s pretty damn hot. Fashion adorns the body, and clothing can become a second skin. Looking for a little sultry style inspiration? The following 17 quotes push style boundaries, explore people’s human quirks about getting dressed; (what can be sexier than the realness of foibles?) and appreciate the relationship between the body, clothing, and various states of dress and undress.

1.) “My look is a cocktail. I’m not as nicely turned out as the french, but I don’t care like the English.” — Jane Birkin
2.) “I like my clothes tight enough to show I’m a woman, but loose enough to show I’m a lady.” — Edith Head

3.) “Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.” — Bill Cunningham

4.) “A woman’s dress should be a like a barbed-wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view.” — Sophia Loren

5.) “When in doubt, wear red.” —Bill Blass

6.) “Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them.” — Marc Jacobs

7.) “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” — Marilyn Monroe

8.) “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” — Coco Chanel

9.) “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.” — Coco Chanel

10.) “Style is a simple way of saying complicated things.” — Jean Cocteau

11.) “I’m no model lady. A model’s just an imitation of the real thing.” — Mae West

12.) “The body is the instrument of our hold on the world.”― Simone de Beauvoir

13.) “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”― Anaïs Nin

14.) “Fashion embraces the weirdos.” ― Chloë Sevigny

13.) “Not only does leather have a certain tactile appeal as the ‘second skin,’ it combines seduction and danger.” — Valerie Steele

14.) “I am anti-pants.” – Lena Dunham

15.) “Style is primarily a matter of instinct.” – Bill Blass

16.) “I wear my sort of clothes to save me the trouble of deciding which clothes to wear.” ― Katherine Hepburn

17.) “If I’m going dancing, then I wear the highest heels with the shortest dress.”― Kate Moss

About the author

Jill Di Donato

Fashion Editor

Jill is a New York native who holds a BA in Literature from Barnard College, and an MFA in writing from Columbia University. She is the author of the novel Beautiful Garbage (She Writes Press, 2013) about the downtown Manhattan art and fashion scene in the 1980s. A former staff writer for The Huffington Post and Bustle, Jill comes to Culture Trip after working with Refinery 29, Vice, Salon, Paste Style, Los Angeles Times, Nylon, Shopify, Autre, and producing content for emerging fashion labels. She teaches classes about fashion and culture at Barnard College and The Fashion Institute of Technology. Her prized possessions are her Gucci fanny pack, vintage rocker t-shirts, and her grandmother's collection of costume jewelry. She's always on the lookout for a gem-encrusted turban.