Oscar de la Renta Quotations

Fashion is about dressing according to what's fashionable. Style is more about being yourself.

I wanted this, I wanted to do this, but my work is me, and it has to be right.

I like light, color, luminosity. I like things full of color and vibrant.

I always say: To be well dressed you must be well naked

We live in an era of globalization and the era of the woman. Never in the history of the world have women been more in control of their destiny.

The great thing about fashion is that it always looks forward.

I was surrounded by sisters. My childhood was all women.

I want to make clothes that people will wear, not styles that will make a big splash on the runway.

Gardening is how I relax. It's another form of creating and playing with colors.

I have this complex that if I walk into a place wearing a colorful shirt someone will stop me and say, 'I'm sorry, but the Latin band comes through the other door.'

I do not have one theme for each season, I just try to make beautiful clothes all year round.

Now is the most exciting time in fashion. Women are controlling their destiny now, the consumer is more knowledgeable, and I have to be better every single day.

I'm a very restless person. I'm always doing something. The creative process never stops.

There is always an emotional element to anything that you make.

I don't really know how to do casual clothes

The qualities I most admire in women are confidence and kindness.

We're dealing with sophisticated customers. What's most important to these women is individuality. I have to create things she'll want to wear, no matter who she is.

Although I have no plans to tweet, I am fascinated by developments on the Internet.

If you want to establish an international presence you can't do so from New York. You need the consecration of Paris.

I am not interested in shock tactics. I just want to make beautiful clothes.

Regardless of how good or bad a collection might be, it's a letdown after the show is over. It's done. Something you've worked on for months is just over.

As far as preference between fall and spring collections, I have none that I prefer to design. With fall you have a lot more items, but of course I am from the Dominican Republic, so I love the warm weather.

A woman plays such an active role in society. And today, the woman who influences fashion is not that very rich woman who sits at home and polishes her nails. It's the one who works, who is a doer, who does things by dressing. She's very strongly projecting an image of herself as an individual.

I think the greatest reward I have is getting up and going to work each day. I love what I do.

I adore gardening, and whenever I have time off, that is my passion.

I come from a very warm island, where colors are very important, very vibrant, and obviously the color has been an influence on my work.

The charities closest to my heart have always involved helping children in some way.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America is a national neurotic society of creative leaders in various fields of fashion.

I would like better to be known as the Godfather of Fashion, with all the implications that that word has.

Accept your friends for who they are, not for who you want them to be.

The only realities in life are that you are born, and that you die,

My entire concept of lifestyle is built on the foundation of my homes. There is no more important expression of this concept than that of my own personal living space.

You don't go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater,

The most important beauty is not that with which you were born, but the beauty of character which grows through a woman's life and maybe never stops growing.

If you have the right to call me a hot dog why do I not have the right to call you a stale 3-day old hamburger?

I have always felt my role as a designer is to do the very best I can for a woman to make her look her best. Fashion is only fashion once a woman puts it on.

Women think black is the most flattering color, but they're wrong. Pink adds a cosmetic-like radiance and warmth. Black drains the skin of color; pink delights the eye.

I’m a happy fellow. I feel very privileged, lucky, that I have had a wonderful life. And that I have been always allowed to do what I love,

Work hard. Believe in yourself. It's not the publicity that sells the clothes, it's the woman.

You know I started an orphanage so totally by accident. A lady came to me and asked me if I would, I will help her and we start it with little school and then I fell in love with it.

And smile, you know I always tell the girls to smile because I hate sad faces.

When I went to see Mrs. Clinton and we talk about the inaugural dress I ask her what would you like to achieve with this particular dress? And she said to me what I would like is - that when I walk into the room and people will look at me and say wow you look great.

Excess is not really something I consider a bad thing; especially when you are talking about living.

Tell me, which designers in New York do you think are great - besides me, of course.

My wife said I look like a Latin American dictator. I said, 'That's what I am'

Every season I am inspired by women.

My customers are successful workingwomen.

Online media is increasingly influential in fashion.

One should travel as light as possible. I can organize myself to go on a ten-day trip with just hand luggage.

When a woman falls in love with something so much that she wants to wear it- it is at that point that it becomes fashion.

What women have achieved in the last 50 years, I wish men would have achieved in the last 100.

A woman today knows that the power of her femininity is very important.

Nothing says spring like hand-cut flowers.

When I was a boy, I thought scent was contained in dewdrops on flowers and if I got up very early in the morning, I could collect it and make perfume.

My approach is that fashion must always be optimistic, and that a woman will always be enticed by beautiful clothes.

You don't need an introduction to succeed in life. You need to have good work. Work hard. Believe in yourself

It's important to excite the imagination of a woman.

A woman can wear anything- she can make it right.

There is no sound more feminine than a woman in a taffeta dress.

Nothing is contrived. At night, the clothes should pour like liquid over the body.

My beloved Hillary, do not disappoint me. You have to be President, OK?

Any girl from any walk of life dreams of that special dress, and I try to make that dream a reality for her.

I always think the best way to dress is when the person notices you first and the dress after.

I always design my own hats to complete my fashion thought....I like them slightly mad, like this huge black poppy. Right now I lift the bosom high on coats and dresses...I am using so many high curved belts.

Working for incredible talents like Balenciaga and Antonio Castillo, I learned about the immense skill and creativity involved in couture work.

Fashion is about the present and the immediate future. I think in terms of now.

If you wear a different perfume every day, I do not recognize you.

Women are born free, and I think that they should stay that way.

I hate pretty. It’s a very empty word. It gives a bad name to beauty.

The most important thing? Perfect lighting at all times.

In fashion, the most important thing is to move on.

I love to live well, I love to eat well, I love to buy beautiful things, and to give a fantastic time to my friends.

My great strength is knowing who I am and where I come from - my island.

You have to appreciate every single day that you're alive. Life is a little bit like a garden - you have to find time to plant the seeds for beautiful flowers to grow.

My job as a designer is to make a woman feel her very best

I always tell this story: When I started, the woman went to the store to buy a dress. She saw it in pink and red, and then she remembered that the husband, who is probably going to pay for the dress, loves it in pink. So she buys the pink. Today, the same woman goes to the store and remembers the husband likes pink, and she buys the red.

Luxury to me is not about buying expensive things; it's about living in a way where you appreciate things.

A runway is spectacle. It’s only fashion when a woman puts it on.

Today, there is no fashion, really. There are just . . . choices. Women dress today to reveal their personalities. They used to reveal the designer's personality. Until the 70s, women listened to designers. Now women want to do it their own way. There are no boundaries. And without boundaries, there is no fashion.

Fashion is a trend, style is within a person

A woman makes an outfit her own with accessories.

The essence of style is how you live your life

Silk does for the body what diamonds do for the hand.

Love. Be curious. Always try to do your best.

Fashions change and with rare exception are forgotten by the public. But the classic fragrances, like an invisible dress, endure. Fragrance must be introduced properly. A fragrance is like a signature, so that even after a woman leaves the room, her fragrance should reveal she's been there.

Never,ever confuse what happens on a runway with fashion. A runway is spectacle. It's only fashion when a woman puts it on. Being well dressed hasn't much to do with having good clothes. It's a question of good balance and good common sense.

If you don’t move, you get stale.

The well dressed man never stands out in a crowd; his elegance sets him apart.

A fragrance is like a signature, so that even after a woman leaves the room, her fragrance should reveal she's been there.

Things never happen on accident. They happen because you have a vision, you have a commitment, you have a dream.

The only realities in life are that you are born, and that you die. We always think we are going to live forever. The dying aspect we will never accept. The one thing about having this kind of warning is how you appreciate every single day of life.

Elegance is a discipline of life.

I’ve lived every day to the fullest, and I’ve had a marvelous time. I’ve tried to be nice to the people I care about, and ignore the ones I don’t. I enjoy what I’ve done.

Style begins by looking good naked. It's a discipline. And if you don't dress well every day, you lose the habit. It's not about what you wear, but about how you live your life.

Walk like you have three men walking behind you.

Style begins by looking good naked

Every day you have to reinvent yourself

Be the designer of your own destiny.

It’s not about what you wear, but about how you live your life