Andre Leon Talley's Quotes

I will sit in the car on the way to a meeting and just smile. I really mean that. It helps you get through life. If you have nothing to say, smile. Look up at the sky and smile. Just be grateful.

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.

I'm not going to go to the local theater to spend $12... when I can get a screening copy of a film. I don't get screeners myself, but I can borrow from my friends or go to their house to watch.

If you're going to be a model, what's going to get you the job on a go-see and makes you stand out, it might not be your lipstick or your portfolio or what you're wearing, it might come from your core being.

In the heyday of the Oscars, there were electric sparks flying. When Cher went in her fabulous Bob Mackie dress and her Mohawk, and Bjoerk with her swan dress. Then we thought it was bad taste; now I think it should have been the best dress because she stood out.

Like Hillary Clinton before her, Mrs. Obama has always been a working woman. She is a lawyer turned hospital administrator turned political right hand. It is a unique resume.

Look at 'American Idol,' which I don't look at. Those winners haven't become household names except for Jennifer Hudson, and she was a reject. You can't aim to be a household name. You just have to be successful.

Mrs. Obama has a hug - a sincere and friendly embrace - that has become familiar to countless supporters from coast to coast. And when she talks to you, she focuses all her calm attention on your face.

One my favorite things is to go to the provinces of Russia and see the 18th century wood churches with the onion dome architecture. These humble wonders of incredible imagination of architects that were obviously not living in places like Paris or London, but they've created these amazing churches.

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!

The happiest moments of my childhood were spent on my grandmother's front porch in Durham, N.C., or at her sister's farmhouse in Orange County, where chickens paraded outside the kitchen's screen door and hams were cured in the smokehouse.

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.

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.

What's that show? 'TMZ'? They stand there and say, 'I've got this on this person.' The focus on celebrities can be detrimental because people could be thinking of other things, but it's a part of the culture and it's what sells.

When I do entertain, in the summer, which is rare, I receive my guests on the front porch, set up wicker trays found at Pottery Barn, and serve iced beverages. Anytime I do welcome friends, it's always a tray of canapes or Planters peanuts, jellied candy from Paris, and a good bottle of Sancerre.

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.

When I was a young boy, growing up in Durham, North Carolina, the women in my family were truly passionate about their clothes; nothing was more beautiful to me than women dressing with the utmost, meticulous attention to accessories, shoes, handbags, hats, coats, dresses and gloves to attend Sunday church services.

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.

Beauty is health. Health is beauty.

Fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez was a major part of my early career.

First Ladies have always been held like specimens under a media microscope.

I always feel comfortable, basically in any situation except perhaps airports.

I do believe there's a heaven. I do believe that God has given me the resilience and the survival skills to withstand the chiffon trenches.

I don't tear down. I prefer to build up.

I just need green. I need to wake up and see grass and squirrels. I don't want to see skyscrapers.

I know what it is like to be brought up with unconditional love. In my life that came from my grandmother.

I love people - it is not the fashion, it is the people in fashion I love.

I only take risks in couture, but I don't take risks in athleticism.

I only watch MSNBC for the news.

I suppose the most daring thing I've ever done is try to water ski. And that was not successful.

I think it's important that models be healthy.

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.

In my day you didn't speak until spoken to.

It's always great to have things from France at a wedding. It's symbolic of style, of culture, of taste.

It's incorrect to assume you can be a fashion editor because you blog, if you don't have experience to look at fashion in a professional way.

Money isn't everything, but it is when you start thinking about putting money away for your retirement days.

On 9/11, that morning, I was in a Christian Dior Couture appointment at the Hotel Pierre.

People love fashion exhibits because they can fantasize. They can respond to a dress even if they can never wear a dress like that.

People need to be edited; life needs to be edited. I need to be edited.

Reality TV, although I'm a part of it, I think reality TV is a terrible thing.

Snooki and Honey Boo Boo. These are big celebrities in the U.S. You want to throw up.

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.

The little black dress expresses a moment of freedom and individuality every time.