Andre Leon Talley

I went to Brown to be a French professor, and I didn't know what I was doing except that I loved French. When I got to Paris and I could speak French, I know how much it helped me to establish relationships with Karl Lagerfeld, with the late Yves St. Laurent. French, it just helps you if you're in fashion. The French people started style.

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

I love sitting through long things. I mean, 'Gone With the Wind' I will sit through; I love sitting somewhere for four hours, for anything. I love being on a train. I love sitting down for four hours. I think it's the most wonderful thing to be able to sit somewhere and concentrate on something for more than two hours.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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