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Jean Harlow: ‘Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?’ Hell’s Angels 1930 starring Jean Harlow & Ben Lyon & James Hall & John Darrow & Lucien Prival & Frank Clark & Roy Wilson & Douglas Gilmore & Jane Winton
You can say what you like about long dresses, but they cover a multitude of shins. Mae West
I keep my house tidy, because then I can think clearly. I feel the same about myself. Presenting yourself well is a working-class thing – my dad was a printer, but he wore a tie most days. The ungroomed look belongs more to the middle classes. Gary Kemp
I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It’s still my symbol of rebellion – against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others’ ideas. Johnny Cash
You can never be overdressed or overeducated. Oscar Wilde
It takes forty dumb animals to make a fur coat, but only one to wear it. Slogan & campaign poster 1980s, attributed to David Bailey
Well I ain’t rich but at least I dress well. Kojak: The Marcus-Nelson Murders 1973 [Kojak pilot episode] starring Telly Savalas & Ned Beatty & Marjoe Gortner & Jose Ferrer & Allen Garfield & Lorraine Gary & Roger Robinson Harrriet Karr et al, director Joseph Sargent, Kojak
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it’s a symbol of my individuality. And my belief in personal freedom. Wild at Heart 1990 starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern & Willem Dafoe & J E Freeman & Crispin Glover & Diane Ladd & Isabella Rossellini & Harry Dean Stanton et al, director David Lynch, him to punk
Senator, just one more thing – love your suit. The Silence of the Lambs 1991 starring Jodie Foster & Anthony Hopkins & Scott Glen & Ted Levine & Anthony Heald & Brooke Smith & Diane Baker & Kasi Lemmons & Frankie Fraison & Tracey Walter et al, director Jonathan Demme, Lecter
Clothes are important. Make you what you are. The Krays 1990 starring Martin Kemp & Gary Kemp & Billie Whitelaw & Tom Bell & Steven Berkoff & Susan Fleetwood & Charlotte Cornwell & Kate Hardie & Avis Bunnage & Alfred Lynch & Gary Love & Jimmy Jewel et al, director Peter Medak, Ronnie to boys
Higher Cat: We find clothes to be a distraction from the pursuit of spiritual and intellectual fulfilment.
Cat: Really? I find spiritual and intellectual fulfilment to be a distraction from the pursuit of clothes. Red Dwarf s5e5: Demons & Angels, Kryten, BBC 1992
We have heard that you use females – clothed females. Star Trek: The Next Generation s1e9: The Battle, DaiMon Bok the Ferengi on bridge
I still prefer a Ferengi female who never wears clothes, never talks back and never plays Tongo. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s2e7: Rules of Acquisition, Rom
Well look at you – you’re wearing clothes. ibid. Quark to female Ferengi
And women wore less. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s5e6: Trials And Tribble-ations ***** Dax decked in Enterprise mini-skirt garb
A clothed female – how titillating. Star Trek s5e18: Deep Space Nine: Business as Usual, Gaila
Three days ago I added a new amendment to the Ferengi Bill of Opportunities giving females the right to wear clothes. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s6e23: Profit and Lace, Grand Nagus Zek to Quark et al
The demand for cheap and cheerful clothing was on the rise. Michael Wood, The Great British Story: A People’s History 4/8: The Great Rising, BBC 2012
Women’s knickers haven’t been invented yet. Dr Lucy Worsley, Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls: Act Three: At Work and at Play, BBC 2017
A beautifully tied cravat was the most important part of the dandy’s uniform. Dr Lucy Worsley, Elegance and Decadence 1/3: The Age of the Regency, BBC 2020
If the Pimpernel does finally reveal himself I don’t want to be caught out wearing boring trousers. Blackadder III: Nob & Nobility, Prince Regent, BBC 1987
The ancient Greeks, sir, wrote in legend of a terrible container in which all the evils of the world were trapped. How prophetic they were. All they got wrong was the name: they called it Pandora’s Box, when of course they meant Baldrick’s trousers. ibid. Blackadder to Prince Regent, with Baldrick
I charge you now, Baldrick, for the good of all mankind never allow curiosity to lead you to open your trousers. Nothing of interest lies therein. ibid. Blackadder
People who walk around with their buttons undone are cads. Bertie and Elizabeth 2002 starring James Wilby & Juliet Aubrey & Alan Bates & Eileen Atkins & Dolly Wells & William Mickleburgh & Charles Edwards & Alexandra Staden et al, director Giles Foster, George V to Bertie
It doesn’t matter about money; having it, not having it. Or having clothes, or not having them. You’re still left alone with yourself in the end. Billy Idol
I arrived in England in just the clothes I stood up in. I’m going back with the best wardrobe of gear Carnaby Street can offer. Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child
These things are called looms for spinning cloth with. The noise levels are terrific. Can you imagine what it must have been like in a room with fifteen hundred of these things all going at the same time for sixteen hours a day? Fred Dibnah’s Age of Steam: Driving the Wheels of Industry, BBC 2003
I guess the big thing is that I don’t buy anything first-hand. It’s a personal policy I have for all sorts of reasons. If you research to the textile industry yourself, you’ll know why. I came to it personally. Ezra Miller
The mills also revolutionised how Americans dressed. America: The Story of the US: Division, History 2010
Clothes make the man. Early 15th century proverb
The molecules make what DuPont calls nylon. There’s never been anything like nylons. In the first four days DuPont sells four million pairs. James Burke, Connections s3e5, Life Is No Picnic, BBC 1997
The emperor’s new clothes. Hans Christian Anderson
By degrees
Her rich attire creeps rustling to her knees. John Keats, The Eve of St Agnes, 1820
Why a man should be well dressed. Adolf Loos
Clothes are our weapons, our challenges, our visible insults. Angela Carter, Nothing Sacred