The Best Coco Chanel Quotes About Fashion, Love, And Success

In the fashion industry, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel is a cut above the rest. To wit: When Time magazine came out with its “100 Persons of the Century,” she was the sole fashion figure to make the list. She was a pioneering designer who simplified silhouettes down to their bare minimum, freeing women from corsetry and infusing menswear sensibilities into her patterns and fabric selections. She was first to use cotton jersey in womenswear, introduced the little black dress, and made bouclé jackets and skirts a style staple. Now, more than a century since she opened her maison, Chanel’s legacy continues to inspire.

Indeed, her life—just as much as her work—has been the subject of books, films, television shows, and other forms of media. The company she kept, the path she took to garnering success, and the musings she imparted throughout her lifetime are still carefully examined by fashion fans. From fashion and beauty to love and wealth, we’ve rounded up the best quotes from one the most insightful women in history.

This article originally appeared on Harper's BAZAAR US.

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1. "Elegance is refusal."

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2. "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different."

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3. "I only drink Champagne on two occasions, when I am in love and when I am not."

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4. "Fashion changes, but style endures."

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5. "There are people who have money and people who are rich."

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6. "Fashion has two purposes: comfort and love. Beauty comes when fashion succeeds."

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7. "Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance."

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8. "I don't do fashion. I am fashion."

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9. "The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud."

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10. "You can be gorgeous at thirty, charming at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life."

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11. "You live but once; you might as well be amusing."

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12. "Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman."

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13. "Elegance does not consist in putting on a new dress."

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14. "Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity."

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15. "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."

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16. "Adornment, what a science! Beauty, what a weapon! Modesty, what elegance!"

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17. "A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life."

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18. "A woman can be overdressed but never over elegant."

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19. "Dress like you are going to meet your worst enemy today."

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20. "Nature gives you the face you have at twenty. Life shapes the face you have at thirty. But at fifty you get the face you deserve."

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21. "A woman with good shoes is never ugly."

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22. "I don't care what you think of me. I don't think of you at all."

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23. "My life didn't please me, so I created my life."

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24. "If you're sad, add more lipstick and attack."

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25. "A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future."

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26. "Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable."

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27. "The best color in the whole world is the one that looks good on you."

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28. "As long as you know men are like children, you know everything!"

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29. "Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door."

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30. "A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous."

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