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You're Always With Yourself, So You Might As Well Enjoy The Company.

-Diane Von Furstenberg

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You're Always With Yourself,

Diane Von Furstenberg

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You're Always With Yourself, So You Might As Well Enjoy The Company.

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The Ipad! What Is Better Designed Than That? I Read Magazines On It, I Play Scrabble. I Use It For Everything.

I’ve Always Been Inspired By Women, And My Mission Was To Inspire Women. I Always Wanted To Become A Certain Kind Of Woman And I Became That Woman Through Fashion. It Was A Dialogue. I Would See That The Wrap Dress Made Those Women Confident, And Made Them Act With Confidence.

My Best Friend Is Me, And I Take Good Care Of Me.

One Of The Most Important Things About Fashion Is To Dress As Well As You Can, Look As Attractive As You Can, And At The Same Time Be Comfortable With Yourself. Be Easy About Your Clothes; Forget About Them.

I Always Knew The Woman I Wanted To Be-i Knew I Wanted To Be A Woman Who Was Independent A Woman Who Was In The Driving Seat, A Woman Who Didn't Need For The Man To Decide.

I Wanted To Be An Empowered Woman, And I Became An Empowered Woman. And Now I Want To Empower Every Woman. And I Do It Through My Clothes, I Do It Through My Words, I Do It Through My Money, I Do It Through Everything.

Eighteen Months Before I Was Born, My Mother Was In Auschwitz. She Weighed 49 Pounds. She Always Told Me That God Saved Her So She Could Give Me Life. I Was Born Out Of Nothing.

It Is More Important To Be Pretty As A Woman Than To Be Fashionable.

The Greatest Natural Enemy Of Women Is Insecurity. We All Feel It And We All Think We Are The Only Ones Who Feel That Way. How We Deal With These Fears Determines To A Great Extent How Effective We Are In Running Our Lives. Most Women Present A Façade To The World And Keep The Insecurity Locked Inside. The Toughest Job In The World Is To Be A Complete, Happy Woman.

Now Is The Time To Become A Myth.

It's More Important To Be Healthy And Of Good Spirit Than It Is To Be Thin, Just As It's More Important To Be An Attractive Woman Than A Fashionable One.

You Can Actually Be Intimate With The Universe.

Fashion Is Mysterious, As A Rule. Why Are Blue Jeans A Classic? You Just Hit On Something That Happens To Be Timeless And Right.

The Other Day I Went To A School In Harlem To Talk To Some 7th Graders [12-year-olds] And I Said, ‘if I Have To Give You Some Advice, The Most Important Thing Is: The Sooner You Become Your Own Best Friend, The Better Your Life Will Be,’

My Face Carries All Of My Memories. Why Would I Erase Them?

I Began To Be Involved (with Exercise). It Was A Little Bit Like Sex Sometimes - You Know How Sometimes You're Kind Of Disinterested, Kind Of Uninvolved, And Slowly You Begin To Become Interested?

I Adore Dark Chocolate.

We Are Living In Such A Troubled World That Fashion Seems Completely Irrelevant. Yet...it's A Very, Very Mysterious Thing. Why All Of A Sudden Do People Like Yellow? Why All Of A Sudden Do People Wear Combat Boots?

Mysterious Things

Confidence. If You Have It, You Can Make Anything Look Good.

I Am A Fast Dresser, 30 Minutes Max With Hair And Makeup. I Don't Have A Uniform, But I Like To Be Comfortable.

Ireland Is Also Quite Nice. So Is Amsterdam.

I Design For The Woman I Wanted To Be, The Woman I Used To Be And To Some Degree, The Woman I'm Still A Little Piece Of.

So As A Founder, You Have An Authenticity And A Human Factor That Is Really Special And That Gives An Enormous Amount Of Energy And Fuel. But As A Founder, You’re Also Not As Cold, Maybe, Or As Pragmatic.

You Only Regret What You Don't Do! Go For It, Live Your Dreams And Enjoy It All!

I Communicate Mostly Via E-mail And Receive Hundreds Of E-mails A Day.

What You Eat Is Everything. What You Eat Is What You Are.

If You Are Trying To Slip Out Without Waking A Sleeping Man, Zips Are A Nightmare. Haven't You Ever Tried To Creep Out Of The Room Unnoticed The Following Morning? I've Done That Many Times.

Beauty Is Perfect In Its Imperfections, So You Just Have To Go With The Imperfections.

Water Is Life Is Love Is Life Is Water.

Aging Is Out Of Your Control. How You Handle It, Though, Is In Your Hands.

Women Never Cease To Impress And Inspire Me.

I Loved The Seventies.

Resisting A Beautiful Chocolate Cake Or A Wonderful Foie Gras Is As Difficult As (the Idea Of) Saying No To Paul Newman.

The Important Thing Is To Believe In What You Do. Have A Big Dream And Take Small Steps.

Do Less But Do Better. Get Back To Yoga. Remember That Stress Is Not Progress.

I Sit In The Sink (while Applying Makeup). I Do. I've Broken More Sinks...i Sit In The Sink, On Top Of A Big Square Sink In My Bathroom With My Feet In The Basin So I'm Very Close To The Mirror With The Good Light, And I'm Very Comfortable. I Also Manage To Put My Two Phones In The Sink So That Nothing, But Nothing, Could Get Me Out Of There.

Makeup Should Have One Function Only - To Make You Look Better, To Make You More Attractive...makeup Is A Luxury, So It Should Be Fun...making Up Is Like Telling Yourself A Secret.

Don't Be Afraid Of Your Own Strength.

The Older You Get, The More You Should Learn To Love Life And Appreciate The Beauty That Comes With Age.

It's More Than Just A Dress; It's A Spirit. The Wrap Dress Was An Interesting Cultural Phenomenon, And One That Has Lasted 30 Years. What Is So Special About It Is That It's Actually A Very Traditional Form Of Clothing. It's Like A Toga, It's Like A Kimono, Without Buttons, Without A Zipper. What Made My Wrap Dresses Different Is That They Were Made Out Of Jersey And They Sculpted The Body.

Personal Style Is Accepting Who You Are.

All Women Are Strong. My Mother Survived Auschwitz, And Fear Wasn't An Option When We Were Growing Up. If We Were Afraid Of The Dark, We Were Put Into The Closet Until We Weren't.

Harbour Island In The Bahamas Is Beautiful, With Turquoise Water And Pink Sand.

My Clothes Are Great For A Honeymoon: They're Light And Sexy, Colorful And Pretty, And Not Expensive.

I Am Almost A Vegetarian, And I Meditate, Do Yoga And Love To Hike.

Bali And The Aman Resorts Are All Very Luxurious, Great Places To Go.

My Biggest Vice Is Playing Solitaire On My Ipad. It's Bad. I Mean, It's Ridiculous.

The Whole Point About Beauty Is Its Imperfection.

I Don't Care About Fashion, I Care About Women.

The Little Black Dress Is The True Friend...she Travels With You...is Patient And Constant...you Go To Her When You Don't Know Where Else To Go And She Is Always Reliable And Timeless.

Generosity Is The Best Investment.

The Real Story Is That I Am Very Free, That I've Managed To Be Who I Wanted To Be Without Compromising.

The Most Important Thing Is To Be Healthy, To Drink A Lot Of Water, To Fight Gravity As Much As Possible. I Am One Of The Few People Who Decided I Wasn't Going To Do Any Invasion With My Face.

I Design For The Woman Who Loves Being A Woman.

I Am Not Allowed To Be Afraid. My Mother Made Me Like That. As A Child, If I Was Afraid Of The Dark, She Would Lock Me In The Closet. Things Like This. And She Would Talk About The Time She Spent In The Concentration Camp, But Not About Being Afraid, Only About The Good Side Of It.

It's Important To Leave Your Face Without Makeup For A While After Waking Up...let Your Skin Breathe A While Before Applying Your Makeup, Even If It Means Waking Up A Bit Earlier.

We Need To Encourage Designers And Agencies To Be Responsible. We Need To Make Sure Everyone Is Sensitive To The Issues. But To Calculate The Girls' Body Mass - I Personally Think It Is Demeaning.

I Obviously Don't Feel Under Pressure To Look Young, Because I Have Had No Botox Or Surgery. I Don't Judge People Who Choose To Have It, But I Don't Want To Erase Who I Am.

Fashion Can Be This Mysterious Thing That You Can't Explain.

Mysterious Things

I Was Terrified The First Time That I Had A Big Problem In My Business. I Was Obviously Terrified When They Diagnosed Me With Cancer In 1994. I Was Terrified When My Son Used To Drive Too Fast. But I Do Believe In The Fact That Fear Is Not An Option, So I Always Try To Face It And Not Be Afraid.

I Must Have Books Everywhere. They're The Soul Of A Room-they Reveal The Taste, The Interests, And The Secrets Of Whoever Lives There.

I Was Born In Belgium. I Went To School In England And In Switzerland, Then I Came To America, So I Really Feel Like I Am A Citizen Of The World.

If You're Short, Don't Wear Extremely High Heels. After A Certain Age, You Shouldn't Wear Little Girls' Clothes. That's Going Against Your Nature.

Go To A Place Where You're Not Going To Be Stressed, Because A Honeymoon Itself Can Be A Stressful Thing.

I Have Always Been A Nomad And I Have Mastered The Art Of Packing! I Always Say: Pack Lightly, Live Lightly.

It's Like Learning To Fall Properly. If You Can Manage Not To Tighten Up You Won't Hurt Yourself As Much. The Same Theory Applies To Your Day, Physically And Emotionally. The Tensions Simply Can't Take Hold.

Just Don't Go To A Place Where Everything Is Too Expensive... It'll Put Your Husband In A Bad Mood.

You Cannot Have A Healthy Body Without Drinking A Great Deal Of Water. But Remember, You Can't Just Drink A Glass Of Water And Tell A Glass Of Water To Please Go Straight To Your Skin And Moisturize Your Complexion. Water Has To Be There All The Time, Doing What It Does Naturally In A Healthy Body.

I Was Fortunate To Become The Woman I Always Wanted To Be.

The Relationship That Counts Most In My Life Is The One I Have With Myself. I Have A Great, Great, Great Relationship With Myself, And It Gets Better And Better As I Get Older. The Other Day, I Was Talking To Barry In The Car And I Said, 'i'm So Glad I'm Me!'

The Success Of Every Single Woman Is The Inspiration For Another.

Being Attractive For A Few Hours Some Evening Is Hardly Worth Being That Unattractive All Day (in Hot Rollers). Being Yourself And Being Natural With A Man Is Wonderful, But Being Downright Unattractive With Him Is Foolish.

I Had Arranged A Birthday Party For Him And My Children, Who Are All Aquarians. Instead, We Got Married. I Ran Out Of Excuses. It Was Just Us And My Children.

When You Feel Humiliated Or Things Like That, You Either Use It As Fuel To Change Or You Get Covered By It.

What I Think I Sell With My Clothes Is Confidence, So Hopefully All My Dresses, My Accessories, Are Friends To The Women. When You Open The Closet, And Your Eyes Are Swollen, And You Don't Like The Way You Look, You Go To Your Friends.

My Son Loves The Hotel Du Cap, In The South Of France.

The Most Important Relationship In Your Life Is The Relationship You Have With Yourself. Because No Matter What Happens, You Will Always Be With Yourself.

I Really Have Fun Making Up. I Have A Good Face For Making Up, Good Bones. I Do The Shapings, Then The Eyes. Then I Put On Mascara And I Do Something Else. Then I Put On Mascara Again And Do Something Else. Then I Put On More Mascara And My Whole Face Is Completely Made Up.

Usually, The Fairy Tale Ends With The Girl Marrying The Prince. But Mine Started As Soon As The Marriage Was Over.

Use Your Brains, Your Common Sense, And Do Not Become An Object. The Way You Look Is Important, But Who You Are And How You Project It Is Eventually Who You Will Become And How You Will Appear.

In All Circumstances, I Always Look For The Light And Build Around It, With Little Memory Of Pain.

The Easier Your Hair Is To Manage The Happier You'll Be With It And The Prettier You'll Feel.

Silence, Nothing Is Better.

When A Woman Becomes Her Individual Most Effective Close Friend Existence Is Simpler.

I Gave Up On My Looks A Long Time Ago.

If You're A Little Hippy And Full-bosomed, Don't Try To Remake Yourself In The Image Of A Skinny Fashion Model. It Won't Work. You Can Trim Down Your Hips. You Should Always Concentrate On Special Movements To Keep Your Breasts Firm And Lifted And Young. Hippy And Bosomy Can Be Very Nice, Very Desirable. Accept It.

If There Is One Rule For Dressing, For Fashion, It’s Pretty Much The Same Rule As For Everything Else In Life: Don’t Go Against Yourself, Don’t Go Against Your Own Nature. It’s Only Going To Show.

The Only Way For A Relationship To Survive, I Think, Is To Have No Sex At All. After All, You Marry For Friendship, For Companionship - And Passion After A While ... Pfffft. I Mean, Does It Excite You When Your Left Hand Touches Your Right?

I Said That Mrs Obama Has Been Extremely Supportive Of American Designers, But Clearly We Were Disappointed That She Chose To Wear A British Designer For The State Dinner...from There, I Was So Embarrassed That I Am Definitely Going To Write To Her. She Has Been Super Supportive To American Designers.

You Know, There's A Thing About The Woman Across The Room. You See The Woman Across The Room, You Think, She's So Poised; She's So Together. But She Looks At You And You Are The Woman Across The Room For Her.

When A Woman Becomes Her Own Best Friend Life Is Easier.

Attitude Is Everything.

Sleep Is Easier To Make Up Than A Unique Evening.

I Was 26 When I Invented The Wrap Dress. It Was Just A Nothing Little Printed Dress Made Out An Jersey, And Before I Know It, I Lived An American Dream Making More Than 25,000 Dresses A Week.

Prepare Your Food Attractively And Serve It Nicely.

Be Proud Of Yourself. Try To Eat Well...and When You Cheat, Enjoy It!

Feel Like A Woman, Wear A Dress!

I'm Not The Only One; Most People's Mothers Are The Most Influential Person In Their Life. But My Mother Survived The Camps, And She Was Very Strong. She Made Me Strong, But She Wanted Me To Be Strong. That's More Important.

I Travel Light. I Think The Most Important Thing Is To Be In A Good Mood And Enjoy Life, Wherever You Are.

When I Was Young, I Lived Like An Old Woman, And When I Got Old, I Had To Live Like A Young Person.

It's The Woman You Should Remember, Not The Dress, Ever.

Passion And Persistence Are What Matter. Dreams Are Achievable And You Can Make Your Fantasy Come True, But There Are No Shortcuts. Nothing Happens Without Hard Work.

I Always Was Fascinated With China, Because I Was Born In Europe, And For Us, China Had This Fascination And Mystery. The First Time I Came Here Was In 1989. They Were On Bicycles, And The Speed Of The Growth Has Been Incredible.

If You Pay Attention, Everyone Is A Novel. The Most Boring Person, If You Sit Down And Really Listen, Is Someone Interesting.

The Older I Get, The More Impressed I Am With Women. I Have Yet To Meet A Woman Who Is Not Strong. They Don't Exist.

One Of My Fondest Memories Was When I Was In London As A Young, Independent Businesswoman And Stayed At Claridge's. I Knew I Had Made It. To Me, Claridge's Is The Most Glamourous Hotel In The World; I Regard It As My Home Away From Home. I Am Honoured To Become Part Of The Hotel's Legacy And Rich Design History.

I Had A Very Down-to-earth Product, My Wrap Dress, Which Was Really A Uniform. It Was Just A Simple Little Cotton-jersey Dress That Everybody Loved And Everybody Wore. That One Dress Sold About 3 Or 4 Million. I Would See 20, 30 Dresses Walking Down One Block. All Sorts Of Different Women. It Felt Very Good. Young And Old, And Fat And Thin, And Poor And Rich.

The Best-dressed Man Is An Italian Who Is Trying To Look English, Or An Englishman Who Is Trying To Look Italian.

There's Design And There's Art. Good Design Is Total Harmony. There's No Better Designer Than Nature - If You Look At A Branch Or A Leaf, It's Perfect. It's All Function. Art Is Different. It's About Emotion. It's About Suffering And Beauty - But Mostly Suffering!

When I Was A Little Girl, If I Didn't Eat My Soup, My Mother Would Say, 'you Have To Think Of All The Chinese Children Who Have Nothing To Eat.' But Now, For My Children, Chinese People Make Everything, And For My Grandchildren, They Buy Everything.

There Is Nothing More Thrilling Than Arriving In A New Place On Your Own And Feeling The Sense Of Possibility And Excitement That Brings With It.

You Don’t Seduce In The Same Way At My Age. You Seduce With Brains, With Talent. Yesterday For Lunch I Met The Most Incredible 90-year-old Woman. She Survived Auschwitz, She Was Beautiful, She Didn’t Have White Hair, She Didn’t Wear Glasses. She Was Totally Seductive. I Just Thought, Oh, My God, I Still Have Time Ahead Of Me.

Insecurity Is A Waste Of Time.

No One Should Notice How Your Eyes Are Done Or The Color Of Your Eyeshadow. They Should Just Notice You And Notice That You're Beautiful, That You Have Beautiful Eyes.

There Are Emerging Countries. I Mean, There Are Countries, You Know, China, India, And Brazil, And All Of These Countries That Are Emerging. They Are Building Homes. They Are Building - So There Is A New Lifestyle.

When You Get Into A Hotel Room, You Lock The Door, And You Know There Is A Secrecy, There Is A Luxury, There Is Fantasy. There Is Comfort. There Is Reassurance.

My Best Creation Is My Children.

Simplicity And Sexiness, That's What People Want. At A Price That's Not Outrageous.

I Was A Very Young Girl And I Got Into Fashion Very Much By Accident, Wanting To Be Independent. What Was Wonderful Was That While I Was Learning And Discovering - Learning About The Work, Discovering Myself As A Woman - I Was Allowing Other Women To Feel The Same Way.

You Don't Want To Exaggerate Any Feature Noticeably. I Think Only Truly Beautiful Women Can Exaggerate And They Usually Don't Have To.

You Can Learn A Lot From My Mistakes More Than My Success.

You Know I Have Never Met A Woman Who Is Not Strong. They Don't Exist.

Taste Is Acquired. You May Have To Unlearn A Taste For Chocolate Or Ice Cream.

The Secret Is To Enjoy Being You.

Fashion Is A Mysterious Energy, A Visual Moment-impossible To Predict Where It Goes.

Style Is About Confidence. That's The Real Beauty.

I Am A Traveler. I Am A Nomad. I Rarely Sleep In The Same Bed More Than Three Or Four Nights. And I Know Hotel Life Better Than Anyone.

That Wonderful And Terribly Frightening Journey Of Self-discovery. That Process Of Growth, Of Being An Independent Person, Of Learning Who You Are And What You Want From Life, Is The Real Secret Of Life, Happiness And Beauty.

Fashion Week Is So Important For Designers.

You're Always With Yourself, So You Might As Well Enjoy The Company.

I Wanted To Be An Independent Woman, A Woman Who Could Pay For Her Bills, A Woman Who Could Run Her Own Life - And I Became That Woman.

The Most Important Relationship Is The One You Have With Yourself.

Important Relationships

Even If Your Skin Is Perfect, Even If It's Glowing And Beautiful, Electric Lights Defeat You. They Deaden The Complexion, Make It Look Drab. They Rob You Of Color...in The Evening, You Just Can't Play The Natural Kid Bit, That Fresh-scrubbed Look.

As The President Of The Council Of Fashion Designers Of America, I Represent The Designers. And While We Can By No Means Take The Blame For Eating Disorders, We Can Play Our Part In Addressing This Important Issue.

Nature Is A Source Of Strength.

Source Of Strength

The More Independent You Want To Be, The More Generous You Must Be With Yourself As A Woman.

Animals Come From Nature. They Were Not Designed. All My Inspiration Comes From Nature, Whether It's An Animal Or The Layout Of Bark Or Of A Leaf. Sometimes My Patterns Are Very Bold, And You Can Barely See Where They Come From, But All The Textures And All The Prints Come Out Of Nature.

I've Never Met A Woman Who Is Not Strong, But Sometimes They Don't Let It Out. Then There's A Tragedy, And Then All Of A Sudden That Strength Comes. My Message Is Let The Strength Come Out Before The Tragedy.

A Challenging Economy Is Always Good For Design. It Unites Necessity And Functionality. You Are Forced To Be Creative With Poor Materials.

When You Come To A Hotel Room, You Want It To Be Grand, Functional And Beautiful. But You Don't Want Things That Are Not Useful. Sometimes You Go To Hotels And There Are All These Frames And Pictures Of People You Don't Know, And You End Up Hiding Everything In The Drawer, And Then Housekeeping Come And Put It Out Again.

I Think All Races Are Represented In America Much More Than In Many Other Places, But It's Also Nice To Remind People About That Ethnic Mix. I Would Like To See More Black Models And Women From Different Ethnic Backgrounds, But I Also Think That When You Are Casting, You Just Choose The Most Beautiful Girl You Can Find.

If You Like Trekking, Go To The Himalayas Or Peru. I Love Those Kinds Of Trips. But It All Depends On Your Own Life And What You Like And What You Expect.

If You're Trying To Lose Weight, You Just Have To Eat Less. I Mean That.

Today Designer Alexander Mcqueen Passed Away...his Talent Was Immense And He Will Remain Immortal In The History Of Fashion.

I've Always Liked Wrinkles. When I Was A Young Girl, I Used To Make Lines On My Face With My Nails Because I Loved Jeanne Moreau. I Always Wanted To Be Older; I Always Added Years To My Life. For The Longest Time, If People Thought I Was Older I Would Take It As A Compliment.

We All Have A Wonder Woman Inside Us.

It's Very Often True That Some Women Look Better Without Makeup, But That's Only During The Day.

I Can Honestly Say That I Understand Women Very Well. If You Understand Yourself, You Understand Women, Because, In The End, All Women Are The Same.

I Get Ideas About What's Essential When Packing My Suitcase.

I Always Wanted To Be A Femme Fatale. Even When I Was A Young Girl, I Never Really Wanted To Be A Girl. I Wanted To Be A Woman.

I Travel In So Many Different Ways; I Travel High, I Rough It... It All Depends On Who I Travel With.

New York Seemed As Young As I Was And Infinitely Hospitable.

Don't Talk About Your Diet. It's Just Boring, And The Last Thing You Need When Dieting Is To Be Considered Boring.

I Wanted To Be A Certain Kind Of Woman. I Became That Kind Of Woman.

In Sardinia One Summer My Best Friend Marisa Berenson And I Ironed Each Other's Hair. We Used A Hot Laundry Iron And Took Turns Putting Our Hair On The Ironing Board, Literally Ironing It. That's A Recipe For Straightening That May Be Highly Successful, But Is Definitely Not Recommended.

The Secret To A Great Marriage Is Having A Great Husband.

I Don't Like To Talk About My Dreams. I Like To Make Them Happen. I Prefer To Talk About Them When They're Done.

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