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Portrait of Iris Apfel

Iris Apfel

(1921–2024) Interior Designer

171 quotes in 663 categories

Iris Apfel treats dressing up as a playful, creative experiment, saying that accessories are the key to personal style. She encourages embracing difference, notes that what you wear can tell a story about who you are, and shares a simple gratitude for each new day.

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Iris Apfel was an interior designer, best known for Rare bird of fashion.

Quick Facts About Iris Apfel

Born: August 29, 1921
Died: March 1, 2024
Profession: Interior Designer
Notable works: Rare bird of fashion

About Iris Apfel

She retired and in 2005 she held a popular show at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she displayed her costume jewelry and dressed mannequins as she would wear the outfits. A 2014 documentary titled Iris by Albert Maysles focused on her life. Throughout her career she was celebrated for her bold fashion choices and her partnership with Carl in the textile business.

Quotes by Iris Apfel

More is more and less is a bore.

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Colour can raise the dead.

Colour

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The world is always full of promise.

Inspirational

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I just roll with the punches.

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I like to improvise.

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Never be afraid to stop traffic.

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I call myself a geriatric starlet.

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I'm making a lot of noise as I walk.

Inspirational

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I get very involved with my things, and they are not standard equipment.

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I was in art school since I was five years old. I've always been to art school.

Art

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Coco Chanel said take one thing off. I always said put another one on.

Coco

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Sometimes I think fashion is going to hell.

Fashion

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Jewelry is the most transformative thing you can wear.

Funny

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It's more important to be happy than well-dressed.

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I just mix and put things together the way the spirit moves me.

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Given the choice, I would spend my money on accessories.

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You're not pretty, and you'll never be pretty. But, it doesn't matter. You have something much better. You have style.

Fashion

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I never just went to look for clothes and style; I always find that wherever I go.

Clothes

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I love a nice hot pink. I like thick lipstick, otherwise it doesn't look like you're wearing any.

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I see myself as the world's oldest living teenager... I try to get as much kick out of things as possible.

Kicks

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Society should emphasize personality. Accomplishment. Interest. Intelligent things. I think everybody should look as good as possible too.

Accomplishment

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I don’t expect to find inspiration. It just sort of comes. Sometimes you step on a bug and you get inspired.

Bugs

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I love high-end designers, but a head-to-toe designer look for me is extremely boring. I've always mixed it up.

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Being well-dressed is a wonderful thing, but I don't think it should be life threatening.

Being

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The woman should learn who she is and what she looks like and try to find the best points of dress accordingly.…

Fashion

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My mother worshipped at the alter of accessories and I got the bug. She always said, if you have a good, little,…

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I'm a practical person. Most fashion people live in the clouds, and they're full of it. I live like a human being…

Common sense

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Caviar used to be my drug of choice, but since my husband is on a no-salt diet, I've kind of given it…

Caviar

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I'd rather go to a flea market than just about anything. It's the process I like - the same with getting dressed.…

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Just because you get to a certain number doesn't mean you have to roll up into a ball and wait for the…

Age

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Technologically, I live in the 17th century; I don't have a computer, I don't have any of that stuff. I don't look…

Computers

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People with a lot of money don't dress as well as people who have to make do, who have to be inventive.…

Dress

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Our culture puts a lot of pressure on the idea that a woman's self-worth is defined by her looks. It's just awful.…

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I never felt pretty. I don't feel pretty now. I'm not a pretty person. I don't like pretty. So I don't feel…

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I do have a dominant shopping gene but, unlike a reasonable person, I never plan for what I need each season. I…

Adventure

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I’m a hopeless romantic. I buy things because I fall in love with them. I never buy anything just because it’s valuable.…

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I've found that when I was young, all the pretty girls at school got all the dates and went to all the…

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I don’t care what people think…I learned a long time ago…I was 19 and had a very traumatic experience….and I learned that…

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I don't happen to approve of plastic surgery. I think God put plastic surgeons on this earth for good reasons - people…

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If you can't be pretty, you have to learn to make yourself attractive. I found that all the pretty girls I went…

Age

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Iris Apfel by topic

Fashion (58) Thinking (30) People (29) Inspirational (21) Style (17) Love (17) Life (15) Time (13)