Quote Of The Day By Oscar De La Renta: 'Being Well Dressed Hasn't Much To Do With...'

Oscar de la Renta was one of the most prominent designers in the world. Until his passing in 2014, de la Renta served as a leading voice in women's fashion. With a legacy that spans Hollywood stars, American first ladies, and a high-end style empire, de la Renta became one of our most beloved designers. Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1932 to a middle-class family, de la Renta moved to Spain at age 19 to study painting after his mother's passing. He served as an apprentice under Cristobal Balenciaga, worked for Lanvin-Castillo in Paris (after turning down a position at Dior), and finally moved to New York around 1963 to join Elizabeth Adren. A couple years later, de la Renta took over the Jane Derby label to create his own brand. 

With his background in the visual arts, de la Renta cultivated an unabashedly feminine yet wholeheartedly modern energy through all of his designs, which distinguished him from his contemporaries. de la Renta dressed first ladies Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton, creating close friendships with the two women, as well as stars like Amy Adams, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Amal Clooney. He was awarded multiple Coty Awards for his contributions to the fashion industry — being inducted into the Coty Hall of Fame in 1973 — and received a lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1989. Oscar de la Renta's lifelong commitment to good taste makes him the perfect courier for our quote of the day. 

While the exact context of Oscar de la Renta's most famous quote has been lost to time, the designer is widely known to have once said, "Being well dressed hasn't much to do with having good clothes. It's a question of good balance and good common sense" (via The New York Times). Of all of de la Renta's words of wisdom, this particular phrase has emerged as a guiding philosophy for the most fashion-forward among us. Having access to "good" clothes — i.e. high-quality, expensive, or otherwise — doesn't mean that you have the taste necessary to put together a stylish outfit.

Oscar de la Renta's iconic saying harkens back to another entry in Glam's Quote of the Day series, this one by Iris Apfel: "Fashion you can buy, but style you possess." Like Apfel, de la Renta believed that being stylish doesn't require buying into the latest fashion trends. Creating a good outfit, in his eyes, is more dependent on understanding what works together in the artistic sense — "good balance" in every aspect of the look. Additionally, de la Renta acknowledged that, for some, having good enough taste to put together a stylish ensemble is something that resembles "common sense." Style is not a learned skill so much as it is a practiced one. With time and a basic understanding of form and balance, one can dress well consistently.

In the early days of de la Renta's career, the designer grew to prominence in large part because of attention to detail and understanding of what silhouettes flattered different women — which his earliest clients adored. Given that, it's clear why de la Renta would develop a style philosophy that is reliant on an artist's sensibility. While de la Renta's garments were (of course) considered "good clothes," it was his discerning eye and high level of taste that made his designs evergreen. Today, it can be difficult to ignore popular trends in favor of developing an individual sense of style. However, if you apply de la Renta's words to your wardrobe (i.e. focusing on what works well for your body rather than spending money on designer items), you can establish a strong basis for your personal, curated aesthetic.

• "Walk like you have three men walking behind you."
• "Fashion is about dressing according to what's fashionable. Style is more about being yourself."
• "The great thing about fashion is that it always moves forward."
• "I am not interested in shock tactics. I just want to make beautiful clothes."
• "We live in an era of globalization and the era of the woman. Never in the history of the world have women been more in control of their destiny."
• "I'm a very restless person. I'm always doing something. The creative process never stops."