Lookbooks

Today I dashed down to FIT at the ungodly hour of 10:30am to hear the inimitable Daphne Guinness speak to Dr. Valerie Steele about her style metamorphosis and how her exhibit came to be. Instead of rattling on about my thoughts on the whole thing, here are the most amusing and interesting quotes that came forth from our favorite haunting Bird of Paradise.

“In order for something to mean something you have to part with things you really love. It doesn’t take much effort to ditch a pair of naff old boots now does it?”  -On a pair of boots she donated to a charity, which FIT purchased.

“Valentino is a nice man and a very gentle soul. What's wonderful about him is that when you talk to him about art his eyes light up! And I really get that.” -On her good friend, Valentino.

“I've been wearing motorcycle rings since I was 16 then I began wearing crisp white shirts- And all of a sudden Karl Lagerfeld and I started morphing into each other.” -On how she and Lagerfeld dress in similar fashions. But which came first?

“Before my wedding I got 2 feet cut off my hair and I was so mad because they gave me this huge horrid hair. But it was the 80s so it doesn't really matter does it?”- On her wedding to Stavros Niarchos.

“The dandy aspect of my of my dress stems from my love of literature - Wilde, Proust and Gide. It is also since I didn't get to go to Eaton! Also, the way a jacket is constructed is very geometric and I like to adjust things a very small amount so I work very closely with the tailor. I like the idea of being a bit androgynous.” –On the Dandy section of the exhibition at FIT.

“It was really hard to get gold chain male made! It took five years!” –On working with Shaun Leane on her chain mail glove.

“A cat suit is so great to wear for a shoot because you can get into any position and they just don't tear!” –Need we say more?