Top 55 Dawn OPorter Quotes

So many designers now look to the past for their inspiration when creating new looks, but if you get one from the past, it won’t go out of fashion.

If you can’t afford the prices at one store, go to a store you can afford. There are plenty of options for all budgets in the vintage world.

Delicate fabrics should not be ironed. But if you don’t have a steamer, next time you take a hot shower hang the item in the bathroom with you. The steam from the shower will help get the creases out.

When I wrote ‘Goose’ I gave my assistant my password, she locked me out of Twitter, and I wrote the book in five weeks. Sometimes I fantasise about how wonderful life would be if I went offline, but I can’t – because I really need affection and adoration from strangers!

Couture is also a term used for top-of-the-range, to-order clothing – but not to the level of intricacy and expense as haute couture. And without the ‘haute’, the word ‘couture’ itself isn’t protected.

Wiggle dresses today are certainly around, but variations have been made to make them more practical. A genuine wiggle really does make walking a challenge, so often you find them with a vent in the back so you can at least move your legs, or cut more like a pencil skirt.

I love the charm of fashion from the past, I love how the clothes were revolutionary and how they changed the way that women lived their lives.

How lovely for a woman to feel her husband fancies the pants off her.

I recently discovered that Karl Lagerfeld sketches every single design in the Chanel collections. This made me so happy. I know it seems obvious, that the head of a fashion house such as Chanel would do this, but it isn’t always the way.

Selecting what gets sold in smaller shops and online is a long and artful process, it takes precision and care. The people who stock the successful vintage shops are great buyers, and you pay for their skill as well as the quality level at which they sell their clothes.

I hold Twitter completely responsible for why I always just make deadlines. But at the same time, as someone who spends most of my working time alone, I couldn’t live without it.

There are many wonderful things about 80s trends. The clothes were emulating what was going on in society at the time, women were elbowing their way into the work place, earning big cash and being boss.

The vast diversity of looks from the 80s are why we mustn’t ignore it completely, there is plenty to build a modern and relevant wardrobe around, and I am enthusiastically kicking my leg warmers in the air in its defence.

I guess I want men to understand how hard it is to be a woman.

I was very ready to be a mum, so was ready for the challenge.

Working in the shop has taught me how utterly ridiculous the female fear of knees is. It’s a bloody knee. It’s bone. We can’t control our knees, our knees are not our fault. We cannot let this continue, we have to abandon this ridiculous new obsession and set the knee free.

It’s really important for women in the public eye to be open – these pop stars who don’t look, behave, speak like real women – that’s not fair on women. Being real, honest, authentic – too many women in the public eye are afraid to be authentic because they are afraid they will be judged.

There are two things that I really love; vintage clothing and books. Mash the two together and I pretty much peak on personal joy levels.

I couldn’t keep up with trends, I couldn’t really be fashionable. But I really loved clothes. And then I discovered a vintage shop, and realised that I could dress for myself rather than for an industry or trend.

I’ve never really spent money on or known how to wear coats, so I’ll ruin outfits by putting a coat on.

Got a zip that is catching and not running smoothly? It often happens with old metal zips but it doesn’t always mean you should change it. Try running a candle along the teeth.

But as the years have gone by, I’ve got such a thrill out of shopping for other people. Every time someone tells me they have purchased something, I feel so happy.

Cooking and writing were my two forms of personal therapy and when I was doing over one or the other, I was in control of my day.

I have an odd relationship with motherhood. I’ve never had that relationship of this unconditional friendship, deep bond that you have with somebody, but I have it now with my son.

When you lose your parents when you’re a kid, you kind of get this freedom and sense of independence way younger. And obviously I wish my mum had never died but I like the way my life turned out because of who that turned me into.

I love the life in LA, it really suits this point in time, but London is home. I feel like I’m lucky that I get to have a bit of both, so rather than have to choose life just works out where I have to be in one place.

Women of the 60s revolutionised fashion for us. They took the hem lines up so we could feel young, and free, and do things like run for a bus.

A lot of sites offer free postage over a certain amount and are pretty cool with you sending stuff back, if you do it within a particular time frame. However, occasionally some sites don’t accept returns on vintage items, so make sure you know that before you spend your cash.

When I feel down I put on my most bonkers vintage dress and it always cheers me up. The way we dress is an expression of who we are, and I use clothes to let people know that I don’t care about fitting in.

I do think a lot of brands shy away from politics, and that’s a shame. I want BOB to be political, despite us being a small independent company.

When I read my own diary, a lot of those feelings came flooding back, such as the idea that the first boy you fall in love with will be your last. You can never imagine that you could ever love anyone else and that they’re just the one.

I have ended up with quite a conventional marriage and family. But I still hold on to my younger self who didn’t know if that’s what I wanted to do or not.

I’ll admit, my fascination with Lesley Hornby is entirely about her looks. I don’t feel unfeminist saying that, because she was a professional model at a moment in history that I am mildly obsessed with.

I have literally wanted a vintage business for as long as I can remember, but I am glad I waited. I’ve learned so much over the past ten years. So much about quality, shape and how to spot what truly is vintage and what isn’t.

We didn’t ask for our wombs and ovaries, and this presumption that we have to use them because otherwise it’s a waste, otherwise we’re not emotional or not sensitive in some way, it’s a really cruel diagnosis of a woman’s character.

I love designers sketches, they’re like poetry. A vision of an idea intended to make someone feel wonderful.

I thought we were getting more liberal as a society, more inclusive and I’m gutted racism has come back stronger with Brexit, devastated and I feel Brexit promotes a racist attitude.

I treat writing like a nine to five job.

Unfortunately here in the UK we have got into the habit of being nasty about people in the public eye. It’s all so vicious. In the States they are happy to just say people are great or that they look nice.

At school, I had academia shoved in my face, but it was just stunting my creative development.

I’d love to whip back to the 20s for thirty minutes, just to have a look.

They are wild animals that live in your house – that’s the only way to describe a toddler.

It really is the very top of the fashion world; nothing comes above haute couture. But not any old designer can create something magical and call it haute couture; the term is strictly protected for a very special few.

I think Brits are more confident probably, and don’t rely on self help in the way a lot of Americans do. But we’ve certainly got our share of hang ups.

The older I get, the less I care, but when I was a teenager and throughout my 20s being liked was very important – exhaustingly so.

I’ve always had this ‘carve out your own existence’ attitude and I’m always encouraging other people to do this, if they can. Of course not everyone has the choice. I’ve been lucky.

I still love chips. Chips are still my favourite potato dish. I struggle not to have chips every day.

I think that’s what vintage offers people – there’s no point in trying to follow fashion if you’re trying to do vintage.

I’m not sure what came first, the hemline or the Charleston, but skirts needed to go up so the gals could kick their legs out.

When you’re writing in first person you have to be honest about how people think.

Some might say the mini skirt is a whimsical piece of clothing, worn only by good time gals who just want to have fun. Well, the latter might be correct, but whimsical? Never! The mini skirts positioning in fashion history is highly significant.

I think the fact that all women get branded as the same, desperate for love, desperate for children, is just a really unmodern attitude.

I love winter fashion like woolly coats, hats and boots and being cosy by the fire. Autumn and early spring walks in the park are lovely, but rainy walks with our dog Potato every morning are just too much.

One thing you have to accept with vintage clothing is that is has very probably been worn before and will, by nature, be quite old. So small signs of wear and tear are normal, and that’s just the way it goes.