Celebrate the idea that you don't fit in. Find your own fit. Stay unique.
Betsey Johnson
Real success is being totally indulgent about your own trip. You put your blinders on about the garbage and go full speed ahead.
Hard times always lead to something great.
I realized that my strength was being different.
You have to hold onto your fantasy.
Accessories design is one of the most creative categories. It's like cooking, like decorating, because it involves the person. They have to choose, and they have to figure out how to wear it and to mix it based on their style.
If I could choose to have one superpower, I would want to be able to make everyone love everyone!
I've always been a little off, but it's worked really well for me, and it still works. After so many years, you have a look, you become a brand, la la la.
I'm not the type of person who dwells too much on bad things.
If a girl comes to me first for a prom or a bar mitzvah and she likes the way she looks and her boyfriend likes the way she looks, she'll come back.
A good use for me is to let me go away with my sewing machine and come back with some really new stuff.
Just to see what a pink dress can mean to a woman, any woman, but a disabled woman, that's extra special and thrilling because they shouldn't be separated and their disabilities don't have to separate them in anyway.
I used to design for my body, which was flat-chested with big hips. That's why my clothes were tight on top with full skirts.
I hate to say it, but the truth is that the upscale line is where I get respect as a designer. The higher the price range, the higher the respect level from the industry, even though it's much easier to make a great $500 dress than a great $100 dress.
With over 3 million women battling breast cancer today, everywhere you turn there is a mother, daughter, sister, or friend who has been affected by breast cancer.
I don't like to have time on my wall; it's too-in-your-face.
If I hadn't decided to be a fashion designer, I would have loved to be a Broadway showgirl or a Rockette!
I just did what I loved - flowers and rock n' roll. Pretty and punk. I was largely inspired by my dancing school classes and costumes.
I remember in 2004, I had three gorgeous transgender models on the runway. That was my strength, in a way. That I did what I thought was gonna work, and I never paid attention to the industry's rules.
I never studied fashion design.
In the 60's there was a look. In the 70's there was a look, and in the 80's. Now, it's a free-for-all.
I've always been very into interior design, and I can't stand to have anything in my apartment that I don't aesthetically love.
I was always dancing and acrobatics was my specialty.
There is an excitement about having nightmares.
I couldn't live if I wasn't a designer.
I would've been a really good costume designer because, basically, my clothes were like costumes, and I wanted to be a dancer, so there's all of that tulle and color.
If it hadn't been for the rise of the working woman's wardrobe, I never would have found the time to sneak a kid in.
My favorite era was the '60s because it was filled with incredible creative newness, from panty hose to landing on the moon to Twiggy and Andy Warhol - I loved them, and they loved to wear my silver clothes.
I was a cheerleader for nine years!
My customer isn't wrapped up in labels and money.
It's just been so heartwarming to see my clothes on people in wheelchairs and people needing physical support.
I love New York. You want to find out if you're any good? Try New York. Who sang that? Frank Sinatra? If you make it here, you can make it anywhere.
I can't wear a little makeup. I have to wear a lot of makeup or no makeup.
In the '60s, I'd wear three pairs of eyelashes. Now they make them that thick, but back then they didn't, so you had to kind of build your own.
As long as I look good, I'm very happy - and as long as I look consistently me.
I just feel the traditional runway format is old-fashioned.
Oh, I love the kids more than any other age group. I hate to say that, but new life is with new kids, you know? They're the future. The sheer fact that they're young and eager, that's what makes them rule.
It is a special, weird thing being a cheerleader. You need to want to yell and perform, dance, and wear a cute little costume. It's a thing you're kind of born with or without.
I never wanted to be on a pedestal.
I just get makeup from wherever I can. From Maybelline to Chanel - you know, all over the place.
I don't feel comfortable without my makeup on. I've got to have my lipstick! I just don't feel like the same person, and I don't like the way I look without makeup.
My makeup hasn't really changed since the 1960s!
My prom dress was very sweet, very puffy, but I also wore little stiletto, pointed-toe heels, nylon hosiery, the whole nine yards.
My favorite song will always be 'Layla' by Derek and the Dominos, because my granddaughter was named after it.
