A Quote by Andre Leon Talley

Valentino made my day suit for the wedding of Paloma Picasso in Paris. — © Andre Leon Talley
Valentino made my day suit for the wedding of Paloma Picasso in Paris.
Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted Valentino to design my wedding dress. Valentino is the definition of timeless elegance. I don't think there's another couture house like it.
When Picasso painted in Paris, was he a Spanish or a French painter? It does not matter, he was Picasso, whatever the influences surrounding him. He simply chose Paris because it was the ideal place for him to sell his creation.
A German officer visited Picasso in his Paris studio during the Second World War. There he saw Guernica and, shocked at the modernist «chaos» of the painting, asked Picasso: «Did you do this?» Picasso calmly replied: «No, you did this!»
The first suit I enjoyed was a Dior suit that I got given. I've never worn anything that fitted that closely - it was akin to 'Oh my God, I had no idea that a suit didn't have to be this wide.' But I do intend to get one made some day.
Everything I was being shown was ABT, so I grew up watching these videos of [Mikhail] Baryshnikov, Gelsey [Kirkland] and Paloma [Herrera]. Paloma and Angel [Corella] were the first people I ever saw dance live.
I've never crashed a wedding. When I was a kid I, of course, used to crash parties. Crashing a wedding is difficult though because you have to have the suit, and you have to have information in case someone catches you. You have to know at least some names and something.
The day of my wedding, I got a FedEx in the mail. It was my termination papers. I was fired... on my wedding day.
Having made all the decisions, I think a wedding day is a day when you want to forget what you are wearing and be in the moment.
I remember one day when Juan Gris told me about a bunch of grapes he had seen in a painting by Picasso. The next day these grapes appeared in a painting by Gris, this time in a bowl; and the day after, the bowl appeared in a painting by Picasso.
I always dreamed of working in Paris, of going to the Coupole and slapping Picasso or Giacometti on the shoulder.
I started very young to model in Paris when I was 18, I remember like starving myself to fit into the clothes and it was an amazing experience but you know I did shows for Valentino, Chanel, so it was really prestigious.
I sort of had that fantasy of being one of the muses of Paris and hanging out with Toulouse Lautrec and Picasso.
Picasso's always been such a huge influence that I thought when I started the cartoon paintings that I was getting away from Picasso, and even my cartoons of Picasso were done almost to rid myself of his influence.
I like the way I look in a suit, and I wish I owned more. Actually, I wish I owned suits that fit me, I should say. You can buy off the rack and think, 'Oh, this is perfect.' But then you get a tailor-made suit for you, and it's a whole different animal. You don't just look good in a suit, you feel good in a suit.
Ralph Lauren and Valentino have a lot of common. Ralph Lauren was one of the first really to put himself at the center of the story, and Valentino was even earlier.
I have never been a major fashionista, but I love a suit, and I did have one made for me by the tailor Stephen Williams. The great thing about a bespoke suit is that it covers up my pot belly. When I buy a suit, I'll pick shoes, belt, tie, shirt and socks, and that will be what I always wear with it.
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