Mary Quant
Mary Quant
Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, DBE, FCSD, RDIis a Welsh fashion designer and British fashion icon...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionFashion Designer
Date of Birth11 February 1934
school
I used to start re-arranging my school uniform, hitching up my skirt to be more exciting-looking.
appeared unlike
One day, a new fabric appeared on the scene. PVC was shiny, waterproof, and unlike anything I'd ever seen before.
good people
People call things 'vulgar' when they are new to them. When they have become old, they become 'good taste.'
high sixties spirits
Most of my memories of the Sixties are ones of optimism, high spirits and confidence.
market people public survey
In America, they never make anything without first having a market survey to ask the public what they want. People only ask for things they already know about, so you don't get anything new that way. That's why American fashion is stuck.
ended gardens hoping life people returned revert ten war
Let me give you an idea of Fifties Britain. The war had ended ten years before, and most people had returned to their gardens and allotments hoping life would revert to how it was before the hostilities.
compete fashion knowing life looks outside people react tool
Fashion is a tool . . . to compete in life outside the home. People like you better, without knowing why, because people always react well to a person they like the looks of.
cream gave good watched
I'm greedy, but I've always watched what I eat because I want to look good. I gave up butter, cream and sugar years ago.
complete design
One thing I longed to do was to design a complete look, from head to toe, so I started a make-up line in 1966.
jean left men models walk walking
Jean Shrimpton was the most beautiful of all the models I have known. To walk down the King's Road, Chelsea, with Shrimpton was like walking through the rye. Strong men just keeled over right and left as she strode up the street.
developed loved
I've always loved painting and drawing. I wish I'd developed it more and exhibited.
aunt catch cook holidays nearly spend
As a child, I used to spend nearly all my summer holidays with my aunt in Wales, and we used to catch mackerel in a boat and then cook them on board.
teachers
As the daughter of two teachers with first-class degrees, I'd always seen myself as a duffer by comparison.
eating la outdoors particular passion
Eating outdoors is a particular passion - that is, eating trestle-table a la nicoise.