"I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men."

Fashion

Create & Download Quote Graphic

Customize Image

1. Canvas Aspect Ratio

2. Palette Theme

Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Fashion as articulated by Marlene Dietrich. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Fashion provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

Explore all Fashion quotes → Browse all wisdom by Marlene Dietrich →

About Marlene Dietrich

Marie Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich was a German and American actress and singer whose career spanned nearly seven decades. In 1920s Berlin, she performed on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as Lola Lola in Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel (1930) brought her international acclaim and a contract with Paramount Pictures. Dietrich starred in many Hollywood films, including six roles directed by Sternberg: Morocco (1930), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress (1934), and The Devil Is a Woman (1935). Throughout World War II, she was a high-profile entertainer in the United States. Although she delivered notable performances in several post-war films, including Billy Wilder's A Foreign Affair (1948), Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright (1950), Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Orson Welles's Touch of Evil (1958), and Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), she spent most of the 1950s to the 1970s touring the world as a marquee live-show performer.

View all quotes by Marlene Dietrich →
Editorial Integrity: Curated and fact-checked under our Editorial Standards to eliminate misattributions and preserve historical authenticity.
Learn about our methodology →

More by Marlene Dietrich

"When you're dead, you're dead. That's it."

— Marlene Dietrich
Read more →

"Latins are tenderly enthusiastic. In Brazil they throw flowers at you. In Argentina they throw themselves."

— Marlene Dietrich
Read more →

"I am at heart a gentleman."

— Marlene Dietrich
Read more →

"There's something about an American soldier you can't explain. They're so grateful for anything, even a film actress coming to see them."

— Marlene Dietrich
Read more →

More about Fashion

"Chris Hemsworth is like Christopher Reeve in that he can do two things: he can wear a big red cape without a shred of self-consciousness. But he's also funny as hell, and he's so sweet. So with all the fish-out-of-water stuff, he's so funny. So he does almost two jobs in a way."

— Tom Hiddleston
Read more →

"I'm not really a fashion designer. I just love clothes. I've never been to design school. I can't sketch. I can't cut patterns and things. I can shorten things. I can make a dress out of a scarf."

— Kate Moss
Read more →

"It's like, what happened, I was always leading fashion, and then the grunge thing kind of came along. And because I've been so on top in the '80s you know, I, you know, what can I do? Suddenly go grunge?"

— Billy Idol
Read more →

"Only men who are not interested in women are interested in women's clothes. Men who like women never notice what they wear."

— Anatole France
Read more →
Browse all Fashion quotes →