Quotes from Tom Ford

In fashion as in life, the right thing at the right time is the right thing. The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.

It's really about putting that sort of quality and beauty back into our life.

We have the Terminator as governor, and we had an actor as president, so why shouldn't we have a fashion designer as a senator?

I am actually extremely casual in certain environments. But one of the reasons I like living in London, I like the formality of it, as compared to the formality of America - or informality. I like putting on a suit. I like putting on a tie.

Fashion is harder than the film industry. You have to constantly be able to crank out hit after hit after hit on demand and on a very tight calendar. I've come back, I've lost it, I've come back again. It's really as good as your last collection.

I am a perfectionist. This job is a total ego thing in a way. To be a designer and say, 'This is the way they should dress; this is the way their homes should look; this is the way the world should be.' But then, that's the goal: world domination through style.

I am a spiritual person in an eastern religion kind of way. I learned that happiness for all of us is a switch that you flick in your brain. It doesn't have anything to do with getting a new house, a new car, a new girlfriend, or a new pair of shoes. Our culture is very much about that; we are never happy with what we have today.

I'm a pretty calm person. That came from living in Italy for a long time. Nothing works, nothing is on time. You have to learn to deal with it.

I don't do shows. I don't have reviews. I'm not putting the clothes on every celebrity so that by the time they reach the store the customers are sick of seeing them.

While fashion is exciting because it changes all the time, it is also fleeting. Film, though, is forever. In a way therefore, film is the ultimate design project.

Part of fashion is newness. It's got to be a new combination of elements that's shocking-stunning-beautiful all at the same time. But it doesn't have any emotion.

One of my favorite teams of all time is Fran and Barry. I just thought Fran and Barry last season were just incredible and they just sort of went against all odds and were very successful.

It's like everything in your life is wonderful, but you have so much wonderful - this is all going to sound horrible - but when you have so much wonderful, it isn't wonderful because you don't actually have time to enjoy it.

A man should never wear shorts in the city. Flip-flops and shorts in the city are never appropriate. Shorts should only be worn on the tennis court or on the beach.

I am totally fearless! Well, of course, I'm not totally fearless. I worry constantly and obsess over things, but I just don't let fear stand in the way of doing something that I really want to do.

I understand that I have a certain look that can be used to my advantage. I know the power of that when I walk into a room and talk to people, and I can use it as an advertising tool. Now I am actually selling me, my face, my thoughts. So I am my guy.

A lot of people think a high armhole is restrictive, but it gives you total movement because it's cut right up to your arm.

When the youth of America gets together, amazing things happen.

You have to love what you do to the point that you can't imagine doing anything else with your life.

The seventies is what I love. Soft, touchable beauty is what I love.

The idea of losing someone that you love could throw you into a situation where you could not see your future and you really would be living in the past.

If I'm sending emails, and I get all wound up and stressed and don't know what to do with myself for 20 minutes, I just go soak in hot water and lie there, thinking, 'What should I do?' So it's meditative.

Fashion is everything. Art, music, furniture design, graphic design, hair, makeup, architecture, the way cars look - all those things go together to make a moment in time, and that's what excites me.

I love black dresses. I think everyone should own a lot, but black dresses don't sell online because on the computer they don't read like anything.