Tadashi Shoji quotes:

Anyone can wear my dresses. They will look good on any figure, no matter what shape you are. I want to celebrate a woman's inner strength, to inspire real women and make them feel confident and beautiful.

It's a Japanese way of thinking, that I give value for my merchandise. So I don't want to sell unnecessarily expensive dresses and make just 10 or 20 and then feel satisfied. I want to design for real women who can afford my dresses.

I design to make women feel confident and beautiful.

Using a forecasting company is like going to a fortune-teller. If you believe the company and the color does not sell, who do you blame? The forecasters? No, you blame yourself.

There's almost a T-shirt feeling to wearing my evening dresses.

Time flies so quick. I remember my second year in business when Bullocks Wilshire did a whole window of my white dresses. I was so excited, I went there at night and took pictures.

As I get older, I find that wearing bright colors cheers me up.

I am not really brand-conscious; I pick out clothes that appeal to me regardless of the label, but I consider my style very American.

I do not discriminate about size. I design dresses to accentuate a woman's positives, whether you are a size 0 or a size 3X.

So many designers only sketch and leave pattern-making to others. Pattern-making is important so you know the structure. Then if someone tells me, 'I can't make a pattern from that sketch,' I can tell them, 'I will make it' and then they are quiet. If I can't make it, I don't design it.

Don't wear dresses that are too tight. A size number is just a number. If the fit is comfortable, it will look more elegant.

My brother told me he was very proud of me, of the business I have built, and that gives me joy.

Dont wear dresses that are too tight. A size number is just a number. If the fit is comfortable, it will look more elegant.

So, in the tulip, we have a flower of beauty and grace of charm, refinement and distinction. It is a powerful flower and it knows it