Isabel Wolff > Quotes

“What I really love about them... is the fact that they contain someone's personal history...I find myself wondering about their lives. I can never look at a garment... without thinking about the woman who owned it. How old was she? Did she work? Was she married? Was she happy?... I look at these exquisite shoes, and I imagine the woman who owned them rising out of them or kissing someone...I look at a little hat like this, I lift up the veil, and I try to imagine the face beneath it... When you buy a piece of vintage clothing you're not just buying the fabric and thread - you're buying a piece of someone's past.”
― Isabel Wolff, A Vintage Affair

“Lines don’t make beautiful women less beautiful”
― Isabel Wolff, A Vintage Affair

“I've no idea when I'm going to wear it, the girl replied calmly. I only knew that I had to have it. Once I tried it on, well... She shrugged. The dress claimed me.”
― Isabel Wolff, A Vintage Affair

“There are some people who say they’re able to ‘compartmentalize’ things, as though it is possible to put negative or distressing thoughts into neat mental drawers to be taken out only at a psychologically convenient time. It’s a beguiling idea, but I’ve never bought it. In my experience, sadness and regret seek into one’s consciousness willy-nilly, or they suddenly leap out at you with a snarl. The only real remedy is time…”
― Isabel Wolff, A Vintage Affair

“How wonderful it must be, to be unable to remember things that once caused us distress. Yet we should embrace all our memories, whether joyful or painful. They're all we ever really own in this life.”
― Isabel Wolff, Ghostwritten

“To the celestial Rose, who drew me into her lovely orbit. With love and gratitude, Theo.”
― Isabel Wolff, Rescuing Rose

“Doy a estas prendas una nueva oportunidad de vivir. Y me encanta saber que soy capaz de recuperarlas -proseguí-, porque hay demasiadas cosas en la vida que no se pueden recuperar.”
― Isabel Wolff, A Vintage Affair