The Emperor's New Clothes.

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” is the title of a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, first published in Danish in 1837 as part of his early collections of “Eventyr, fortalte for Børn” (“Fairy Tales, Told for Children”). The story draws on older folktale motifs (notably a Spanish tale tradition) but Andersen reshaped it into a pointed social satire. In the narrative, swindlers convince a vain emperor that they can weave magnificent clothes invisible to anyone unfit for office or “stupid.” Courtiers and officials, fearing exposure, pretend to see the nonexistent garments until a child blurts out the truth during a public procession.

As a “quote,” the phrase functions as a shorthand allusion: it invokes the tale’s central lesson about collective self-deception and the social pressures that sustain it. The emperor’s vanity and the courtiers’ careerism create a system where admitting the obvious becomes risky, so falsehood is rewarded and truth is punished. The child’s plain statement represents uncorrupted perception and the courage (or innocence) to speak without calculating status. In modern usage, calling something “the emperor’s new clothes” criticizes hollow prestige—ideas, leaders, or fashions treated as profound or valuable mainly because others pretend they are.

“The Emperor’s New Clothes”; “The Emperor’s New Suit”; “The Emperor’s New Clothes” (also seen without the apostrophe in “Emperors New Clothes”).