Quote #0
Lots of people have terrible taste and make a damn good living off of it.
Diana Vreeland
About This Quote
In a recollection published in her 1980 book “Allure” (with Christopher Hemphill), Vreeland describes responding to a young journalist in Boston who suggested that being well-dressed was viewed there as bad taste. Vreeland rejects the premise and argues that anxiety about “good taste” is misplaced, noting that people can profit even with poor taste.
Interpretation
The remark dismisses the idea that “good taste” is a reliable moral or practical guide. Vreeland is saying that taste is subjective and that commercial success often comes from catering to mass preferences, even when elites would label those preferences as tasteless.
Extended Quotation
“But why do you worry about good taste? … That’s part of the problem—the worry, the eternal worry. Lots of people have terrible taste, you know, and make a damn good living off of it.”
Variations
“Why do you worry about good taste? … Lots of people have terrible taste, you know, and make a damn good living off it.”
“Why do you worry about good taste?” … “lots of people have terrible taste and make a damn good living off of it.”
