I don’t think clothes make the woman. I am a firm believer that women make clothes. To me a woman should be like a beautiful jewel and the clothes just a setting or a background. Chic, stylish, flattering but basically simple.
– Helen Rose (1904-1985), Head Costumer for MGM Studios from 1943 to 1960.
After Ms. Rose’s long stint at MGM (and two Academy Awards) she went on to design her own women’s clothing line and write a fashion column. She worked with Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, and Lauren Bacall just to name a few.
My partner in cleanliness, Marjorie sports the ARF Volunteer tee in lavender, which I think looks lovely with her chic bobbed hair.
She was tall, with attractive silver blonde hair which refused to be contained in its entirety by a plait, and she wore a suit which was sober only in its coloring; no part of the outfit had escaped little finishing-off touches and Penrose, who had never realized that black could be so expressive, searched in vain for a square inch of plain material; even the gloves on the table were attached to velvet flowers, while the hat, which was too big to go anywhere else but on the floor beside its keeper, was the most creative mourning attire that he had ever seen. What was most remarkable, though, was that Alice Simmons carried it off with a dignity and composure which few people achieved with straight lines and understated simplicity. 
If you’re going into the fashion business today and want to be successful, you have to have money behind you … It’s not just about talent anymore. Ten years ago you had to have an idea; today it’s not enough. If you want to be global and have a viable business, you have to marry yourself to a group. 
My wardrobe is a sort of an endless topic of fascination for people watching my stories. ‘Why is she dressed like a crow?’ For my security. Wherever possible, and obviously Syria is an extreme situation because it is so dangerous, I really prefer and feel better about doing my job if I am not the focus of everybody’s attention. In Syria, you will see me almost always wearing an abaya and hijab. That’s primarily because I could be kidnapped if people knew that I was a Western journalist. But it’s also because nobody looks twice at me when I wear that, and there’s something extremely liberating about that. 
We do not need the designer in the classic sense, for us, because I think that figure has become, except in some cases, a bit of a hindrance to projects. 
OverDressed for Life 