Rich, not gaudy. [ William Shakespeare, Hamlet ]

Neat, not gaudy. [ Charles Lamb ]

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies. [ Byron, She Walks in Beauty ]

Greatness, thou gaudy torment of our souls,
The wise man's fetter and the rage of fools. [ Otway ]

Gaudy slothful people are wasps, that eat up the bees' honey. [ Proverb ]

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, but not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy; for the apparel oft proclaims the man. [ William Shakespeare ]

Beauty gains little, and homeliness and deformity lose much, by gaudy attire. Lysander knew this was in part true, and refused the rich garments that the tyrant Dionysius proffered to his daughters, saying that they were fit only to make unhappy faces more remarkable. [ Zimmermann ]

A composition which dazzles at first sight by gaudy epithets, or brilliant turns of expression, or glittering trains of imagery, may fade gradually from the mind, leaving no enduring impression. Words which flow fresh and warm from a full heart, and which are instinct with the life and breath of human feeling, pass into household memories, and partake of the immortality of the affections from which they spring. [ Whipple ]