aliceBB Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I witnessed a lively argument last night in a French cafe between two men and a woman about style and elegance. (Well, it is France!) The woman was saying that French women have lost their renowned sense of style and elegance and now look no different from the overweight, dowdy frumps of other countries...the men disagreed and said that in French cities at least you can still see that traditional chic 'elegance', especially in older women. According to them it seemed to hinge on clothes, shoes, hair and walk. They seemed to suggest that style is about how you look and elegance is about how you behave. Frustratingly though, they didn't elaborate! What do 'style; and 'elegance' mean to you? Do they mean different things when applied to men and women? Or are there principles, or even rules, which are applicable to both sexes? And do the French have a monopoly on it?! Who embodies style, for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 They either have it or you don't. Style is a combination of cut, fabric and colours. Most people don't have any idea how to match clothes let alone know what a garment should look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo77 Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 For me, the best look on any person is my wife, when she first gets up in the morning. Hair all dishevelled, rosy cheeks and wide eyes. Never seen a person look so good. ---------- Post added 05-09-2014 at 08:49 ---------- They either have it or you don't. Style is a combination of cut, fabric and colours. Most people don't have any idea how to match clothes let alone know what a garment should look like. Style is a fictional condition. If you feel good, you look good. Simple as that. Someone wearing 1920's style clothes today would look out of place. Someone wearing today's clothes in the 1920's would be laughed at. It's all superficial nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinz Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Style for me is about how an item wears you rather than you wear it. Elegance is how you carry it and yourself. With style and elegance comes confidence, and to a point arrogance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 According to them it seemed to hinge on clothes, shoes, hair and walk.It's about more than that when you are considering both style and elegance They seemed to suggest that style is about how you look and elegance is about how you behave.Style is all about appearance: more than clothing (and accessorizing), it's also about grooming and 'physical' behaviour (walking, standing, speech <etc.>...basically how one carries oneself and appears to others). Elegance is about how well the style is carried for the circumstances/environment and matches the person. Out of two persons with substantially the same style (per the above) in a same environment, one may be deemed more elegant than the other, because the style suits that person better than the other (e.g. one is tall the other not, one is slim the other not <etc.>). And it's very superficial, and subjective, of course. And do the French have a monopoly on it?!Yes, we do, we really do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliceBB Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 They either have it or you don't. Thanks, Mecky....why so personal?! ---------- Post added 05-09-2014 at 09:43 ---------- Style for me is about how an item wears you rather than you wear it. Elegance is how you carry it and yourself. With style and elegance comes confidence, and to a point arrogance. Confidence, yes...but not arrogance, surely? I think of elegance being a state of moving gracefully through the world, at one with it and making others feel at ease in your company, but not sinking to any depths or deliberately striving to put some distance between yourself and those you see as 'below you' - that's arrogance, surely? I see real arrogance occasionally in the undoubtedly stylish and super-confident young pupils of a certain very expensive private school in my area, when they are let loose on the town on a Saturday morning. Their manners, the way they behave, as though they own the place (perhaps their parents do!) and are inherently more important than everyone else (pushing in, shouting, swearing, ignoring/talking over shop assistants, etc) is the polar opposite of elegance, in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Style is a fictional condition. If you feel good, you look good. Simple as that. No it isn't. Plenty of people might say they feel good but they certainly don't look good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Thanks, Mecky....why so personal Sorry, changed person mid sentence. It happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wornout53 Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 For me the epitome of style and elegance was and always will be Audrey Hepburn. I think it is a combination of things - being comfortable in your own skin, knowing what suits you and a certain indefinable something that you either have or you don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Confidence, yes...but not arrogance, surely?In the context of style and elegance (as opposed to merely 'behavioural' regardless of style and elegance, per your Pupils example), what for some amounts to "elegance", may be deemed "arrogance" by those (afflicted with one or more complexes) who feel intimidated/threatened by it. More than style and elegance, confidence (which does not 'need' style and elegance...but which style and elegance often correlate with) is very frequently mistaken for arrogance. It goes to point of skinz above, to an extent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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