SOPHISTICATION vs. ELEGANCE

Mac

You've all been so helpful in helping me better understand the definition of "sophistication." Would you now please clarify for me the difference between Sophisticated and Elegant?

I picked the word Elegant as one of my style goals but not Sophisticated because to me they had very different connotations. But perhaps they're not so distinct after all...

Feel free to post links to photos that demonstrate either/ both terms.

Thanks!

14 years ago

General

9 replies

Latest reply was from Angie

JewelryGirl

Active Member

Does this help?

http://thesaurus.reference.com.....histicated

http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/elegant

14 years ago

Mac

Veteran

Hmmm. Not sure I get it as it applies to style.

From Online Dictionary:

Elegant: Characterized by or exhibiting refined, tasteful beauty of manner, form, or style.
Sophisticated: 1. having or appealing to fashionable and refined tastes and habits
2. intelligent, knowledgeable, or able to appreciate culture and the arts.

So, an elegant style has to be beautiful and tasteful, while a sophisticated style is more about looking intelligent and refined but isn't necessarily beautiful?

14 years ago

JewelryGirl

Active Member

Actually, I thought the thesaurus might help a little to describe it...maybe not?!

14 years ago

JewelryGirl

Active Member

Actually, I thought the thesaurus might help a little to describe it...maybe not?!

14 years ago

Mac

Veteran

Sorry... I really appreciate your help in posting the thesaurus links but I am having a tough time visualizing the difference.

The thesaurus links give these as synonyms.

Sophisticated - cosmopolitan, cultured

vs.

Elegance - beautiful, tasteful

So, take this photo of Tilda Swinton showing us her avant garde style. I don't think it's particularly flattering or makes her look beauiful, but I do think it's interesting and almost a piece of art. So, would this be considered sophisticated but not elegant?

http://www.exposay.com/celebri.....0ClXbH.jpg

14 years ago

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

To me, the term elegance conveys a certain degree of formality. I'm not even thinking of formal in the black tie sense, more of someone who knows the finer points of Emily Post's Guide to Etiquette. In terms of style, I somehow picture elegance as more classic. Impeccably tailored outfits in tasteful colours come to mind. Sophistication, in my book, can be achieved more casually. I picture a world-weary New Yorker in jeans with just the right amount of distressing, hair tousled just so, and generally looking effortlessly casual after putting much time and thought into the ensemble. I believe Such a person could easily look sophisticated, but not elegant. To me, a certain precision and an inherent grasp of style in the right context is the hawlmark of sophistication. Maybe that's just my quirky perception of things without the benefit of vision, but there it is.

14 years ago

Anonymous

I had an elderly neighbor whom I always referred to as 'elegant' because she was such a graceful lady. She usually had on her gardening clothes but she walked and moved and acted very elegantly in my eyes.
My dictionary says of elegance, "tasteful, refined, and dignified in appearance or style". I think elegance is a good style goal.

Sophisticated in my dictionary, "1. characteristic of fashionable life and it's ways, experienced in this and lacking in natural simplicity". This does not sound like how I interpret sophistication. In fact I would say sophistication HAS a natural simplicity.

I know it sounds like we are picking this to death but I'm with you in that I said my goal was sophistication and now I have to know what it means in order to get there. For now, sophisticated style means to me, clean lines, unfussy, and elegant design.

14 years ago

April

Veteran

After reading the responses to my style challenge post, I added the following in that thread:
---------------------------
If elegant and sophisticated are that close (and I am having trouble defining them separately myself) I should probably update my list and collapse those into one. I have realized that "classic" is not a big priority with me, so I'm going to go with:

Elegant
Smart
Current
---------------------------

I like Mac's use of Tilda Swinton to distinguish between these. A lot of times, to me, the couture shown in fashion magazines is highly sophisticated but not necessarily "beautiful." I would say that elegance elicits a positive, admiring response (being more in the eye of the beholder), whereas sophistication might not.

14 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I see elegance as a subset of sophistication, but you don’t need to look sophisticated to look elegant.

14 years ago

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