I thought twee was something overdone, as in dressing too childishly. Which is hard to define, admittedly.

I will be honest I did not know what twee was. I came here following another thread. Although not my style I have nothing agnist twee and find it to be very pretty. I would love to see your twee styles because I love fashion and think the things we all wear are works of art. I look forward to seeing you style choices.

My style has changed recently to incorporate more of the elements that you listed: bows, ruffles, circle skirts, etc. I don't personally use the word "twee" because I don't really know how to use it. I know what it means, but I have no working sense of the connotation of it.

I am a very petite person and have very youthful features, so I have to be careful with how many of these types of items I incorporate at once. I have better luck if I combine one such element (like a Peter Pan collar) with a simple, modern item (like a sheath dress). It allows me to have the uber-feminine styling without going overboard, at least to my eye.

I know that it can be difficult to feel like your style is not accepted when you have a different sense of fashion. My personal style is quite different from others' on the forum, but I have found that as I continue to experiment and hone my style, I become happier and happier with it and more content to be myself. It does take a while, though...I have been playing with fashion for a couple of years now. I think your fashion self-acceptance will grow as you continue on.

I hope to see more of you on the forum.

I love Zooey, but have to admit I crossed a certain line in life where I was starting to look less Zooey and more Baby Jane. Felt a strong need at that point to give up bows and puff sleeves.

Anyways, I think the issue is twee isn't the name of a style but a pejorative... ETA: Ok, I guess we all know that. Anyways, I think about this from time to time. How once my beloved puff sleeves were good for grown women, nay even old women, and now they're sorta relegated to little girl territory. I guess the thing is, fashion moves on by nature. It's the Wild Hunt.

This was a fascinating thread. I learned a lot. Thank you for posting it.

@ rachylou do you carry a Masters in analytical thinking? I swear you sound like my sister. "Anyways, I think the issue is twee isn't the name of a style but a pejorative... "

@ Ledonna - Haha! I'm the sad product of a pretty classical education, full of mind/body split too. Ahaha! It cracks me up no end I tell you. And when I say classical, I do mean like Ancient Greek dudes lounging on the steps in public forums, waiting for someone to cough up a few coins for expounding oratory and drinks. Lol!

I just looked it up in the Urban Dictionary and had a chuckle over this definition:

twee
The noise a sparrow makes the moment it dies.
Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, twee.

@ Shiny- can't trust that urban dictionary lol

@ rachylou lol

Wow ! Some interesting stuff here. Had never heard the word until today.

I personally can't do any ribbons or bows... feminine details... my features are quite large, probably more masculine than feminine... and I look like "manly" in them. Awful really.

Last year I had purchased a pale pink, lacy, layered ethereal dress... it was gorgeous. I had my picture taken in groups several times at this event. My daughter asked to see pictures of this event... " Mom, where is this dress ?" ""Ummm upstairs in the closet " " Her: "What were you thinking ?". Later that week my husband found the dress in the bottom of the bathroom wastebasket... ( I did not put it there ). She obviously had stronger feelings about it than I did. Kind of sad really.

I so admire other ladies that wear them well. I would love to be that sweet feminine lady... I guess I have just thought of the look as gamine or ingénue, never "twee".

Re: precious, I think of it as meaning cutesy and contrived. Twee is maybe a little less intentional? Anyway, I think maybe you don't relate to negative, perhaps patronizing or somewhat sarcastic??? descriptors. You're perhaps just a more positive, straight forward person? These are good things - that perhaps can be incorporated into your style.

Rachy, doesn't the wild hunt kill whatever is in its path, out after dark alone at night?

Unrelated, I did know the twee concept, probably incorrectly related it closely to spinsters and tat (something I accuse my British teacher friend of purveying at his annual class jumble sales). Googled it nonetheless and found this interesting piece: http://www.theatlantic.com/mag.....on/372273/

Hmmm. Interesting take from the Atlantic. I guess hipster and twee can intersect, but I really don't think of brewing your own (yeasty) beer or fermenting your own sauerkraut as "twee" activities. They're work and fairly precise to do well. However, mason jars are probably a bit twee as wedding decor, etc. But actually quite practical as food storage, I find (the same lids fits so many jars! They don't leak!).
And yet... someone commented, gushed really, at office lunch the other day about how "cute" my jam jar of homemade salad dressing was. She was clearly sincere, yet appreciating my dressing on some twee level. To me it's just a great non-leaking way to get delicious leftover homemade vinaigrette to work, and I feel dumb that I needed hipsters to point out the obvious (free glass jars >>> buying Tupperware with a billion different lids).

Rachylou.... Analysis needed!

Shiny, I love that definition of twee!

I always thought of twee as dressing childishly. I wear Peter Pan collars and pretty things, but I (hopefully) don't look like a 12 year old.

Re. The Wild Hunt: I thought the big problem was you got scooped up and never let go. You ride until you die exhausted... Eh... Wait a sec... All of a sudden I'm feeling like this idea I have about what The Wild Hunt is, is like the noise a sparrow makes when it dies... "Tweet tweet twee... *kerput*"

...Perhaps I should just move on... Hehe. Had to look up the etymology of 'twee.' British, of course. And apparently from the idea of saying 'sweet' in a babyish way. I'm thinking this rules out mason jars as 'twee.' Even tho one might expect to see these photographed with honey lemon peel lollipops (which yes sue me I have made before, lololol). Bunting, however, may be a thing that could go twee. Will have to think about it. That's a tricky one.

But this begs a discussion on relativism, the concept as escaped from the lecture halls of academia and now running amuck in the streets. I mean, can Mark just run off with 'twee' like this? And why rebrand 'hipster'?

'Enquiring minds want to know'