'Women in Clothes' #3-5 on the questionnaire...

thimblelina

Here's a little mental floss for your weekend pleasure... Questions 3-5 from 'Women in Clothes' ginormous survey! Let your opinions rip, please.

Do you think you have taste or style?
Which one is more important?
What do these words mean to you?

11 years ago

General

16 replies

Latest reply was from Gigi

ironkurtin

Veteran

Yes, I do think I have taste, and I think I have distinctive style. I think which one is more important depends entirely on the person. Something I consider tasteless is someone else's delight.
Taste: An editorial ability to determine what is well made and attractive
Style: A way of assembling items to convey a certain attitude or personal expression

11 years ago

Echo

Veteran

I agree with IK's definitions. I definitely have taste, and I am well aware when I like something that is tacky. I consider myself quite good at choosing tasteful items, though I've always had a soft spot for tacky shoes and bright patterns and colours. I wear very few bright colours, despite how much I like them, because they are harder for me to incorporate in a tasteful way. But when my DD was little, I dressed her in stripes and dots and a riot of colour, and she looked fantastic! It is amazing what you can pull off when you are 4!

Style, on the other hand, I admit I am still working on. Style is also more important, IMO. You can have all the taste in the world, and that still doesn't mean that all tasteful pieces go together well. I've even seen people seamlessly incorporate an item that, by itself, I would consider tacky or tasteless yet have it look fantastic (and NOT tacky or tasteless in the context of the outfit they have paired it with).

So I still have a long way to go. I am starting to think that I need to do what some other people do and "pin" more looks and then try to copy them. For some reason, I have a much better feel for decorating a space; I can immediately see in my head what I want to create, and I can look at things and immediately discern whether they would blend in with the intended look. I cannot do the same with looks; I have a hard time immediately seeing why some looks go together and others don't.

11 years ago

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

I checked my on-line dictionary as well:
Taste - noun: the ability to discern what is of good quality or of a high aesthetic standard:she has awful taste in literature.
Style - noun: elegance and sophistication: a sophisticated nightspot with style and taste.
Style has several meanings, here's another one:
a distinctive appearance, typically determined by the principles according to which something is designed: the pillars are no exception to the general style.

My answer would be that these are highly subjective terms. However if pressed I would say I have more style than taste. Taste connotes tailored and polished to me, which I am not. Style is a way you put things together, not relying on high aesthetic standard alone. I might also add that the look of today is high on style but less so on taste. For example, wearing sneakers with fancy midi skirts and cropped tops is all the rage, but in the conventional sense this mis-match is not in good taste. I don't wear this specific look but I am trend-driven. It could merely be that I am a reflexion of the times which rely on irregular outfit juxtaposition and mixing high and low.

11 years ago

Anonymous

Ooh , a debate! I wasn't going to answer here, but I do disagree with , or see in a different way, Cocolion's statement that " today's looks are high on style but less so on taste. " Whose taste? The beauty of both terms is that there is no universal , clear standard. With regards to taste -the quality issue is pretty straightforward and not debatable, but the high aesthetic standard is purely subjective. For the fun of it, and not to be argumentative, I would counter that midi skirts and sneakers represents a high aesthetic standard (one which is informed by current ideas and information ). Yikes, I feel like I'm writing a university paper !

My point is - it's all quite relative to the individual and her experience and depth of knowledge.

11 years ago

Carla

Veteran

Taste - yes
Style - not so sure. I think I 'have a style' but I don't think that I always achieve 'stylishness'.

11 years ago

Lyn D.

Veteran

I think I have more taste than style, and that I 'cheat' a bit on the former:
Buying only the best I can afford lends itself to better fabric, subtle detail etc, which usually looks more 'stylish' in general (?) Great questions!

11 years ago

amiable

Veteran

Hmm... I'm working on developing both taste and style. I suspect that taste is more important, but I'm just barely to the point where it's more important to me. I like IK's definitions of them.

11 years ago

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

I have a style but I am not sure that it is in vogue at the moment. I think I have taste but again it is not consistent with everyone else's taste. I do think I am fairly good at figuring out what shapes and colors would be flattering but flattery and style are not the same.

Interesting questions.

11 years ago

JennyK (NC)

Active Member

I've generally thought of taste as equating with looking "classy", or not as the case may be. Of course classy is in the eye of the beholder for the most part. I've got plenty of taste... it just may not be particularly good! LOL
My previous husband insisted that I dress like... erm... a sort of artist of the dancing sort. Was it tasteless? Even if the fabric and quality were great, I think lots of people would say yes. Did I find it tasteless? It depended on where we were and what we were doing.

I think I do have style. My style is not everyone's cup of tea and of course it's changing and morphing as time goes by. I definitely don't dress stylishly all of the time. Lately not even most of the time! But it's there inside of me.
As to what's more important? For me style and self expression is more important.

11 years ago

rabbit

Veteran

Style is far more interesting to me than taste. For example, Elton John's outfits over time might be considered tasteless (if taste is meant to denote a harmonious, widely socially acceptable, understated and somewhat conservative look), but he sure has individual style and I value that.

I tend to be somewhat turned off by the definitions of taste that link it to social class/economic distinctions, but do appreciate the word when it's is used to relate to a particular kind of style which values aesthetic harmony and balance and craftsmanship.

I think I have more personal style than taste. But I think I can usually choose tasteful options, I just sometimes go for fun or edgy at its expense instead. I also am attracted to the populism of trends, just as I generally like listening to the top 40 countdown not because the music is always great, but because it's fun to participate in pop culture.

11 years ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Taste - ability to pick out well made items from a pile of clothes at a thrift store; knowing quality from junk without reading the reviews.
Style - ability to pick out which clothes I want to wear, and how, regardless of whether they are well made and tasteful.
Both have their purposes for me.

11 years ago

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Both words can only be viewed in a social context imo.

I do believe some have developed their sense of style more than others but everyone has a "style". Whether others find it good or bad is dependent on very personal ideas of what is "stylish". I appreciate & try to buy garments with really great fabric that are well constructed but I don't think that is enough to make me stylish.

Ditto for taste - what would have been considered tasteful in one time or place would seem dated or outrageous in another.

My definition of a stylish person is someone who projects an air of confidence & self-awareness through their clothes. Someone who has a great eye for style truly appreciates others with styles that are very different from their own too.

11 years ago

Greyscale

Veteran

I have style, and it's my goal. That often means I have good taste, too, but that's more subjective and it's not my goal itself. I like pushing the envelope, which might counteract taste sometimes.

I just bought that book and I'm looking forward to reading it.

11 years ago

Anonymous

I like to think that I have taste which is reflected in my style, but I don't know that that is true. I've always thought that taste can be developed by ones exposure to great art, music, design and literature. It is reflected in the choices one makes, which becomes style. Thus,we expose our children to concerts, galleries, museums, etc. whether they like it or not for years until one day each has experiences that they don't want to end. I'll never forget a 16 year old son going back to the Sophia in Madrid on his own because he couldn't get enough of it.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

I think:

Both taste and style refer to a considered aesthetic governed by rules and principles.
The difference is that style is a matter of one's personal presentation.
You can have taste and style for better or ill effect, but still have it.
"Bad taste" and "no style" mean you are without that defined, composed aesthetic.

I think I have taste and style - and also that my style is distinctive. Both are critical qualities for me in close personal acquaintances for many reasons. But essentially, I don't know how we're going to get along if you don't have any opinions. I mean, I'll just be telling you what to do and you'll have to suffer my decisions since you give no input...

Hope everybody wants KFC tonite! Hehe.

ETA: I have to refine my explanation of style... but I also have to work... will return.

11 years ago

Gigi

Veteran

I like what Rachylou said.

To me, "taste" is more about classic styles that are held in high regard especially among the upper classes. I think it really has to do with types of clothing and dressing that have longevity. "Style" is more personal and has to do with a particular person's depiction of their inner self through their clothing.

I would say that I have more taste than style, but I do have taste also. I can say I have taste too because I cringe at most of what's in the petites' section. Ha.

I would say that style is more important because it is more personal. Having only taste could make a person a bit of a robot, dressing only as she perceives the societal norms to allow.

11 years ago

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