I’ve been thinking more and more about what cultivates and creates good taste and good style.
This isn’t a groundbreaking thought. It actually feels like it’s everywhere at the moment, but I do think there’s one line of thinking that stands out to me amongst the rest. It’s really simple: good taste and good style aren’t born from just thinking about fashion; they’re the result of living a stylish and tasteful life. It’s not just about interacting with and wearing nice clothes; it’s about art, literature, film, and so much more.
It’s about history, understanding references, and not just scrolling. Anyone can be a critic from their couch. It’s another thing altogether to engage with the world in a deeper, more meaningful way.
The beginning of the conversation is whether you like something or not, but unfortunately, more often than not, that’s become both the beginning and the end. There are plenty of things I don’t like that I can still appreciate. Just because I wouldn’t wear something or don’t particularly care for it aesthetically doesn’t mean it lacks artistic or creative merit.
A wonderful example of this would be Rick Owens. I don’t own a single piece of Rick Owens clothing, and I would probably never find myself sporting his or the brand’s aesthetic, but I am absolutely intoxicated by him and the brand because I can appreciate just how intentional it all is. There’s nothing put on about Rick, and that’s because he lives a cultivated life. Everything isn’t about clothing, and that’s what makes his brand so great. He cares about art, architecture, furniture, black-and-white movies, antiquities, and a whole number of other things that have nothing to do with fashion. And, frankly, it’s a really good thing.
The mind gets bored when left alone with the same concept forever. We like to make connections, build webs, and draw correlations. We are multidimensional. Yet, many people go about trying to develop good taste and style by honing in on the most superficial levels of everything. Consuming and replicating Instagram images isn’t actually going to make you stylish. You’ll be cosplaying style, but you won’t really know what’s going on. You’re a stochastic parrot of creativity. You can regurgitate trends and takes in a pattern that feels original, but in reality, you have no real understanding of what you’re saying.
I’m not saying it’s bad to get inspiration from Instagram. I’m saying it’s bad to stop there. Listen to more music, look at good art, watch for great costuming in films, read about history and sumptuary laws, study architecture, and appreciate and thoughtfully engage with good design.
Become a stylish person by living a stylish life. Get good taste by understanding what taste is.