The London Lounge

Orson Welles on STYLE:


"STYLE is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn”

+1

You’ve probably heard that or something like it before on these pages, or on videos and interviews.

But the current dogma of style, judging from what I see on blogs and the like, is more like this:

“style is wondering who you are, polling others to figure out what to say and soiling yourself with worry about what others might think.”

Cheers

Michael, touché!

I entirely understand Mr Alden's point of view. It's difficult to carry off being someone else or pretending with any panache or style.

But I suppose, too, that this sort of solipsism is interpreted, in contemporary culture, as: be as slovenly and drab in your attire as the law permits.

I guess that what I'm trying to say is: for a young person attempting to disentangle themselves from the dreck of the current norm, perhaps a few years of strict tuition, of imitation, if you will, are probably necessary before that personal style can flower productively.

I guess that what I'm trying to say is: for a young person attempting to disentangle themselves from the dreck of the current norm, perhaps a few years of strict tuition, of imitation, if you will, are probably necessary before that personal style can flower productively.

STYLE has nothing to do with clothing. I know that is the 9,673, 234th time I have said that and it does not sink in.

If the discussion is about how to motivate young people to dress better, that is a different theme altogether and frankly I haven't a clue.

I was about to write that you will be hard pressed to find any inklings of STYLE in one out of a thousand men, but I suspect the number is probably one out of a hundred Ks. It is very rare and that is why it is so bewitching. I don't believe you can train your neighborhood yutes to acquire and embody it, unless they happen to be born with it.

Ah, THAT style. The innate charm / charisma style...

Yeah, can't really teach that.

Maybe by osmosis...

"Un homme devient riche; il naît élégant"
Balzac