Not so stylish

[Rowly]

Chekov has Astrov say, “Everything in a human being should be beautiful: face and clothes, and soul, and thoughts.” Will the ugliness in the soul and brain not appear on the face and clothes?

This outward expression of inner self must be congruent to exude style, in my opinion...otherwise the person with inner ugliness dressed in the trappings and suits of a Gentleman will not be decked in beautiful petals, but in lillies that fester!

The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself, it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.

[NRSPDX]

But what about being acceptably dressed for the situation AND expressing yourself in some way at the same time?

That is it precisely. I don't believe one must necessarily dress loudly or be bold with their choice of dress. Merely that each person should express themselves in their clothing. It should not merely fit well but you should also love it.

Manton wrote a nice piece, "Wedding Attire", in the Best of Bespoke forum. He made this comment about black-tie wedding dress. "There is no need for the groom, his best man, and his ushers to match in every respect from neck to toe. In fact, it looks silly." This further reinforces Costi's assertion that you can both dress acceptably and express yourself, even in more formal situations.

[NRSPDX]

What is not stylish...
Materially, I think any texture that is very shiny, very rough or very stiff will almost never be stylish, in an item of apparel.

I agree with you here. These are things I imagine are seen more often in runway fashion but I have a hard time seeing large portions of an outfit being made of thee textures and still being stylish.

What is not stylish...
Ostentatious logos, artificially distressed material and stitching, 'fake' badges of belonging are not stylish.

To a greater extent I am of the same opinion. Especially concerning fake badges. However certain artificially distressed pieces I find can be very stylish. I think this is a precarious area of style. Distressed jeans look forced. On the other had there is a nice piece on antiquing ones shoes in the thelondonlounge.net forum. Perhaps this isn't what you meant or maybe there is a fine line between the two. Either way it is a tricky area of style in my opinion.