How Important is your Attitude to Style?
Style is an entity half physical and half psychological, that is, half what you wear and half how you carry yourself when wearing it, and it is crucial that they match. James Dean and Steve McQueen, style icons of a generation, had an attitude so unapologetic that their style naturally followed suit, which was part of the reason they were such enviable figures of fashion. If you think about it, it’s why the modeling industry has castings, to determine if their attitude matches the style, and if it doesn’t then it won’t work; the clothes won’t appear to the audience as appealing as their designer intended.
It is undeniably true that what you wear reflects who you are, or who you want to be, and your attitude to style will change accordingly.
Clothes have a language and they carry themselves according to the wearer. The beauty of style, the thing that draws the line between itself and fashion, is that it is completely interchangeable. One day you might be wearing a Brioni suit and a crisp white shirt, looking suave and feeling like James Bond on a night out, and the next day you might leave the house in a Belstaff jacket, desert boots, and jeans. As much as we might hate it at times, it is undeniably true that what you wear reflects who you are, or who you want to be, and your attitude to style will change accordingly.
This is why attitudes vary. They can either be in-your-face spectacular, flashy with an air of “I know I look good” swagger or they can be cool, composed but confident, casually thrown together in the most calculated way. It’s just your mood that makes the difference because it’s inevitable that you change your style according to the mood and occasion, and at times you might not even realize. Whether you’re impressing a girl or out with the guys, you will blend to suit the mood and anything is better than having no attitude at all. As a girl, I can tell you first hand that a guy who doesn’t care about how he looks, or rather, seems like he doesn’t care, is a big turnoff. It is a confidence thing because a guy that takes obvious care in his appearance, is a guy that knows his worth and isn’t afraid to let the world know about it.
Having an attitude to style simply means that you put thought into what you wear according to how you feel.
The perception that to have a certain attitude to style is to be arrogant about the way you look is often misunderstood, as a difference. Having an attitude to style simply means that you put thought into what you wear according to how you feel. It’s like mindfulness for the man’s wardrobe. To achieve that level of ‘zen’, just wear what you want, how you want (although take into account who’s going to see you, dressing in sweats at a work dinner probably won’t go down too well).
Style shouldn’t be forced. And it’s cliché but true, but having a good attitude to style is really just having any attitude at all. It’s important to have and to value. However, if you still think you have absolutely no attitude to style, think again the next time you get dressed because if you’re looking in your wardrobe long and hard and wondering about what you’re going to wear and, more important, why, congratulations, your attitude is right there.
Words by Ms. Naomi Francis Parker
Illustration by Mr. Hilbrand Bos
Originally published at www.mnswr.com on October 6, 2016.
