Quote:
Originally Posted by dopey 
The sports analogy is a good one. The idea is to think about what you are doing, all the time, so you eventually don't really have to think about it all. You develop good instincts and habits by practice. The most inspired athletes look like they are playing thoughtlessly, and they are at that moment, but they got to the point where they can play effortlessly after a lot of effort. The same applies here. You have to spend some time observing and thinking about colors and textures and patterns and silhouettes and style languages and groupings until you feel like you have a natural understanding, and then your decisions will be made by trained, informed instinct.
By way example, this morning I chose an olive finnemeresco suit (made of black, green and yellow threads). I grabbed a pink shirt without thinking, because I knew pink looked right with olive and it was close to hand (if a yellow or lavender shirt were closer, I might have as easily grabbed that). I grabbed a tan and pale blue striped Irish poplin tie (1" stripes) because the colors were right and I needed something not to business formal since the suit is kind of casual. Without much thought I rejected a black grenadine, which would have looked good but been too sober in mood. The only time I really had to pause and think was in choosing whether to wear a square and which one. Since I was in basically all solids, I thought I needed a square. A dark one wouldn't work. Light pink would have been too matchy with the shirt. I wanted solid because I didn't want the square to be the only pattern and attract attention to the wrong place. So I grabbed a baby blue cashmere. That seemed to work, and off I went. The whole process was about five minutes, including the time to actually get dressed. Fifteen years ago, that would have taken longer because I would have had to spend more time actually thinking through the ideas I wrote out (which took me longer to write than to do).
The sports analogy is a good one. The idea is to think about what you are doing, all the time, so you eventually don't really have to think about it all. You develop good instincts and habits by practice. The most inspired athletes look like they are playing thoughtlessly, and they are at that moment, but they got to the point where they can play effortlessly after a lot of effort. The same applies here. You have to spend some time observing and thinking about colors and textures and patterns and silhouettes and style languages and groupings until you feel like you have a natural understanding, and then your decisions will be made by trained, informed instinct.
By way example, this morning I chose an olive finnemeresco suit (made of black, green and yellow threads). I grabbed a pink shirt without thinking, because I knew pink looked right with olive and it was close to hand (if a yellow or lavender shirt were closer, I might have as easily grabbed that). I grabbed a tan and pale blue striped Irish poplin tie (1" stripes) because the colors were right and I needed something not to business formal since the suit is kind of casual. Without much thought I rejected a black grenadine, which would have looked good but been too sober in mood. The only time I really had to pause and think was in choosing whether to wear a square and which one. Since I was in basically all solids, I thought I needed a square. A dark one wouldn't work. Light pink would have been too matchy with the shirt. I wanted solid because I didn't want the square to be the only pattern and attract attention to the wrong place. So I grabbed a baby blue cashmere. That seemed to work, and off I went. The whole process was about five minutes, including the time to actually get dressed. Fifteen years ago, that would have taken longer because I would have had to spend more time actually thinking through the ideas I wrote out (which took me longer to write than to do).
I don't play sports (imagine that), so for me, I liken it to learning a language. There are a lot of rules and vocabulary to learn, much of which may not make sense, before you can communicate with elegance or style. If you refuse to pick up the rules and vocabulary, and act on the pretense that you can simply wing it, you will fail--even if you think your French is marvelous.
