whnay.'s good taste thread - Page 276

Daddy's home...

I agree that many of the outfits have not been in good taste; however, I don't think it's intentional by the vast majority of those posting such outfits. I just think they truly don't understand what is good taste. I generally think it's people conflating boring and plain with good taste. That and people who don't have good taste thinking they do.

Yes yes - I've enjoyed many of your posts.

In some cases, it might be the old 'trying too hard'.

I think this one from Ethan Newton is very tasteful; I especially love the the pleasant interplay between the colours (it was this post that prompted me to finally buy the tie pictured):

Yep, when I'm not shitting up the thread with my own brilliant diagrams, I am actually trying to post pics I think are germane. I thought today's selection was seasonal, sober, and appropriate.

Thanks to Manton & others for trying to right this listing ship. A previous comment also summarized "good taste" fairly: you should only post outfits that you consider as much better than your average outfit. By this measure, it is unlikely anyone should be posting daily or every other day.

interesting. i had actually planned on pairing with a few solid blues, but i was not feeling it. i have another that i didnt think of till just now. tbh, i quite like it with this shirt, but next time, ill try with a solid blue oxfrod and see what happens.

and thanks, i find the tie interesting and quite like it too.

i think you have been fine.

fo sho!
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i also think there is a difference in posting stuff you know is contrary and just dont care, and posting stuff you think might be contrary, to get pointers on why in fact it is contrary. if you are actually and honestly trying to learn, i think that should be ok.

i dont necessarily agree with that. i think a person should strive to dress in good taste every day. this is not the all stars thread, its the good taste thread. if you honestly think something is in good taste, or you think its close and you want to see what people think and what could be tweaked, i dont see the issue in posting it.

I didn't mean to be picking on you at all - I'd be interested in hearing what other people's impressions are of camel-colored SCs like the one you have. I'm sure it's a nice coat, but to me they always give the impression of a JAB ad. Vox has a camel DB that looks great, but that's a DB and that's Vox. I don't recall seeing any other particularly great fits with camel SCs, but I could just be blocking them out or have poor judgement in these things.

The absence of unambiguous criteria for "good taste," combined with increasingly sporadic, seemingly arbitrary critiques is what has led to this thread's decay. It can only cease devolving to WAYWRN with the care and feeding of its OP.

I remain earnest.

Simplicity can often yield taste, though taste is not inherent in simplicity. Just because you're not peacocking all over the place or mixing 4 patterns doesn't mean you're doing it well. And, albeit a smaller population, there are many that can combine what should be car-wreck elements on their own into a tasteful assembly.

The prerequisite to this thread is that something is put together with a deeper understanding than simply "this goes with that." A tasteful combination inspires and makes others want to replicate it. When you see something done in good taste, you're almost able to get an idea of what a person is like. It goes far beyond getting dressed. It's a trained eye and a level of experience that few posses.

Don't beat yourself up if you swing and miss. Instead, realize why you're not at the level. God forbid someone listen before they speak; read before they publish.

I think the reason it doesn't work for me is that you have a kind of mottled, muted palette on the tie and SC in browns and grays, then you've got a really high contrast and geometric pattern on the shirt. To me these things don't go well together.

I agree that careful curation is the only defense. But as to unambiguous criteria for good taste, such a thing would be impossible. Then it would no longer be good taste as it wouldn't require any judgement from the wearer.

To be clear, for me personally, there's absolutely nothing wrong with anyone posting fits in this thread that they really think are in "good taste". Even if they're off, it can be educational for them and others, especially if it's a close-but-no-cigar case. What I think should be kept to other threads are posts that are specifically intended to tear down the thread's view of what is good taste, or even question the existence of good taste at all, as this thread was built specifically to be a respite from such "anything goes/I wear what I like/I like to break the rules" posts in other threads.