Jrslm_Stylin
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- Joined
- Oct 13, 2008
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You gents have subtly hit all the right points IMO (and then some). The argument that "anything is as good as anything; it's just personal preference" isn't rejection of groupthink--it's intellectual and stylistic bankruptcy. Here's my less elegant, bacon-free sledgehammer version (hopefully so obvious as to annoy):
1) Style attributes do exist and aren't purely subjective or "groupthink"--the lines and cut of suit make the wearer look a certain way, and certain colors naturally blend with the environment while others clash. You may or may not like looking bulky & squarish, but what you wear makes you look a certain way, regardless of your personal tastes or social trends.
2) Materials and workmaship have inherent characteristics. Without getting into the endless arguments over whether synthetics can be better than wool, canvassed vs. fused, etc., some materials are more/less refined and more/less durable regardless of current trends. You may hate tweed and associate it with your British Lit. professor, but it's objectively a more refined and comfortable material than, say, polyester (you may be a vinyl fetishist, that's cool by me, but that doesn't change the characteristics of what you wear vis a vis other materials).
3) Closely related, regardless of your personal prefernces, food, fabrics, etc. have optimal values for what they are. You may not like cabernet, or think cabernet should be sweet and infused with blackberry juice, but you can nonetheless judge one cabernet against others. There are objective standards for what a cabernet is supposed to taste, how Super 120s suit fabric is supposed to be spun, and how to best craft leather shoes for durability, comfort and looks (whether you like square or round toes is personal preference; how to put a show together that best captures preferences is objective).
So, Groupthink obviously exists and is a lousy phenemenon, but I don't think we have to worry we're enforcing it here. . .
You must buy Zegnas. You will buy them of your own accord and love them. There is no groupthink. Go now and buy Zegnas. Zegnas make you happy. Hurry, go now and buy them.
1) Style attributes do exist and aren't purely subjective or "groupthink"--the lines and cut of suit make the wearer look a certain way, and certain colors naturally blend with the environment while others clash. You may or may not like looking bulky & squarish, but what you wear makes you look a certain way, regardless of your personal tastes or social trends.
2) Materials and workmaship have inherent characteristics. Without getting into the endless arguments over whether synthetics can be better than wool, canvassed vs. fused, etc., some materials are more/less refined and more/less durable regardless of current trends. You may hate tweed and associate it with your British Lit. professor, but it's objectively a more refined and comfortable material than, say, polyester (you may be a vinyl fetishist, that's cool by me, but that doesn't change the characteristics of what you wear vis a vis other materials).
3) Closely related, regardless of your personal prefernces, food, fabrics, etc. have optimal values for what they are. You may not like cabernet, or think cabernet should be sweet and infused with blackberry juice, but you can nonetheless judge one cabernet against others. There are objective standards for what a cabernet is supposed to taste, how Super 120s suit fabric is supposed to be spun, and how to best craft leather shoes for durability, comfort and looks (whether you like square or round toes is personal preference; how to put a show together that best captures preferences is objective).
So, Groupthink obviously exists and is a lousy phenemenon, but I don't think we have to worry we're enforcing it here. . .
You must buy Zegnas. You will buy them of your own accord and love them. There is no groupthink. Go now and buy Zegnas. Zegnas make you happy. Hurry, go now and buy them.
