Can you objectively critique peoples style?

First off my appologies to Spoo and PG, but you guys make for good examples.

I have noticed certain members get the same comments over and over. Spoo about using too many "tricks" in one outfit/being too flamboyant, PG about his shoulders and such, and others abound that I can not think of off hand.

My question is, when these types of comments are made is it because you truly feel these are objective issues with how these posters look. Or are you projecting how you want to look onto others.

Certainly there are MC no nos but there are also many many diferent ways to look good. So when you comment that so and so looks OK but could really look great if he did x,y and z, do you really think that to be true objectively? Maybe they look great in their own acceptable style and you just don't want them to dress that way, so you impose your style on them.

So be honest, how would you classify your criticism of others here.

Originally Posted by in stitches

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First off my appologies to Spoo and PG, but you guys make for good examples. I have noticed certain members get the same comments over and over. Spoo about using too many "tricks" in one outfit/being too flamboyant, PG about his shoulders and such, and others abound that I can not think of off hand. My question is, when these types of comments are made is it because you truly feel these are objective issues with how these posters look. Or are you projecting how you want to look onto others. Certainly there are MC no nos but there are also many many diferent ways to look good. So when you comment that so and so looks OK but could really look great if he did x,y and z, do you really think that to be true objectively? Maybe they look great in their own acceptable style and you just don't want them to dress that way, so you impose your style on them. So be honest, how would you classify your criticism of others here.
nonexistent

when i look at someones outfit here I judge based on my own opinions...not on what I wear. if that makes sense.

pretty much, im full of **** 60% of the time. the other 40%, im just drunk poasting.

My approach in the conservative business dress thread has been to base the critique on what I thought the poster was trying to achieve. I try to both compliment and chastise, and generally try to differentiate between what I thought would make the outfit work better technically and what I, personally, would prefer.

So, yeah, there's an inescapable element of arbitrariness to it. That's one reason I gave up on commenting in regular WAYW -- the styles became too disparate and there was too little common baseline for discussion.

In general, though, I do think the forum tends to acclimatize people to that which they would have once found outrageous, so they end up parading around in outfits they wouldn't have dreamed of wearing out of the house previously. First comes the orange trou and then maybe a ribbon belt and after that some blue calf shoes ... then they're being worn all at once without an appreciation for how they OTT it all might seem to others.

The flip side of that is that I left Andy's because it became so suffocatingly hidebound. I used to be an outspoken advocate for quirk and self-expression, thinking SF could be too po-faced, and it's a sign of how much the forum has changed that I've taken refuge in the conservative business dress thread. I do believe there's more than one way to dress well, but I also believe that most guys who really look good have trained their eye to the nuances of fit, texture and color that is the basis for what the traditionally minded might call good taste.

It's half and half for me. There are certain objective issues like sizing or color/pattern combinations that just don't work. Others are subjective, like fit in the chest and waist or pant length. I usually give my opinion based on how I tailor my own clothes. It's usually assumed that a person's thoughts on someone else's fit are based on their own style.

I try to think "Would I like to wear that outfit" and after I have a second layer of soul searching...

In some cases , the OP can pull it off and I try to distance myself from my own point of view....

Ranger and Spoo are great examples of guys looking sometimes very good in their own way far away from my own aesthically canons.

...

Originally Posted by in stitches

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First off my appologies to Spoo and PG, but you guys make for good examples.

I have noticed certain members get the same comments over and over. Spoo about using too many "tricks" in one outfit/being too flamboyant, PG about his shoulders and such, and others abound that I can not think of off hand.

My question is, when these types of comments are made is it because you truly feel these are objective issues with how these posters look. Or are you projecting how you want to look onto others.

Certainly there are MC no nos but there are also many many diferent ways to look good. So when you comment that so and so looks OK but could really look great if he did x,y and z, do you really think that to be true objectively? Maybe they look great in their own acceptable style and you just don't want them to dress that way, so you impose your style on them.

So be honest, how would you classify your criticism of others here.

Honestly? Generally they have a bad immature taste and seem inexperiened and are not from backgrounds where dressing comes natural to them. They're like actors who have to learn everything and are dressed by others and who if left to their own devices would look like what they really are rather than some image created for them. Taste is almost inbred beause it developed along side many other charateristics and the poseur always has something inccngruous about him that is easily spotted.

Originally Posted by Mr.Pooter

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Honestly? Generally they have a bad immature taste and seem inexperiened and are not from backgrounds where dressing comes natural to them. They're like actors who have to learn everything and are dressed by others and who if left to their own devices would look like what they really are rather than some image created for them. Taste is almost inbred beause it developed along side many other charateristics and the poseur always has something inccngruous about him that is easily spotted.
You must be a keen observer of human nature to make such profound statements about a few static pics of people on the internet, often without seeing their faces. Quite contrary to that I think that taste is mostly an acquired ability dependent on the cultural bindings of your region. What you like is what you see. The exception to this is the general rule set of silhouette, proportion and color according to the nature of the human body and the colors of hair and complexion. Few people have a natural, quite unconscious access to that while most have to learn it over the years by example.

I think many critiques here get a bit stereotypical because they judge only the (occasionally cropped) pictures of outfits against their personal rule set - including groupthink - without the impressions of movement and personality of the wearers. That's fine as long as evident failure is involved. But if a flamboyant, extroverted man wears flamboyant clothes combinations which are intrinsically within the rule set of fit, proportion and color, it can make a really good overall impression in real life while a shy guy wearing the same clothes will look incongruous or even ridiculous to the observer.

Originally Posted by bluesman528

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You must be a keen observer of human nature to make such profound statements about a few static pics of people on the internet, often without seeing their faces.

Quite contrary to that I think that taste is mostly an acquired ability dependent on the cultural bindings of your region. What you like is what you see. The exception to this is the general rule set of silhouette, proportion and color according to the nature of the human body and the colors of hair and complexion. Few people have a natural, quite unconscious access to that while most have to learn it over the years by example.

I think many critiques here get a bit stereotypical because they judge only the (occasionally cropped) pictures of outfits against their personal rule set - including groupthink - without the impressions of movement and personality of the wearers. That's fine as long as evident failure is involved. But if a flamboyant, extroverted man wears flamboyant clothes combinations which are intrinsically within the rule set of fit, proportion and color, it can make a really good overall impression in real life while a shy guy wearing the same clothes will look incongruous or even ridiculous to the observer.

The question was about THIS forum and about what you see on THIS forum. OK?

And you obviously want to believe that someone can reach adulthood and then just learn everything they missed out on while growing up. Those millions of pieces of information and nuance they never learned. Perhaps a few people can but it's like learning a foreign language in your 20's rather than as a kid. You'll have an accent in 99.9% of the cases and just won't speak the language naturally like a person who was exposed to it as a kid.
I can atually just give you a few simple questions and pretty much tell a lot about you and your background. Things that you cannot learn from books.

Originally Posted by Mr.Pooter

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Honestly? Generally they have a bad immature taste and seem inexperiened and are not from backgrounds where dressing comes natural to them. They're like actors who have to learn everything and are dressed by others and who if left to their own devices would look like what they really are rather than some image created for them. Taste is almost inbred beause it developed along side many other charateristics and the poseur always has something inccngruous about him that is easily spotted.

who the fack are you.

btw did you fail reading comprehension in school? the question was regarding critiquing in general, those posters mentioned were merely examples. though you didnt directly answer my question i think i have a good grasp of how you do your critiquing.

also doc thanks for you honest and always valuable input

Originally Posted by in stitches

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who the fack are you.

btw did you fail reading comprehension in school? the question was regarding critiquing in general, those posters mentioned were merely examples. though you didnt directly answer my question i think i have a good grasp of how you do your critiquing.

also doc thanks for you honest and always valuable input

You appear to be getting very upset over nothing like I touched some nerve in your childish self esteem. Just remember that you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

Originally Posted by Mr.Pooter

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You appear to be getting very upset over nothing like I touched some nerve in your childish self esteem. Just remember that I am a troll.

muuuch better. peace.

I try to avoid offering any critique for the most part. Generally when receiving it though, I try to put it in the context of those giving it. Because of that, I would say you can't partly because for the critique to be objective it would have to be received objectively, which just ain't going to happen.

I think there's an argument from Wittgenstein about something like this somewhere...

Originally Posted by Mr.Pooter

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The question was about THIS forum and about what you see on THIS forum. OK?

And you obviously want to believe that someone can reach adulthood and then just learn everything they missed out on while growing up. Those millions of pieces of information and nuance they never learned. Perhaps a few people can but it's like learning a foreign language in your 20's rather than as a kid. You'll have an accent in 99.9% of the cases and just won't speak the language naturally like a person who was exposed to it as a kid.
I can atually just give you a few simple questions and pretty much tell a lot about you and your background. Things that you cannot learn from books.

On a similar basis, I think we can all ascertain pretty much everything about your personality from your postings. Specifically, you're a love socket.