What is style? How to find my own style?

Yves Saint Laurent called it eternal.
Coco Chanel said that when everything else fades, it remains.
Audrey Hepburn said everyone has his own.

A common perception is that you must put a lot of thought and effort into displaying style in the way you dress and present yourself to others. It's certainly one of the most overused words other than chic and fashion, within the realm of how we dress.

In this episode, Sonya and Hugo discuss two techniques to try to develop your own style, beginning with a method called heuristics, and ending with a revelation specific to finding your style by E.B. White (discussed in his 1959 enlarged and revised work by William Strunk, Jr. in his dissertation, “The Elements of Style” from 1918).

[RealMenRealStyle]

LOVED how you defined the difference! Great video Hugo and Sonya - wishing you all the best!

[janerkenbrack]

I like that idea. Fashion is what others tell you to wear; and style is how you decide you want to look.

[krunoslavkovacec]

It is hard to define style. But it's easy to see that Hugo and Sonya understand it and have it.

[tokiomitohsaka]

As an amateur writer, I used to be very nervous about writing, and constantly worried about every single word, making it impossible to get anything written. Now I just write everything that comes to mind without thinking about how it will end up, and refine it later as needed. It makes it much easier and I get to keep my creativity.

[williammack]

Sonya and Hugo display what money can never buy...class.

[MrFlameEmblem]

Elements of Style is required reading for any writer, I think. EB White was one of Strunk’s student at Cornell who amended the book with ways to apply the “rules, ” that Strunk laid out, to write better and develop a unique style. I really appreciated this conversation Hugo and Sonja. It’s nice to reflect on all the facets that make each’s style—what goes into it for us and what it means to others.

[greghart]

Lovely! Sonya does indeed write beautifully.

[KasmuelMcOure]

I really enjoy your videos. It's inspiring on so many levels. As sartorialists, you helped me dream of whatever I could be. I became bold enough to just start wearing suits. Though I might not afford to wear Cifonelli and the likes, over the episodes I've been super inspired to make the most out of what I have. Seeing you both in love and doing what you love is quite heartwarming and inspiring. Your humility is quite something as well. As a young Kenyan in their early 20's, I'd love to let you know that I'm so grateful for you. P.S: The sound is great! All the best in your endeavours. God bless you!

[juju-nlte]

We need to protect this man at any cost .

[daningram]

What a wonderful discussion today! It seems to me that fear of failure is the ultimate enemy of creativity. Whether music, painting, sculpture, sport or yes even developing your own personal style, we learn by actually doing. The painter must paint, the musician must play music, the writer must write (as Sonya notes.)
It’s through doing, through creating that we learn and develop in all meaningful activities and style is no different.
But we can’t allow fear of making a “mistake” or “not being good enough” to stop us from doing and creating and growing.
As Hugo says - “try it!”
Personal style is a journey. Enjoy and embrace the journey!

[davidpesekmuller]

I love Sonya's looks to Hugo when he's on his passion tangents!

[garssympa]

According to Diana Vreeland, style takes inspiration, imagination and opportunity. If you have no opportunity to exercise style, it's rather difficult to demonstrate style while sitting at home, I would say.

[raphaelderosa]

Really enjoyed this video! As I see it, a chef becomes a better chef by cooking. A writer becomes a better writer by writing. An runner becomes a better runner by running... And finding my style is just a matter of trying different things until I get better at it.

Side note: I am a salesman, and I know other salesmen who are driven by commission. What you're alluding to, in my understanding, is that you want a salesman who is HONEST and provides VALUE. You don't want a salesman who will tell you whatever you want to hear, just to generate a commission. But if you trust the salesman, and you know what he is saying is true, then who cares about the commission? Yes, salesmen make commissions. That's how we earn our living. But that in itself is not a problem.

[ericrickert]

"Dress to Impress, " I think works as a phrase since it rhymes and is easy to remember. I agree though, that words mean things--it is important to use proper words and phrases to express yourself. The intent to determine your own style and make it your own is sort of like dressing to impress yourself and not others. My own style is classic (I'm an old guy in my 60s after all), but I wear a suit to work each day.
Your advice regarding the basics of dressing well, and also what is needed to carry and travel with is well presented.

[missmaryblack]

how delightful to learn, in addition to your wonderful taste in clothing, you also love Tom Waits!

[abdelazizkhodeir]

Since style is personal and unique so it definition is so, i.e every and each one will define style according to his style

[gordoncomeau]

Literature: The style of writing that one favors greatly, to the point of wanting to masticate the words in my case, as the "point de repére" for personal style is a very attractive idea. Merci. It reminds me of the relationship between fragrance and feelings of love as being similar.

[psychbookman]

The content is brilliant. But what I most love is the interaction between the two of you - a master class in passionate, respectful dialog. Thank you.

[brunogiambroni]

The Tom Waits impersonation was impeccable!

[Timbo]

A 40-minute video simply on the term style, this is what I like to see. Very interesting!