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#1 2010-06-30 13:09:05
- Rip Rig & Panic
- Member
- Posts: 4697
Insouciance
Is this the most difficult trick of all to pull off? To dress according to your own taste and then forget all about it. God, how it takes practise. The mods were probably too self-conscious - yes? And here lies another paradox: 'A very self-conscious look': Ivy in England. How is the paradox worked out? Would anyone care to wrestle this conundrum out of the mud for me?
#2 2010-06-30 13:12:17
- Rip Rig & Panic
- Member
- Posts: 4697
Re: Insouciance
In the US, Brando perhaps had it just before stardom. But we're not talking about the US.
#3 2010-06-30 13:19:24
- colin
- Bright Light
- Posts: 1315
Re: Insouciance
A large influence from me leaving mod behind in my teenage years and looking towards ivy was because mod, or MOD!, was so in your face, try head, so self-conscious. Having said that, surely so much of it is how you carry yourself anyway regardless of what you wear?
#6 2010-06-30 13:31:16
- Rip Rig & Panic
- Member
- Posts: 4697
Re: Insouciance
The 'smart mod' look I once tried to attain was highly self-conscious. I couldn't afford the bespoke tailoring but that's the direction in which I would have travelled. I knew, once I walked through the door at Russell Street, that this was a different level and I was slightly bewildered at first. Now the look is second nature: because there's no alternative: every single article I own is Ivy. And the stages of evolution go on.
#7 2010-06-30 13:37:11
- Rip Rig & Panic
- Member
- Posts: 4697
Re: Insouciance
All right, let's switch to the United States. Patrick, most of the time, IMO, has the balance pretty well perfect. I know I can't achieve that level of casual elegance. How hard does he have to work at it?
#8 2010-06-30 17:24:06
- Quay
- Member
- From: the Gracious Days
- Posts: 545
Re: Insouciance
If you think insouciance is a "difficult trick" then you've already missed it. Faking it just makes a person look stupid and more than a little daft.
But if it's a part of your makeup, your true take on things, then it comes off as it is no matter what you might be wearing, although a properly rolled collar, tie askew, with a certain lack of fuss in creases and some wrinkles may help it along.
Boys and teens manage to be insouciant by lack of years and a perfectly understandable reaction to the insanity of the adult world. After you leave your teens, though, insouciance is either in you or not. It can't be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut.
"It is my belief that nearly any invented quotation, played with confidence, stands a good chance to deceive."
- Mark Twain
#12 2010-07-01 02:10:38
- Moose Maclennan
- Ivy Inspiration
- From: Hernando's Hideaway
- Posts: 4577
Re: Insouciance
I am quite indifferent to all this.
#13 2010-07-01 02:48:58
- 1966
- 1,966% Ivy
- Posts: 2382
Re: Insouciance
An old mate of mine has been strictly wearing black Desert Boots over the last 25 years. He couldn't tell you about Ivy, but he somehow looks a natural. The other day he turned up in a simple khaki linen shirt. I complimented him on it and he just shrugged. Just when I thought his style was actually effortless, he told me he'd been scouring the city for hours just to find this shirt that wasn't quite there but should do for now.
So yeah, it takes quite a bit of effort to look effortless. No two ways about it.
It's like that old Hardy Amies quote you echoed RRP:
"A man should look as if he had bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care, and then forgotten all about them."
#15 2010-07-01 07:49:31
- Patrick
- Member
- Posts: 2646
Re: Insouciance
It helps if you're in a hurry when getting dressed.
Otter : Take it easy, I'm pre-law.
Boon : I thought you were pre-med.
Otter : What's the difference?