I'm hoping to have two regular features on this blog. It helps keep me focused and productive.
The first is a review of Genevieve Antoine Dariaux's A Guide to Elegance. I intend to choose an entry each week (some weeks will have more than one as some of them are very short). I'd like to examine them in the context of modern understanding, since the book was written in 1964, and while some updates were made, such as addressing cell phones, it was not a full update. For those who would like to follow along and don't have the book, it can be found on Amazon by going here.
The second regular feature is a comparison of the original edition of Etiquette (1922) and the 18th edition (2011). The first edition is available through Project Gutenberg and the 18th on Amazon. It won't be a direct comparison, given that there are entire sections of each book that aren't in the others, but I'm interested in looking at the items that are in both and what has changed. Many of the changes happen gradually over the course of the 89 years between them, but still, it marks time rather uniquely.
These will begin in the next few weeks. I'm excited, since it gives me a chance to delve into three books that I rather enjoy. I hope you'll join me!
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Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Defining Elegance
Now that I'm back from traveling, I can begin this in earnest.
Like any pursuit, I find it is best to understand exactly what is being sought. If we begin with the dictionary, we will find the following definition:
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The first thing we notice is that elegance is incredibly subjective. Everything the definition encompasses - grace, style, design, habits, form - all of this is in the eye of the beholder. This can present a challenge, and certainly has for me.
Genevieve Antoine Dariaux, a favorite of mine, begins her book answering the same question. It takes her several pages, but she opens with this:
It is a sort of harmony that rather resembles beauty, with the difference that the latter is more often a gift of nature and the former the result of art.
The origin of elegance is easily traced. It springs and develops from the habits of a civilized culture. The word comes from the Latin eligere, which means 'to select'.
I like Madam Dariaux's take on the topic. 'To Select'...in the end, elegance is about selection, about choosing what you will and will not have in your life, about how you will present yourself and what you allow to influence you. This is why elegance is something that cannot be bought, and while it is easier to understand elegance if you have been raised with it, it's out of no one's reach.
Like any pursuit, I find it is best to understand exactly what is being sought. If we begin with the dictionary, we will find the following definition:
el·e·gant
[el-i-guhnt]
adjective
1.
tastefully fine or luxurious in dress, style, design, etc.: elegant furnishings.
2.
gracefully refined and dignified, as in tastes, habits, or literary style: an elegant young gentleman; anelegant prosodist.
4.
appropriate to refined taste: a man devoted to elegant pursuits.
5.
excellent; fine; superior: an absolutely elegant wine.
Genevieve Antoine Dariaux, a favorite of mine, begins her book answering the same question. It takes her several pages, but she opens with this:
It is a sort of harmony that rather resembles beauty, with the difference that the latter is more often a gift of nature and the former the result of art.
The origin of elegance is easily traced. It springs and develops from the habits of a civilized culture. The word comes from the Latin eligere, which means 'to select'.
I like Madam Dariaux's take on the topic. 'To Select'...in the end, elegance is about selection, about choosing what you will and will not have in your life, about how you will present yourself and what you allow to influence you. This is why elegance is something that cannot be bought, and while it is easier to understand elegance if you have been raised with it, it's out of no one's reach.
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