Let's do this. Fashion V Style.

[RhadamanthNemes]

This comes up all the time time.

I actually think the two are immutable.

You can't have one without the other.

Stylish people have a very particular ownership of themselves. They know what they love. See Daphne Guiness, Grace Coddington, Tilda Swinton. These women are stylish as fuck.

BUT, they are also fashionable. They are all very interested in fashion, and keep themselves current, by keeping an eye on, and being very interested in 'Fashion'.

I honestly don't think it's possible to be stylish without being fashoinable.

Fashionable doesn't mean fashion victim, it simply means, being interested in fashion and adapting current looks that fit in with one's personal style.

Agreed. It's what LimeCheesecake said about being heavily influenced by the fashions of a previous era.

The orange dress was such a wow - standout moment at MM's wedding.

Sarah Murdoch's look is great because she's angular and has Hitchcock blonde hair, styled well.

yes the styling is great.

I liked Kitty Spencer's look at H&M wedding too. And Amal's.

Agreed @Floisme.

They are my favourite wedding looks too!

The fabulousness of Sarah Murdoch's dress has outlasted the wedding she wore it to. !

Re MM, she obviously got the memo that a "crisp white shirt always looks good and will take you anywhere"

(Particularly if you can afford dozens of them should you dribble anything down your front and laundering, starching and ironing them is someone else's problem)

I agree. I've never thought Kate Moss looks good.

Leggings and white socks are fashionable, but never look stylish.
I think really stylish women look at fashion and just tweak it for their shape and colouring.
I was watching the Apprentice - the young women candidates look awful without exception!

Who do you think looks good?

That's a great question, @MarshaBradyo . I think Judi Dench and Joan Bakewell because they've worked out their shape and style, but try to keep it fresh. I think Naga Munchetty always looks good. Charlotte Casiraghi, although sometimes the Chanel stuff is horrible. Likewise her mum, Princess Caroline. Queen Leti of Spain usually looks chic and tries out different styles, although I'm never keen on leather dresses.
How about you?

Flo, question for you as it's sort of history of fashion related. Did you see the Amazon/BBC series The English?

One of the secondary characters, rancher Martha Myers , has the most fabulous riding skirts/ cullottes, laced boots and coat. I've no idea if it's historically accurate for mid west late 19th century but everything she wore could be worn now.

I recorded it Natasha, probably on the basis of some of the photos! But not got round to watching it yet, thanks for the reminder.

I think Alexa Chung has great style

Do you think it's possible to decide you are stylish? Or is that for other people to bestow on you?

I'm v interested in clothes, I have a particular aesthetic but I don't think I would ever self appoint myself as stylish....

That's a tricky one. I try to be stylish, but don't always pull it off. Sometimes I catch sight of myself in a shop mirror and think, dear me, no!

Some really interesting comments on this thread.

When wearing a simple white shirt and jeans, MM looks so stylish, less so in everything else as it's all a little contrived. Many of her clothes don't fit her properly which ridiculous given how much couture she wears.

I rather like a lot of the things VB wears. They are stylish. However, I don't think she is, not least because her clothes are wearing her, rather than the other way round. She does herself no favours with the slightly too long trousers and the way she poses for photographers with her legs at a very odd angle.

Kate Moss wears clothes very very well. Is she stylish? Sometimes, but not always. She's not fashion forward, which I believe is a key component in being stylish.

To my eye, Gillian Anderson and Cate Blanchett are very stylish, ditto Miuccia Prada. It's a shame Carolyn Bassett Kennedy is no longer with us as I would love to see how she dresses now. (Probably more of the same).

Out of the (British) royals, surprisingly, Sophie Wessex rarely puts a foot wrong. Lady Helen Taylor too. PoW/KM always looks appropriate but not terribly inspiring although she does formal/occasion dressing very well albeit in a slightly too old for her way.

Sophie Wessex seems to have found her style - some misses (leather dress, no) but some really nice put together looks of late . Lady Helen Taylor looks chic, and Lady Sarah Chatto has found a particular style, sticks to it, and it definitely works for her.

What doesn't help VB is that she doesn't look natural. She's always hiding her chin or hand to the ear. there was footage of her at VW funeral & she snaps her hair around so quickly or her funny adjustments before the pap walk, it's just so weird.

I wish VB would relax, it's like she's always posing. I like some of her style, although I think it's time to ditch the ridiculous heels.

I don't think I'm stylish, I make far too many mistakes. But I can live with that, and I get a lot of pleasure from it.

Hmmm, I'm not sure.

I certainly get it wrong sometimes. But I know when I do because I feel 'Off'

I do get quite a lot of compliments from people when out and about (women and gay men, so it's not a sex thing. I think I repell straight men other than my husband.

I've always adored clothes and what they do. Just the absolute joy of projecting an image or playing with proportions and textures. It just makes me happy.

I often lull myself to sleep thinking about what I'm doing in the upcoming week and making outfits. I find it very soothing and love it when my fantasy outfit works as well in reality as it did in my head.

It must be hard work being Victoria Beckham. She doesn't ever seem to smile and never looks natural or happy. I also think she tends to look a bit 'dirty' - too much fake tan, probably.

I think to a certain point you can determine you have a personal style, comments like that really suits you (I could never put that together, get away with wearing that, or a variation thereof) is a pretty good affirmation of that. But whether your personal style is good (ie. what most probably mean with stylish) or <ahem> just really interesting and unique is going to be very subjective and audience dependent so it's an odd thing to declare about yourself, see also cool or elegant. As long as it gives you the enjoyment you seek from it, it doesn't really matter unless you're someone who seeks primarily affirmation outside of yourself.

I think commenting on celeb style is a bit of a waste of time, it's highly curated as it's a very important aspect of their career. There's some exceptions but the bulk of them leave me completely uninterested.

I do feel for VB though, I think she's probably often not been taken seriously and been dismissed, that girl band member with the sourpuss face, the wife of, the wife of that footballer that cheated on her with the nanny, etc. So her style probably is a little too serious and too obviously concocted, especially for someone who is meant to have a very dry sense of humour. In her case I do think part of it is a form of protection, it requires a lot of vulnerability to just be yourself on such a large public stage as the tabloid press is.

I have quite the soft spot for Victoria Beckham after all the snootiness she faced when she first moved into fashion. I remember hearing how some labels didn't like her wearing their clothes because they were afraid she'd damage their brand. But she kept on going. I've read (don't know if it's true) that the reason she doesn't smile much is that she's very self conscious about her teeth, and I get that and I sympathise, even though my head tells me that can't be the only reason as she can surely afford to get them fixed!

I'm pretty sure VB had veneers done a few years ago. But I think she's spent so long being self-conscious that she now doesn't know how to be fully at ease with herself. In public at least. She's far too conscious of showing off her best angles to the paps rather than just being.