We talk about having style as though it is the ultimate creative compliment. Someone knows how to dress, decorate a room, choose a restaurant, or put together a table, and we call them stylish. But underneath style sits something quieter and arguably more important: taste.
Style and taste are related, but they are not the same thing. Style is expression. Taste is discernment. Style is the result you can see, while taste is the collection of judgments, references, instincts, and preferences that helped create it.
And while style can change overnight, taste takes time.
Taste Is More Than Liking Something
Having taste does not mean liking expensive things, knowing obscure designers, or rejecting whatever happens to be popular. Nor is there one universally “good” taste everyone should aspire to.
Taste is the ability to recognize what resonates with you and understand why. You might love an austere concrete building and a wildly colorful ceramic bowl. They do not need to match. What matters is developing enough visual and cultural vocabulary to identify what draws you to both.
This is why taste extends far beyond clothes. It appears in the books you keep, the films you return to, the objects you bring home, the music you play, the spaces you enjoy, and even the way you host people.
Style Can Be Copied. Taste Has to Be Built
It has never been easier to acquire a style. Social media can give you the wardrobe, interiors, reading list, holiday destinations, and coffee order associated with almost any aesthetic imaginable.
The problem comes when inspiration turns into imitation.
Writer and filmmaker John Waters famously advised, “Develop your own tastes and be proud of them.” That distinction matters. Trends can introduce us to something new, but taste determines whether it belongs in our lives after everyone else has moved on.
Without that internal filter, it is easy to accumulate things that look right together but say very little about the person who chose them.
Become a Better Observer
Cultivating taste begins with exposure. Visit exhibitions even when you know nothing about the artist. Watch films from decades before you were born. Wander through old buildings. Read outside your usual genres. Browse a flea market without planning to buy anything. Listen to an album because you love its cover.
Then pay attention.
Instead of simply deciding whether you like something, ask what caught your eye. Was it the proportion? The color? The craftsmanship? The humor? The story behind it? Understanding preference turns instinct into discernment.
And do not rush to purchase everything you admire. Sometimes appreciating an object without owning it teaches you more about taste than shopping ever could.
Let Yourself Change Your Mind
Good taste is not a finished identity. Exposure changes it. Age changes it. Travel, relationships, experience, and curiosity change it.
Something you dismissed five years ago may suddenly make perfect sense. Something you once adored may begin to feel less interesting. Changing your mind does not mean you lacked taste before. It means your references have expanded.
The goal is not to develop a perfectly curated aesthetic and remain there forever. It is to become more intentional about what you allow to influence you.
Style is what happens afterward.
When taste is cultivated, getting dressed becomes easier. Homes become more personal. Purchases become more considered. You stop asking whether something is fashionable enough and start asking whether it feels like you.
Because style can tell people what you like. Taste tells you why.
