You can do anything if you’ve got style. And I’m not talking about that kinda of style you see smeared all over the high-street in lifeless manikins and shockingly mind-numbing clothes rails. No. I’m talking about the style you can’t buy. Flare. The kind of air you breathe when a stylish person walks into the room and you all stare. I’m talking about the style that dares, the style that bears that refreshing buzz of originality, the style that can’t be compared to the flop-shop or river island manikins that sheep their way round the city in clones of monotony.
I respect anyone who has style. Being around style reassures me that not everyone in this world is a cut-out of the next one. Coco Chanel, the ultimate queen of flare said that ‘style endures’ whilst fashion simply crumbles into the debris of the try-hards. You could be the poorest cretin in the city and still have more flare than all those cute girls with the latest get-up from the shopping centre. (Zzzzz, haven’t seen you ten times already today).
Keeping in line with present consciousness let’s think about those who put their name next to the definition in the dictionary. David Bowie for instance; his indelible flare spun the world on a different axis. Jeremy Clarkson; outrageous, but admirable. Russell Brand; an unquestionable wanker, but memorable. And lets try and remember Cheryl Cole; forever consuming the pages in style magazine but will never be anything more than a footnote in the pages for the uninspired.
When it comes to literary flare, I could go on for hours. It is impossible to be a writer if you don’t have style. Charles Bukowski was a man who oozed style through every drunken orifice. And I know I’ve mentioned him on several occasions in this blog but his poems really do hit the nail on the head sometimes. Bukowski may have been an alcoholic post-man for the best part of his life, but he still managed to dictate to the world that there is no excuse not to have style.
So, without further adieu, here is his poem about style, I hope you like it:
STYLE IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING – CHARLES BUKOWSKI
Style is the answer to everything.
A fresh way to approach a dull or dangerous thing
To do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous thing without it
To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art
Bullfighting can be an art
Boxing can be an art
Loving can be an art
Opening a can of sardines can be an art
Not many have style
Not many can keep style
I have seen dogs with more style than men,
although not many dogs have style.
Cats have it with abundance.
When Hemingway put his brains to the wall with a shotgun,
that was style.
Or sometimes people give you style
Joan of Arc had style
John the Baptist
Jesus
Socrates
Caesar
García Lorca.
I have met men in jail with style.
I have met more men in jail with style than men out of jail.
Style is the difference, a way of doing, a way of being done.
Six herons standing quietly in a pool of water,
or you, naked, walking out of the bathroom without seeing me.
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