In the 1990s, in one of Romania’s first books on dress, Doina Berchină wrote that fashion is an unjustifiably female preoccupation, one that a great many men live well off (designers, tailors, photographers, make-up artists, stylists and so on). Thirty years on, the reverse is also true. In contrast to the creators of fashion stand the creators of style, fewer in number, who bring to market instantly recognisable ideas that set them apart (Brioni, Armani, Tom Ford, Ralph Lauren). Their pieces are more expensive and produced in limited runs. The drama of today’s man is that he tries to be stylish but ends up merely “fashionable”. That is why this article sets out 5 clear differences between fashion and style, to settle the matter.

1. Duration: why is fashion perishable and style not?

One of the first differences is duration. Fashion is temporary, and therefore perishable; style is ageless. Fashion changes without reason, arbitrarily, purely to bring something new to market. Fashion houses release collections every six months, with clothes they call “seasonal pieces”. What is new this year will be out of fashion next year, a strategy that stimulates consumption. In effect, fashion promotes novelty for novelty’s sake. Style, however, is not defined by duration. It took shape through small accumulations over time, until it reached the refined rules of today. To have style is to find the optimum proportion between the right measure, the ideal motif and quality material. That proportion differs from man to man, which leads to point 2.

2. Individuality: whom does fashion bewitch, and whom does style dress?

Fashionable pieces are designed to dress the masses. That standardises outfits and makes everyone look the same. Style, by contrast, seeks to flatter the wearer through universal aesthetic principles. These principles adapt to the build and features of each individual. Style allows a man, for instance, to choose his favourite fabric, texture, shade and pattern. But style also stops his jacket sleeves from covering his shirt cuffs.

3. Extravagance: why should style never “shout”?

Fashion is loud, whereas style is rather subtle. Fashion promotes ever louder pieces on the grounds that they have never been tried before. The result is outfits of baggy clothes, impossible colour combinations and recycled plastic fabrics. The success of a fashion collection has come to mean the success of its shows in Paris, Milan or New York. But no one will wear those pieces in the street, because no one wants to look like a Smurf. Style, by contrast, has no need to reinvent itself periodically. That is why style seeks to flatter the man in the clothes, not the clothes on the man.

4. Convenience: why does style generally cost more?

Fashion seeks convenience; style seeks quality. Fashionable pieces are therefore often cheap, precisely because they target the masses. Polyester, polyamide and acrylic are among the most common materials. Style is not always cheap or convenient to acquire, but it repays the investment over time. What is cheap is not necessarily good, and what is good is not necessarily cheap. A quality garment that lasts ten years has a lower cost per wear than a cheap one that lasts two. That said, a man who hunts for treasure in second-hand shops may well find stylish pieces at fair prices.

5. The process: why is style built and not copied?

Fashion is copied; style is built. Anyone who wants to be fashionable walks into the nearest shop and sees what is trending. But a man who wants to build a style of his own must set aside patience and a willingness to learn. Taste, elegance and refinement are trained over time, and they pay their dividends later.

In short, style is a set of conventions that achieve the maximum effect with reasonable resources. It is always personal, but rests on universal principles. Fashion, by contrast, places itself outside all convention. It chases novelty for novelty’s sake and stimulates consumption irrationally. The choice, as ever, is a personal one.