“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
― Clare Boothe Luce
This year, I really got into old black vintage glamour and behavior. It was this year that I realized, I truly craved a world where I could live amongst the social refinement and intellectual curiosity of phenomenal African Americans such as: James Baldwin, Cicely Tyson, and Nina Simone. There was a certain air of sophistication of African Americans in the past that I recognized was absent in myself.
Poise, grace, an abundance of worldly knowledge, and quiet confidence. Qualities that seemed so simple to have, but lent a deeper complexity to the wielder of such traits. So, instead of continuously pining for these attributes in the coming year, I made the decision to actively pursue sophistication in the most ironic method; the simplification and downsizing of my life.
As I studied the sophisticated icons of the past, I realized that everything that gave them the ability to attribute such a label to themselves were fairly simple. In fact they could be summarized in a fairly short list.
- Maintaining a calm disposition and mannerisms
- Maintaining simple facial hair grooming and simple makeup
- Wearing clothes that were neat, well fitting, and minimal in design/pattern
- Being well-read/informed in politics, literature, art, and cultures
- Mastering the art of conversation, i.e knowing how to connect with people with limited/no awkwardness
- Mastering a foreign language outside of the ones you were forced to learn (the language of your home country or the language of the country you study/work in)
- Avoiding coarse language
- Avoiding coarse conversations in public (i.e knowing your audience)
- Having a wide vocabulary and knowing how to adequately use that vocabulary
- A love of knowledge in a variety of subjects
- Knowing how to have poised disagreements with others without resulting to name calling, physical/passive aggressiveness
- Speaking about yourself with modesty
- Being committed to a hobby(s)
- Being aware of changing events locally, nationally, and globally
- Appreciating other cultures
- Not becoming snobbish,
- Avoiding embarrassing behaviors (public intoxication, gossiping, etc.)
This realization demonstrated that cultivating an air of sophistication was not elusive, nor was it something reserved for the richest of us. It was something that anyone could attain by taking purposeful daily action.
ModBlackFemme 