COOL ... how do you define it?...

[kus]

confidence easy word.
maybe not cool.
i don't know you have to be confident for state
of coolness.

unless you're flying an airplane
which i'm not,
far as i know.


again, i forgot question.

o yes
confidence overated
sinnce nobody seems to have any

(sp)

 

[tangerine]

Great thread, I love the responses!

I'm with susie; I know it when I see it!

I think it has to do with the successful expression of your state of being through your external representation; however, I only think people are cool when I am in agreement with what they are expressing. So it is as subjective as can be.

 

[shadow]

I also know some cool people. None of them seem to take any notice of what others are wearing!

Cool people also look graceful, even on the beach. They bring to life anything they wear.

 

[mirrra]

when talking about the way of wearing clothes i see 'cool' like the opposite of 'trying too hard', and in general harmony between the 'inside' and the 'outside' of the person.

 

[skinny_boho]

isn't "cool" a word out of fashion?

 

[*Sunrise_Serena*]

COOL is what YOU like and not what you like because others like it.
Individuality and Originality is COOL. At least that's what I think.

 

[strawberry daiquiri]

i hate that word! could never use it without fearing the sound of what i'm saying, but i agree with mirrra mentioning 'harmony' and kus saying it doesn't have to be linked to confidence.
someone who is comfortable in feeling what they feel.

 

[kanita]

'cool' can't be only confidence, that would make to many people 'cool'. That would make my mum 'cool' (love my mum, but she is not 'cool') I don't know exactely what 'cool' is, maybe only 'cool' people know. It has something to do with confidence, intelegence and not trying to be 'cool' or 'hip' or what ever.

 

[Lilliana]

I agree with confidence, intelligence and so on.

but I think there is also a dark side to or of 'cool'. Like some really dashing but self destrutive and unhappy persons just seem to be the very epitomes of cool. i.e. James Dean. maybe it's a question of intensity of living wether in a positive or negative way. hmm I am too tired to think this out now....

 

[twilight fairy]

Somebody who stands out without being pretentious or snobby, somebody who does their own thing regardless of anybody else's opinion, somebody with confidence and allure and charm.. I'd say I often think of Carine Roitfeld as 'cool'.

 

[jennifer~]

Somehow I always manage to avoid using it in terms of people or fashion. But it's a great catch-all term for voicing approval (of songs, movies, operas, novels, whatever ). I think that same approval, when applied to people (and the way they wear it), must extend over a certain portion of their personalities, as well, which is where things get so tricky. It's probably best when the two are somewhat congruous, and a smidgen of enviability can't hurt...

 

[softgrey]

i use it for things that have a bit of an 'edge'...
or have an alternative point of view from the mainstream...
things that make you go ..hmmm...
or things that make you go......
and especially things that make you go.....

* it is often somehow rock n roll...

what makes a PERSON cool?...
i think that question belongs in heart and soul......
so i won't attempt to answer that in the personal style section...

 

[kanita]

I agree with confidence, intelligence and so on.

but I think there is also a dark side to or of 'cool'. Like some really dashing but self destrutive and unhappy persons just seem to be the very epitomes of cool. i.e. James Dean. maybe it's a question of intensity of living wether in a positive or negative way. hmm I am too tired to think this out now....

of course I have never met James Dean, but what I have seen of him, in his movies and documentarys about him, I would never qualify him as 'cool' more as beautiful, romantic, special, just like, for example, Jeff Buckley.

 

[Mulletboy]

I use the word "cool" instead of great or nice... :-) There are no personal / characteristic background feelings that influece the use of cool...

 

[Spike413]

I totaly agree about Carine Roitfeld, twilight fairy. She always manages to look like she put absolutely no thought into her outfit, but at the same time you can tell that there was. She mixes pieces with a kind of quirky sensibility, but the outcome doesn't look quirky, just effortlessly chic.

style.com

 

[fashionistasista]

definatley carine!

i think what is cool is not universal - it is what an indivividual person sees in someone else or something else that they conciously would like to pull off... therefore it can have something to do with confidence as confident people are more likely to pull off looks/ attitude than people fidgeting and looking selfconcious.

Cool is usually seen to be edgy or a bit removed from mainstream society (or something that really belongs, in a way that an outsider would want to emulate) but it doesnt need to be totally 'trendy' which is a completely different thing all together....

i think also recognising something is cool is the hope of being able to pull off that attitude/ look and to be looked up to in the way that you yourself did when you first looked at it.

 

[gius]

Whenever I think 'cool,' I think people that always have a strong presence even when they are by themselves.
They kind of give a weird aloof/intelligent or strong/tough/rebel vibe
It always has to be a combination of appearance and personality.

as fashion it's kind of like this (must have the face too)...

james dean

laconscience.com

carrie-ann moss in the matrix

uwe.peterson.claranet.de

rebecca romijin stamos in x-men

comics2film.com

anouck lepere, like in the hugo boss commercial she was in with julien hedquist

orbico.over.net

I guess it's like a lot of black/dark colours and shine... maybe leather or suede
I remember watching Blade 1 a long time ago and thinking the vampires in the underground nightclub (the meathouse turned into a nightclub) looked cool, especially this one really tall girl vampire who had platinum blond hair. You only see her for a few seconds and she pushes some guy out of her way so she can dance with a girl

I guess I can only think of James Dean as the only cool guy
unless it's those characters from Japanese video games.
Like Seifer Almasy from Final Fantasy VIII

wikimedia.org

 

[gius]

^but!! 'cool' is not the same as 'stylish'

 

[Spike413]

Yes, James Dean, for me anyway, is the absolute epitome of male cool.

It was that mix of toughness, beauty, vulnerability and charisma that made him so legendary.

 

[tangerine]

spitsnet.nl