Elegance, CLASS, Sophistication, Glamour, Chic, and Style

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis - photo via style noted

This post is the second in a series about elegance, class, sophistication, glamour, chic, and style; words that are often used interchangeably when referring to attractive, well-dressed people, but which don't necessarily mean the same thing. Today, I'm going to talk about class...

Class: social rank; especially high social rank; high quality

Simply stated, class is elegance with status and funds. Class implies a golden aura; a genteel patina; the proverbial "silver spoon." A person can be elegant without high social rank, however, class requires either being born into high social rank, or somehow rising above the fray to attain it, or possibly marrying into it.

A person can be elegant without loads of money, but since class dictates a superior level of quality, it therefore requires a certain amount of disposable income. On the other hand, just because someone has a pedigree, or a lot of money, does not necessarily mean they have class, ie: tacky and tasteless runs deep in some extremely blue-blooded families, and ostentation can be very expensive. 

Occasionally, you will hear someone say, "she is so low class," or "he has no class." Wait a minute! Low class? What does that mean? "Low" class is someone with very little status or funds; and usually cheap, cheesy taste. And "no" class is pretty self-explanatory. However, the word class is most often used to describe a person who is elegant, well-mannered, well-bred, well-dressed, and well-off.

Who has class? I always think of women like the late Jacqueline Kennedy; Dina Merrill, daughter of Wall Street financier E.F. Hutton and Post cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post; and heiress and socialite, Gloria Vanderbilt. Elegant, aristocratic, wealthy, and oh so classy!

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