How to Build Taste
An ongoing guidance on taste building and discovering
My personality starts defrosting the second the temperature hits above 7°C. No matter how much I might wish otherwise, winter is not for me. I spend the majority of my time at home with second-hand books, sipping milk oolong tea gifted by family, doing Zillow therapy with YouTube in the background. Necessary wintering, if you will. Anyway, I hope this week’s post can bring you needed delight.
I named the my biweekly Substack column ‘Taste of The Week’ to curate content that I believe is tasteful and worth consuming. There’s a certain truth in the saying ‘you are what you consume.’ The images and language we are exposed to move through us and leave their marks, making it perilous to consume content fed to us by algorithms without pausing a minute to put in thoughts.
I adore the word ‘taste’; it’s sensual, like kids’ smile with the first scoop of ice cream. Though the word ‘taste’ has often been associated with one’s upbringing and socioeconomic status, the essence of taste is much simpler (without reducing the and history and contexts around taste). Truly, Taste paints the connections behind things that excite us—it’s really about joy and excitement. I’m fascinated by how taste seems to be something that comes so naturally yet demands so much effort and attention. The discussion around taste is truly a discussion about preferences, triggers, decision-making, and everything in between.
Tahirah Hairston’s essay “Thoughts on Taste” is an amazing discussion around the nuances and politics of taste building. It is both genuine and powerful. It filled two pages of my common place notebook and inspired me to write down theses sentences that you are reading. I briefly discussed this essay on my TikTok as well; check it out. (I recently started to post on TikTok about content that is worth consuming, if you want to hangout daily, go find me there).
A quote from the essay:
“Approaching taste as something you can buy into or project negates what I think it really means to have it: curiosity about the world around you, an eye and desire for beauty and congruence, and an interest in cultivating your personhood as you present yourself to the world.”
At the end of the essay, the author provides guides on how to cultivate taste. I suggest reading it alongside “Quotes on Taste,” which I found quite helpful in understanding taste. If you listen to podcasts, please also check out “How to Discover Your Own Taste” on The Ezra Klein Show, where the host discusses the crisis we are facing around taste in the age of algorithms and how we can still discover and build our own taste.
A GUIDE
Okay, now, If you are done with reading the resources listed above, here are my tips on building taste:
The core of building taste are “pay attention” and “make peace with time.”
Discovering and building taste require us to pay attention to our surroundings. They necessitate that we remain still and seek solitude intentionally. It requires us, at certain times, to block out outside noises and opinions so we can think things through. Sometimes, you may find that all your efforts yield nothing, and that’s okay. Discovering and building taste is not a competition, and we should reject the urgency. We make peace with time so that we can truly TAKE TIME TO FEEL.
It’s never “developing” taste.
I don’t like the word “developing” for its implication of linear progress. I prefer the words “discover” and “build.” Are some tastes better than others? Perhaps. But having a “better” taste should never be the goal. Instead, the goal is to solidify our taste (build taste) and seek clarity within it (discover taste).
There may not be a “better” taste, but some tastes are truer than others.
Strive to find a balance between collectivism, individualism, personhood, and humanity.
We carry our culture living in a society with people who share mutual understandings. Our decisions on taste are not emerged from thin air. There isn’t a single piece of clothing, a song, or a sentence that isn’t built on culture, history, and collective wisdom. However, we do have the agency to interpret, present, and recreate these cultural products. Similarly, while we recognize that our imagination and creativity may be limitless, we are required to understand that our moves and our likes are build on our existence as one among many living creatures on this Earth.
Ask many questions, both inward and outward.
Nothing is more beautiful than a “why?” (The curiosity we bear is why I love being human.)
Don’t be afraid to claim a taste, and don’t be afraid to change it.
Claim a taste and a style whenever you want, and be okay with admitting that you might be wrong. Writing this essay is my act of being bold. After all, who am I to claim what taste is and how to build it when I haven’t been on this Earth for long? But who cares! Claim it, enjoy it, and have fun.
(PS: Although taste is often associated with objects, encouraging you to claim a taste and review and change it whenever you like is not an endorsement for you to chase trends and purchase new items whenever you discover something new in your taste. We are adults, we can appreciating without purchasing)
Make decisions. Decision-making is empowering, and empowerment is a huge part of taste building.
Give your instinct more trust.
Yes yes, I know a large part of our tastes is socially constructed. However, the spiritual part of me believes part of the taste come from our natural likes and dislikes.
Experiment, try it out.
It’s hard to know whether you really like something unless you try it out (again, this doesn’t mean you need to purchase new items).
Expand your timeframe; don’t let the present restrict your thinking.
Many of us focus too much on the present. What’s modern? What’s trending? What is in season? What’s a hot topic? What would people think about me?
Instead, look into history, look into the future. What do I want to bring to life if the present is not the matter? What do I want to be associated with when I’m discovered by aliens?
Understand your identity but don’t be confined by it.
My race, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status hugely influence me. But they do not define me nor my taste entirely.
Review your feeling often.
Things that’s truly your taste would usually make you feel some type of way. Most likely the feelings are not superficial, and therefore require us putting in time to think about it, analyze it, and review feelings often.
I hope it is helpful, can’t wait to hangout next week. Meanwhile, feel free to email me/DM me. Your messages will be read with care and love.
It is never about others
Taste can help you finding your kind if you will. But it is never something that you used to differentiate yourself from others. Taste should bridge us and bond us, not divid us. If you desire to have a “good taste” so you can position yourself above others, you can never find the taste that is true to you, and you are playing the wrong game.
There isn’t such thing called ideal taste
Money can’t buy taste and style
It is true. Money might make great art and great beauty more accessible, but like I said, taste requires patient and time (more than often, people ignore these efforts when money isn’t a problem). You have people that sit in public museum for days to study a painting and you have people refuse to give great art a second look once they are hanged on their vacation home. You have people hire stylists to plan their evening looks and you have people draw out their visions and spend hours and hours in thrift store to make it come true.
End, some outfit I wore this week. You can tell I took my ‘wear colorful socks’ new year resolution quite seriously. The Dior blazer and silver Tory Burch slippers are my January purchase. I told myself that in 2024, I won’t add more than two pieces to my closet per month (including second hand and vintage item), so far I’m having so much fun sliming and reviewing my likes, my wishlist, and my purchasing decisions. I will talk more about it in the future newsletters.
Ah, I love Substack for allowing me to read such posts 🫶🏼