Developing taste is an exercise in vulnerability: it requires you to trust your instincts and preferences, even when they don’t align with current trends or the tastes of your peers. Because while having taste is cool, taste itself reflects a certain type of uncool earnestness – a commitment to one’s own obsessions and quirks.

The conversation around taste tends to focus on what it takes to develop it, but not what it takes to use it and unlock its potential, which is confidence .

Having and developing taste is one thing, but remaining connected to our taste is another. In order to take advantage of our taste, we have to be able to access its insights and guidance, which ... See more

While it’s probably one of the corniest things I’ll ever write in this column, I’ve come to believe that developing taste is not so unlike going to therapy; it’s an inefficient, time-consuming process that mostly entails looking inward and identifying whatever already moves you. It’s the product of devouring ideas, images and pieces of culture not ... See more