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    1. The Significance of Sarah Palin
      Peter Wehner
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      Hillel Halkin
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      Joshua Muravchik
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      Arthur Herman
      July/August 2008

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June 2008

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Abstract –

Style, true style, always outlasts fashion, which by its nature is ephemeral. Fashion goes out of style, but style, if it is genuine, never goes out of fashion. For some people, to be in fashion is to be in style. They use “style” to mean attractive ornament, flourishes of manner or dress—decoration. Art and literary historians often use the word to refer to the common qualities binding the productions of certain historical periods, as in classical style, baroque style, rococo style, romantic style, postmodern style. Others are content to let “style” or “stylishness” signify anything they admire or fancy: a suit, a handbag, a wristwatch.


About the Author

Joseph Epstein is a regular contributor to COMMENTARY. In somewhat different form, the present essay will appear in his new book, Fred Astaire, due out in the fall from Yale University Press.

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