What is Suave?

In today's mod, mod world, what is suave?
suave (swav) adj.
Smoothly gracious in social manner.
suave, smooth, urbane, diplomatic, politic

Suave suggests a polished exterior and outward sophistication.

Smooth stresses conscious, sometimes excessive effort to avoid conflict with others.

Urbane implies a high degree of refinement together with the assurance that comes from wide social experience.

Diplomatic especially suggests tact in handling difficult situations and, politic adds to this the implication of artful management, sagacity, or shrewdness in gaining an end.

Dredging through the memories of the misspent days of my youth I found that the styles, music, fashions, even the words I read all led me down a common path. The various twists and turns of that path drove me to the edge of the cocktail culture. Teetering on the brink, I was finally repulsed by the mockery of things once held cool. Repulsed enough to pull myself back and begin making my way down a new path of my own creation.

Here then is a path where my days of now pay homage to those who have gone before, heeding well-worn advice in the conception of my own modernistic stylings. While there is nothing new under the sun, there can be fresh ways to look at what has passed us by; original ways of combining those pasts into a more perfect understanding.

I don't believe in living in the past, but in using the past to enhance living for today. When I was swinging in the mod scene I was always looking for those people, fashions, sounds, trends, groups who could honor the past while creating a new style all their own.

Every era produces its own bit of swank culture, suave styles, and just plain cool. Once cool, always cool. Once granted, there is no retracting the title of suave. Most of what is here comprises those cool things and hip people who over the years have gained that certain ... Je ne sais quoi.

Soul, jazz, power pop, lounge, punk and certainly even some current rock and pop groups and musicians are here, and are suave.

Suave is what you make it. In my mod world these things are suave because I make them that way.

Solid soul and style,
Mr. Suave