What separates elegance from mere restraint is that it requires *taste*—the harder work of knowing what deserves your attention. Chanel's point cuts against the modern instinct to add, accumulate, and display; she suggests that true refinement means having the confidence to walk away from good things because they're not *right*. When a surgeon refuses to operate on a patient whose condition will heal without intervention, or when a writer deletes a clever paragraph that doesn't serve the story, they're practicing this kind of elegance—not through deprivation, but through clarity about what actually matters. The insight matters precisely because it makes elegance sound austere rather than inviting, which is honest: choosing well always costs something.