In this context, elegant variation lends itself to irony.

The same strategy is at work in elegant variation.

The elegant third variation, marked dolce, moves at a more leisurely pace, providing a sense of calm after two rather busy variations.

An elegant variation on "Night of the Hunter."

Her sometimes elegant, sometimes whimsical variations on the little black dress run in the $900 range.

But she was schussing on a sled, the kind that's an elegant variation on a trash can lid, when a tree apparently got in her way.

This is elegant variation and tells anyone who may not know who she is.

His themes devour the real; history seems invented to provide all those elegant variations on disappearance, on loss of identity.

Confusion can result in cases that look like elegant variation but are not, for example:

If you want an elegant variation on this theme, book a lunch at the "21" Club at the season's peak.