Stylistic means 'to do with style' — but a very particular kind of style. It is about HOW a writer, artist, musician, or film-maker does their work: the methods, the choices, the small technical habits that make their work look or sound the way it does. If a writer uses very short sentences, that is a stylistic choice. If a painter always paints with thick, rough brush strokes, that is a stylistic feature of their work.

Notice that it is almost never about clothes or fashion, even though the noun 'style' often is. You would not say 'a stylistic jacket'. For that we say 'stylish'. This is the single biggest thing to hold on to: stylistic = about the manner of making art; stylish = looking good. Two different words with two different jobs.

The word belongs to the classroom, the review page, the museum label. Teachers, critics, and students use it a lot. Ordinary people talking about a film they liked usually do not. So it feels formal and a little academic — not cold, but careful.

One more thing worth knowing. 'Stylistic' is often used when a person wants to say a difference does not really matter: 'The two versions are only stylistically different' means the meaning is the same, and only the surface manner changed. So the word quietly carries a hint of 'surface, not substance' in that use — though in an art review the same word can be high praise. Context decides which one you are getting.