diff --git a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget.js b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget.js
index 99a187762..762968425 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget.js
@@ -466,19 +466,11 @@ define(["widgets/js/manager",
 
         _get_selector_element: function (selector) {
             // Get the elements via the css selector.
-
-            // If the selector is blank, apply the style to the $el_to_style 
-            // element.  If the $el_to_style element is not defined, use apply 
-            // the style to the view's element.
             var elements;
             if (!selector) {
-                if (this.$el_to_style === undefined) {
-                    elements = this.$el;
-                } else {
-                    elements = this.$el_to_style;
-                }
+                elements = this.$el;
             } else {
-                elements = this.$el.find(selector);
+                elements = this.$el.find(selector).addBack(selector);
             }
             return elements;
         },
diff --git a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_bool.js b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_bool.js
index 5a3ba18ec..83af9d4ed 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_bool.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_bool.js
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ define([
                 .appendTo(this.$el)
                 .click($.proxy(this.handle_click, this));
 
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$checkbox; // Set default element to style
             this.update(); // Set defaults.
         },
 
diff --git a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_container.js b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_container.js
index ce001e0d5..630118cb9 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_container.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_container.js
@@ -158,7 +158,6 @@ define([
                 that.$body.outerHeight(that.$window.innerHeight() - that.$title_bar.outerHeight());
             });
 
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$body;
             this._shown_once = false;
             this.popped_out = true;
 
@@ -272,7 +271,7 @@ define([
             // "modal" - select the modal div
             // "modal [selector]" - select element(s) within the modal div.
             // "[selector]" - select elements within $el
-            // "" - select the $el_to_style
+            // "" - select the $el
             if (selector.substring(0, 5) == 'modal') {
                 if (selector == 'modal') {
                     return this.$window;
diff --git a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_int.js b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_int.js
index 2ef71b1ba..f2e5ce767 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_int.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_int.js
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ define([
             this.$slider_container = $('<div />')
                 .addClass('widget-hslider')
                 .append(this.$slider);
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$slider_container; // Set default element to style
             this.$el.append(this.$slider_container);
             
             this.$readout = $('<div/>')
@@ -158,7 +157,6 @@ define([
                 .addClass('form-control')
                 .addClass('widget-numeric-text')
                 .appendTo(this.$el);
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$textbox; // Set default element to style
             this.update(); // Set defaults.
         },
         
@@ -262,7 +260,6 @@ define([
                 .addClass('progress')
                 .addClass('widget-progress')
                 .appendTo(this.$el);
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$progress; // Set default element to style
             this.$bar = $('<div />')
                 .addClass('progress-bar')
                 .css('width', '50%')
diff --git a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_selection.js b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_selection.js
index 901ac997b..3922dc9a5 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_selection.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_selection.js
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ define([
                 .addClass('widget_item')
                 .addClass('btn-group')
                 .appendTo(this.$el);
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$buttongroup; // Set default element to style
             this.$droplabel = $('<button />')
                 .addClass('btn btn-default')
                 .addClass('widget-combo-btn')
@@ -119,7 +118,6 @@ define([
             this.$container = $('<div />')
                 .appendTo(this.$el)
                 .addClass('widget-radio-box');
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$container; // Set default element to style
             this.update();
         },
         
@@ -210,7 +208,6 @@ define([
                 .addClass('btn-group')
                 .attr('data-toggle', 'buttons-radio')
                 .appendTo(this.$el);
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$buttongroup; // Set default element to style
             this.update();
         },
         
@@ -302,7 +299,6 @@ define([
                 .addClass('widget-listbox form-control')
                 .attr('size', 6)
                 .appendTo(this.$el);
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$listbox; // Set default element to style
             this.update();
         },
         
diff --git a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_string.js b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_string.js
index c8b91d840..0ca90bed3 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_string.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget_string.js
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ define([
                 .attr('rows', 5)
                 .addClass('widget-text form-control')
                 .appendTo(this.$el);
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$textbox; // Set default element to style
             this.update(); // Set defaults.
 
             this.model.on('msg:custom', $.proxy(this._handle_textarea_msg, this));
@@ -140,7 +139,6 @@ define([
                 .addClass('input')
                 .addClass('widget-text form-control')
                 .appendTo(this.$el);
-            this.$el_to_style = this.$textbox; // Set default element to style
             this.update(); // Set defaults.
             this.model.on('change:placeholder', function(model, value, options) {
                 this.update_placeholder(value);
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget.py
index 345a4c7ec..228d4c544 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget.py
@@ -392,10 +392,7 @@ class DOMWidget(Widget):
         selector: unicode (optional, kwarg only)
             JQuery selector to use to apply the CSS key/value.  If no selector 
             is provided, an empty selector is used.  An empty selector makes the 
-            front-end try to apply the css to a default element.  The default
-            element is an attribute unique to each view, which is a DOM element
-            of the view that should be styled with common CSS (see 
-            `$el_to_style` in the Javascript code).
+            front-end try to apply the css to the top-level element.
         """
         if value is None:
             css_dict = dict_or_key