to think saving things ''for best'' is slightly mad?

[OutOutLetItAllOut]

for our wedding, nearly 6 yrs ago, we got bought a very nice cutlery set..from then til now it has been used at xmas, and special occasions...until now, when i have opend it all up for general use.
im beginning to think that keeping things ''for best'', is mad. arent things bought to be used??
do you have things for best?

We use our wedding crystal (Edinburgh) but not the Royal Doulton dinner service. Mind you, we only ever seem to use the red wine glasses and the champagne flutes from the crystal - we got the whole set: the high balls, white wine (too small - why use a small glass when you can use a big glass - what were we thinking of!), sherry, brandy, and tumblers. What a waste.

We used to use them a lot more when we had dinner parties (pre DD). Since we have had DD (5) the dinner service only seems to come out every 2 years when it is our turn to host Christmas.

All the people who take an entire set of vintage china on to 'Antiques Roadshow' to sidscover it's worth £000's are always really pleased that their ancestors kept them for best!

My ex-bf elderly Nan was given a new set of saucepans, as hers were dangerous falling apart, and so she decided to save them for best .

I blame programmes like Antiques Roadshow for the reason I never dare to get rid of anything - it might be valuable one day!

Housemum - the table my mum and dad had while we were growing up was a posh table - throughout our childhood, it had a pvc cover on it when we used it for family (especially playtime!), but it was uncovered when the rest of the family came round (every month or so) - that was probably mainly because the cover fit when the leaves were in - it was too small when you took the leaves out!
anyway, they had that for about 30 years, until they moved to their current house - mum had stripped it of its original dark oak colour about 10 years ago. she wanted to get rid of it (because she couldn't strip the barley twist legs), but i wouldn't let her, so she bought new sqaure legs from ikea, and it spent the next 7 years in my garage (being used as a work table). it got oil stains on it too!
when i left my ex, i took that table with me, as DF only had a tiny little table (he lived on his own). so now we have a lovely, good quality table, that extends for best, a bit oil-stained, but still perfectly serviceable.
that table you want to invest in will be the same for your family - covered against paint until your kids are old enough not to ruin it, but used every day for ever.

I don't save things for best...but then I don't have anything particularly special to save

I do have a few dresses that I only wear to weddings/christenings/other formal events but that is more because I can't afford to buy new outfits for each occasion so like to keep the couple I already have feeling a bit special-I wouldn't feel like I'd made any effort for the wedding or whatever if I wore something I wore everyday.

when is "best" anyway? why not make the most of every day we have, in case we dont have another, and enjoy the things we have to their max?

I have to struggle a bit not to save things for best - got some lovely Acqua di Parma shower gel and body lotion last week that I have promised my mum I will use and not just let it sit in the bathroom looking posh! Mind you I only really have that mentality with perfume - I still have 90% of the bottle of Obsession my aunt gave me for my 18th birthday 21 years ago...

Housemum - Have you tried eBay? There are some lovely repro tables and chairs on there for a fraction of what you'd pay at Multiyork or wherever. Then you wouldn't have to stress so much about it. It's only the first scratch that hurts. We bought a new car for the first time last year and I was beside myself when someone snapped off the numberplate a week later. It was less of a wrench (though more expensive) when someone else drove into it whilst parked - because it already wasn't 'perfect' any more.

... I haven't opened it yet though

Housemum, I think you should go for the table you love. We have my DH's family oak table that he grew up with and it still has some ink stains on it from when he was little.

The DCs do do their arts and crafts on it but I cover it with an oil cloth table cloth and it works well. It's much admired and I think that is because of it's history and it's rustic charm. It will last for many decades more.

I have a best room too, nobody uses it, kids have to take shoes off, no cushion throwing etc. Have done it up, so don't want it ruined. But if any body comes and you want to have a private meeting eg. the queen, them I'm good to go!

i agree

my grandmother is the worst

she even has best dusters, dishclothes, and teatowels that have never been used and dare anyone try and dust / clean with them

she also has her best iron for the better clothes and the very best iron which is only for the best of the best stuff WHY?

she has best frying pan / saucepans / plates / mugs (that live in a different cupbaord) / table mats / cutlary / garden chairs and garden bench

I have better stuff... the stuff i wouldnt wear while decorating / washing the car, but otherwise i think everything in my house is for using and using now if you want /need to

My mum has a best bathroom that is rarely used but looks lovely.

I use my beautiful dinner service everyday, cheap stuff chipped so I sent it all to charity and bought a good set.

My dining table tends to be used for best though as we have a table in the kitchen which we use for most meals. As soon as we have guests we use the dining room one and sometimes if it's just us but feel like it.

I don't have duplicates of cutlery/glasses etc as can't see the point.

Clothes are for wearing, odd thing of dc wouldn't send her to school in as white linen dresses not ideal for painting but she would wear this at weekend, nothing sits unworn/saved.

She plays with all her christening gifts except a fragile looking moneybox, her dollies have a tiffany rattle and silver spoons.

Oh just thought of one thing, a very lovely bracelet she wears only at Christmas. It will fit her as an adult and has charms from her birth/christening/birthdays so I keep it out of reach so it doesn't get lost.

Glad you all think the same as me about the table - I have found some v funky oilcloth from an online company (Norfolk fabric, or something like that, big circles in plum/taupe on a white background) that is a bit cheaper than Cath Kidston, and this is the table I like:

table & 10 chairs

It looks better "in the flesh", looks quite dull there. I'm trying to persuade DH that we should support local businesses as the showroom is only about 10 miles away

We are checking eBay regularly for anything similar sized, I may drop some hints to my mum about how I really can't decide if we can afford that one at the moment...

Caurnie all white wine glasses used to be tiny compared to the ones that are commonplace now. Its' stupid I know but I always find it deeply naff and dated to drink white wine out of one of those titchy old-school glasses. I wonder how many people (like you) are hiding their expensive, crystal, showily engraved wine glasses, and drinking out of cheap but plain and elegant bucket-sized ones from Ikea or Sainsbury's? Thousands, I'll wager!

Do you remember drinking wine in proper pubs (not swanky bars) in the 80's? I used to come in the same glass you'd get a gin and tonic in or a fruit juice in - a kind of small round bowl on a stem.

I have stuff for best - the really nice glasses, used at family dinners, Christmas etc.
The proper nice embroidered table cloths - ditto
posh frocks that would look out of place at playgroup
best boots that are a PITA to walk in so only used for "occasions"

I do have semi-expensive stuff (for me, still under £100 so not really all that!) that I forced myself to stop keeping for best and wear more regularly - because otherwise it just gets silly. I have a bit of a thing for silks, lace and velvet - can't keep it all for best!

We deliberately didn't get any posh dinner stuff - my parents OTOH have proper Wedgewood bone china and silver cutlery that only ever came out for Occasion Teas.
We have Denby for all occasions.

Our dinning set and cutlery set are for bests but best can mean we have a roast dinner and all sit down to eat together. I like making some things a bit special

wow, housemum! that table looks like it could withstand anything.

that's definitely the one you should go for!

yes fakeplastic and the minute I change into best to go out or whatever I get marks down it!Maybe the grannies like comfort more than looking smart is that mad??

The only thing we have 'for best' is a set of lead crystal champagne flutes that we use for Christmas. I am terrified of smashing one, because they are lovely and they aren't strictly mine! My aunt received them as a wedding present nearly 20 years ago (she has been divorced about 15 years) and she left me a ton of her things for my house when she moved in with my grandparents to be a carer.
Christmas is the only time we can afford champagne anyway