to think there's a grain of truth in this article about Christmas decs

[PiperPublickOccurrences]

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6430199/Etiquette-expert-William-Hanson-reveals-Christmas-decorations-make-look-common.html

Yes it's a Daily Mail link, so what.

Totally tongue in cheek article about how Christmas decorations are a class thing. Very funny. Highlights include:

"Covering your PVC door in some enormous, shiny taffeta bow is not going to make the door look any better. "

"The rule is: the further away from green it is, the more common it is. Thus: pink and white trees - the pits."

"should your husband (and it is always men) return home with an electronic dancing Douglas Fir, or a fake mounted reindeer head that bleats Good King Wenceslas to passers-by, then you have two options: get rid of it, or get rid of him."

"If a house’s baubles have gone up in November then however much repenting you may do during Lent, it will never be enough. "

So, so true.

He was sat on the only chair and was asked by his partner to get some other items for him, and placed all his bags on the chair when he got up so I wouldn't sit on it.

I would have tipped them off. What a twat!

Sneering at and belittling other people for their taste in Christmas decor shows a distinct lack of class. Who gives a shiny shit whether a family has Elf on the Shelf, an inflatable Santa in the garden, a tinsel tree and a snowflake projector? Live your own life, be happy and content, and don't get your kicks out of insulting others.

Re trees with roots. My last one was one of those and quite small. It lasted two years, I put it out in the garden once the holidays were over. Poor old thing died this year. I think the summer did for it.

I love tinsel!

@WatchingTheWheels85, you tree is lovely. Reminds me of the one a friend has which is decorated by her three daughters. It's a mess of anything and everything and is pure joy to look at because it's all about the family and ultimately that's what it should be about.

Some people derive joy from being surrounded by joyous things. Some people derive joy from sneering and the things others find joyful.

However you get your happiness, I sincerely hope you all have a very merry Christmas. I for one bloody well need it.

*at the things

@Mickhucknall where can I find them? That sounds fab!

I bought the light up letters from Marks & Spencers last year in all our initials - my mother says they can't be tacky because Marks don't do tacky. Okay....

The tree will be delivered on Thursday, too big to bring ourselves and this weekend's mission is finding one of those swag things for the staircase, we moved recently and the old one is not big enough. It is being demoted to the downstairs loo, my Clarke W Griswold ambitions are becoming more real by the day!

I've not read the article btw, but surely it's tongue in cheek?

Thank you @Ravenesque growing up my mother took charge of the christmas decorations and it was always colour coordinated and perfect. I wasn't allowed to touch it. My kids get so excited about decorating the tree, I've just looked and we even have some random pink creature made out of pipe cleaners

Curious2468 oh, that is FAB!!!

I'd rather have a common tree than be a stuck up judgmental prick

I thought that the Queen had already got her tree up? Does that mean that she is unutterably common

She does occupy the ultimate council house so maybe she is !!!

I wonder how she got that tree in the car, she'd have to put the back seats down for sure. One of my abiding memories is of seeing a lone, 5ft tree for £5 on Christmas Eve, OH felt so sorry for it we had to buy it, the problem was we were in my MGF, the soft top went back and I sat in the passenger seat with the tree standing between my knees, needless to say, it was raining!

I couldn't give a stuff what others think - I put up what we like. Baubles are memories for us! We put some red and gold ones on for balance then the rest is random - the Brussels sprout bought at a Christmas market, the angel we bought in Prague, the St Nicholas from a Russian convent stall at a market, a TARDIS (just because) - anything goes! We also have a singing reindeer head in the hallway and I don't care! Maybe once the youngest is in secondary school it might go but we like it for now. Does the fact we have holly from the garden over the Aga balance out the common-ness?

@Curious2468 and @WatchingTheWheels85

I love both trees, they're fab.

I am also common as muck and ok with it...have just installed a laser light which projects white snowflakes on the house (not in the sight of any neighbour, I wouldn't be that antisocial), and I have a bow (though not taffeta) on my door as we don't have a door knocker to hang a wreath from and all other attempts at hanging a wreath failed. I think it looks nice and thankfully don't give a shiny shit what anyone else thinks.

Here's to everyone who has decorated their house in whatever way makes them happy (even if that's no decorations). Merry Christmas and (the most important part) good will to all men (women, children and pets) [santa]

Who knew door bows were a thing?

I draw the line at those awful projectors or inflatable characters. to me Christmas decs should sparkle and those things don't. I do have a real tree mid December and warm white lights because I refer that look but I still enjoy coloured lights on other peoples' trees.

prefer

Well the writer should come and visit our village. Aspirational postcode, entire main street is listed, you get the picture. Following last night's Xmas lights switch on, the whole place could be renamed Tacksville.

Everybody loves it, subtle and classy it is not. The Xmas tree alone is probably visible from space, there are blow up Santas and snowmen in every tree and there's enough light in the park to guide a jumbo jet, which is always a worry as we're directly under the final descent for a local airport. The week before Xmas there'll be a Santa parade with elves and people dressed up as reindeer. There's no such thing as a tasteful Xmas IMO, so you might as well embrace it and, you know, have a bit of fun .

My problem with etiquette and aspirational class/taste is it implies one is somehow better than another. My parents both came from very upper middle class backgrounds and rebelled. Christmas embraced the 80s and our tree was pink. I loved Christmas.

Good manners, how you make people feel when they interact with you matters. Whether you follow the rules for a club you're not actually in should be irrelevant.

As much as this article is (kind of) a joke. I find it sad that trees are more about being 'Instaworthy' than the family. All carefully and perfectly made up in the lastest (drab) fashionable way like every other tree. I genuinely don't remember this when I was a kid. People did what tree they wanted, as a family, and no time or consideration was given to what anyone else would think- because no one gave (gives) a crap what everyone else did- it was, and should be, about your family, and not a fashion. Feck it all- bring back the colour and magic, garlands and tinsel and stop giving a crap if it's social media ready and acceptable.

Is 'tongue in cheek' the new way of saying 'sneery' or 'looking down on others'

Lol.
YES! The tacky bows!! Ugh.
I actually could have written this article myself. I agree with it all but the real Xmas tree. I'd love one but hoovering needles up is such a chore.
I love William Hanson.
His podcast is HILARIOUS.

What worries me is unknowingly I seem to have conformed to almost all of his “rules”
My decoration collection started when I left home almost 30 years ago and is very “traditional”. Mainly because the whole colour theme thing wasn’t a thing. You just got decorations. I have white lights because the year the last ones gave up the ghost, White was all the shop left, so we have white.
There have been loads of years I’ve thought about leaving it all in the loft and starting fresh with a colour theme, but have never got round to it, and have been glad when I’ve got them out and the memories have come out of the box along with the decorations.
Should I leave now?

Although....

Curious2468, your tree is F**king Epic.

The purple blue and silver tree is my tree from 2 years ago and the other one is my tree today. Two totally different looking trees and I like both of them. It’s up to the individual and as long as you like it who cares what anyone else thinks?

And curious2468. Your tree is amaZing.

Oh and I meant to say my son helped me decorate both. 😊