To ask how do you know which things are 'tacky/common'?

[TheHydrangeas]

On here I sometimes see certain items, behaviours, homeware, fashion, makeup, etc classed as "tacky" or "common". Sometimes I can understand it, but other times it is things that seem pretty innocuous. Despite this you see this kind of unanimous belief that those things are "common". However I can't really find an underlying pattern to what is deemed to be tacky/common and what is not. Is there any kind of theme or pattern to this? One example is I remember reading a thread where a pretty popular brand of scented candles were classed as tacky.

I also want to say that I am not trying to portray other users negatively as judgemental or anything, we are all entitled to our opinions. I am just interested from a broader point of view - how do certain things become tacky or common?

I love how giraffe also managed to shoehorn in the fact that she's thin.

@ReceptacleForTheRespectable

I love how giraffe also managed to shoehorn in the fact that she's thin.

Love this 👍

Nick Haslam's list is a bit strange. I have at least 15 on there....

www.thepoke.co.uk/2019/03/10/list-things-society-designer-nicky-haslam-finds-common-funny-and-utterly-random/

Haven't read full thread (although looks like a bun fight) but I am in Australia so class system not quite the same. I once heard a social worker say that the reason for working class (or in Oz we'd say lower socioeconomic) people wearing expensive branded gear is they are very aware of their money situation and it's a way of showing they're not poor. I grew up poor and thought well yeah that makes sense. We were all competing to wear Nike's and Adidas at school despite coming from families who struggled to pay the bills.

Also working class in Britain, can you be wealthy working class or is working class a way of saying poor? Because for instance you can be a labourer here but earn good money and not be poor.

And having grown up and become quite wealthy, it really depends on the area you live as to whether things you own are tacky. Range Rover in a shit area - tacky, trying too hard, assumes drug dealer. Range Rover in a posh area - normal car.

@sst1234, Tacky is anything expensive owned by someone who struggles to spell words longer than four syllables
Wozza syllable?

My Dmum always encouraged us to wear clothes that were a good fit and suited our shape. Best advice ever. Always stylish but never fashionable. They can be cheap as chips or cost the earth but if they don’t fit well they all look tacky.

We laughed much when a couple of years ago we came accross an article about what items are 'tacky and only common people' own. She owns and adores every one on the list (especially her super sized hot tub with flashing lights) we have never owned any

You sound lovely.

I wonder, is it 'common' (or just plain unpleasant) to laugh about how tacky someone is, while making sure to spell out how unlike this person you are?

Spell out 😂😂 if there is one thing @GlamGiraffe can't do. It is SPELL. But that's okay at least she is not tacky.

According to that list, most of MN is common, particularly the ones that go out of their way NOT to be.

Fun times.

In a nutshell I think tackiness relates to items/things that are used specifically to brag or show-off.

For example buying a product not because the aesthetic appeals to you but because it has a designer name plastered across it. You are saying "look at me, I can afford a LV bag".

The thing about tribes is interesting. Most of my friendship group probably does fit a certain 'look' in terms of what they wear although it's not so much class based as related to a shared sport/hobby. In terms of house decor, I have some friends who have fantasticly blingy chandeliers, and some who like minimalist Nordic style stuff, some drive ancient hatchbacks, some Porsche 4x4s. Some are MC, some WC. Interestingly, the two friends I have who drive supposedly 'tacky' cars (as described by this thread) actually come from the most monied backgrounds. They even post pictures of their cars on Facebook - god forbid!

Taste is entirely subjective, so the determining factor is the associations certain objects have, not whether they are objectively 'tasteful' or not. It's a nonsense - an excuse for a certain type of person to feel that they are somehow superior.

For example buying a product not because the aesthetic appeals to you but because it has a designer name plastered across it. You are saying "look at me, I can afford a LV bag".

Which is just as sad as not buying something you actually like/want or worse changing it because it is/ it's now deemed tacky or common. "Look at me all posh and fancy with shit I don't even like, while I sigh wistfully at the thought of flamingoes and grey walls".

It's quite creepy how you know so much about the woman your husband married 45 years ago, GlamGiraffe
Do you keep tabs on her as a barometer of how classy you are, and how far your dh has risen (with your super special inherited furniture)?
She sounds happier than you, tbh.

Zara, that Nicky Haslam list is clearly about defining an inner group, “his” group, which he wishes to distinguish from a wider group. Even that wider group clearly has lots of discretionary money...
For instance Mr Haslam thinks The sport of polo is common and “Christmas in the Caribbean” is common.
I can’t afford to travel from my home in England to have Christmas in the Caribbean (I think hotels may raise prices then too). So I’m not even in Nicky Harlan’s outer group. Nor are the people who live in the Caribbean, who might therefore celebrate Christmas in the Caribbean even worth mentioning.

Please don’t take the Nicky Haslam list seriously!

Things that are popular with chavvy people. I know chavs with money (who would also like to think they are middle class) and chavs without money. People on MN like to think there is no such thing as a chav, or that it's somehow offensive, but it's just a fact.

I think it's tacky to spend more than you can afford in order to look like you're doing well in life. So buying the latest and best of everything, but having store cards, credit plans and buy now pay later.

The payment plans themselves aren't a bad thing if they are used well, but having worked in the unmanageable debt sector, there is a huge swathe of people who spend money they don't have, on things they don't need in an attempt to impress others.

Damn, I was taking Mr Haslam’s list so seriously I was going to shoot my swans and my polo horses..

Nor are the people who live in the Caribbean, who might therefore celebrate Christmas in the Caribbean even worth mentioning.

This made me laugh. "Quick! We have to move! It must be by Christmas!"

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion

Things that are popular with chavvy people. I know chavs with money (who would also like to think they are middle class) and chavs without money. People on MN like to think there is no such thing as a chav, or that it's somehow offensive, but it's just a fact.

It certainly is.

Although we definitely look down on new money acquired by people who are intellectually challenged. Footballers, their WAGS, the towie generations and social media influencers for instance That is a horrible generalisation born out of jealousy. Personally I don't believe that Arsene Wenger, Gary Lineker, Marcus Rashford and Gareth Southgate, Frank Lampard and Christine Lampard are intellectually challenged at all. I don't look down on 'new money' at all. The Duchess of Cambridge has suffered a great deal from this type of snobbery as has the Duchess of Sussex.
The happiest people are those who don't give a fuck about what people think of their choices.

I’ve always wondered why ‘new money’ is looked down on compared to ‘old money’ . Perhaps the poster with her granny’s furniture who has supper on her friends mismatched charity shop crockery could answer this ?
Why is someone who has earned their own money less worthy than someone who inherited it ?

Is your furniture bought?

If you know you know.

Worrying about being common is the definition of common. That’s all there is to it really.

Tacky to me just means bad taste, which is subjective. But anyone who worries about being common is common by definition.

@nightroadworkskeepingmeup. I think you’ve got it in one as to why many People in lower socioeconomic would wear expensive brands. I’m from one of the most deprived areas in the UK: I recall what you wear being seen as really important as a child and teen. DH is firmly middle class and would never have been bought designed clothes as a teen: it would have been seen as a waste of money. My parents would have given their last fiver to buy me or my brother branded clothes so that we could fit in.

Although I’m still unsure where I fit in the class model now (by occupation and on the BBC class calculator I’m MC, but I don’t feel it), i am happy to buy my son a mix of primark, Asda, F&F, joules, next and John Lewis clothes. When I take my son to parties in MC areas, the kids all look very scruffy and seem to be dressed mainly in whatever t shirt and jogging trousers were at hand. When I take my son to parties in WC areas, generally the kids arrive looking perfect with expensive clothes on

I would say anything that is very obvious or about showing off is tacky or common, or something 'over the top' being shown off.

eg
jewellery on babies or small children
long, overly manicured nails- false or real
tattoos
flouncy or ornate net curtains
revealing clothes
skimpy clothes
sports cars
huge 4 wheel drives in urban areas
loud, attention-seeking behaviour in someone old enough to know better
behaving in ways that show no regard for other people
excessive drinking in public
wearing lots of jewellery
lack of discretion
people who swear in every sentence
fashion or beauty fads worn because they are fashionable even if they look awful