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 think of the Kardashians as being both tacky and common..

I probably don’t really know though as I love Yankee candles and crushed velvet furniture 😂

I think things become tacky when they are replicated cheaply. For example Yankee candle, there’s so many fake ones now.

In Christmas tree terms, mine is decorated with 35 years of collecting plain glass ornaments bought cheap and random with white lights. Someone else has all the items DC have made and brought home over the years; they are full of sentiment. A new home owner has bought a set of baubles from Tesco to enjoy their own first adult tree. Another family has hired a florist to deliver a tree decorated in pink and green. Only the last is tacky in my view.

Just like what you like and don't judge people for following a trend and liking different stuff. Being so judgemental is really tacky! Some of you sound like a bunch of old fuddy duddies with out dated made up rules to make yourselves feel superior.

I'm not English, but live here. I have things I like. And things I don't. I spend very little energy worrying about whether they are common or not.

Actually. Make that zero energy. I have nothing to prove to anyone.

oopsie - run, leave before it gets you. Summon up the energy before it’s too late !

@OhTheRoses

Well indeed Heron grannie always said Selfridges was vulgar . Fortnums doesn't do tattoos - does Harrods?

Well, they certainly do piercings.

If you don't have net curtains (and don't particularly want people breaking in because they can see what's inside), how can the cat and dog see out of the window?

If you don't have net curtains (and don't particularly want people breaking in because they can see what's inside), how can the cat and dog see out of the window?

Big hedge at the back(bedroom,livingroom), frosted windows in the bathroom, and nothing in the kitchen worth stealing(the windows are really high up too) .

@Armi

It seemed much more straightforward when I was a child. We didn’t worry too much about ‘tacky’ but ‘common’ was something we lived in terror of in our family. Things that were considered ‘common’ included:

Chewing gum
Not wearing tights
Drinking, smoking or eating in the street
Drinking from a can or bottle in any circumstance
Tattoos
Wearing a short skirt/tight top when pregnant
Dyed hair, unless subtle, natural-looking highlights
Having a London accent (we weren’t even allowed to watch Grange Hill!)
ITV
Putting a milk bottle on the table
Babies with pierced ears

I'm wondering if you are in fact my sister. It was exactly the same in our house.

Can I add Austrian blinds too - if anyone had Austrian blinds my mother immediately had them pegged as 'common'.

I dont care, apart from trying to burn all my Yankee Candles this week that my SD bought me for Christmas. Her Mum drinks only Moet with her best friend. Is Moet posh?

Thanks @Miztik always helpful to know.

This is just like being back on the 'twigs and pebbly shit threads' .
I think brands are considered common by snobs once WC people start buying them. I remember a thread where someone said that Michael Kors stopped being seen as a desirable brand because teenage girls and secretaries carried their bags. It doesn't seem to matter if the product is nice or not. It's damaged by association.
Tacky is slightly different. To me it means poorly made or gaudy or cheap looking.

I know someone up thread said that if the queen has something, it's not tacky, but she has a gold piano. Sorry, but that is tacky.

I get what you are saying but would I buy: Kors, Ted Baker, Mulberry, Burberry Tartan, etc. Nah, course not. Ferragamo pump, Kate Spade, Caroline Charles, Hermes scarf, Cartier tank, splash of Tom Ford - of course I would!

Yawn 🥱

Oh is Ted Baker common now ? I missed that one.

@ComeOnBabyPopMyBubble

Oh is Ted Baker common now ? I missed that one.

And Mulberry? Come on!

Cartier tanks are ubiquitous and Kate Spade?!

What a load of insecure angst.

What a load of insecure angst.

Absolutely agree.

Ironically, listing the various designer brands you can afford to buy is exactly the sort of behaviour that this thread has deemed tacky.

Apparently my common ass could easily buy a Hermes scarf and the ring thingy to go with. Call me Bublé from now on! Not that I have any interest or intention of purchasing such a thing, besides being petty just to make Roses have to get rid of hers.

Tacky is about something pretending to be something it’s not

Lino and tiles are both fine but fake tile lino is not. Leather and plastic boots fine, fake leather plastic boots not. Old stuff is fine but fake old stuff is not, and so on. But this can be WC or MC ‘taste’.

Common is just mass produced

We live in a throw away society where fashion dictates what we buy.

Perhaps it’s always been this way but when we buy items to last I think we are more mindful of choosing something which will stand the test of time and not date too quickly. Classics are not generally considered tacky are they.

The pineapple link was interesting.

Thing is what I consider tacky (ugh boots, having everything in your home a certain colour (grey/pink/lilac whatever), the geometric wall paper designs, horrible huge mirrors, super dry anything, juicy coture tracksuits, addias trainers etc) is not what others consider tacky (for my mum it is a point of pride that everything in her house “matches”, my friend treasures her ugg boots) and what I consider classy (a simple silver locket, ladies in lindybop style clothing, irregular choice shoes and men in proper suits) is not what others consider classy: it’s all so subjective.
I can’t stand the strange people who have wax burners and melt wax all day long, but likely those people don’t like how I put the washing over the airer in the living room at nighttime so the living room is faintly smelling of clean laundry the next day. It’s all totally subjective and there is nothing that I could say is tacky, that someone couldn’t argue is classy...

‘Profound/inspirational’ quotes on the wall. My least favourite of all is ‘Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain’ 🤮🤮 Pass the sick bucket.