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?

Oh well ... If having a clean and tidy house makes you low class and common .. I guess that's what I must be !! ... I actually enjoy living in a clean house ..

I consider personal number plates tacky too.

And I think women smacking gum with an open mouth is very tacky - and gross. Whereas with men it's perfectly lovely, isn't it or are we just doing that woman hating thing again?

Weirdly, sex is a protected characteristic under the current law, )Although Stonewall are openly campaigning to have it removed)
So misogyny and misandy are illegal in certain places, like employment. (I don’t know about on Mumsnet forums). Sexism very rarely leads to a deletion anyway.

I fear you may be on the wrong thread @onepisode

Caplin I’m in love!! 😍😍😍

Going back to whatshisface who sells custom tea towels with his own words of wisdom on them: surely flogging tea towels like a third rate Etsy seller is the very definition of common?

Personally I don’t care for Yankee Candle as their fragrances tend to be too aggressive and artificial for me. But the candles I’m currently using (citrus and rosemary) are from Wilko and are delicious, and I love browsing TK Max’s candle section.

Michael Kors bags, wallets, watches - they're the Burberry of the 2010s...

Its weird isnt it,When i was young the working class where i lived anyway, tended
to follow middle class rules and standards.Nice girls didnt swear, my mum hated it.smoke in the street, or smoke at all,i didnt.or eat in street,i still wouldnt to this day,have their ears pierced, i was 24 before i did, and have tattoos,and even now i hate the damm things, and think them "common"lol though ive friends who have them,discrete ones luckilylol.There were people in our village also working class and my mum would say were "common".i think there was upper working class and lower working class even then.My had a car,lots of working class people didnt then and we had a phone long before many others.a white one,that was classy thenlolin days before mobiles

I'm not familiar with Michael Kors, so googled due to this thread. Is this really what's inspiring all the comments?

Granted there's a sort of initial logo thing, but that's removable, just like the silly Radley dog. Otherwise, it just looks like a normal bag. If I saw one in the street (which I must have at some point), I wouldn't look twice.

They do blingy watches too, I think?

I'd not take any notice of the MN snobbery. As long as you like something, don't waste any time wondering if someone else thinks it's cheap, common or tacky. And it's 2020, the only people who describe things or people as common have got their heads so far up their own arseholes that they can smell mouthwash!

Interesting post.

I cannot get my head around why Range Rovers are seen as tacky. Is it their size? Is it because they are popular and sought after?

I don't think you can call a real Chanel bag (esp the classic ones) tacky!
Tacky generally means low quality and cheap / fake. Maybe a garish colour.

Yes, maybe as pp said some working class mothers save to buy these for theur daughters, but equally nearly every rich / celeb woman has one. The classic ones aer just that - a classic, nothing tacky there. Some of the one-off seasonal ones for the young market might be borderline.

*Faith( cross[-posted somewhat. RR's ar not tacky if a classic black, but paint one in a silly colour - and there you are, tacky-ish.

Faith

My last post was intended for this thread, to support Meangallery‘a post immediately before. It is sexist to think a guM eating habit is tacky in one sex but acceptable in another.

Some behaviour is acceptable in some people but not others, for example people living rurally having more CO2 emitting 4x4 than those in urban areas. Surgeons are allowed to cut at people with sharp objects, for instance.

Class is also not a protected characteristic in the UK. As individuals we can choose to distinguish based on class markers, and others will come to an opinion about our own behaviour!

@NotNowPlzz

If you judge people for being common based on what they like or the trends they follow, frankly you're a bit small minded and insecure. It's almost as stupid as judging someone by their job.

My thoughts exactly 👏

@ReceptacleForTheRespectable

Just for you then.

Yes, I don't own one, but a chanel flap will hold its value better than a Range Rover. Im mildly in to handbags. I wouldnt buy one because i cant afford one, but a classic chanel bag is not tacky. Ifyou know about bags, you know that

I think some people are missing the point though when you sneer of these tacky common people. In thinking that they are trying to ‘be classy’ or believing a gel plated Range Rover ‘makes them classy’. Same with fillers, acrylic nails, and velour curtain. Let me educate you - they do it because they like it and don’t give a shit what insufferable snobs think. Really, none of them aspire to be you, with your shit cars, old clothes and air of contempt.

Well said @Yesreallyreally.

one I had to read yours a few times kind of sideways to see the confection but only because it was An unusual swerve in this thread. Anyway good point !

@Yesreallyreally

I think some people are missing the point though when you sneer of these tacky common people. In thinking that they are trying to ‘be classy’ or believing a gel plated Range Rover ‘makes them classy’. Same with fillers, acrylic nails, and velour curtain. Let me educate you - they do it because they like it and don’t give a shit what insufferable snobs think. Really, none of them aspire to be you, with your shit cars, old clothes and air of contempt.

Absolutely 😂😂😂The arrogance of believing anyone aspires to a house that smells of wet dog! The UC have conned the lot of you into believing they are superior and you fell for it - who are the fools?

I cannot get my head around why Range Rovers are seen as tacky. Is it their size? Is it because they are popular and sought after?

Any product which was previously the preserve of the UC only, but which gets noticed by people in the lower middle and working classes, becomes aspirational for them, and eventually bought by them in reasonable numbers, ends up considered 'tacky'/'common'. Range Rovers are just one example.

Once the tackiness label has stuck, people try to justify it in increasingly illogical ways. On this thread, we've been told that black and white range rovers are tacky, then that black ones are ok, but coloured ones not etc. The only consistent feature is that whatever the royal family are driving is definitely not tacky.

The handbags are another example - they are normal handbags with a smallish logo tag on them. But they are bought by lower middle and WC people who want to treat themselves, therefore they are to be avoided if you care about projecting a certain class image.

I guess the answer is not to look for logic, because it's purely based on whatever the lower middle and WC people see as aspirational and would buy themselves as a treat at this moment in time.

I'm going to follow up on some of the reading suggestions in this thread, as it's an interesting topic.