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?

The absolute nerve of it! Can you imagine the reaction if WC people claimed that going to the football qualified as work because their involvement is what keeps the industry going?

I mean, can you hear yourself?

Cath kidston bags; holidays on the coast of Spain; grey everything is probably on the list now it's thankfully fallen out of favour; corner sofas; anyone wearing "sports" nothing outside of a sporting activity. On MN though it's used as a way of trying to pretend their taste is just a tad more refined than thou. It reminds me of the vile Harry Enfield character (loadsa money) . And he was definitely common.

take your point that no one 'needs' a horse to pull a plough or for transport, but hunting, dressage, racing and other equestrian activities employ people directly and indirectly (grooms, vets etc; and feed suppliers/farriers/sellers and manufacturers of tack and so on), bring in money through sponsorship, entry to events, equestrian media like magazines and TV, and are in that sense very much 'work'.
Gobsmacking!!

take your point that no one 'needs' a horse to pull a plough or for transport, but hunting, dressage, racing and other equestrian activities employ people directly and indirectly (grooms, vets etc; and feed suppliers/farriers/sellers and manufacturers of tack and so on), bring in money through sponsorship, entry to events, equestrian media like magazines and TV, and are in that sense very much 'work'.

True

I'll have to rethink my lazy, spoilt, ungrateful cat is actually a working animal as he is keeping my vet, the cat food makers, and cat litter suppliers in work. Silly me thinking he was purely for my enjoyment 😂

For me, it's jumping on a trend without having any sense of your own character and whether that suits you or not.
People have mentioned Michael Kors for example. I could never pull off anything from that brand without looking tacky. But there is a woman at work, looks a lot like Morticia Adams, who dresses head to toe in black, always with a little MK touch, like shoes or a bracelet or something. She definitely is not common and doesn't look so either.

It's the same with the massive black eyebrows. If you can pull off the frida khalo look then it doesn't look common. If you are bottle blond and wearing a tracksuit over your spray tan, then NO.

Meanwhile, spray tans can look really nice if you can pull off a sun kissed look on your holiday without getting skin cancer in the process.

Tracksuits don't look common if you are a known gym fanatic.
Jack wolf skin jackets look good if you are genuinely going on a hike. As do expensive wellies if you live in a particularly boggy area.

For me, common and tacky is the use of the wrong objects or styles in the wrong place just because they are trendy, resulting in you just looking like a nob.

I'll have to rethink my lazy, spoilt, ungrateful cat is actually a working animal as he is keeping my vet, the cat food makers, and cat litter suppliers in work. Silly me thinking he was purely for my enjoyment 😂
He's hard at work repelling mice.

PatriciaPerch That would count as work (similar to a riding school), but most horses aren't kept for that purpose.

E.g. the fact that water therapy exists, doesn't make me going swimming any less of a hobby.

derxa It definitely is not true. It's an ignorant comment by someone trying to delude themselves that riding is somehow more noble than the leisure pursuits enjoyed by the lower classes.

Someone was asking what the shower curtain in the garden thing is that people were saying was tacky. This is an example (it's not mine) but I think it is very sweet and really clever. It's like the modern day version of trompe l'oeil.

OMG the shower curtain - I have to see that in real life. I almost think it’s brilliant depending on context.
The art definitely needs to be better (? - cant see it clearly but it looks a bit ‘cutesy’ does it ?). or could have a photo. My mind is blown.
No so different from a fresco common in Italianate Renaissance gardens (well totally different but ykwim)

derxa It definitely is not true. It's an ignorant comment by someone trying to delude themselves that riding is somehow more noble than the leisure pursuits enjoyed by the lower classes.
I live in the country and in fact have 4 horses on my land. The people that ride the horses are not upper class. Nothing like it.

Ha! I like some Willow Tree figures, I am told they are tacky....and I don’t care.

I’ve got a Cath Kidston handbag....I love it but I wouldn’t buy much else in the range.

Oh and I live in social housing...which I also love

Fake roses in glass domes are tacky though lol.

I think anything that is sold via MLM or parties eg Yankee, Avon, Scentsy, Body Shop naturally becomes common or overkill.

@starlight13

I think anything that is sold via MLM or parties eg Yankee, Avon, Scentsy, Body Shop naturally becomes common or overkill.

What about Neal’s Yard which is natural, organic, aspirational, used in good spas and by massage therapists, often appears in glossy magazine beauty features but is also mlm and party plan?

@famousforwrongreason a MLM is a MLM. They are unethical and they prey on people.

You must spend money in order to "make" money. I don't care if the Queen uses it, or if it's the fanciest thing ever. It's still the same shit in a prettier package.

@derxa

derxa It definitely is not true. It's an ignorant comment by someone trying to delude themselves that riding is somehow more noble than the leisure pursuits enjoyed by the lower classes. I live in the country and in fact have 4 horses on my land. The people that ride the horses are not upper class. Nothing like it.

I quite agree. Anyone can go riding. I live in SE London and my son and two friends went riding when they were children, it cost £6 a session (long time ago); we also have a relative who rides, competes and has always had her own horse. None of us are upper class.

If people are keen on horses and into riding, they will. They'll find the money for the lessons somehow and maybe later on help out at the stables. It has little or nothing to do with class.

@PoppySeedSaid

I like candles and almost always have at least one from Jo Malone, Dyptique, Aveda, White Company, Molton Brown and Yankee Candle. I find the more 'tacky' people I know are the sort to only have Jo Malone because they are scared that anything else will make them 'common'.

I've learned the hard way it's much more cost effective to have a Yankee candle burning for 5 hours each night that in it is to have Jo Malone burning for the same time.

But why do you need anything burning for 5 hours, has your electricity been cut off?

I live in the country and in fact have 4 horses on my land. The people that ride the horses are not upper class. Nothing like it.

But do they claim that they and the horses are 'working' by virtue of the fact that equestrianism (like many other hobbies) keeps certain people in employment?

That's what this is about. A deluded PP claimed that a equestrianism was 'work' for the reasons above. You said 'true' and I disagree.

Regardless of the class of the person claiming it, it's a load of bollocks unless you're running an actual riding school or similar.

My point has clearly sailed over a few people's heads though.

I have nothing against riding. I object to people claiming that riding represents 'work'.

@ReceptacleForTheRespectable

My point has clearly sailed over a few people's heads though.

I have nothing against riding. I object to people claiming that riding represents 'work'.

Surely it’s a professional sport. Like footballers, golfers and rugby players. And it works it’s way down from fully professional to paying a pub for the cricket tea until it’s just a hobby.

@ReceptacleForTheRespectable

My point has clearly sailed over a few people's heads though.

I have nothing against riding. I object to people claiming that riding represents 'work'.

I think it was just a poor point - Anne can throw on a coat over a dress and go out to the stables of an evening - I can imagine it’s a pleasurable thing to go out every evening to say goodnight to your animals, it doesn’t prove in any way that the UC are not blingy given the means.

I’m quite sure they are as tight and/or indulgent as the new money they seem to butt up against and who cares really, none of the buggers pay enough taxes and that’s what really matters! 😀

Anything your mother in law likes

@CallmeBadJanet

Anything your mother in law likes

so true

none of the buggers pay enough taxes and that’s what really matters!

No, and interestingly, loss making equestrian hobby "businesses" (which aren't actually genuine businesses) are one of the ways they evade it! There's a fair bit of case law in that area.