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 saw a young woman in town last week with the skimpiest shorts on that I have ever seen, half her bum cheeks were showing! To me that is common.
I was always told that tattoos are common and were only popular with travellers and sailors and definitely not women!
Personally I think hair pulled up and sprouting out the top of a woman’s head looks common. Especially if she is also wearing large hoop earrings.
Oh dear, I do feel my age. ☹️

I don't really give a flying one if someone finds something I like 'tacky' or 'common'. When they pay they get a say. I'd rather like something because I like it rather than because I'm 'supposed' to or because it's trending on Insta.

Well said! I would rather be 'tacky' or 'common' than someone who has no mind of their own.

Posh Old money don’t do fragranced candles, their houses smell of wet dog, mud and wood smoke. They rarely do labels unless drastically reduced or charity shop buy. Drive ancient cars but do employ cleaners and odd job men.
You can spot new money a mile off!

Tacky is anything expensive owned by someone who struggles to spell words longer than four syllables. It is anything expensive owned by someone whose idea of well travelled is sunny European weekend breaks involving partying. It is anything expensive owned by someone who gets style tips from Instagram.
All of this sounds very snobby I know. But the opposite of tacky, classy, is often defined by people who make no effort to show off their style, wealth etc. that’s what makes it classy, because it’s appears totally effortless, and appeals to the human mind as above average.
There’s a cycle that trends go through, starting with classy (championed by intellectuals in an understated way), then tacky (mass consumed and put on display by those that want to appear well off), then hipster (when the trend falls out of favour with the masses and irony is picked up by people who are in on the joke), finally back to tacky.

@Yerroblemom1923

Good question! Somehow you just "know", but how exactly? I can't answer that one.

I agree, Yerroble; with some issues it is just instinctive.

I feel like that about several things but there are others (eg home furnishing), about which I have absolutely no clue whatsoever! I think that is basically because it has never interested me much and I am not generally observant; if I have to buy or replace something, I tend to look at an item and think, "Ooh that's nice, it'll do fine", choose it and then find out it's top of the chav list or 'so last year, even last century :-).

I've lost count of the times I've seen my stuff on soap operas, old and new ones. Most recently on Classic EE and Corrie and on Heartbeat. It's quite funny really.

Hmmm... I grew up hearing that certain things were "common" but it's something that my DM wouldn't have said outside the immediate family.

The understanding I have of the words - based on what I grew up with them meaning- is as follows:

Common - can involve tackiness, something popular with the lower orders, often decorative or branded and intended to make someone appear naicer than they are but instead immediately giving away a baser origin. Somehow, it won't be quite right. This is presumably why we were not allowed patent school shoes (school rule), ear piercings in the juniors, and why my mother sneers at frilled ankle socks. Common also applies when something explodes in popularity and is worn/owned/used by many in an attempt to seem more affluent but instead merely drags down the label or brand.

Tacky- crosses over with common but usually refers to something especially gaudy - often looks downright cheap, whereas common will just be slightly wrong rather than necessarily cheap. Hallmarks are larger or obvious logos or wearing all of the labels together, being flashy. Examples are certain products from certain brands- eg Barbour Intl vs classic Barbour, bags with huge Chanel or Gucci logos- or styling them to look a certain way. Money should whisper, not shout.

Have we had the battered and ancient Volvo covered in dog hair comment yet?

When I was growing up tattoos were for "tarts and sailors" and not something for a "well brought up young lady". Short skirts and red lipstick were similarly to be avoided if you wanted to appear "respectable".

Tacky I think covers anything that if you can’t afford the real thing, don’t bother. Choose things/clothes etc that are stylish comfortable and timeless.

Common to my mind refers to behaviour. If you’d happily fight in the street, that’s common.

Anything with Live, Laugh, Love is tacky and common, in my opinion anyway. But others may love this slogan! And I don't judge them for it. To each their own and all that

nannewnannew Oh you just made me laugh. DD has outgrown it now but there was a phase when she and her chums all had their arsexcheeks tumbling out of too short shorts. I shan't whisper the school fees. But they did all have long blonde hair or very healthy other coloured hair

Tacky to me is something bought to portray status, to display how much money they have. Like the long nails, big lips and extensions you are literally wearing your money. Same with branded clothes and designer bags.

I have my nails quite long but I am very aware that some people see them as tacky.

@Nannewnannew

I saw a young woman in town last week with the skimpiest shorts on that I have ever seen, half her bum cheeks were showing! To me that is common. I was always told that tattoos are common and were only popular with travellers and sailors and definitely not women! Personally I think hair pulled up and sprouting out the top of a woman’s head looks common. Especially if she is also wearing large hoop earrings. Oh dear, I do feel my age. ☹️

The tattoo thing is so true. They will never leave the tacky league, no matter how hard people try. In fact they have been made even tackier by the whole getting your kids name tattood on your neck or the butterfly on the ankle.

Other tacky things i love; my chanel sunglasses ( 2nd hand though) and my tattoos, my snake print jumpsuit, my snake print hoop earrings....love it all!

It just goes to show that there is inherent bias in us all. For example I find large tattoos, swearing, drinking alcohol in the street, smoking over kids in a pram common. I find super long acrylic nails tacky as well as overly plumped lips and designer fakes as well as oversized gold chains and people dressed head to tow in sports wear. I have several designer bags but tend to wear them when dressed up. If you saw me dressed to go to asda sporting a louis Vuitton bag you would think it was fake. My ds does have several boss t-shirts too. I too think mirrored furniture is tacky as well as shaggy rugs and am not a fan of fake or real deer mounted on walls. I do have a Michael kors bag and purse though and we had vertical blinds when growing up so what do I know?

redhair you are right - it should be spluttering up the long drive any time now

Signifiers of class are fascinating! What is tacky or common is just part of this wider class structure. I feel like there's a few types of tacky. I try not to be really judgemental around things associated with working class people. As it's classist. But I am probably judging people who are tacky but not on low incomes. So the white rangerover drivers. How we collectively decide this is complex! It really has me thinking though...

Tattoos stopped being edgy once one could get one in Selfridges.

I’ve often wondered about this. And then I’ve studied some of the people I’ve worked with who are upper middle class. I won’t say what I do but some of the people I’ve worked with are from the upper middle or aristocrat classes. I’ve noticed their jewellery is understated but worth a fortune. Their clothes are smart/casual with no obvious branding, And I’ve found the higher their class the nicer they are.

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.

Or was that when they became tacky ontheroses

My sadly late, very posh friend was from old money and the least pretentious person ever. Unashamedly wore old or hand me down clothes, house was "lived in" to say the least, the (privately educated) kids were often slightly grubby and unkempt, their elderly dog had bowel issues and farted like a trooper . Loved going to stay with her.

What a snobby little bunch you are! I see things everyday that I would never own or wear - but I never think of them as 'tacky' or 'common' because I am of the opinion that people shouldn't be judged for their tastes, and I assume those people wouldn't like what I like. It seems I am in the minority.

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

And I’ve found the higher their class the nicer they are. It's easy to be nice if you have either wealth or "social capital". Life does not seem to be against you in the way it does if you have neither.