to ask why ponce-tastic-ness is only "okay" at Christmas? And what else are you prepared to admit to the other 11 months of the year!!

[PoncingIsNotJustForChristmasButForLife]

So I have in the past lurked unsuccessfully I hasten to add on the poncey threads at Christmas, you know the sort of thing: -
the sloe gins carefully started in September the previous years
the homemade marmalades,
the paper whites carefully grown in tasteful vases etc
DIY wreaths
elegant tables
elaborate cakes
magazine worthy wrapping etc etc

Now of course, Xmas is the most wonderful time of the year so a bit of poncing is somehow “allowed”.

But I am wondering how much other stuff happens that is ponce-tastic year round and why we (I) are attracted to that poncy stuff?
Why do we want to do it?
I ask this as a self-confessed wannabe ponceur/ponceuse who has a house filled with items that haven’t quite managed to ponce with. I see evidence of my attraction to it in my house - Sarah Raven catalogues, aspirational cookery books, fountain pens for my correspondence. I’m not Lizzie Bennett but a p/t working mum with a string of whatsapp’s to answer and loads of laundry to fold and not iron.

I also feel that there's a whole pile of other “preenworthy” type stuff like this that others must do. Is it to feel “grown up”, to impress others, to feel smug .
e.g. I know I feel some bizarre sense of smugness baking a cake, even if it’s not elaborate!
AIBU to ask what it is that makes us want to do this kind of poncing?
And then also the self-deprecating laugh/ jokes that come alongside it.

I too had a Christmas wreath on my hen run at first they thought it was treats and pecked at it, but also 2 Gustav Klimt small posters I put up in the hen house had them laminated, After the rain and the Garden path, just to make it look nice and something for my girls to look at maybe, is that poncy or just a mad chicken owner???

But I admit I was 'table scaping' before it was a thing, I have always changed the settings for different seasons and always on the lookout for something different to mess about with. Christmas the table settings are changed at least 3 times dependant on whats being served.

Its lovely to hear everyone's joys no matter what they are.

As far as I can see, its other meaning of ‘pretentious, ostentatious’ isn’t relevant to the majority of the instances on the thread, either. People are cooking, using nice soap and glass, growing flowers!

I would associate the ‘poncetastic’ with the opposite, having ostentatious stuff out for ‘display’ purposes but never using it. I seem to remember a thread on here from ages ago where someone had a ‘display’ washing up area, with cute, wooden utensils, expensive washing up liquid etc, which was only to impress visitors, but never to be used. The same people get cross when visitors don’t understand the pensive handsoap is for viewing purposes only.

lol.
Is there another word for what the OP is talking about??

Klimt in the chicken house comes under the heading of ‘likeably mad’.😀

I love this thread! I make an Easter tree and then I got carried away and have Autumn decorations! They often have them in Lidl. I think it's more of a thing in Germany and America. I like the idea of proper glasses but I always break them! Might have to buy some coupe just for fancy -ness! Also always really mean to make seasonal foods - elder flower cordial, bilberry pie half the time I do half the time I miss the season!! Day to day my house is not fancy and neither am I!

Is ‘poncing’ meant to be an insult? Not sure what your point is. People do things they enjoy.

I love the idea of a year round pouncing thread

I do little displays on our mantle / fireplace for valentines, easter etc. I also have a jug of local lavender dried my bedroom. Also making the transition from cards to proper note paper too. Personalised. Beginner level ponce?

Not quite the same thing but why is it only socially acceptable to wear sequins at Christmas?? I want to make like Abba and wear them all the time!

I aspire to be the queen of ponce, but sometimes I get tired. Why the ponce? Because I am a bit boujie and it makes me happy - I used to pack white napkins in DD’s nappy bag to use as bibs because they were far easier on the eye. Fresh flowers, little salt spoons, decanting hand wash, seasonal door wreaths, it’s all so lovely and sophisticated and makes me happy. I live in an old house, in an old town popular with tourists and felt peak validation when groups of Chinese tourists started taking photos of my poncetastic house 😂.

I have found my people!

Massive girl crush on @Ciri

I've been dithering about buying a load of matching brown glass jars for my bath products (I buy refillable so not solely poncing) and this inspo post might just be the push I needed!!

It was the hypocrisy around buying brand new to house refillable which put me off but I shall now be 'sourcing' my own poncetastic charity shop bottles thank you!

My best friend is looking for these champagne glasses. We keep an eye out for them when we trawl the local charity shops.She wants 2 so she and her husband can enjoy something bubbly just because they feel like it.

In a nutshell, how do you do this pls?? I've lost the will for veg but love this idea. Is there a good rota for planting particular stuff for all round blooms?? Do you plant a patch a season or layer somehow??

Presumably plant spring bulbs in Autumn for eg daffs and tulips then what?

I don't think the word ponce means what you think it means. I'm not actually sure I understand what you think it means. Pretentious?

My poncing comes from weekly trips to the farmers market and purchasing enough treats for the weekend (not the whole week mind, lest I bankrupt myself) - figs, asparagus a bottle of wine, a wedge of really good cheese. Little luxuries.

I also have seasonal rituals of making elderflower cordial, membrillo with the first quinces, and piling up gourds and pomegranates in the middle of the kitchen table at the beginning of autumn.

They’re all just small poncy luxuries that make me so happy and that mark the turning of the year.

You’re not poncing properly until you have a stunt pineapple!

Most people here are using “ponce” to mean “pretentious/ostentatious” but in a funny/self deprecating way. It usually means “affected/effete” in a derogatory way so the use here of ponce is fine, really. I think what the PP was getting at was that, in East London, “ponce” means “a man who lives off a prostitute’s earnings”-so a pimp basically. Which is really not what people mean 😬

I don't know about @AngelinaFibres but my cut flower garden is heavily bulb/corm based with daffodils, tulips, albums, freesias, lillies, ranunculus, gladioli, acidanthera (my favourite) etc and then I also have a bed for dahlias, peonies etc and I plant annuals like cosmos, stocks, sweet peas, straw flowers etc around them. I love the fact that I don't feel guilty about cutting the flowers for the house because that's exactly what they are there for. Plus it's far, far better for the environment since most cut flowers are flown in from warmer climes.

The GIF search came good for once 😄 Encapsulates both meanings, as in "poncing about" (pretentiously posturing) and "that ponce" (gentleman of morally dubious income stream).

T k Maxx!!!

I have a set of 176 pieces of genuine silver plated cutlery. They are in the classic “Kings” design. I bought them second hand on eBay. They are roughly 1970s, with a few pieces 80s bits thrown in. The set includes extra things we almost never use like fish forks and egg spoons. It arrived tainted and thrown into a cardboard box with no special presentation box.

Here is my year-round ponce… the cutlery set is not “for best”. We use it every day and we run it through the dishwasher every night. When I purchased the set, I did so with this very intention.
I had wanted a “for best” set for years, but couldn’t justify the expense to use it once or twice a year. We also needed some new cutlery.
And so I thought “why not buy posh, and use it every day? I do deserve it.”

The entire set was £90 including delivery.

Lovely to hear of all the all year round poncing.

For those that don't get it, we have been poncing our Christmases for a decade or longer on here, for eg:
Page 5 | Poncetastic thread | Mumsnet

That's exactly the level of ponce I embrace.
Thank you

Stunt pineapple at the ready. Once I've delved right to the bottom of the fridge.