Whatever happened to proper, old fashioned coloured fairy lights???

[NannyR]

I've just put up my tree and I normally put warm white lights on it. For a change I thought I would try coloured lights this year.
When I was a kid, we always had multicoloured fairy lights, the kind with replaceable bulbs and I remember them being a softer, more sparkly light with pink, maybe purple, yellow and turquoise bulbs as well as the red, green, blue, orange.
The LED ones I've just bought are awful in comparison, too bright and garish and just red, blue, green and orange bulbs.
Can you still buy the more traditional lights anywhere? Or am I imagining (or mis-remembering) the lights of my childhood? It was 1970s/80s so a while back!!

Search for "multicoloured Christmas lights filament bulbs". There are a few for sale on Amazon

I have multicoloured on the tree (I don't know whether we're retro or just unfashionable :)) but I agree, the LED ones are laser bright!

I had the exact same conversation with DH last night. He's put the 4 colour LED lights on the tree...I showed him photos of last year's with the old bulbs, and it's so much nicer. As Zoomaa said, you should get some on Amazon.

I'm considering painting over mine with glass paint to soften the colours a little. There's only a thousand of them.
Reluctant to set fire to the house though

We have multicoloured lights but they are ancient.

I agree wholeheartedly 🙂 🎄 I love the old colourful lights. "Tasteful" white has had its day and LEDs are too industrially harsh!

I have white LED lights and hate them. They look blue.. First world problem I know

I pondered this last year - was looking for coloured lights that weren't the garish 4 colours available now. Found some beautiful lights in B&Q - pastel colour changing. But they're berry-shaped so may be too big for a tree.

www.diy.com/departments/120-multicolour-led-berry-string-lights/1748854_BQ.prd

I got some retro looking ones in Wilco about 2 years ago wish I had bought another set as they are gorgeous.

Quite big size and shape of a pear drop and purple green and red,

I got some if the old fashioned ones in Homebase last year but they don't seem to have any at all this year. I want white this year but non LED and I can't find them anywhere!

I loathe LED lights with a vengeance. DH and I have arguments about them. He (electrician) loves them and 'can't tell the difference'

He's blind.

I bought some filament bulbs in Argos last year. But what I really miss is the multifacet shades our old lights used to have. That's what made them really sparkle I think.

We had these from Woolworths before it closed then they gave up the ghost last year. Dh got new ones from B and Q - they fade in and out and have turquoise, pink Andrea purple. We have these on the tree and white round the fireplace.

How about these?

www.dotcomgiftshop.com/vintage-christmas-led-battery-lights

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B015XLQLOY/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ref=plSrch&dpPl=1&dpID=51tMDj8MtvL&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1512495724&sr=1-5&refinements=p_4%3ANoma

I 've just got some of these and they're lovely. Proper old fashioned,5 colours fairy lights,very like Woolworths used to sell, but...err...pricier. No tree yet but I have done a grand pre-lighting and they're fab!

Sorry about the excessively long link.

They are lovely, but gosh they are expensive! 40 lights is not many...

I agree about old fashioned coloured lights.
So much nicer than modern LEDS.
Lovely soft lights in lots of colours.....really reminds me of Christmas at my Grans.

Off to check the links in this thread....its been a shite year and I could really do with some warm fluffy nostalgia!

? Any good..

rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F142509677091

The old lights always broke !

Totally agree on the bulbs. Its absurd to be spending on buying another string of lights for the x'mas tree when you have already got one. Maybe you can try painting it with a darker color as suggested.

Love my Noma Pickwick lights but if you're buying any, make sure you get spare bulbs. I use about 120 or 160 bulbs per tree depending on it's height/business but I have some 80 bulb sets and some 40s. They're lush.

Bushiness not business

Can get them everywhere. Amazon is probably the cheapest.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253133964967

Traditional colours, has pink (not red!) and no blue. Not sure if they are replaceable bulbs though.....

I agree with you. I've recently fancied going back to coloured lights just for old time's sake but I can't find any that look like I remember them when I was a kid. They are all gaudy and harsh and modern looking.

It's even getting harder to replace old sets of warm white lights with nice ones, most of the ones I see now are a cold, harsh blue-white which is awful and so un-Christmassy.

I got some from Amazon and they were rubbish, not very bright and no bloody pink

I say some (boxed and new, they had a few) in a charity shop and the woman in the shop plugged them in for me and they had pink, hurray! Only 20 though so no good for a big tree.