Why don't people use coloured lights anymore?!

[80sColourfulChristmas]

I was born in the early eighties and I have fond memories of colour, colour & more colour at Christmas! We even had those god-awful foil decorations criss-crossing the ceiling of the living room. Foil honeycomb balls dangling and giant unfolded foil stars.

The foil I don't miss particularly, but what has happened to colourful lights?!

I realise that with the (much needed) switch to LED, the new multi coloured lights aren't quite as pretty as they used to be (why is that?!) but why has this meant that seemingly the majority of people have defaulted to a simple set of boring white lights with just a handful of plain, boring ornaments on their tree?! (Still looks pretty of course it just isn't Christmas as I know it!)

I remember looking admirably at our beautiful tree as a child, stuffed full of all kinds of colourful glass ornaments which had been passed down through my Mum's family from the 1800s. The prettiest tinsel you've ever seen, lametta, beads, bells on beads, the lights had lovely cone shaped 'petals' round them so they glowed beautifully, reflecting off the glass, lametta and tinsel. It was stunning. Fond memories.

Can't have just been us, surely? Anyone else still go for the overloaded, 80s style multicolored Christmas look?!

This year I've ordered LED multi coloured cluster lights for the first time, but still have some traditional style lights for the tree and have used them every year until now. Not sure how pretty our tree is going to look....

[catnoir1]

I have the foil decorations and the colour lights.

[Autumncolourlover]

Oh my! My Nona lantern lights have arrived and I've just tested them and got quite emotional seeing the colours. They reminded me of my grandparents. They have fairy lights in the living room extension all year round and that's why I love them so much. I was going to get new tree lights as wanted more on there now that we get a bigger tree but I think I'll just put these on as well as the led ones. They are so pretty! Thank you for this thread OP!

[campion]

Autumncolourlover
These are my noma lights. I took the pic after taking them off the tree and feeling sad putting them away
Happily it's almost time to get them out again!

[Specialcommunicator]

I've had multicoloured lights since my eldest DC's first Christmas. My youngest is now 1 and a half and it looks like we'll keep them going for many years to come! I love them and the kids love them.

[ShivD]

Lights are here! Just need a tree now

[Autumncolourlover]

Ds's face up like, well, Christmas, when I showed him the lights and switched them on. I might have to get my mum a set now too.

[ringaroundmyrosy]

We have coloured lights indoors but I wanted white last year outside. This year I'll put the coloured ones outside instead. I like to do it differently. I have great memories too of tacky coloured 80's lights too.
My tree is big and multicoloured since kids. I used to have had different colour schemes each year on a smaller tree, including silver & purple, white & red, copper, silver and wood. I think it's nice to mix it up and not do the same every year. I've kept some, sold or gifted on previous decorations.?

[earthyfire]

Someone on my facebook put up a photo tonight of their tree with multicoloured lights and it looked really pretty. My young teen has a tree in his room and his preference is for the multicoloured lights.

[YellowHighlighterPen]

I like Noma coloured lights on the tree and ice white lights outside. Any lights round the window etc inside need to be warm white.
In summer, outside lights need to be warm white.
Picky but it works.

[Doryhunky]

Got some great noma lights plus angel chimes from this family run hardware store:


www.cutlershardware.com/product-category/seasonal/noma-fairy-lights-angel-chimes/

[Forgottenwhatsleepis]

I was born in early 80s too, and Christmas was always full of colour. Every year except this one I've had a multi coloured tree, but as we'd decorated the living room grey I thought we'd go for pink and silver to match this year. I like my tree, but am definitely reverting to colour again next year, whether it matches or not!

[BeyondMyWits]

Born in the 60s here so "elf vomit" is the default Christmas look.

Loads of colour, loads of kids decorations, tinsel, paper chains, paper plate with doily and pipe cleaner halo angel on the top.

The fireplace is "stylish" with white lights and garland, the tree is more of a "focal point".

[Kiki275]

We've had to downsize this year, so I've gone garish on purpose because the toddler will love it. To be fair, I kinda love it too x

[Cornettoninja]

I’m not brave enough to post a whole tree photo given my living room looks like a bomb had gone off in it this morning but this gives an idea

Stylish trees definitely have their place but I will always love a mishmash tree! My tree is proudly rocking garish ornaments, tinsel and led coloured lights mixed with white and red berry ones. I wasn’t organised enough this year to sort out replacement bulbs for my traditional shaded lights this year but the red berry ones seem to warm it all up pretty well. I just need to get some candy canes and chocolate!

I love it and so does dd. She loves spotting the odd little treasure she hadn’t noticed before

[ippydippay]

We have white lights on our main 7ft real Christmas tree which I like to think is decorated tastefully but we also have a 5ft fake Christmas tree in the playroom every year which is totally decorated by the children with colourful lights, tinsel and leftover 80s decorations from when I was a child, I don't find it particularly attractive but it does make me smile inside and makes my kids happy.

[StormBaby]

I’ve always had warm white lights and traditional decorations(glass baubles and wooden figures), and have been a bit snobby about the multicoloured stuff, until this year...I’ve gone colour crazy! I love it

[GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]

I had a lovely set of retro coloured lights from last year - fine when I tested them - worked for half a second when I started doing the tree earlier. 😩. Fuse bulb is fine, God knows what’s the matter.
So it’s just the warm white set. I need to get it done today.

[Aroundtheroom]

I’m with you OP, coloured lights, bright mismatched baubles and loads of lametta here.

[spiderlight]

Here's our very tasteful multicoloured tree - far too big for the space, as the garden centre was only selling them pre-wrapped and you basically got the one the bloke thrust at you, so I had to cut off all the back branches to make it fit!

[NameChange84]

@80sColourfulChristmas

I was born in the early eighties and I have fond memories of colour, colour & more colour at Christmas! We even had those god-awful foil decorations criss-crossing the ceiling of the living room. Foil honeycomb balls dangling and giant unfolded foil stars.

The foil I don't miss particularly, but what has happened to colourful lights?!

I realise that with the (much needed) switch to LED, the new multi coloured lights aren't quite as pretty as they used to be (why is that?!) but why has this meant that seemingly the majority of people have defaulted to a simple set of boring white lights with just a handful of plain, boring ornaments on their tree?! (Still looks pretty of course it just isn't Christmas as I know it!)

I remember looking admirably at our beautiful tree as a child, stuffed full of all kinds of colourful glass ornaments which had been passed down through my Mum's family from the 1800s. The prettiest tinsel you've ever seen, lametta, beads, bells on beads, the lights had lovely cone shaped 'petals' round them so they glowed beautifully, reflecting off the glass, lametta and tinsel. It was stunning. Fond memories.

Can't have just been us, surely? Anyone else still go for the overloaded, 80s style multicolored Christmas look?!

This year I've ordered LED multi coloured cluster lights for the first time, but still have some traditional style lights for the tree and have used them every year until now. Not sure how pretty our tree is going to look....

This reminds me of my very early Christmasses in the 80s. By the mid 90s we’d moved onto the warm white lights and abandoned tinsel and the foil garlands. As a child I did love the coloured lights but now, I’m sorry to admit, I do find them really tacky. I also hate the blue or orange shaded lights.

Everything I have lighting wise is warm white. I have two trees, one is creams and golds or silvers and whites depending on years. The other has more colourful, handmade glass baubles but they are all in pastel colours which compliment each other and look pretty and magical rather than bright/in your face/wacky.

We’ve all got different tastes. One of my friends has a white, chocolate brown and royal blue theme, another has everything grinch themed so it’s very gaudy lime green and cherry red with stripes and cartoons etc everywhere.

[kennycat]

We have coloured lights . We had white ones but then when the children were born I bought coloured ones because I thought they’d be more stimulating so the children would be cleverer!
The children are clever but I’m not sure it’s anything to do with the lights.
My husband and I were saying only the other day we may but some of those horrific foil garlands. Christmas is shit this year, let’s make it look
Terrible!!

[junglepie]

Oh I am loving my 80s tree this year Total mishmash of decorations, all chosen by the dc over 22 years, and now with my wonderful traditional (non LED) coloured lights. So takes me back to my childhood. Love it

[Blackmagicqueen]

Realise this is old but i love lights! We do warm white and coloured (best of both worlds!) I'm with you op, hate icy white and dark blue, getting lights without blue is so difficult. I seem to remember more of a turquoise blue growing up or have i completely fabricated that?!

[MrsFlinch]

@Blackmagicqueen

Realise this is old but i love lights! We do warm white and coloured (best of both worlds!) I'm with you op, hate icy white and dark blue, getting lights without blue is so difficult. I seem to remember more of a turquoise blue growing up or have i completely fabricated that?!

No you are right! The blue of yonder was more of a turquoise blue!

I too have both, warm white lights on tree in the living room and coloured lights on tree in the kitchen.

I managed to get some vintage style fairy lights a few years ago and the blue is definitely more turquoise on a couple of the sets. The old style lights also contained pink, and I searched everywhere to replicate them. As a lot of the “new” traditional fairy lights only have red, blue, green and yellow, no pink and the blue shade is often not quite right!

[lachy]

www.ukchristmasworld.com/collections/fairy-lights

This website is the place for old fashioned lights!