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....

We have coloured lights and I love them. Child of the 80s too

I always go multicoloured, can't do warm white personally, I like the coloured ones.

Hate blue and white though, they make me feel cold.

A good place to see lights is generally b and q as they have displays out for you to see them in action as it were.

^ you can test the settings etc on the flashing ones to see if you like them

Also remember the foil decorations and paper chains on the ceiling,love christmas decorations.

We have both and just choose which ones for the tree as we decorate... other lights go else where in the house.

Anyone else not go for the whole "instagramable" tree.... the new Homebase advert made me sad when I saw it....... tree all decorated like out of a magazine, a little girl comes in and puts her hand made decoration on the tree.... mum looks horrified and turns the tree so the handmade decoration can't be seen.... surely handmade and tacky decorations is what Christmas is all about!?

Ok, I'm with you! I have lots of ceiling chains and lanterns, no plan to the tree just stacked full of all the decorations we've collected.
What I really want is an led version of the lights we had as a kid, a big sharp plastic "flower" with foil "petals" held on by rubber band. Does anyone know of something similar?

Colourful here too

We have coloured lights and white lights on the tree. I prefer seeing coloured lights on the outside of houses too.

OP, my Christmas tree is as you describe your childhood one (my childhood one was the same). My DC1 is an adult now, but I still put the things he made at toddler group on the tree, along with a riot of mismatching crap. Coloured lights, too.

I can't be doing with the matchy-matchy stuff.

We have these ones love them.
www.argos.co.uk/product/8438746

I hear you OP.
Coloured lights here plus a few warm white and a set of candle lights too (warm white). I got a set of Noma coloured lights (not led)about 3 years ago. They're fab but were pricey (Amazon). I bought loads of spare bulbs and fuses in January for the inevitable failures but no regrets.
When the led ones go then you either put up with missing lights or throw them away which seems wasteful. And I hate blue ones,especially the flashing variety (are you listening next door neighbour?)

I could talk you through all my Christmas tree decorations too - it's like a potted history of our family,starting with ones that were bought for my mum's first Christmas through to last month's impulse buy in M&S! 🎄

I would recommend Wilko for foil decorations, btw. Including the one which is a sort of plastic tube which you press at both ends, which makes it sort of bulbous. Sorry - that's a crap description.

Warm white ones on the tree (it's pre-lit and I'm lazy) but it's anything BUT tasteful since DD1 has been a magnet for unicorn tree decorations for a few years now and the bloody thing is infested with the spiky headed pests. Have a multicoloured curtain of star lights in the bay window and stuck the multicoloured old tree lights outside around the top of the conservatory this year as well for good measure.

Yes to coloured lights. Electric blue isn't a Christmassy colour UNLESS it's accompanied by proper turquoise, pink, yellow, orange lights.

Turquoise seems to be the missing colour.

I have friends who proudly post photos of their tree decor and it makes me wince... looks like an emergency service convention with electrical blue flashing lights. They think I'm weirdly provincial and common with my multi-colour lights and vintage baubles. We're still friends.

I miss the 1930s paper decorations for Christmas, New Year and Halloween, they were perfect...

I was just having this conversation earlier with dsis, I keep seeing multicoloured lights in peoples windows & they're bringing back lovely childhood Xmas memories

Ooh I also a child born in the early 80s and remember this! Coloured lights, foil chains on the ceiling and the foil decorations that you used to turn upside down to 'open' them that you then pinned up, they looked like little fireworks!

My MIL insists on getting all of the 80s decorations out every year, including window decorations, ceiling decorations and coloured lights. We used to tease her (nicely) about it because it is absurdly, abundantly tacky, but since having children I must admit they absolutely love it it looks like a foil-y grotto! MIL declares she knows it's 'vintage' now but she likes it and she doesn't care I love her.

We have coloured lights, foil chains across the ceiling and a really messy tree with tinsel and baubles! One of my friends hates tinsel! I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t like tinsel

We have 2 trees and last year I convinced dh to get coloured lights on one tree and keep white on the other. I love the coloured lights, but I’m a child of the 80s too.

@GertiMJN

The memories of childhood are so powerful aren't they?

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.

I'm a couple if decades older and my memories are of tissue paper decorations. Strings of concertina garlands, honeycomb bells and balls and lick&stick paper chains. We also folded crepe paper ones too.
I remember being horrified by the new fangled foil versions But yes colour all the way.

And the endless wait as every bulb in the set had to be checked by replacing so you could find the bulb that had blown.

Happy memories

I remember those, same old decorations came out year after year. Those big old light bulbs! I think the light string was no more than 30 bulbs.

We have coloured lights. At least LED bulbs dont melt the chocolate decorations.

Well this thread has confused me no end because I thought the title said tights and so expected a completely different conversation!

I had the foil ceiling garlands right up until the Christmas before last but they snapped and I can’t find the correct length to replace them

Oh an they are not tacky they are the height of sophistication.

I bought coloured ones in Tesco last year, you can have them on all the time or there's flashing and chasing patterns, they were about £10 I think

We had a lovely red one but the neighbors complained.

We have some original 1970s flower multi coloured lights. Dd has them on her tree which is a riot of colour

NaturalBlondeYeahRight those are proper lights with all the proper colours! I'm so jealous! Where are they from?

I managed to get a string of 20 from the pound shop a few years but now I've noticed they're all battery operated led ones

@bluetinpinkteapot I bought the foil stars you fold out and more foil ceiling garlands a few days ago