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 also used to have Christmas posters, depicting Father Christmas , Snowmen and various other festive scenes, in A1 size which we would plaster on any available wall. Along with the coloured lights, tinsel, lametta, paper chains and baubles and a fake tree (of course 🤣)

I wouldn't dream of decorating like that now but boy, did it seem magical 🎄❤️🎉. Child of the 60s here!

These are my retro bulb lights. They are still available to buy but I do have to replace them often. Some people are saying the old style are tacky and naff but I don't think that is so. Vintage decorations and lights sell for an absolute fortune on eBay and second hand, I'm horrified to read of people binning them on here. I collect vintage decorations but they are very hard to come by in charity shops nowadays as highly sought after.

We have coloured lights. DS hates white lights and I prefer the more is more approach to decorating the tree. DH doesn't get a say.

I still have colored lights! They give so much of Christmas atmosphere!

@ThisIsTheWayy

I still have these kind from the 80s that were my Mums, although the bulbs go and are expensive to replace, and they get really warm (not sure they would pass any kind of regs these days). But I do love them and they'll always remind me of childhood Christmas.

Those are fabulous! Love them 😍

@Icantreachthepretzels

We still have coloured lights - they are wonderful and make me feel all warm. Fairy lights make Christmas - and white ones and those LED ones just aren't right. We have the whole late 20th century works though, at my mum's: coloured lights; tinsel; that silver stuff (just googled - apparently it's called 'lametta'); coloured baubles; glass baubles; baubles in various shapes (wooden trains, children, bells, Disneyworld 1993, stars - the works); foil streamers hanging from the ceilings; balloons; a one eyed snowman that I'm not sure what he's made of; a falling over cardboard santa and reindeer that was on the back of a selection box back in the 70s that my mum popped out and built up; some dangling foil decorations (a red and gold tree and ... something else which I've seen every year for 30 years and can't quite remember what it is); plastic mistletoe; and the same Christmas table cloth with holly berries on it that's wipeable not cloth and is made for a round table even though we've had a square one for ... ever.

I love it all and it wouldn't be Christmas without any of it. Christmas is no time to be tasteful.

Oh wow! Can I come visit your Mum post lockdown?!?! 🤪

I have LED coloured lights. They are bright and beautiful and can flash in different patterns (8 different combinations) and I bloody love them!!

Morning, the ones I added a picture of aren’t the ones I ordered I’m afraid, those are the style my grandparents used to have.

I’ll link to the ones I ordered, they are LED but have pink lights which lots of the modern LED lights don’t have.

John Lewis have some lovely rainbow lights too but £££

They actually do only have 4 colours but they are pink/ purple/ orange/ turquoise rather than the R/ B/ G/ Y which I find really harsh.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264942892663

These are the bulb ones I have. The difference with them and the LEDs is they have pink instead of read and the colours are warmer. It makes a huge difference imo. I love warm coloured lights but hate cold ones. www.amazon.co.uk/75280-Christmas-Workshop-Benross-Decoration/dp/B000WHET76/ref=mp_s_a_1_26?dchild=1&keywords=fairy+light+bulbs&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1606129320&sr=8-26

I’ve just gone a bit bonkers on a site called [party365.com] and got more paper garlands.
I’ve definitely found my people!

This is our tree from a few years ago

I went all 'classy' for a few years and stuck to warm white but I've decided to embrace Christmas and bought coloured lights a few years ago, no looking back now!

This year I've also bought a shit load of foil garlands, going for full nostalgia and grotto style.

The house at the back of me definitely has coloured lights on their tree - I can see it through their patio door. The house opposite has also decorated all 4 front windows with coloured lights. Thankfully none of them flash. Further down the road the have blue lights on their porch roof. Every time I walk through the hall I think there's an emergency vehicle in the street. Keeping my fingers crossed that neighbours across the road don't decorate the tree in their garden with flashing blue lights this year as they flash onto our bedroom ceiling (bay window so curtains have a small gap at the top).

We only have coloured lights on our tree! And many coloured baubles as well as a few white and silver ones, and other decs aplenty. I'm looking forward to having the tree up.

I embraced my 80s childhood last year & am doing the same this year

I have these

https://www.ukchristmasworld.com/products/40-canterbury-belles-indoor-fairy-christmas-lights.html?refid=plappc&utmsource=GoogleBase&utmmmedia=Product+Search&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkKjl8MyY7QIVk2DmCh3-7gzkEAQYAyABEgI3jvDBwE&refid=plappc&utmmsource=GoogleBase&utmmedia=Product+Search&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkKjl8MyY7QIVk2DmCh3-7gzkEAQYAyABEgI3jvDD_BwE

@QueenOfCakeandCoffee our tree is similar style to yours - gorgeous!

I generally much prefer warm white - it’s more in keeping with my taste and style. But I did buy a small chain of vintage-style coloured lights this week as a supplement to the white lights on our dining room tree. Hopefully they’ll tie in perfectly with the colour scheme and decorations.🤞

[quote IndieTara]@BlueThistles Noma do very similar fairy lights with flower and lantern shades [/quote]
Fabulous !! Ive ordered them 🎵🎶🎉

Yes I have the Noma ones, they are 👌🏼

I have the Noma ones too .

Im sooooo happy.. thank you ladies 🎉

We have coloured lights because the children and DH insisted about eight years ago. Personally, I'd prefer just warm white, and I like them set for that slow fade in and out.

As a child we had the coloured lantern type, the pifco flowery ones, but also original 50s lights from my mum's childhood, which we couldn't even replace when they blew, back in the 70s/80s. They were the classic light type that are on Christmas cards/iced biscuits. We had loads of glass 40s/50s baubles too (all my grandparents died young).
Paper streamers and honeycomb things, before foil ones became available.

I don't put streamers up now, as I can never get the pins to stick in the ceilings.

Our trees as children were always 10-12 feet too, whereas we usually have to get 6-7 foot trees due to space.

I’m fully embracing an eighties Christmas. Got my mum knitting me a nativity set and currently deciding whether to buy the 80’s wrapping paper on eBay. Don’t know if anyone else will appreciate it though.

Are you going to give your children a Big Yellow Teapot, or a batwing jumper?
Shell suits are actually 'in' with university aged people right now!