Are net curtains dated and ugly?

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

Not very exciting, but just wondered what the general opinion is of net curtains..
Our house is on a fairly busy street so I have net curtains at the front. I took them down to wash them today and am quite tempted to bin them.
Do you still have nets? do you love them? Or do you think they're ugly and old fashioned?
Is there a modern alternative that I don't know about?

Miaow I once worked opposite a building that had really filthy, very baggy net curtains. Turned out it was an MoD building and the 'net' curtains were bomb curtains (to catch glass should a bomb go off). Not terribly reassuring given my building was just across a tiny alley from them, and we didn't have bomb curtains!

I'll never forget driving through London suburbia with a Swedish colleague a few years back.

He asked me "why do the British have a passion or fashion for all these ugly net curtains?"

I had no answer.

John Lewis sell nets and nice voiles (finer mesh)

This would also be an option
www.blinds-2go.co.uk/roller-blinds/4638/vista-white.html?gclid=CMy-_rDzvc0CFeUy0wodF_AHAQ

We have voile from John Lewis as I hate people peering in - though I love to peer in people's windows myself , especially at dusk before they have drawn their curtains

I'd like to buy blinds that are like voile in that they let in light - does such a thing exist??

see link below your post blow

Oh my god redhat

We are very overlooked so have voile curtains. They were £9 from Ikea. I think they look nice, they certainly don't block out the light. We just have them on curtain wire behind the normal curtains.

My bathrooms don't have frosted glass. I sew a bit and made little curtain things out of some thin white linen I had in my fabric box. Hung on those cheap extendable rods from JL (about £2 from memory).

If you can sew a hem and a rod pocket you could make them fairly cheaply.

No, no, no! Net curtains are very lower middle class. Seriously I don't understand why people are so privacy obsessed, you aren't that interesting and I love seeing outside and having natural light streaming in.

We had the ikea voiles made into Roman blinds- a modern version of the net curtains. Looks great to me and we can have the up or down as often as we like.

Carpe, my bedroom ones are sheer but I call them net! Maybe they are voile then

I disagree MrsMarigold!
Other people's houses are really interesting - I love having a nosey as I walk past...

What about a roller blind? IKEA used to do one that was a semi opaque fabric so you could see out and no one could see in.

Also you get blinds that pull up from the bottom.

Voile is that see thru shiny stuff. I don't like it.

Thank you for your replies and suggestions. General opinion seems to be that nets are ugly, a bit dated and very lower middle-class. If they're dirty, you're letting down the whole neighbourhood.
I do quite like the sound of Ifnotnow's polka dot ones though.
If you must have nets they must be thin sheer unpatterned and you must call them Voiles.
I love Redhat's white magic window shield blinds. Will look into the cost of those.

In my bathroom I have this lovely colourful vinyl stuff that just sticks onto the window. It just sticks with a spray of water and you can take it off in a second. Very simple and it stays put. It's really wonderful - I got it in a Spanish hardware store and it was quite cheap.

I have seen similar stuff sold here but it is a lot pricier - still is a great alternative to net curtains.

www.windowfilm.co.uk/residential/frosted-patterns

Have you looked at day and night blinds? They are amazing - look like Venetian blinds but less dusting
It is really hard to see through them but let light in.

I have sheer plain voiles on our front facing Windows - on half heigh cafe poles as mentioned by pp. I think you need something for privacy if you have street facing Windows. Exh wouldn't have allowed me anything but blinds but I don't want the blind cord feel too paranoid - the voiles were in The Range and when they get too manky I will just bin and replace.
Now I know they are so passé I'm tempted to get the frilliest I can find - dds would adore them

I think they scream 1970's however, I think it's down to individual choice

I meant its really hard to see in from outside but you can see out easily.

and here: www.purlfrost.com/

I like the colour tint window film.

Forget the mumsnet obsession with the archaic class system OP. We are who we are by our own achievements in life thankfully these days and not by the achievements of our ancient relations.

Have nets if you like them, call them whatever you want to .

redhat I love you. Thank you. Both suggestions are going to be used in this house!

Ready lined voile panels are far better. Net curtains are a thing of the past!