So there you are thinking that you are supercool: that your good taste knows no boundaries, when all of a sudden it strikes you that when you are watching Eastenders and Emmerdale, you find yourself admiring that crocheted blanket in the Dingle’s living room or the rather snazzy tray on Pauline Fowlers mantlepiece.
This is not a good thing: set designers have placed these oh so appealing items there because the people concerned have no taste. The Dingles didn’t choose the kind of patchwork blanket I am currently furiously bidding for on Ebay, they found it on a tip. Pat Butcher didn’t choose that gorgeous pink and green floral wallpaper, it’s been there since world war two. The interior design is not intended to be aspirational, it is supposed to speak volumes about the class of people the programme is portraying…
So what does this mean? Have we (I?) got no taste: has my eye become so accustomed to granny chic, I’m even finding things that are plainly ugly, kinda cool?
Am I searching out crocheted doillies because Cath Kidston‘s doing crochet this season or because they remind me of the kind of Nana’s living room I am wierdly trying to create?
What’s next? Woolly tea cosies (I saw a gorgeous little house one at a market last week!!), one of those dolly toilet roll covers, or a fuzzy toilet seat??
God, I’m scaring myself now.
well, I actually use the woollen tea cosies and just sold a cottage one on ebay a few weeks ago to a lady in the US. and I have been collecting those crocheted blankets for years. I think it is because we are trying to recapture days that invoke safe and happy memories…where we could be children and have no worries…cept what kind of iceblock to choose !
Well, I love those things too – especially crochet doillies. And all it means is we are AHEAD of "fashion". Actually it kind of annoys me that all things vintage are fashionable now, because it's put the price up somewhat. Gone are the days when you could pick up a gorgeous old embroidered tablecloth for a few cents 🙁
Okay ladies ~ I must admit that I am a huge fan of Eastenders and do oohh and ahhh over certain 'props'…much to Mark's amusement! I love crocheted blankets too…and I actually bid on that lovely woollen tea cosy of yours Robyn, but unfortunately didn't win it ! I'm with you suzie ~ hate the fact that vintage is so fashionable now 🙂
"What's next? Woolly tea cosies" — I have one! I purchased it from a lady in Surrey! Complete with a couple teensy moth-holes… and I LOVE it!
ladies, maybe we are ahead of our time !! using the tea cosies…but I have used them for years ~ a throwback to my nan
We sell them in our kitchen shop, and they do very well. We reorder them often, so there IS hope for vintage-kitchen ladies yet! Although the true vintage cozies have much more charm I think!