TIS the season…to avoid being tacky.
An etiquette expert has revealed how you can avoid looking “common” this Christmas – and it’s bad news if you like tinsel or bows on doors.
Jo Bryant, who has worked in etiquette for 20 years, certainly knows a thing or two about elevating your celebrations this Christmas.
Speaking to Fabulous, she advised: “You want to aim to avoid that kind of 1980s Argos catalogue look and stick to more natural things.
“Not too much plastic, not too much bling.
“And no blow up Santas outside your home.”
Here, the elegance pro reveals the dos and don’ts of an expensive-looking festive period (even if you are watching the pennies)…
I have a friend whose neighbour has put up blue flashing lights outside their house and it feels like the police are outside their house.
It’s my biggest pet peeve this year.
Tasteful house lights are fine, like white icicles, but once you start making your house like a theme park or Winter Wonderland, it looks quite tacky.
I’m also very allergic to tinsel – it always looks like it’s come out of the kind of 1980s Christmas decoration box.
It looks like a bad office party and it ruins your tree.
There’s plenty of other Christmas decorations out there to choose from, such as baubles in classic colours.
If you have a family, it is, however, fine to have some things for your kids, such as little figurines or little hanging teddies.
My other allergy is coloured trees.
This year I’ve seen people who have got black colour scheme.
In the old days, I would have said always go for a real tree, but I’m aware of its cost of living. That’s an unrealistic thing to expect and some people just want to use the same tree each year at an expensive time of year. That’s fine.
If you’re going to have a fake tree, make sure it’s green.
We don’t want white, we don’t want pink, we don’t want turquoise.
You can elevate your Christmas with your crockery.
You don’t need to go too far with things like novelty napkins.
If you have people over, you should make the effort to get proper glasses and to use proper plates.
Unless it’s a children’s party, people don’t need to be drinking or eating nice food off Father Christmas plates and themed paper napkins.
We should talk about putting decorations outside, specifically Santa Stop Here signs.
There should definitely be avoided.
I know some people like bows on doors, but the only thing on your door this Christmas should be a wreath and preferably a natural one at that.
You shouldn’t just whack up the same plastic one from the box every year, keeping it traditional will always look more sophisticated.
It’s much smarter to have a nice wreath with pine cones than anything too novelty.
But definitely a no to door bows.
Any kind of singing that’s inside the house – like novelty items suddenly launching into song – should be banned.
They’re just annoying for everybody and not funny anymore.
I think the novelty wears off quite quickly.
Imagine if your neighbours always had singing coming from their home, it probably goes hand in hand with the flashing flashing lights.
There’s a funny thing that posting on social media about how many presents you’ve bought your kids or how overly decorated your house is actually makes your Christmas look cheaper than having a few more sophisticated and slightly understated decorations and presents.
You shouldn’t be too showy or over the top.
It’s not a time to start boasting about how much stuff you’re getting, or how much you’ve decorated as well.
At what point is it completely normal to have your house stinking of gingerbread or cinnamon? Everything in moderation.
You can have a nice Christmas candle, but you don’t need to have the whole house pumped out.
