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The author sort of brushes aside the idea that it became unfashionable due to it no longer being a status symbol in the footnotes, but I think that is basically

The author sort of brushes aside the idea that it became unfashionable due to it no longer being a status symbol in the footnotes, but I think that is basically the answer, but with another step in between. When ornamentation became cheap and mass producible, it also frequently became _ugly_. Tacky knockoffs of appealing designs became far more common than the original decorations. So much more so common in fact that it became the default association people have with decorative ornamentation. A plain white plate is making no pretensions and is exactly what it appears to be, but the same plate stamped with a pattern is something that's trying and failing to appear fancier than it is. Worse, a hand-painted plate will be assumed to be a cheap stamped plate.

ethbr1 2y ago
> When ornamentation became cheap and mass producible, it also frequently became _ugly_. Tacky knockoffs of appealing designs became far more common than the original decorations. My observation of taste has been that most people have little. Consequently, they'd just as soon buy an imitation of the thing they think they need rather than the real thing, if they can save a buck. (See: vanilla, modern McDonald's) As a result, there's a race to the bottom as soon as a thing is being sold in mass quantities. Because there is little quality differentiation, it's mostly judged on price. Consequently, you get Amazon-fancy. Which is some cost-optimized pastiche of what a tasteless manufacturer perceives historical luxury to be. Exhibit A: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=decorative+books https://www.amazon.com/s?k=decorative+books
dugite-code 2y ago
A classic case of supply exceeding demand, cratering value
- hyperadvanced 2y ago
  I think that’s a bit simplistic. There are still a lot of plates, some of them go for $20 a piece are on people’s wedding registries. They’re “artisanal”. They’re what the fancy restaurants serve your food on. They might even be mass produced. They’re in the Williams Sonoma catalog. But they certainly aren’t decorated like old plates were. There’s a lot of art-historical and economics and social factors that shape these kinds of things. While I think the author is right to look at consumer capitalism, I don’t think aesthetics can be so neatly boiled down in the way that he tries to.
Terr_ 2y ago
> unfashionable due to it no longer being a status symbol One of my favorite examples of this involves printing fancy invitations or business cards. Back when printing involved actual lead type, it was normal for the printed text to be ridged because it was an unavoidable part of the process of slamming metal onto it. It was more-expensive and difficult to make prints where the paper remained flat, so that was used to indicate a fancy/expensive product. With modern printing technology, anyone can make flat business-cards and RSVPs for pennies, so it's reversed, and it's a sign of fancy/expense to produce things where the text is embossed/debossed just like the old days.
- ytoawwhra92 2y ago
  Same thing happened with carpeting vs. wood flooring. The more expensive to produce/costlier to maintain stuff tends to be more fashionable.
valbaca 2y ago
> Tacky knockoffs of appealing designs became far more common than the original decorations. Making me think of my mom and grandma's kitchens with their farm animal themes. It's like we're in a generational cycle of ornamentation > tacky > minimalism > REPEAT.

ethbr1 2y ago

> When ornamentation became cheap and mass producible, it also frequently became _ugly_. Tacky knockoffs of appealing designs became far more common than the original decorations. My observation of taste has been that most people have little. Consequently, they'd just as soon buy an imitation of the thing they think they need rather than the real thing, if they can save a buck. (See: vanilla, modern McDonald's) As a result, there's a race to the bottom as soon as a thing is being sold in mass quantities. Because there is little quality differentiation, it's mostly judged on price. Consequently, you get Amazon-fancy. Which is some cost-optimized pastiche of what a tasteless manufacturer perceives historical luxury to be. Exhibit A: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=decorative+books https://www.amazon.com/s?k=decorative+books

dugite-code 2y ago

A classic case of supply exceeding demand, cratering value

hyperadvanced 2y ago
I think that’s a bit simplistic. There are still a lot of plates, some of them go for $20 a piece are on people’s wedding registries. They’re “artisanal”. They’re what the fancy restaurants serve your food on. They might even be mass produced. They’re in the Williams Sonoma catalog. But they certainly aren’t decorated like old plates were. There’s a lot of art-historical and economics and social factors that shape these kinds of things. While I think the author is right to look at consumer capitalism, I don’t think aesthetics can be so neatly boiled down in the way that he tries to.

Terr_ 2y ago

> unfashionable due to it no longer being a status symbol One of my favorite examples of this involves printing fancy invitations or business cards. Back when printing involved actual lead type, it was normal for the printed text to be ridged because it was an unavoidable part of the process of slamming metal onto it. It was more-expensive and difficult to make prints where the paper remained flat, so that was used to indicate a fancy/expensive product. With modern printing technology, anyone can make flat business-cards and RSVPs for pennies, so it's reversed, and it's a sign of fancy/expense to produce things where the text is embossed/debossed just like the old days.

ytoawwhra92 2y ago
Same thing happened with carpeting vs. wood flooring. The more expensive to produce/costlier to maintain stuff tends to be more fashionable.

valbaca 2y ago

> Tacky knockoffs of appealing designs became far more common than the original decorations. Making me think of my mom and grandma's kitchens with their farm animal themes. It's like we're in a generational cycle of ornamentation > tacky > minimalism > REPEAT.