What are your honest thoughts on "shabby". I personally love it, but a lot of people dont.
A few descriptions found on the internet:
Showing signs of wear and tear or neglect: bedraggled, broken-down, decaying, decrepit, dilapidated, dingy, down-at-heel, faded, mangy, rundown, scrubby, scruffy, seedy, shoddy, sleazy, tattered, tatty, threadbare. Informal tacky2. Slang ratty. Idioms: all the worse for wear, gone to pot.
1. Impaired by wear, use, etc.; worn: shabby clothes.
2. Showing conspicuous signs of wear or neglect: The rooms on the upper floors of the mansion had a rather shabby appearance, as if they had not been much in use of late.
3. Wearing worn clothes or having a slovenly or unkempt appearance: a shabby person.
4. Run-down, seedy, or dilapidated: a shabby hotel.
5. Meanly ungenerous or unfair; contemptible, as persons, actions, etc.: shabby behaviour.
6. Inferior; not up to par in quality, performance, etc.: a shabby rendition of the sonata.
Personally - I would favour "shabby" over "cute" any day. I did this sign as this perfectly illustrates my point, but its not to everyones taste, especially when hung outside a babys room! Mums tend to favour "cute".
Saying that - I have a lovely site that I bookmark and visit often. They do the most beautiful signs etc, all hand written and definately "cute" and I adore them. I also know that I couldnt do what they do, so I go in the opposite direction. Does anyone think this is a cop-out? Do you think making something look "shabby" is a way of saying "Its supposed to look like that!", almost apologising for the way it looks?
Shabby interiors are also a favourite with me. Some of you may feel that shabby equates to "dirty". What do you think?
Here are a few fav shabby images, I love the photography in Tone Finnanger books, they manage to perfectly capture a "mood". Shabby but sweet.
I would love to hear your comments! xx
A few descriptions found on the internet:
Showing signs of wear and tear or neglect: bedraggled, broken-down, decaying, decrepit, dilapidated, dingy, down-at-heel, faded, mangy, rundown, scrubby, scruffy, seedy, shoddy, sleazy, tattered, tatty, threadbare. Informal tacky2. Slang ratty. Idioms: all the worse for wear, gone to pot.
1. Impaired by wear, use, etc.; worn: shabby clothes.
2. Showing conspicuous signs of wear or neglect: The rooms on the upper floors of the mansion had a rather shabby appearance, as if they had not been much in use of late.
3. Wearing worn clothes or having a slovenly or unkempt appearance: a shabby person.
4. Run-down, seedy, or dilapidated: a shabby hotel.
5. Meanly ungenerous or unfair; contemptible, as persons, actions, etc.: shabby behaviour.
6. Inferior; not up to par in quality, performance, etc.: a shabby rendition of the sonata.
Personally - I would favour "shabby" over "cute" any day. I did this sign as this perfectly illustrates my point, but its not to everyones taste, especially when hung outside a babys room! Mums tend to favour "cute".
Saying that - I have a lovely site that I bookmark and visit often. They do the most beautiful signs etc, all hand written and definately "cute" and I adore them. I also know that I couldnt do what they do, so I go in the opposite direction. Does anyone think this is a cop-out? Do you think making something look "shabby" is a way of saying "Its supposed to look like that!", almost apologising for the way it looks?
Shabby interiors are also a favourite with me. Some of you may feel that shabby equates to "dirty". What do you think?
Here are a few fav shabby images, I love the photography in Tone Finnanger books, they manage to perfectly capture a "mood". Shabby but sweet.
More.............(these images link back to
I would love to hear your comments! xx
I think that shabby as a word on its own can be considered as possibly shabby and scruffy but shabby chic is diffrent because it is a design style / statement. Also shabby chic usually takes a lot of work to acheive the tattered in a specific way.
ReplyDeleteAnnie took the words right out of my mouth!!!
ReplyDeleteShabby chic is a style. Shabby is not a hotel i'd want to stay in shabby chic on the other hand. . . xxx