Rantings of a mulch snob and other issues of bad taste.

Here is a very tacky velvet painting....

Wow - Brad Pitt and Elvis are dating!?

Some one mentioned tacky bird feeders - would this do?

I kind of like that bird house.

It is cool - probably some where near a beach it would be - but imagine it in a upper middle class neighborhood.

I think almost anything is appropriate depending on the circumstances.

Anyone from Houston? I once went to a place in Houston called the velvet Elvis - it was filled with so much tacky stuff - it was pretty funny.

Yeah... that would qualify as totally tacky. The problem with these birdhouses is that no self-respecting bird would consider 'em. So... what's the point? Garden decor? I suppose you might be able to call it a bird feeder and maybe, with the bar stools, that's what it is supposed to be. But a bird feeder has to be made of some kind of material that will stand up to being cleaned regularly. That doesn't look like it would do very well in bleach water.

Diane, I get your point about Dys's flamingos, but if I saw a display like that I'd assume it was done tongue-in-cheek. He knew they were tacky and was just having fun with it.

I have an Asian sensibility about this. Japanese gardens, for example, have some stuff in them that one might think is tacky... those stone lanterns or the bamboo water drums. But at least there is some reason for their existence. To me, if something has a use, real or historical, and it best suited to that, then it can hardly be called tacky. Of course, with that definition, the fake ruins of Victorian gardens would be tacky... and they are, but they are also so glamorous that it is hard to hate 'em.

In my youth I was a purist, but as the sun sets into the west, I'm all for an unashamed display of rugged individualism--even if every single one of the items displayed is mass-produced individuality.

My idea of depressing and distressing is the classic conspicuous consumption of a large chemical-supported lawn bridging the space between the foundation planting of the McMansion and the street.

Greenswards like this exist to impress passers by--not for gardening, not for children playing, not for encouraging wildlife. Suburban deserts.

Ok, that's my house for sure (if you add in the flamingos in the front yard tree and the flower garden in the back)

I saw some one this weekend that I thought her outfit would fit this category.

It is in regard to sheer shirts. I myself own one, but feel you have to be very careful on how and who wears one. This particular woman had a sheer light blue/green shirt with a white bra. Now these shirts are made where you can see your bra so you would think that you match the bra with the shirt - otherwise to me they are tacky and cheap looking.

Also this woman was not thin and trim. Not that you need to be model thin, but you could see her love handles - it was not very flattering for her.

Along those lines, I also do not think that women with big tummies should wear low rise pants with shirts that show a peek of your tummy. It just is not flattering.

So tacky thought - try wearing clothes that flatter your figure.