Only white (all white or mostly white) plates are ever acceptable to seriously present food. All other colors can cause the food to look discolored. For funky theme parties, colored plates are ok, but other than that it's not at all acceptable - sort of like putting napkins in wine goblets.

It's interesting that you think white plates reflect "a certain maturity." To me, they always seem "starter home."

In my 20s, I and everyone I knew had plain white plates; but by our 30s, only the most committed minimalists still had white.

"not at all acceptable" - I would clarify exactly what it's not acceptable for- likely any event where you care about the food presentation or the food is a big deal. The correct presentation of food would -for instance- be lost on say, my college friends or perhaps a 7yr old's birthday party.

I'd personally love a colorful setting- but I'd only use it in occasions where the food wasn't central or appreciated.

When I had white plates, they got funky quick- showing every scrape and imperfection.

I switched to exuberant red and grounded Frankoma brown, and now walking past my cupboard always brings a smile to my face. Seriously, there is so much more to a good dinner party, much less a meal, than the visual presentation of food once it's plated. Get over it.

I love having simple white dinner plates. I'm always switching up the table cloth, place mats, and other table decor so I like to stick with simple white plates. But the basic plates are the only ones I have in white. I have colorful dessert plates and bowls to dress up the after party of my meals.

The best thing about plain white dinnerware:

It never goes out of style.

Let me start at the top and work my way down.

Unacceptable? Genocide is not acceptable as is rape, colored plates and napkins in wine glasses are only personal preference.

You don't have to cater to the crowd, but make your effort worth while

Dollar store white plates will always show their age prematurely because they are cheap, you get what you pay for. As being unacceptable, why?

Cheap white plates are the starter home plates unless it is the five "last plate of the set" plates. Many people move on up to the colored, busy and fun plates, these people usually focus on the entertainment side of eating, while people like me focus on the food side of eating. I only buy white, but to keep it fun I have plates and bowls that most people wouldn't recognize as such unless food was on them.

Leen, I like the way you roll.

Sauces, drizzles, garnishes, and dustings get lost on a colored plate. Invest in good white plates and the won't wear out.

Since I rarely entertain anymore, I've never thought about it. I have an inherited set of vintage Fiesta dishes that I love, but they definitely feel everyday and it would just feel sort of awkward to use them at a dinner party, sort of like serving food in my pajamas. When I photograph food for my blog, I prefer to use the ivory set unless another color would complement the food better.

If I entertained regularly, I probably would get a set of off-white plain dishes.

White china is like a good simple black dress....
you can dress it up, or dress it down.

I'm in with bepsf, and leen.
White for dinner...pattern or color for dessert.

My plates are white with a black rim. It's the best of both worlds!

Saddler has a point -- the real foodie types care about the presentation of the food. But others prefer the ambiance of a meal.

In my marriage we have this exact issue: my husband likes minimalist restaurants where the chef arranges a delicate, not-at-all-filling morsel on a big white plate. I like restaurants with nice ambiance, decor and views -- I don't really choose restaurants for the food itself; it's the whole experience.

I like solid colored plates. LOVE the ones shown in the second photo.

Since when are maturity and vivacity opposites?

I have solid white, Ikea 365 dishes as well as a stoneware set in solid avocado green. When I eat off the white dishes I focus on the food, but when I eat off the green ones I focus on the plate or bowl. I also find the white background more calming than the green when I'm eating, which is especially nice first thing in the morning or at the end of a crazy day.

White formal china. Colored stoneware for everyday. Easy. Done.

i can't stand plain white, but our plates are a mixed collection - Noritake deep charcoal with white on top, and deep charcoal solid black squarish, asian-looking plates. they are from the same collection. depending on what i am serving, i'll go with white or black. rice looks awesome on that dark charcoal surface. usually, every setting at the table is different - mix up the combinations of white/black, square/round. it's interesting, but neutral enough for me to play it up any way i please. it's the first plate set we've ever owned and we chose it very carefully. :)

...and crazy-patterned serveware never seemed to make sense to me...i couldn't ever find my food on it. it looks much prettier, and makes a nicer table in my opinion, when the dishes are more or less solid colors.

Plain white plates = boring, imo. Unless you are on one of those chef shows I love to watch, I don't see the point.

I have a mix of colorful/patterned and white, and I have never had a problem feeling overwhelmed with the patterns or colors while eating.

My mom left me a set of beautiful china, which is all white, and I often find myself wistfully wishing it was something a bit more interesting.

I have simple white plates - they are nice because they don't go out of style. They do tend to get boring - I'm hoping to donate them sometime soon and try to get a collection of fiestaware going since it's much prettier to look at.

uhmmm, where are the goblets from?! i need to know! :)

I had very colorful dinnerware and got bored with it because i love to change things around all of the time. I recently switched to all white because ti was what i always wanted. I now have an inexpensive ended but versatile collection of dinnerware that can be dressed up and down. I can add all kinds of new elements at any moment for a party and never have to worry about my dishes not matching a theme. It costs a lot less for me to get one new element at a time to change things around - like new colorful dessert plates - and then when I don't want it anymore I don't have to get a whole new set of dishes. They are oven safe as well which was my other dinnerware fantasy!

we have two sets: white bauhaus style plates and a very dark green/black plates. which set we use depends on what we're eating. and when we've got more than 8 at the dining table, it all gets used. for me, entertaining is about the fellowship and the food. decorations and colored plates are way down the list of things to worry about.

A variety of dishes is my weakness. I swap between a summer and winter set (when I do my wardrobe) so I don't get bored.

For entertaining we pull out the wood plates and salad bowls, the wood-handled brass flatware and the green, leaf-shaped plates and bowls for accessories. They look hearty and appetizing. Delicate china doesn't mix very well. We don't drizzle anything anywhere.

We do have a "buffet set" for very large parties in white.

I love white dishes and can't imagine ever having anything but. I don't think it's because I'm so mature (or so unvivacious, for that matter), I just think they make the food look so beautiful. Dishes like those in the pictures above look great on their own, but fight with the food for attention.

All for solid color plates....I think they help create a more relaxed setting. It's fun for the guests sometimes people like to make a swap for a preferred color, it's just a bit more fun:)....

I have light blue and grey colored plates that I use everyday and with guests. They're neutral enough to showcase the food, but at the same time it's a little more interesting.
However, my plates are from Heath and even those show marks from utensils due to the lighter color.

We use these: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=14174&f=27184

They fulfill my need for a little more pizazz that plain white, but still have a mostly white field on the dinner plate. We can also supplement with inexpensive white dishes for larger group entertaining. Plus, I love the reminiscence of the classic blue onion pattern I remember from my grandmother's dishes growing up.

I've gone through so many different sets of plates. I would agonize over choosing the perfect patterns, color, and texture for my personality. The problem was that they would all either chip, break or craze, leaving me heartbroken. I finally decided to buy plain, sturdy, white, restaurant-quality plates. When I find a beautiful pattern I like, I just buy the salad plate and put it on top of the white plate.