apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I assume that Martha Stewart's obsession with monogramming is what set off this trend. She'll monogram anything. I keep waiting for here to tattoo an "M" on her dogs.Personally, I don't care for it, but it's not terribly offensive. I've only ever had one thing personalized: a pair of towels embroidered with cursive text saying "hers" and "hers" for some friends of mine who married in Massachusetts.

on socks? yes.
on pillows? not so much.

to each their own. :)

im a Southern girl who shunned all the fussy "lady-like" frills and put her foot down when i came time to plan a debutante party...but there are a few "proper" things that i just cant let go of and monogrammed towels are one of them. with my mid-century-regency-country-club-meets-rock-n-roll decor, i think they look a bit tongue in cheek, and i like that...

goodnightdean - i completely support your comment. i'm also a southern lady, and there's something brassy, sexy, elegant, and sweetly ridiculous about monograms. (like my debutante friend in ny who had her LL bean tote monogrammed not with her initials, but GAY. she's queer. when she pulls a lilly pulitzer makeup case out of her bag, it makes me swoon at her brilliance.) I heart monograms.

I'm not a mongrammer because I don't have a middle name and all the monograms on offer have three initials. boo for monograms.

i'm a southern lady and i can't stand monograms or GRITS

I never much cared for monogramming. It feels preppy to me, a style I'm not much into either. Last year, I had this crazy urge to embroider my and my husband's initials. I used a fancy embellished font which I think helped keep it from looking too preppy and framed them to hang on our walls. Crappy photos here: http://bp3.blogger.com/_qKV_IE0jJcA/RixBAKulLBI/AAAAAAAAABc/dqWE1RAesz4/s1600-h/embroideredj.jpg

and here:

http://bp3.blogger.com/_qKV_IE0jJcA/RixBAKulLCI/AAAAAAAAABk/b616bsPFDF8/s1600-h/embroideredm.jpg

My favorite use of monogramming belonged to a former neighbor back in the city, who wore designers shirts monogrammed with other people's initials. These did not represent people who'd left shirts at his apartment (sorry, p(too)), but people who'd never picked up their shirts from Barney's and such, leaving the shirt to be remaindered at a steep discount. So he was sort of wearing the sad remnants of lost fortunes...

Thinking of that always gives me the urge to buy monogrammed silver flatware with other people's initials... so gracious... and yet... so perverse.

I've never had anything monogrammed - but I like the look.

My question, the larger inital in the middle - is that for one's middle initial or for the surname?
Maybe that's why I've never done it.... it seems silly to have one's middle initial so prominent. Example: My initials are TRS. so it seems that the monogram would be tRs which is dumb. But tSr is equally dumb.
Now for spouses... if I married Mr. BP... it would make sense to have bPt
I like the example in westelm... the one with two small letters next to one big one. Which I take to be one initial of each member of the couple... next to the surname intial.
b
t next to P

clickchick. I've never had any household items monogrammed, but I used to show horses and we'd get the collars of our shirts monogrammed. You can monogram your name either way. One style is having your surname initial enlarged and placed in the middle of your first and middle initial--it was popular to have them placed in a stylized diamond or circle. These were popular in the show world--not sure if they were ever used on household products.

I prefer monograms that place your initials in order. Like what LL Bean does with the boat toats. Either block letters or script. You can do either way though.

i think when you grow up in the south, it's just sort of part of your culture. you can stray and become retro mod mixed in with a bit of silver lake bohemian but somewhere, you have to get your monogram on.

everyone has everything monogramed here - it's the same people with dark green drapes patterned with pink roses and matching table cloths and matching sofas and lazboys...with pink carpet- and the women that wear that gaudy silver jewelry - and you know what kind of silver jewelry i'm talking about. i grew up in a very liberal house in the middle of alabama - there was no monograming and no gaudy floral patterned draperies in my house. the only thing i ever had monogramed was an ll bean back pack when i was 12 years old because it was the "cool" thing to do.

i bet paula deen monograms her stuff.