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I have the Eva Zeisel dishes and love them, they look great with all of our other midcentury items. They seem to be holding up really well my husband is also a klutz but I am the only one that has broken a small plate from dropping it. The other thing to note is that if you have other white items like a table they will look very off white, my client gave me their old Saarinen Tulip table in white and the dishes don't look great but I'm not going to get rid of the table or the dishes.

For something virtually unbreakable - Have you considered Corelle?

Del Norte:
http://www.corelle.com/index.asp?pageId=51&pid=365

Maritime:
http://www.corelle.com/index.asp?pageId=74&pid=328

Enhancements:
http://www.corelle.com/index.asp?pageId=108&pid=45

Chocolate Mint:
http://www.corelle.com/index.asp?pageId=52&pid=364

You might look at Corelle.com -- they have some mid century inspired designs (such as; http://www.corelle.com/index.asp?pageId=93&pid=361 ) Corelle isn't necessarily as "hip" as the designs you like, but it's durable.

Heath ceramics?

i have the classic century and really only use it for special occasions, so i'm not sure how it holds up for daily use. i have always like heath ceramics and it seems quite durable.

These are pretty and cheaper, and they have the asymmetry that it sounds like you like. They'd go well with vintage stuff too.
http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?partNumber=WE-PRODe338&storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E&parentId=WE-SH1ENTDIN&retainNav=true&cmsrc=WE-SH1ENTDIN

Maybe invest in some of the Classic Century serving pieces and put them somewhere safe.

If you want an MCM look, I'd start on eBay, rather than buying new. Used dishes tend to be a lot cheaper than new (unless it's a fancy collector's item).

I think Corelle is the polyester of china.

The Calvin Klein Khaki collection.

Thanks for the tip on Corelle. I've been looking for stuff like that for some time!
How is the quality?

As a child of the 50's/60's, I grew up with Corelle, so it's truly MCM. However,there are better choices that still will give you that MCM feel.

When we got married in the 70's, my wife and I bought a set of Heath dishes, bowls and serving pieces. Over the past 30 years we've broken a few plates and dishes, but the stuff has held up quite well to everyday use in a household with kids. Downsides are they're not cheap, not all the old colors and patterns are still available, and it would probably be difficult to assemble a reasonably complete set off of E-bay. Good luck.

Has anyone put together a collection of old Russell Wright dishes from the fifties? We used these during my early childhood years, until my mother decided they looked dated and "poor" and threw them all out. Are they now beyond ordinary means?

"I think Corelle is the polyester of china."

Except it's actually made in New York

"The Pressware Manufacturing Plant in Corning, NY is a Corelle production marvel. In just under 15 minutes, plates and bowls go from molten glass to finished product – sealed with an easily removable protective wax coating and placed in a packing case. Due to this incredible speed, the Pressware Plant produces up to 100 million pieces of Corelle VitrelleTM glass dinnerware each year."

http://www.corelle.com/index.asp?pageId=61

Heath Ceramics. It is oven-dishwasher-microwave safe and pretty bombproof. I am always amazed how durable and chip resistant it is. And above all it is gorgeous. The Coupe line was designed in the late 40s. Yes, it is a little pricey, but you get what you pay for and you are paying local crafts people a fair wage and great benefits. Can you say that about Corelle?

having spent both saturday and sunday @ heath's shop in marin and having not looked at corelle in over a decade or two, i was surprised by some of corelle's new lines... (i.e.: it seems a little heath-y)

Hadn't thought about Corelle, but when I looked at their website these patterns caught my eye

http://www.corelle.com/index.asp?pageId=93&pid=361

http://www.corelle.com/index.asp?pageId=51&pid=360

http://www.corelle.com/index.asp?pageId=50&pid=1

Spring blossom green/Crazy Daisy is the pattern my grandma still has (in Corelle). I don't know which name is correct or if both are, but listing on eBay in both names. That's the oldest, most common pattern I know. I don't really like corelle myself, so I would go with a classic like that.

I also recently scored some pale pink tupperware dinner plates and cereal bowls at goodwill that I can't find online to identify, for something that might be of some vintage (the seem old because they don't look current, but I could be mistaken) and unbreakable, and available in some colors other than pink. If that's a faint lead anyone can pick up, it's another way to go.

I wish I could find the sets of dishes we used in my house when I was a young young kid. I have one serving bowl handed down when I had nada, it's off-white, heavy ceramic with a giant daisy in the middle, and doesn't have any marks for a clue. Everything else broke, I guess. We also had some kind with a green leaf/branch pattern, they were white and a green rim and the bowls had more of a cutoff cone shape as opposed to a round bowl shape. Those are all gone, but I liked them better than the daisy. Breakable, so this is not really a suggestion. Dishes make me nostalgic!

The Vera Wang Naturals Collection at Macys is lovely. A soft, matte finish, off white bone color, thick and heavy. And a very pure and simple shape. We were very fortunate to have gotten a whole set of dinner and salad plates and bowls for wedding gifts. Here's a link, but they look and feel much better in your hand. They're also whiter than the picture shows. http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=301072&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

bepsf:

""I think Corelle is the polyester of china."

Except it's actually made in New York"

you've missed the point -- try this:

"I think Corelle is the polyester of dinner services"

(clue: "china" not capitalized)

lecture not required

The problem with Corelle is that although they say it is unbreakable, it is actually just break resistant. I've broken several Corelle pieces, and since Corelle is made of glass, it breaks into glass chards -- pointy, tiny, sharp, glass shards -- quite unlike ceramic products.

A point to keep in mind.

mcchatelaine--

I think you totally missed the point of his joke. But I think so did bepsf.

But to Jane--

How many dishes have you broken in the past? Is it really a concern?

And/or, maybe if you got new dishes that you loved, you might be less clutzy with them...

I have had some black dishes made like Corelle but not part of their line for years. (Open stock at a now defunct Kitchen Etc. or some such store). They have held up amazingly well, with only a few minor chips under the rims when dropped on hard floors to show. I'm sure real Corelle holds up as well. (One bowl of mine actually got thrown against a wall, in a mental meltdown, one day -- not by me -- and it dented the wallboard but not the dish.)

I think some of the newer designs are quite attractive, but I would definitely go to Target or someplace that sells the real thing and look before deciding to buy. The whites are more translucent than porcelain, although it may look the same in photos. And the patterns have a certain kind of "silk screened" look close up that you may like or hate, so you should buy knowing what you will get, even if you order online.