If you frequent any other decor blogs, you'll know that there's been a widespread fascination with all things pink, blush, gold, glittery, soft, and generally "feminine." Even here on Apartment Therapy, we've talked about how pleased we are to see this delicate side emerge in home decor. But whence comes this penchant for prettiness?
Don't get me wrong; I'm downright giddy to see sequins, eye-popping pinks, delicate pastels, and rococo accents in decor, but I do notice that this desire is part of a larger trend for all that is "soft," "demure," "delicate," and "feminine." (As a disclaimer, I want to emphasize that I consider the strict separation of male and female aesthetics fallacious, but this gender-based stereotype still exists, and this is part of what I'm interested in exploring.)
In the March issue of Elle, Daphne Merkin investigates the resurgence of this classical model of femininity in fashion, where '50s-influenced dresses, nipped waists, lace, and pencil skirts, are currently all the rage. She concludes that what she calls the "New Prettiness" is a response to difficult economic and political times as well as a feeling that the world is moving too quickly:
"The success of Mad Men, among other backward-looking phenomena, suggests that they also speak to some part of ourselves that doesn't want to construct a working model of femaleness from scratch each day. I can't be alone in sensing a withdrawal from embattled agendas of self-definition, especially among younger women, as well as a renewed interest in traditional modes of femininity..." (page 200).
Is the New Prettiness in decor a reversion to traditional aesthetics in an attempt to escape current cultural and social instability? And if so, can we consider it as another facet of the same push that has revived a widespread love of vintage, mid-century modern, and DIY?
It does seem that many trends right now are historically oriented, and Merkin makes some excellent points, but I'm somewhat uncomfortable with describing this "resurgence of the feminine" as an avoidance of creating new female identities. While I don't deny that nostalgia often results from a troubling present, reading many fashion and design blogs has, if anything, convinced me that this trend isn't a simple appropriation of old modes of femininity. Many of the same bloggers who rejoice in pink and frills also delight in leather accents, natural history objects, and dark, "masculine" wall colors. The New Prettiness has arrived alongside a new, eclectic ethos that valorizes creativity and vibrancy just as much as softness and tradition.
There is an unashamedness to the New Prettiness that I really admire. To my mind, women in the past have often had to choose between being the traditional, pretty woman and the modern, hard-edged female, but the New Prettiness has a new attitude that goes along with it: we can indulge in soft, gentle decor as much as we'd like without sacrificing our boldness or originality. This means that, aesthetically, I can be feminine in a traditional way without fitting all the old stereotypes that used to accompany it. Perhaps the New Prettiness isn't so much an escape from creating new female identities as an assertion that a woman doesn't have to choose a single feminine identity anymore.
MORE FEMININE DECOR ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• Dorm Style: Modern Feminine
• Sleeping Beauty: Pale Pink Bedrooms
• Maegan's Unabashedly Feminine Home Office Tech Tour
• Angelique's Feminine Vintage Harmony House Tour
• Chic Color Combo: Pink, White, and Grey
• Pink Accents in the Kitchen
(Images: 1. Designers Guild via House of Turquoise , 2. Elle Decoration UK via Apartment Therapy , 3. iVillage via House of Turquoise, 4. Molly Luetkemeyer via View from My Heels, 5. Lonny Mag via View from My Heels, 6. Canadian House and Home, 7. House Beautiful via Gorgeous Shiny Things, 8. Katie Ridder via Habitually Chic, 9. Habitually Chic)
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It's inheriting Grandma's linens from the 60s...
Great post! I've been noticing-- and liking--this trend as well and am thinking about painting our entry/foyer area pink (and yes, I live with a manly man). I like to think of this trend as being more post-feminist/post-gender than historical. Men and women can both enjoy pink. Surround yourself with what you love and what feels comfortable.
Pink wasn't considered a feminine color until the early 20th century. In the 19th century and before, blue was the color for girls and young boys were often dressed in pink.
SOURCE CURTAINS IN PHOTO 4 PLEASE!!!!!!
Before I even read this, I had decided that in my next house I was going to paint my bedroom pale pink and introduce more feminine, soft touches. It has nothing to do with a return to the past or a reaction to instability or anything like that. It has to do with not having to put up with some dude telling me it's too girly. And if some dude does comment negatively on it, I have one response:
"Well, it's a good thing you don't have to live here, isn't it?"
Oh no! not on my watch. I'm definitely a woman, but I am not into the pinkish girlish thing at all! Fashionable or not, I'm into clay, earth, sand tones. Sorry, but I hope it won't catch too much (afraid it will, though...).
I'm not sure the "New Prettiness" that Merkin describes is all that new. Isn't that Shabby Chic nonsense a good ten years old? While I think there is definitely some connection between conservative politics/culture and more traditional expressions of gender in fashion and design/decor, other elements are at play too. Pinks and turquoises and lavenders and yellows go well with grays, blacks, and other neutrals, so contemporary designers are, in my mind, just exploring with building different color palettes. Ruffles and sequins are tempered with leathers, piping/tailoring, and ethnic prints. So unless we're talking about a return to doilies and flowered slipcovers, the "New Prettiness" seems too narrow a description.
I want that bed! That headboard/footboard combination is to die for! Source???
To my mind, women in the past have often had to choose between being the traditional, pretty woman and the modern, hard-edged female..., and This means that, aesthetically, I can be feminine in a traditional way without fitting all the old stereotypes that used to accompany it.
So true, wise, and insightful! I'm old enough to remember.
@Polly S. Yes! I remember hearing that early 20th C boys christening gowns typically were pink.
Great essay and photos!
Feminine "in a traditional way" is based on stereotypes - no matter how much it's dusted off and re-defined.
A truly frightening trend for those of us who actually lived through the decades when there were few alternatives.
I'm in love with the third picture, but I have to say that the fifth picture reminds me a little bit of The Shining.
I'm with MANUOCCANSEY. Waaayy too girlie for me but I will say that they are beautiful.
I don't care for the 'peach' living room; #4. Those chevron curtain...ugh!
heh, a guy just told me my bedroom is too "masculine" and needs "softening", so I'm adding a crystal chandelier. No pink in my house as I figure the 5 pictures of song birds is girly enough.
I want my rooms to look exactly like photo 1 and 6 please.
I sold draperies in Ft Laud./Miami in the 60s and every one of these pics look like the condo sales/showrooms of the era. I like pink but find all the frills and gew gaws suffocating.
@Rosecraft -- YES. Couldn't agree with you more.
I'm missing much of this trend -- I'm just not seeing it. Maybe I'm not paying attention to the magazines which are identifying it as such -- I tend to buy Euro mags.
I find the identification of this trend disturbing though -- for the reasons identified by Rosecraft -- and that it is all but a poorly-fitting stereotype.
I just don't see it from the evidence of the images you've supplied either -- for example, picture no. 2, Betsey Johnson's dining room, is really an oldie, from what, 2007 or 2008? I've got the magazine somewhere... So, how far back does this "trend" go? I think Betsey had it decorated for years before it made it into a magazine (her place was on the market around the time it appeared in mags, and so is probably long gone to boot).
French and Italian beds have been rediscovered to a degree; in Europe, they never went out of style, and although more ornate, I wouldn't necessarily label them as indicative, in and of themselves, of a trend of "traditional femininity".
De Gourney wallpaper has been in magazines for a number of years now, but how many people have the money for it? It seems like the same handful of images...
As for the colour pink, I painted our living room 3 shades of pink in 1989, when my husband and I first set up home. Our bedroom was pink until we moved in 1997. So, been there, done that, a long time ago. Heck, even our first house wound up pink (that was not intentional though!). I recall at the time there was quite a lot of traditional British influence in design -- lots of chintz, lots of green and pink. I planted David Austin roses and English sweetpeas, and we built an ornate white picket fence with a reclaimed brick terrace and paths. Oh -- and for Christmas in 1993, my husband bought me an ornate gilded and painted Venetian night table. And as someone already posted, Rachel Ashwell gave birth to her "shabby chic" back in those years too.
I don't see anything particularly new, remarkably "feminine", and whatever it is, it doesn't seem enough to label as a bona-fide trend... Guess I'm just missing it.
I am thrilled. We are using pinks, mauves and dusty yellows in our little house, and they look so cool. (I think.)
I'm not the biggest pink fan, but I do really like a bright coral -- used as an accent.
I LOVE the mirrored, detailed doors in photo one. Any ideas on a source or a way to DIY that?
The curtains in photo five are really great, too. I think those could be used in a non-feminine room as well as a nice, brightly colored accent.
I dislike this as much as I do the mancave thing. Blah!
I think there is confusion between "pretty" "feminine" and "pink". I like grandma's linens! But these examples are not what I consider feminine or pretty.
Count me with MANUOCCANSEY. I have always loathed (beyond mere dislike) pink except. A hint of gold, sure; a drop of aqua rather than turquoise or teal, OK. But in general, I shun pastels--in my wardrobe and in my decor--and gravitate to neutrals and textures with strong tones in moderation as accessories. I'd love to more people feeling confident about surrounding themselves with what they like, to heck with the "buy buy buy" sub-text of ever-changing trends. We can always revisit and refresh our spaces, but the whole concept of trends is one I wouldn't miss if it disappeared. Doubt Madison Ave. will agree, though.
As someone noted upthread, it seems like an evolution of Shabby Chic. And probably related to the sort of granny chic fashion in clothing.
But big picture? There are more women living in and decorating homes that don't have a man living there than ever before, yes?
I like soft colors and intricate floral designs because they look pretty. Isn't that reason enough to use them? Not overthinking this one at all; I'll just be glad I have more pretty options.
I feel like these rooms are VERY LITERAL in their use of feminine and floral patterns and shapes. I don't really like a room that is entirely "feminine" or entirely "masculine" and I prefer to see small touches of the style shown here. I think it can add softness or humor to a room, but it can be as small as one pillow or just in the shape of one side table. If it's not your style, but you like elements of it, there's no reason why an entire room needs to be overdone in this look.
I love the sheet set in the second image. I prefer teals and duck-egg blues to pink.
Nice to see girly doesn't always have to translate to shabby chic.
Agree with Surfjack - I guess the literalness of the original argument was bothering me, too.
What irks me post about "trendwatchers" labeling this as a trend and defining it as "traditional femininity" is that I just don't agree with gender labeling of interiors. It always rather offends me.
post=most
Ugh. I feel a bit nauseated, and I quite *like* girly-pretty, soft decor!
The bedroom in picture 1 is lovely, because there are soft colours without an overload of rococo, cake-icing frou-frou shapes. The rest of them were way too much of a good thing.
And I've realized I don't like pastels in living areas. Intimate areas like bedrooms and bathrooms, yeah.
Part of it may simply be a response to the endless obsession with Dwell-style minimalism. Though some of these images are a bit over-the-top for me, I've been waiting for some time for the mid-century fad to end--I find it to be a bit sterile at times.
Haha frenchcowgirl, so true. I just got a whole bunch of linens and glass jewelry dishes and random things from my grandmother. So if there are a few 50s/60s touches in my apt that could be why. I'm not the type to embrace pink. My mother painted my room pepto bismol pink when I was a kid...and to this day insists I asked for it...which I didn't. Anyway I've had enough pink for a lifetime. But I agree, I don't think American women are trying to revert to a 50s gender definition. Maybe we just feel comfortable enough to embrace our femininity and our freedom.
There seems to be some confusion on the matter of masculine and feminine. Just so ya'll know, masculine and feminine are not gender specific terms. Where you fall on the spectrum has little to do with your gender. I'm female but I waver back and forth between feminine and masculine, my fiance is male but he's somewhat in the middle as well. I love hard edged bold design and I also love pink and delicate design. I love roses and I also love leather. I can't really speak to whether or not these "feminine" designs are a trend or not but I've always been interested in balancing my decor between masculine and feminine, so if florals are in vogue now then they stole my damn idea! (kidding).
To be fair, if I didn't have someone else that lived with me my decor would probably lean closer to feminine.
I do love me some large, vintage floral patterns. But anything smaller and with less white space reminds me of chintz, which reminds me of those horrid Laura Ashley and "country" home decorating trends of the early 90s. Too many small prints is so claustrophobic to me!
I hate the rococo look too. Gold leaf and "antique" white and way too many scrolls drive me nuts. Give me clean, straight and gently curving lines, please! And coming from a work office that was previously painted pepto pink (like, the entire office, not just my little room), I LOVE the new white walls. And I only had to live with the pink for one or two days. I would never paint a room or even a single wall pink. It's just way too overwhelming. Save the pink for accents. I even sort of like the '50s pink clocks, furniture, etc. Sort of.
I just find it all so over-the-top. I'm all for soft (I love down comforters and overstuffed chairs and sheer curtains), but it doesn't have to look like Barbie's dream bedroom (or Marie Antoinette's) to be pretty.
I think the best rooms are a balance of "masculine" and "feminine," even though I hate those terms. Maybe the differentiation should be between utility and decorative? I love things that are pretty AND useful/durable
So, I'm part of a trend? Hmm. Here I thought I was just painting my bedroom a color I happen to like and decorating in a style that suits me. I like pink. I like pretty. I like things that are "traditionally feminine." However, that doesn't take anything away from the fact that I earned the money to buy the walls I'm painting, and I used my power tools and belief that I can do just about anything to build things like my tufted velvet ottoman.
When I first found AT, I tried to adapt my taste to what I was seeing over and over again. Eames chairs. Floating shelves. Minimalism. White and gray everywhere. It just wasn't me. Rather than try to conform, I just accepted that I was more "midcentury Grandma" than "Midcentury Modern."
I'm sorry if some view it as some sort of betrayal to the years women spent digging ourselves out of gender stereotypes and the suffocating little pink boxes people tried to shove us into. However, I view it as an evolution from "either/or" to "yes, I can have both." It's mine. I worked for it. Why shouldn't I do what I want with it?
I agree with Molly80 that this probably has more to do with a reaction against the all-white, minimalist thing that's been so big in recent years. I'd love to see a return in the media to houses that look like someone actually lives there, not art galleries.
I can't stand pink, though; I love flowers, but in bold colors. And definitely no ruffles--yuck! All this stuff about trends is rather silly, anyway--use what you like and what makes you feel good.
I'm not so sure the "new" prettiness that doesn't require a choice between pretty and hard is all new -- remember the grunge attire of the 90s, with femme flowery dresses combined with combat boots and thermal underwear? Not sure it was new then either, but it's been around in this iteration for at least two decades, IMO.
Hate and despise pink, ruffles, lace, girly-girl stuff and have my whole life. (I'm more into teal and simple and streamlined, etc.)
I have a lurking suspicion that some trend stuff comes from think-tanks which watch outside socioeconomic and political activities (such as the Tea Party Movement) and extrapolate from that "trends" in decor and fashion. I'm sure politicians like Rick Santorum would adore it if women all went Harriett Nelson or worse... a return to some fantasy version of the 1950's or 40's where we "knew our place" and stayed there.
I don't care if some women love pink. But I find it offensive to have the concept of "femininity" associated with stereotypes that aren't valid for a majority of contemporary females. And I sure as heck don't want any return to those confining days of yesteryear!!!
If this is the new trend, then I've never been happier to be un-trendy. Yuck.
I just want that bed in the fourth picture!
If I ever painted a room pink, I think it would be either a much softer, lighter blush tone than any of these. They are all a little harsh for my taste: too saturated, bordering on pepto bismol or lavender. yuck.
I LOVE this look! Seriously, it's so feminine and pretty, without being to ridiculously Gone With The Wind. Which I'm totally okay with btw, but I know some people aren't.
www.wakeupfrankie.com has some amazingly cute/Parisian vintage things too. I've got a ton of my apartment stuff from them.
I like the pillows in the first picture and also the screens. I also like the touches of pink in the 6th picture as the use in this room is more refined and sophisticated.
I always associate pink with New Orleans and the Caribbean. To me, it says sub-tropics, not girly.