What does Shabby Chic mean to you?

porto_bello

What does Shabby Chic mean to you?

Something that can't be afforded house room. And something a charity shop would refuse because the sight of it would turn visitors away!

Rhymsta wrote: »

Lots of listings are just calling their item Shabby...

That means it's so bad that the dustmen refused to be seen with it!

Rhymsta

With all this distressing and shabbiness your removal men / delivery service can actually ADD value to your furniture in transit...

amibovvered

On a similar note, what does 'retro' mean? It seems to apply to anything older than yesterday.

Rhymsta

amibovvered wrote: »

On a similar note, what does 'retro' mean? It seems to apply to anything older than yesterday.

It usually means something that should have gone to the tip in the seventies but the buyer wants more money than it's worth.
I've seen lava lamps and dial telephones recently on eBay for hundreds of pounds. Bit like when people say Rare.

Gingernutty

Shabby chic tends to mean a piece of furniture which didn't look to bad to start with but has had days, if not hours of work, being undercoated, sanded, recoated, sanded, having special waxes and paints applied, sanded and varnished to end up looking like something fit for a skip.

Add some Cath Kidston type 'retro' fabric, chicken wire and bash the corners a bit and there you have it!

Shabby Chic - try here for inspiration

RainbowDrops

I didn't realise it was a trade mark - it's a widley used term to describe vintagy kitchy stuff, made to look aged / distressed.
How does that work if a descriptive term is also a trademark?
Stuff like selotape, hoover etc are widely used terms to describe products regardless of whether they are branded or not, so when does a Brand become a colloquialism?

porto_bello

amibovvered wrote: »

On a similar note, what does 'retro' mean? It seems to apply to anything older than yesterday.

I'd say retro refers to something once cheaply mass produced and has become rare because the quality was never there in the first place and modern designs and materials are much more practical and hardwearing... I'm thinking bakerlite telephones!

NiallB

Rhymsta wrote: »

Before you google the term let us know what Shabby Chic means to you...
.

Double the price for a wonky table with some crackle paint on it

hermum

RainbowDrops wrote: »

I didn't realise it was a trade mark - it's a widley used term to describe vintagy kitchy stuff, made to look aged / distressed.
How does that work if a descriptive term is also a trademark?
Stuff like selotape, hoover etc are widely used terms to describe products regardless of whether they are branded or not, so when does a Brand become a colloquialism?

Nor does wikipedia, or at least I can't see that they have said it's a trade mark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabby_chic

Crowqueen

People who have trademarks have to work hard to maintain them, otherwise the term will be deemed generic. Sellotape have probably lost their trademark, but they didn't work hard enough to maintain it.

That is why the owner of the TM is patrolling eBay and asking them to remove people's listings using the term that are not selling genuince Shabby Chic goods.

Wikipedia may be a good starting point but it is not the be-all and end-all of truthful discourse. It's good enough for these purposes that Shabby Chic vero demand eBay remove listings saying 'Shabby Chic'.

It's not a descriptive term one would normally use if someone had not copyrighted it beforehand. It's the IP of the Shabby Chic brand - so should not be used in a generic manner, and the owner will evidently not allow it to be used in this way. Allowing people to pay for its use may seem a good money-spinner but would dilute the brand, so understandably it wouldn't be a good idea. I suspect if they were going to charge to license it, they would ask for more than just a pound.