It is entirely possible to decorate for Christmas in an almost entirely tasteful way, as Ruth Sleightholme and Rémy Mishon – the magazine’s decoration team – proved with their exquisite schemes in last December’s issue. The shoot is packed with ideas to emulate, which “lean into atmosphere, rather than a look,” explains Ruth, pointing out the lack of Father Christmases, leaping reindeer or snowmen. And yet “there are still moments in there which are a little bit kitsch,” Ruth continues.
“Christmas is a time that you can bring in something a little bit bad taste – especially if you love it.” Others take that idea further; Luke Edward Hall maintains that “Christmas is about ‘more is more’.” Amanda Brooks, owner of the influential Cutter Brooks shop in the Cotswolds, declares “Christmas for me isn’t about good taste. It’s about having fun.” And Alexandra Tolstoy ventures that, actually, “elements of Christmas have become too tasteful! I don’t want muted paper chains, I want those shiny ones in garish colours!” (If you too are after the same, we’ve found them at Baker & Ross.)
On the other hand, Nicky Haslam – that paragon of good taste and a decisive voice on what is, or isn’t, common – declares “you won’t find flashing lights or teddy bears on my tree.” Which is understandable, except that Nicky does gleefully use something that others might deem slightly naff, namely fake candles. “They don’t blow out,” he says. Which is true – but evidently Christmas is a time when one person’s poor taste is another’s prerequisite. Like tinsel, which last year Luke admitted to sneaking into the house (and round the necks of Staffordshire figurines) while his husband, Duncan Campbell, was in the bath. Or that recent American import, the Elf on the Shelf, at which so many turn up their noses – but which the irrefutably elegant Emma Burns, Managing Director of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler wholeheartedly engages with, “to delight my granddaughter,” she says. Meanwhile her pug, Dahlia, “squeezes into her Christmas jumper, now a little tight.” It’s surely only a step away from the Clintons’ somewhat questionable monogrammed stocking that they acquired for their cat, Socks, when they lived at the White House. But “Christmastime is about tinsel and holly and singing fa la la la lolly, with Michael Bublé and The Pogues on repeat and a mass of decorations,” Emma continues. “5 Hertford Street get it just right with their swags of baubles, and sparkling stalagmites in red and gold.”
So are all bets officially off? Is Christmas a moment to fully embrace all that’s naff, and decorate like a ten-year-old on a sugar rush? To an extent, “Yes,” says Ruth. “Maximum naff gets away with it because it’s so confident and happy – and when it’s taken that far you can’t criticise it.” Certainly Luke and Duncan’s enthusiasm for “anything that looks a vegetable,” and Amanda’s veritable cornucopia of excess, which marries European and American nostalgia and includes whole armies of Santas and felt reindeer, are seriously appealing. But, look closely at the seasonal schemes of maximalist tastemakers, and there is method to this kitschy madness – as well as opinions on what actually is naff at this time of year.
Firstly, all of those mentioned above employ a lot of real foliage, from the tree itself to hyacinths and paper-whites, “bunches of home-grown mistletoe” that Emma ties to every lantern, and the garlands that Amanda loves (although “I’m not a snob about fake decorations,” she says. “I think you should be able to use the same things year after year.”) Alongside are real fires, and bowls of real fruit and sweets. Unlike Nicky, Alexandra even uses real candles on her tree, “though I only light it about twice a year – by the end of Christmas it’s so dry it’s a major fire risk!” The baubles and tree decorations are also real; the glass ones that Luke and Edward found at a Christmas market in Venice, Soviet-era tin cosmonauts that Alexandra buys from Horner Antiques at Alfie’s Antique Market, and Ottoman baubles that Susan Deliss sources, “which are replicas of 18th century designs, but they’re ceramic and hand-painted,” she says. “I actually think the one thing that is naff is using plastic, made-in-China versions of things that are readily available – a plastic glittery nutcracker, for instance, when you can easily buy wooden ones, is a bit depressing.” Alexandra agrees – while bemoaning the difficulty in finding regular fat tinsel that hasn’t had plastic snow-flakes or frosting added to it, and explaining that she bulk purchases vintage German Lametta on Etsy. “I love it, because it makes the whole tree looks like a giant bauble.” Then, there is the care given to the decorating itself. The general rules of fairy lights are applied, whether warm white or coloured (which Emma is considering for this year), and swags of foliage and paper chains are well spaced and hung so that there is some balance.
