Maybe you will remember your parents or grandparents having a collection of festive 12 days of Christmas plates when you were growing up. Inspired by the beloved Christmas carol of the same name, this type of holiday tableware is a throwback to the past and very much falls under the vintage category these days. But this year, retailers such as John Lewis and Anthropologie are reviving the trend with their contemporary variations.
Perhaps it’s another symptom of the current vintage-inspired tableware trend that we’re seeing everywhere. But one thing is for sure, this Christmas period is shaping up to be a nostalgia-fuelled one if 12 days of Christmas plates are going to be involved.
But the good news is that you don’t have to decorate your Christmas tablescape with them if you don’t particularly want to. Instead, they can make for a lovely Christmas decoration idea.
12 days of Christmas plates
‘The trend for vintage tableware comes from a desire to add warmth and character to dining experiences,’ says Sophia Ayrton-Grime, interior designer and founder of Studio Raff. ‘People appreciate the nostalgia and uniqueness of vintage pieces.’
And this clearly extends to vintage Christmas tableware as the 12 days of Christmas plates are having a resurgence. These 12-piece sets, each plate illustrated with different gifts given to the carol singer by his ‘true love’, have become a collector’s item and can often be found on resale sites such as eBay and Vinterior.
Without playing favourites, this set is the best value for money we've seen. £35 for 12 plates made from fine China? Bargain, if you ask us.
The Anthropologie design is a lot more spenny, however, the decoration is a lot more intricate. And if you don't want to invest in the whole set, they are also sold individually for £20 so you can pick out your favourite ones and just go with those instead.
If plates are not your thing, you can still achieve the look with these Royal Worcester porcelain Christmas decorations that look just like tiny little plates. You can even use them on your Christmas table, with the loop wrapped around a napkin or hung on the branches of your floral or foliage centre piece for example.
But this season, retailers decided to bring them back, with John Lewis even adorning their design with archival motifs. ‘The design team took inspiration from our archives, giving treasured vintage prints a new lease of life,’ says Lisa Cherry, Christmas buyer from John Lewis. ‘The carefully reimagined designs have been celebrated throughout the Christmas collection.’
But if you don’t want to decorate your dining table with them, then there are other great plate display ideas on offer. A DIY plate gallery wall is at the forefront for us.
But however you decide to show them off, we just hope that you’ll give this retro Christmas trend a chance as you reminisce about your childhood Christmases.
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