Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Some see the look as too feminine while others like the eclectic style.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Until recently, the Embellish Shoppe & amp; Tea Room bore the phrase "shabby chic gifts and antiques" on its shop window.
But recently, co-owner Lisa Voigt-Wynn scraped off the phrase. Now, passers-by see the words "luxuries for the home."
Shabby chic, it seems, is over.
"I scraped 'Shabby Chic' off our front window because it limits us," Voigt-Wynn says. "Shabby chic is almost completely out this year."
The origins
Shabby chic hit big in the 1990s, a phrase coined by Rachel Ashwell, a British designer-turned-Californian who has a series of "Shabby Chic" books, a chain of Shabby Chic stores and a television series on the E! cable network.
Ashwell has said she created the look in the 1980s, when as a busy mother she needed a home style that was as practical as it was beautiful. Ashwell's shabby chic style developed into an extremely feminine look of slipcovers and painted flea-market furniture, chandeliers and pastel fabrics in colors like mint and pink.
In her first shabby chic book, Ashwell defined the look this way: "Comfort, the beauty of perfection, the allure of time-worn objects and the appeal of simple, practical living. These are the cornerstones of what has come to be known as the shabby chic style."
"Shabby chic is white, white, white," says Sue Whitney, co-owner of Junkmarket in Long Lake, Minn. "It's all pastels and pretty, flowery fabrics."
Not for guys
Perhaps Americans took to shabby chic so strongly because it was a thrifty look, not requiring us to spend thousands of dollars on matching furniture at Ethan Allen -- rummage-sale and flea-market shoppers could easily find shabby chic treasures, like old chandeliers they could paint white. And many of us already had distressed-looking furniture. And don't all Americans have a sofa or a chair that could use a slipcover? It was an economical way to create a new, updated look.
But shabby chic's easy charms contributed to its downfall, too.
"It's kind of a limited thing because it's so feminine," Voigt-Wynn said. "That's why it came and went so quickly."
"Most guys are not going to let you do it," Whitney says. "They're not going to let you do the bedroom pink."
But Joan Steffend, host of the HGTV series "Decorating Cents," disagrees that shabby chic is over. She says that while some people never liked the style, others still adore it, and some want just a touch of shabby chic in their home for an eclectic look.
"Shabby chic still has a lot of strength, especially with the economy the way it is and ecological concerns -- we are a generation that has learned the value of recycling," Steffend says. "Shabby chic also has something to do with warmth and cocooning and history, and I think a lot of people find great comfort in it. 'Decorating Cents' loves shabby chic."
Still a force
Mary Emmerling, creative director of Country Home magazine, says that the shabby chic style has had a lasting impact on how Americans decorate.
"Shabby chic made slipcovered furniture big, and everything very comfortable," Emmerling says. "Shabby chic is a very California look. I think what's over is the peeling white paint -- except in California."
"It was different, and I think it was the first big trend in a long time," Whitney says. "That's where the mixing and matching of fabrics came. Sometimes, people were nervous to do that. Shabby chic can have 10 different fabrics in one room -- and that's just the sofa."
If shabby chic is out, what's in?
Ask 10 designers, and you'll get 10 different answers. Think black, a grounding color for a room, or mahogany pieces. French whitewashed furniture. The cozy cottage look, with sturdy fabrics in colors other than white, anything that will let a family use a room hard. Think funky eclectic, like an old wooden table with modern chairs.
Also, consumers still like aspects of shabby chic, such as slipcovers and some white furniture. But now they want a more streamlined look, less cutesy and sweet.
"Think a beaded lamp with a silk shade, on a painted cream table," Voigt-Wynn says. "It's a less cluttery look. People are going back to simplicity. Everyone is downsizing. Less is more right now."