My mams sisters moved to London in the 70s and they adapted the RP a bit, when that show came along my mam would do her best “Buckeeeeet residence” when answering the phone to them.
My mam also took after her somwhat in terms of style, I have a lot of photos of my mom looking and dressing very much like Hyacinth 
I must share one when I figure out which is the best example 
I know theres better ones but these arent far off
Ooohh. A candle light supper. A wonder, did she use the Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles?
This is the first time in long while that I read an english sentence and I have no idea what it’s talking about… 
Well, that means you get a beaker.
“Keeping Up Appearances” was a British TV comedy about a working-class woman, Hyacinth Bucket, who seeks to improve her social standing by adopting what she perceives to be the trappings and habits of the middle class.
Much of the comedy lies in the fact that Hyacinth does not understand the subtlety of class indicators, or how they work. Consequently, she generally gets it wrong, and only succeeds in emphasising her humble origins.
Royal Doulton vs beaker
The periwinkle pattern she was so proud of was actually created by another China company and later purchased by Royal Doulton.
A good example of Hyacinth Bucket’s limited knowledge.
I sometimes wondered though, if she understood some things but chose to ignore it. Like her sister Violet’s husband Bruce who obviously no longer wanted to be married to Violet . But Hyacinth would not allow divorce because Violet’s owning a swimming pool and having room for a pony was Hyacinth ‘s one claim to actual money in the family.
The thing is, in the UK, social class is not necessarily about money. The Jericho area of Oxford and the area around Gwydir Street in Cambridge were both built as cheap labourer’s accommodation, and consist mostly of very small, two-bedroomed terraced houses. In most cities, they would be considered slums.
However, in Oxford and Cambridge these areas are occupied mostly by research students. The students are generally poor, but they are very clever, and very cultured. Consequently, the areas they live in are now considered very middle to upper-middle class. It’s not about the money - it’s about the knowledge and attitudes of the residents.
I suspect what Hyacinth lacked in the latter she tried to claim with the former. If she didn’t have as much culture as was required then she would supplement it with financial standing
My hat is off to Patricia Rutledge. She not only had very good acting skills and good comedic timing, she also pulls off some really good physical stunts thru the course of the series. And while wearing dresses, coats, hats, pumps and carrying a purse
@Polyphemus you just reminded me of Burberry and how “chav” culture fully embraced it in 90s/00s for a while there.
My understanding is it was middle/upper class fashion in the 70s or thereabouts, so when it became a lot cheaper to acquire it was one of these shortcuts working class would take to look fancy.
Burberry, fake tans (cos i swear i have a villa in spain) etc .
Im glad burberry has gone out of fashion as I found it to be very unpleaseant to look at.
Especially when you were being chased down an alley by a burberry mascot whose also a rough customer who thinks you were looking at them when really you were just watching the telly above their head in the pub 
Its also one of those weird moments where it becomes the fashion for an entire tribe, that most people in the in-group no longer know why it gained traction, its just what all the lads are wearing.
As an aside, i did find it funny when americans discovered britain and irelands obsession with fake tan in recent years, didnt realise it was more of a class thing cos it signifies you can maybe afford loads of sunny holidays at a distance, and completely mistook it for a white guilt/racism/black face thing 
This had me on the floor 
Orange tans have only recently become popular.
In the 80s/90s it was fake blond hair so it looked like you’d spent all summer at the beach, preferably some swank resort in Bermuda. Certain kids would show up at the start of the school year with bleached out hair. What was the stuff called? You sprayed it on your hair and the sun would make it work.
Some years ago I was tasked with giving advice and/or approval to a group intending to excavate a site on Merseyside. I had asked my boss specifically to give me this job, because there were archaeological remains on the site.
I spoke to some of the construction workers. I was then buttonholed by a nondescript little guy wearing wellington boots, dirty overall trousers, and an old tweed jacket with the elbows worn out. He had a lot of questions for me, which I answered to the best of my ability.
After an hour or so, I came to the conclusion that I could see no reason why the excavation should not go ahead as they planned it, and I told them so.
It later turned out that the little guy in the wellington boots had been the Duke of Westminster. The wealthiest man in the country, and probably one of the richest in the World.
My point in this is that the people with real wealth, power, position and culture, don’t feel the need to display it. They are entirely confident in who they are, and of their place in society. They don’t need to convince anyone else.
It’s only the nouveau riche and the wannabes - those lacking in self-confidence and assurance - who feel the need for excessive displays of status symbols.
Aren’t you glad you were polite…you were polite, right?
He didn’t tell me who he was. I only found out later. So I treated him the same as I treated everyone else - which, I suspect, was why he didn’t introduce himself. I just assumed from his bearing, and from the way the other guys deferred to him, that he was the Site Agent or Construction Manager.
And likely wanted an unbiased assessment of the situation
I cant express just how disappointed I was while reading this that they weren’t the Duke of Wellington.
Gekster is amused by a starship that must be cranked to start it, but he says he has met a few Crimson Pigs in his travels.
I’m very late to the conversation so this post is going to jump about a bit.
I was never a great fan of anime & when Ghibli appeared, my introduction was via a bad dub & I disregarded it. It was only in the past few years that I encountered Howls, Spirited Away, & a few others with original voice & subs that I grew to love their unique fantastical nature. I am currently trying to find The Herron & The Boy, however it has proven a bit elusive. I’m quite enamoured with the Shinto interpretations & the generally nice aesthetic of older Japanese cultural themes.
My family loved the Keeping Up Apperances series & my wife has more than once had me refer to her as Mrs Bookay when she’s been behaving a bit ‘stuck up’. It has also been something of a running joke regarding driving in a car, with me cheekily playing the husband role, (I forget his name) & ‘looking out for the tree’ (in the field) & gracefully (but sarcastically), accepting directions that are blatantly obvious, such as ‘mind the curve’ or whatever.
Woo hoo! My Ghibli movie collection will be here today! As long as my power holds, my winter storm-filled weekend just got a little brighter…
Will charge my laptop for backup. I can always watch them there
If you had my laptop, you wouldn’t need to worry about heating, either.
