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7 articles
Every British living room operates a secret textile class system, and everyone knows their place in it. From the decorative throw that has never comforted anything to the sacred snuggle fleece at the centre of family warfare, we investigate the blanket politics of the nation.
Before your desk had a succulent and a scented candle, it had a pencil case with eleven hidden compartments and a gel pen that only wrote if you begged it. We trace the crunchy, fuzzy, gloriously unnecessary golden age of British stationery — and argue it taught a generation to laugh at a pencil.
Every day, thousands of perfectly good brews are poured into mugs that don't belong to the person holding them. We launched a mock-serious investigation into the nation's quietest crime wave, and the results are damning.
Before you've said a word, your front step has already made small talk, set boundaries and possibly issued a threat. We rank the nation's doormats and ask what happened to the humble 'Welcome'.
Nobody needs a mug the size of a small pond emblazoned with 'World's Okayest Dad'. And yet we keep buying them — at garden centres, craft fairs and that one gift shop in Scarborough. Here's what the anthropology of the giant mug reveals about the British soul.
Somewhere between the Aga and the biscuit tin, British politeness quietly died and was replaced by tea towels with menaces. We investigate the nation's unhinged kitchen textiles and speak to the designer behind the sweariest apron on the high street.
Comic Sans pub signs. Tea towels featuring a stranger's nan. Coasters that slag off entire seaside towns. Britain's naffest design trends refuse to die — and honestly, thank goodness. A loving look at the visual crimes we secretly cherish.