Casual dishes splashed with color are landing on tables everywhere.
Today's manufacturers offer accent plates in many colors, shapes and sizes, by the piece in open stock. Mixing and matching is the current rage -- not exactly like your grandma's china.
The trend is evident in the way brides select china.
"Brides are going for styles that are fun and casual, seeking out trusted brands but on a contemporary level," says Lisa Sweeney, wedding registry manager at Kaufmann's. "Casual china has come a long way. It is great to use every day or to add spice to another pattern."
Shoppers today might choose a Noritake Colorwaves stoneware bowl in raspberry, a dinner plate in green and an accent plate in shades of blue - a combination that would have been unthinkable 10 years ago.
To jazz up their settings, people are buying individual pieces in complimentary colors, such as nine-inch accent plates, chargers, or salad plates.
"You can add variety with a colorful accent plate," says Jan Osterholm, of Contemporary Concepts, in McCandless and Churchill.
Well-known companies such as Pfaltzgraff, Lennox and Wedgewood are adding casual lines to their collections. Lennox's Kate Spade's Larabee Road is a polka dot pattern in red, pink, green, and black and white, that is popular here.
Buyers are also attracted to Pflatzgraff's Vera Wang collection, Lindt Stymeist's bright and fun Colorways, and Villeroy & Boch's New Waves -- a curved square of white, some with inset circular bowls.
At Glassworks in Shadyside, owner Irene Levy finds the more mature brides want formal china. But, she says, "It's such an individual choice. There are lots of ways to go for casual entertaining."
Vietry, Rosenthal and Riverside Design are popular here, and the upper floor is devoted to the wild pastel creations of MacKenzie Childs. Anna Weatherley's delicate designs of butterflies and leaves are hand-painted in Budapest on French porcelain.
For something completely different, stop at Perlora on the South Side, where you can serve your inner child on dishes covered with colorful doodles. Perlora's owners, Laura and Perry Sigesmund are expanding their All U Can Handle line of whimsical serving utensils with dishes and an ice cream bowl set.
Stores here also carry translucent, shimmering glass dishes from Pittsburgh's own Riverside Design Group, headquartered in Lawrenceville with production in Westmoreland County. Riversides' Sea Glass plates look like glass worn smooth by water, in a variety of asymmetrical fluid circles, ranging from gentle greens to bold blues and red.
Riverside owner Mary Irwin-Scott was reached at the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show in earlier this month.
"Mid-size plates are gaining the most interest here," she says. "If you can't afford to replace everything, it's a way of giving an extra lift for your table. The biggest business is anything that is not a traditional round plate."
Today's dishes must also be dishwasher safe, microwave and ovenproof, even for the more formal patterns. That's one way to shorten the holiday tradition of gathering around the sink to wash dishes.
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