A fork of Rural Dictionary
Whilst orignially used to describe an art movement of distaste, now most commonly used to describe items or individuals attempting to be ‘vintage’ and ‘popular’ thus making them pretentious. Used most frequently by hipsters.
''Oh this sweater is so kitsch and vintage! Where did you get it?'' ''Topshop's new collection''
Quite simply, kitsch is the junk sold on the street to American tourists at or near famous landmarks. Elements of proper kitsch include the overuse of bright paints and shiny metals, "clever" american slang incorporated into the design, and workmanship quality of the lowest order.
Tiny models of the Eiffel Tower garrishly coated in gold colored paint, wooden beer steins with a forest scene carved into the outside, disgusting parts of local wildlife stuffed and mounted to display for your viewing pleasure. Kitsch collections are universally recognized as one of the signs of the apocalypse.
As an art movement, lifestyle, or literature and film genre, kitsch is pleasingly distasteful. It's melodramatic, overdone, gaudy and tacky or sentimental and folksy. It's so bad that it's cool. Your cat might attack it, but it's hot. And, no, Martha Stewart and Jerry Springer are NOT bad enough to be kitsch. At all. Paris and Nicole though...
You're looking rather kitschy today, your grandma's neckace is hot. I saw an awesome Andy Warhol knockoff at the galley yesterday, it was so kitsch. I couldn't get it though, I didn't have the cash. *sounds dissappointed*
Sentimentally charming, tacky and fun all rolled up in one. One catch with kitch is that you're never quite sure if it's supposed to be serious or not. It's that uncertainty that is amusing.
The lounge singer with red sequined jacket...could be considered kitsch.
Collectible, nostalgia inducing products, artworks or people. At some point mass produced and at a later point rising in value and sentimentality. Souvenires, paraphernalia and memorabilia. written off as junk by the untrained eye. Appreciated as naive and beautiful by those wityh a discerning eye and a refined sense of aesthetic.
The artwork of Jeff Koons, David La Chappelee and Pierre et Gilles is so Kitsch! Essentially anything collectible is Kitsch. At first glance this may seem like a pile of junk, but it is actually a large collection of collectibles and kitsch which people will probably pay a lot of money for on ebay.