![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEC_278833569-2b74.jpg\")
\n\t\tLeave these things in 2025 please! (Picture: Metro)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tLeave these things in 2025 please! (Picture: Metro)<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve just received a little moolah for Christmas<\/a>, and a shopping spree is on the horizon. But before you let loose, you might want to have a think about what you\u2019re spending your cash on.<\/p>\n There was once a time when owning a Victoria\u2019s Secret<\/a> bra mattered more to me than life itself. I was convinced that my social status relied entirely on a black push up bra.<\/p>\n Now though, times have changed<\/a>, and many of the must-haves we once coveted have officially fallen out of fashion<\/a>.<\/p>\n But if you find yourself reading this article while sipping on a personalised \u2018Love Island<\/a>\u2019 water bottle, you can at least avoid making the same mistake in future \u2014\u00a0we\u2019re here to warn you what not to waste your money on<\/a> now.<\/p>\n Personalised number plates<\/p>\n Having a personalised number plate<\/a> used to be incredibly chic.<\/p>\n Catching a glimpse of a fabulous 19-year-old zipping down the high street<\/a>, S0PH1E<\/strong> taking pride of place on the front of her Fiat 500, or hovering by the bus stop as B0YZ4LF<\/strong> came tearing round the corner, were once pinch-me moments.<\/p>\n In 2025 though, spending hundreds \u2013 if not thousands \u2013 of pounds to make sure the entire world knows G4RY<\/strong> is in the driver\u2019s seat feels quite ostentatious.<\/p>\n \t\t This isn\u2019t to say people aren\u2019t still buying them; in fact, private registrations<\/a> are more popular than ever. According to DVLA<\/a> data, sales have more than doubled over the past decade \u2014 more than 1.2 million transactions took place in 2024, up from about 500,000 in 2014.<\/p>\n But that in itself proves they\u2019re no longer fashionable<\/a>, as the market has become too oversaturated for any sense of individuality or prestige. <\/p>\n Talent manager Blaise Kelly, 26, tells Metro<\/strong>: \u2018They just feel so flashy, and everyone has them,\u2019 while Asset Manager Sophie Alcock, 26, adds: \u2018I personally see a personalised number plate and immediately think \u201cthat person\u2019s a wanker\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n So, if there\u2019s one thing you remember going into 2026, it\u2019s that finding ways to use 3s as Es for your \u2018totally unique\u2019 vanity plate idea is not the vibe. <\/p>\n Personalised\u2026 anything<\/p>\n While I have your attention, let\u2019s also cross all things personalised off the list for the year ahead.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not denying that at one point in time, it was super fun to have your name embossed onto every water bottle, notebook, tote bag, and perfume. But now, I think it\u2019s best we all move on.<\/p>\n \t\t For one, the personalised market has become terrifying. Some Etsy businesses are charging upwards of \u00a350 for an unbranded tumbler with a vinyl name sticker on it, or more than \u00a3100 for a machine-engraved bamboo charcuterie board.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the question of why anyone needs their name emblazoned on everything they own. Are they unable to remember who they are unless their tote bag reminds them? Will they forget they\u2019re in their own kitchen without a plaque proclaiming so? <\/p>\n It\u2019s all very \u2018Facebook mum\u2019 (particularly when combined with that swirly script font), and in a couple of years, landfills are guaranteed to be chock-a-block with personalised tat.<\/p>\n Obnoxious sinks<\/p>\n In 2019, Kim Kardashian<\/a> unveiled her basin-less sink<\/a>, with a sloped countertop and a slit for a drain. A sink so fancy, experts<\/a> estimated it could have cost the businesswoman at least $25,750 (\u00a319,084).<\/p>\n And while it\u2019s alright for some, I think it\u2019s fair to say that in 2026, we should scrap the idea that your bathroom sink needs to perform the entire\u00a0Wicked\u00a0soundtrack while you wash your hands.<\/p>\n \t\t There are ways to jazz up your kitchen or bathroom without spending thousands on a sink carved out of the Himalayan mountains.<\/p>\n What happened to good old-fashioned white ceramic basins, with easy-to-use taps? If it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it. And if you\u2019re buying a sink that requires you to clap to switch on the hot water, you might just be unfashionable.<\/p>\n Spending \u00a320,000 on a Tiffany Marble Pedestal sink might sound like a flex, but we\u2019re living in increasingly unequal times, and as Kourtney Kardashian famously told her sister, \u2018People are dying, Kim.\u2019<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say you can\u2019t make a statement; even though having more money than sense is not in for 2026, what is cool is making something memorable on a budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n High-tech homeware<\/p>\n Josie de Kock, 26, tells Metro<\/strong>: \u2018Anything too automated is embarrassing. Automated salt and pepper shakers or voice-activated lights definitely feel unfashionable these days.\u2019<\/p>\n For context, Josie actually owns a set of automatic blinds, but she did recognise her own participation in this growing trend, noting: \u2018There have been a few times where I\u2019ve pulled the remote out mid conversation, and have then felt immediately mortified as I\u2019ve watched the blinds slowly go down.\u2019<\/p>\n And she has a point. While advanced technology should be exciting and forward-thinking, a lot of these products are fairly pointless for most, \u2018solving\u2019 problems that don\u2019t exist and coming across like unnecessary displays of wealth.<\/p>\n \t\t Unless you have mobility issues, you can get up to switch the kettle on, and you can start a load of delicates far quicker by twisting a dials or pushing a buttons than trying to connect to a WiFi-enabled washing machine.<\/p>\n Adarsh, 27, agrees, telling Metro<\/strong>: \u2018over-engineered \u201csmart tech\u201d with touchscreens like kettles, toasters, fridges, all feel quite cringe to be honest.\u2019<\/p>\n Hot tubs<\/p>\n Fancy hovering in a bubbling bath full of your own germs<\/a>? I didn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n 2026 is not about to be the year any of us get Legionnaires\u2019 disease, a lung infection you can get from inhaling droplets of water from things like air conditioning or hot tubs\u2026 there\u2019s nothing fashionable about that.<\/p>\n Plus, hot tubs might have been a vibe a few years ago (remember when Aldi\u2019s inflatable middle aisle one would sell out within minutes?) but now they feel a bit like a toxic boyfriend \u2013 far too much maintenance and upkeep with very little reward.<\/p>\n Similar to silly sinks, buying a hot tub feels a bit like an empty status symbol \u2013 pouring money into a pretty pointless material possession when those funds could\u2019ve been used far more effectively.<\/p>\n Plus, no one looks good sipping Prosecco, red-faced and trying to stay above the water.<\/p>\n Leave hot tubs in the past, we\u2019re onto bigger and better things.<\/p>\n And if you find yourself in January browsing the web for personalised, automated blinds with a massage jet function \u2014 stop yourself, take a deep breath, and redirect those funds elsewhere.<\/p>\n Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"LONDON,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_278833497-54bf.jpg\")
\n\t\tA real ninja would never be so brazen (Picture: Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Named](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_278833500-d41b.jpg\")
\n\t\tThis font is even more of a crime (Picture: Shutterstock)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_278833501-56ba.jpg\")
\n\t\tHow would one clean a sink like this? (Picture: Shutterstock)<\/p>\n![\"Beautiful](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2164911920.jpg\")
\n\t\tLet\u2019s make using our hands fashionable again (Credits: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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