Nicky Haslam’s latest list mocks beards, Diet Coke and Hay Festivalgoers
Interior designer and socialite Nicky Haslam has published his latest annual “Common List”, a collection of habits, words and tastes he labels unfashionable. The 87-year-old says the list is intended as a joke about taste rather than class, though its judgements have prompted debate about snobbery.
This year’s list includes beards, Diet Coke, “being thin”, quails’ eggs, the words “nuanced” and “no-brainer”, and attending the Hay Festival. It also mocks people who cannot find photos on their phones and birthday cakes for adults; Haslam’s list is sold on a tea towel for £60, with a CD included.
In short
- Nicky Haslam’s latest list labels beards and Diet Coke “common”.
- It also targets words, habits and the Hay Festival.
- The annual list is sold on a £60 tea towel.
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The case for
The list can be read as affectionate satire: by targeting a mix of everyday habits, fashionable words and cultural tastes, it pokes fun at pretension across social groups. If taken as a private joke about taste rather than a serious ranking of people, it can invite readers to laugh at their own conventions.
The case against
Even when presented as humour, a list of supposedly unfashionable tastes can come across as a public exercise in judging other people’s choices. Its mockery of ordinary habits and festivalgoers may reinforce the impression that cultural authority belongs to a wealthy social circle, particularly when the joke is sold as a luxury item.
Explained simply
Nicky Haslam is an English interior designer and socialite who has long been associated with high society and debates about taste. His annual “Common List” is a comic collection of things he considers unfashionable.
The list ranges from food and drink to habits, words and cultural events, and is also sold as a tea towel with a CD. Haslam says it is meant as a joke about taste rather than social class, but the exercise has prompted discussion about snobbery and who gets to decide what counts as good taste.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Beards, being thin, Diet Coke… style guru Nicky Haslam lists ALL the things that are ‘common’ in 2026”.