<p>We did a full kitchen remodel a couple of years ago and I ditched our old set (a gift from MIL, the second such gift; I felt like I never got to pick out my own dishes as they were always what she liked, not exactly my taste, but nice stuff I felt obligated to use). Went for mix and match Fiesta Ware that suits our family very well. I think it’s a bit on the heavy side and the darker pieces do show scratches. I’m okay with that, I still really like it. It could be considered a bit pricey as a shower gift unless you know the couple very well and are feeling generous. Son recently dropped a plate and that baby shattered into a lot of pieces on the new kitchen tile. Again, I like the stuff so much, I can accept a few less than ideal features.</p>
<p>I think it’s closer to Pfaltzgraf -the spelling that is (that’s what MIL gave us - twice).</p>
<p>Chips are white sadly. Looks awful on the cobalt blue plates and bright red cereal bowls. (The latter from Crate and Barrel I think.) Somehow things like my grandmother’s old china (I only have bits and pieces so we use it as everyday wear) looks fine with cracks and chips! I don’t get any of the black marks others have discussed though.</p>
<p>I am a sucker for casual dinnerware sets. I have the fine china that H and I received when we married, but it sits in a china cabinet and comes out once every 5-10 years! But I’ve accumulated Christmas casual, Summertime casual, Neutral casual, springtime casual, country casual, you name it. It’s fun to be able to use something different every once in a while. I wouldn’t worry too much about your decision, because unless the bride likes to have garage sales, she will enjoy pulling out different sets for different occasions.</p>
<p>I second (third?) the recommendation for Fiesta. We’ve had our set for a few years and love it. They have so many fun colors… unfortunately those fun colors wouldn’t look so great in our house, so I bought the Cinnabar color (burgundy). They’re beautiful! We have not had any chips so far. They are microwave-safe, dishwasher-safe, oven-proof. They’re fairly heavy but not as much as stoneware. Very durable. Also, they’re on sale all the time - check Macy’s.</p>
<p>It may seem boring, but lots of younger singles and couples ARE going for the solid white, especially in the newer shapes that are slightly square. The
Corelle can be good especially if they’re still moving around alot as most of their stuff is very light weight. However, they also have some that is a heavier quality. You can find some great deals at the Mikasa outlets of white dishware, also the Williams/Sonoma outlets too. The great thing about white is that you can use colors for everything else…glasses, placemats etc.</p>
<p>I’ve had my own white dishes for 15 years and am still not tired of them.
My D, 21, recently requested some new dishes for her apt. She ended up choosing white dishes similar to what I’m describing…I think we got them at Target.</p>
<p>We have a white Corelle pattern with a wavy pattern on the rim. It’s easy to live with and I like the white (I can’t qualify as “young” though!)</p>
<p>One thing I noticed when I was looking at the Corelle patterns is that they don’t have matching serving pieces. I personally have a black and white pattern, so I purchased the all white serving pieces, but if you wanted matching pieces, they don’t make them.</p>
<p>We have Fiesta ware at the family cottage. It gets heavy use each summer, gets jammed into the dishwasher every which way by whichever kid has dish duty, and no chips yet.</p>