I Can't and Won't Stop Buying Vases—Here Are My Favourites

It used to be shoes, but now, my shopping weakness is vases. Has COVID-era claustrophobia just morphed into a kind of extreme nesting where only ceramics can comfort me? Am I now—gasp—old? Or do I just simply have enough shoes and need to move onto something with almost no limit on what's an appropriate number to own? It may well be a combination of the three, in addition to the fact that my footwear requirements have really been filtered down to comfy, comfier, and comfiest: Flat boots, trainers, and slippers are all in constant rotation. But either way, the vase obsession is real; I'm constantly repinning all sorts of pieces, and I really don't discriminate. Vintage, sculptural, minimalist, kitsch, and artsy styles are all littering my (private, sorry) Future Home board on Pinterest. In tandem, I have, therefore, collated a vase shopping list long enough to warrant opening a dedicated ceramics museum should I ever buy them all—the ticket sales would come in handy for further additions to the collection.

But I am not the only one. In the past year, we've seen certain ceramic creations reach cult status, much like a pair of shoes, a bag, or a piece of jewellery might have done in the past. There are high-end versions like Anissa Kermiche's instantly recognisable waist and bum Love Handles vase (an absolute phenomenon on IG, spawning many inferior copycats) and lower-priced winners such as the supersize glass cylinder on a wooden mid-century-style stand that our columnist Monikh was repeatedly asked about during the summer. There are new independent brands and ceramicists finding themselves out of stock all too quickly and high-street stores—like H&M‚ Arket, and Zara—stocking more options than ever. 

According to Google Trends, online searches for vases have been on a steady incline since the summer, with specific terms including "pampas grass in a vase" (something I've definitely looked into, and you can buy pampas on Etsy!), "rainbow vase," and—perhaps unsurprisingly—"Anissa Kermiche vase" taking up the top three related queries.

From jumbo urns to retro shells, decorative and painterly, to super-minimal one-stem holders, keep scrolling for my vase edit.