Hindsight is 20/20. If I selected a dish set today, it wouldn't be fine china, or from Pottery Barn (where I bought mine in 1990). Instead, I'd buy a Corelle dish set.
Made of Vitrelle®, "a tempered glass ... consisting of 2 types of glass laminated into 3 layers:" The dishes are sleek, lightweight, modern, classic, simple, durable and cheap. If a plate drops on the floor, it will not shatter. Plus, it's microwave, refrigerator, and freezer safe; not to mention you can set a pretty table and eat off of it for years.
A Corelle dish set is full sized. The sizes of the plates and cups are generous, yet they are compact and designed to take up less room when stacked in a cupboard. Wow, I wish I had considered the storage factor when selecting my dishes.
A Corelle dish set comes in over a hundred colors and patterns. There are 2 shapes: round or square (as in a "square meal" a phrase coined by the British navy in the 19th century during recruitment." The plates aboard the ships were square to fit the tables on the ships.) Corelle dish choices include solid white, solid colors, cute florals, geometric shapes, polka-dots, or white with colorful lines.
Personally, I'd select the round, solid white set for versatility, but I would not be unhappy with a bright simple patterned dish set either.
Moreover, Corelle offers platters and serving bowls to match their dish sets, so you can add-on what you need to serve food. Although I don't own an entire dish set, I bought a set of 3 large white soup bowls in order to microwave leftover soup, stews and chili. In a pinch, I can serve vegetable side dishes in them also. They look as new as the day I bought them.
Furthermore, the dish sets come in quantities to suit your family's needs. Buy a set of only 16 pieces, or a set of 128 pieces, or more ... and cheap!
If I were to do-over, Corelle would be the only dishes in my cupboard! Sold at Walmart and Amazon.😍
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