Houston Zombie Chic
Houston is the "Zombie Capital of America" when it comes to home decor
Did you know zombie fabric was a thing and Houstonians are more likely to buy it than residents of any city in the United States? Neither did we until we saw Spoonflower's "Decor Map of America."
The fabric design company recently revealed the most popular fabric purchases for a handful of U.S. cities, and it turns out Houston has some very distinct tastes.
Culling from nearly 200,000 recent purchases of custom fabric, wallpaper, and gift wrap, Spoonflower categorized the data into its own design style categories. To give a better measure of popularity, the weighted scores of each city were calculated by the number of customers who ordered a certain fabric by the number of Spoonflower customers in that city.
"Our map provides a unique insight into the décor tastes of America and the psyche of its cities," says Stephen Fraser, co-founder of Spoonflower. "It also pioneers an entire new field of what we’re calling 'décor geography.'"
The design map depicts 19 different styles across the country — from ditsy (a small-scale, all-over print) to hipster, Aztec to Victorian, floral to stripes.
So what are Houstonians drawn to?
"The title of ‘Zombie Capital of America’ is as big as it gets in the world of zombie décor," says Fraser. Houston can claim the title on the grounds that its residents are more likely to buy wallpaper and fabric with zombie motifs than are those in any other city in the U.S., if not the world. “Like I say – as big as it gets.”
Houstonians also buy a lot of paisley fabric, which Spoonflower attributes to our cowboy culture — "as in the paisley kerchiefs long the neckwear of choice for the well-dressed cowboy," the report says. "While paisley may lately have fallen somewhat from favor with fashionistas, Texans stay true to both it and their cowboy heritage – nowhere more so, it seems, than in Houston, their biggest city."
Dallasites apparently love polka dots, making them "dynamic multitaskers." The site also reminds readers that snazzy brown and yellow polka-dot jumpsuit legendary running back Emmitt Smith wore 25 years ago to the press conference announcing his signing with the Dallas Cowboys.
Midland is wild about geometric patterns, including chevrons, arrows and triangles, which Spoonflower attributes to the city's moniker as the "Tall City," with a skyline of tall geometric buildings. The geometric patterns are frequently mixed with animals, such as deer, bears and cats.