Pottery Barn vs. Porthault

In the novel “What would Jackie Do? An Inspired Guide to Distinctive Living" the authors, Shelly Branch and Sue Callaway, suggest that to be a person of distinctive living, one should know the difference between Pottery Barn and Porthault.

I imagine that most middle-class shoppers are familiar with Pottery Barn and receive their catalogs on a regular basis. If not, Pottery Barn is an American-based chain of home furnishing stores known for its high quality, massed-produced furniture such as sofas and chairs. The company was founded in 1949, beginning as a single store in Lower Manhattan. In 1986 it was acquired by Williams Sonoma, Inc. and became a wholly-owned subsidiary. The store reached heightened popularity, when it was featured on an episode of the American television sitcom Friends. It is the one where Jennifer Aniston's character Rachel Green purchases an apothecary table from the Pottery Barn. I happened to catch this episode and am also one of the middle class shoppers that receive their catalogs at a rate of about one per week.

I am, however, not familiar with Porthault. To learn about Porthault I turned to Steve Boorstein, the Clothing Doctor’s website at http://clothingdoctor.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=53&Itemid=60, where he describes the D. Porthault history as follows:

D. Porthault was founded in France in 1920 by Madeleine and Daniel Porthault (hence the D. in D. Porthault). The Porthault's took an innovative step by creating the first printed and colored linens since everyone at that time slept only on white linens. The excellent quality of the linens coupled with the beautiful prints quickly established the Porthaults as a premier linen manufacturer, catering to American and European aristocracy and royalty. There are currently over 2500 different Porthault prints including the signature "Four Leaf Clover" pattern and the Single and Double Heart" patterns. Each year, approximately 40 new designs are created and put into production. The company's creations consistently combine a rare standard of good taste, excellent quality and an original sense of design and are recognized as the "haute couture" of linens. All of Porthaults linens and towels are still manufactured on premises in the same factory in France since 1933. The weaving, dyeing, printing and tailoring are done under the watchful eyes of Marc and Remi Porthault, respectively the son and grandson of the founders. Flagship stores exist in Paris, New York, Dallas and Dubai.

A set of Porthault printed king-size bed sheets, two pillowcases and two shams starts at around $2,468. Whereas, at the Pottery Barn you could purchase a king-sized set of Egyptian cotton, 400 thread count sheets, two pillows and two shams for under $400.