I think it is fun to have a few square plates, but that ultimately, you get tired of serving on square plates -- it is a very trend look, and lends itself to a certain kind of plating.

Square dishes are very trendy right now, but they might look very dated in a few years.

For my everyday dishes, I got the best of both worlds: six round and six square plates. If I'm serving round food, it goes on the square plates, and vice versa. A large dinner party gets alternated square round square round etc. I love it! I do find myself trying to be a little more artistic when plating on the square plates.

I have square (well, rectangular) plates, and I'm growing tired of them after three years. One disadvantage is that typical plating schemes don't really work on square dish so presentation requires more creativity, which I suppose could be a "pro" if you're the creative type. I'm on the market for a set of clean, white, round plates, and will keep my existing set for the secondary rotation (certain things do look nice with corners).

Even if you're careful, if the plates have squared corners they tend to break the tips more easily (for instance some that I bought through Pottery Barn), so I find that I have to replace them far more often than I've ever in-my-entire-life had to replace round plates. I also have some square plates that have slightly rounded corners, and those perform far better in terms of breakage (haven't lost a one), but without the crisp edge these don't look nearly as modern.

They're not very fung schway!

my boyfriend and i have square dishes in 2 colors. we have the whole set, square mugs, bowls, even our glasses are squarish. I love them! I suppose it is a matter of opinion. We got ours via amazon (it's their retro square set) in blue and green. I am sure eventually we will get "homely" dishes, but as for now (we've had them over 3 years now) we are not looking to get rid of them!

I bought some really cool square plates that also had bamboo painted across them, within one year every single one had broken. Its possible it was just those plates but I think its also slightly harder to deal with them hand washing when you're turning the plate and that was when I tended to drop them.

my square plates from crate and barrel have messed up corners all around. I think the corners just make it easier to get messed up in the dishwasher.

I like having a variety of dishes: round, square, square with rounded edges, rectangular, etc. It makes eating, taking pictures of food and entertaining more fun.

Variety is the spice of life, right?

From personal experience: those corners seem to always catch our cuffs, bracelets, watches....We have some square platters but only round dishes. :)

I have square, white dishes and I love them.
However, the plates are too big to turn in my microwave.

I have square white dishes and I adore them. I've had them for... 4 years now?
But like shopgirl, mine are too big to turn in the microwave. For all the ones that have broken - I have to say I believe its just the plates that were bought. I had round plates before this, and I broke those way more often/easily than I do these.

Yes the plates are large - but I like the extra white space. Overall I'd say its really just a style decision. I do not regret my square plates at all - I think they look crisp and clean.

I really wanted square dishes when I registered for our wedding, but was afraid they would look dated in a few years. So, my solution was to get plain round dishes, but also some square appetizer plates and mini square bowls for a little bit of trendiness right now :)

I have glazed black square plates from crate and barrel and I love them but had to stop using then for every day use because almost every single one has a chip on its corner. Mine also wobble which drove us nuts!

I find my square dishes are too large, for most meals we end up eating off the salad plates. The square plates don't photograph as well either. Square pictures and square plates get old really fast. They do however fit well in my cabinets, but I'm going back to round.

I find them fun for visual interest, but not on a regular basis--just occasionally when I need a little pop, though I prefer them as serving dishes, rather than for my guests to use personally. The impracticality of the tips breaking just makes them one of those things I hate to risk using, so I steer clear unless I am doing something special with them. I also found that trying to cram in a lot of people onto a table is harder with square plates because they take up so much more visual real estate. People looked very uncomfortable pushed up to our table with square plates, whereas with the same number of round plates, people subconsciously feel as though they have their own little space and thus relax more at the table. They had enough room to lean their arms on the table without touching their plate or having to adjust the placement of their arm, giving them that little bit of a "fence" between them and the person next to them. It's funny how those little details can make or break the mood for people. I'm a psychology student, so I pick up on those things probably more than most people would, but I think it is fascinating how those little details can affect the mood of a party so greatly!

I have square plates and love them. I don't strive to plate-up food worthy of a 5-star restaurant every single night, so if the food doesn't fill up the plate or if it might "look better on a round plate" I don't lose sleep over it. Clean lines appeal to me and I never understood when plate had to be round.

That said, my dinner plates are pretty freaking huge and while they fit into my cabinets and dish drying rack just fine, they don't fit well into my microwave (and it isn't some cheesey college dorm type of micro, either). The plate itself fits just fine but when the turnstile rotates the corners smack the walls of the microwave and doesn't rotate along like it should. I am sure this issue would be easily avoidable with a little foresight.

FYI: If you are looking for inexpensive square plates try CB2.com. They are cheap enough that you might even be able to be one or two place settings and live with them for a few months for your everyday use and see how it goes.

I agree on the broken-ness thing. But I suppose if you made yourself ultra-aware, then you wouldnt have an issue. Also, you could get those squareish plates that still have rounded edges which would def be a safer bet for corner breakage.

As to the plating... I MUCHMUCHMCUH prefer square plates!!! MUCH! I dunno I thnk its more visually interesting and less crowded. Also a perk is that your food all has its own little area, with a round plate it all loos like its mooshed in the middle to me.

If you are getting them because they are the hip thing right now, then don't. If you are getting them because you like them (regardless of popularity), then go for it.

I love the way square plates look on the table and in the cupboard. I love hard, geometric shapes much more than curves and lines.

One thing you do need to watch out for is portion control! It is much easier to overeat on square plates!

I have round plates at home, but I work at a bistro where we serve everything on rectangular white plates. I think the space on the plate is nice, however not ideal for salads. Little bits are always falling off. Square soup bowls suck, because the soup tends to slop around and try to spill out the corners like they're spouts (something about wave dynamics, I think). I find they are harder to work with on the table as well, because they don't leave you an open corner in which to put your drink. We've never had much problem with chipping or breakage, but our plates are just a tiny bit rounded on the edge and pretty thick. Some people have suggested a mix of round and square, but if you have limited storage, keep in mind that this may make it hard to stack everything up.
And to everyone who commented about what looks better in a picture, stop playing with your food and eat it already!

Perhaps I'm somewhat of a traditionalist, but I tend toward my square dishes (and I have quite a few) mainly for entertaining, and leave the daily grind to my round dishes. I find that, no matter what's on the menu, I can never get the feeling that I'm eating a classic homecooked meal on a square dish. Call me crazy...

That said, I say, GO FOR IT! But keep a few round dishes on the roster as well.

I'm glad to hear that other people have chipped corners from their square dishes. I thought maybe I was just too careless. I have several serving pieces and some appetizer plates. I entertain frequently and the appetizer plates have had to be rotated out since they have chips on the corners. I like the look - but for me this definitely is a trend, not an every day dish.

I have Ikea plates that are square with rounded edges and haven't had any problems with snags or breaks (I also lack a dishwasher, so that probably factors in). I find them totally suitable for dinner and presentation and since they're plain white, don't feel dated or trendy.

I like square appetizer plates for entertaining and square serving platters, but I MUCH prefer round plates for a full dinner service. Remember the shiny black glazed plates of the '80s? I have a feeling that square white plates might go the same way. Plus, unless they are Corell (which actually makes "square" plates with rounded corners) or some other sturdy material, they're going to chip in a hurry if you use them every day.

You could always buy a single service and see how they fit into your life before investing in the whole set, too. It's ultimately up to you, but I'd be most worried about the corners chipping and breaking, myself.

I was hesitant about getting square plates but my fiance was really excited about them, so we went for it. I don't regret it at all. Our dinner plates won't rotate in the microwave, but that's the only drawback.

We got our settings from Bed Bath & Beyond and we've had them for 3 years and don't have a single chip, crack, or break after daily use and we LOVE that they go from oven to table. I bake in the bowls all the time--perfect for French Onion Soup!

I love my white, square plates from Williams-Sonoma. I've had them for 3.5 years and only 1 has chipped in an incident that would have chipped a round plate as well (not on the corner). I think a simple, white plate is still very classic looking and will stand the test of time. I have round bowls from the same line and they are a great contrast to the square plate.

My brother-in-law is an engineer and he took issue with my sister's square plates. One, they wasted material on the corners. Two, they could not be rotated as necessary so that you could keep the food you were eating nearest you. So if you live with an extremely methodical someone who likes to work their way around a meal clockwise, you might not want square plates!

I *was* going to write, "Seriously? The Pros and Cons of square versus round plates is a Good Question??"

But now I am writing, "Seriously? An engineer who rotates his plate while he eats??"

I love the smaller square plates, even the longer rectangular ones. I wouldn't go for ALL square plates, just add some to your collection for something different.

We have white square dinner and side plates from bed bath and beyond, the Everyday White collection. No chips or breakage and oven safe. Other than microwave, no issues. I do have round white plates of the same line that can be used for entertaining like buffets - the plates are lighter. We have round bowls though. I can't recommend the line highly enough and I a rough with them!!

I have rounded edges squared plates from Ikea that I got last year. I haven't had any issues with them not fitting in cupboards/dishwashers, but I have noticed that my food "swims" on them, but I still like them.

They're easy to match other stuff with, too!

I love the look of square, white dinnerware. It looks kind of zen and sophisticated to me.

I think they would fit wonderfully in cupboards and stack well. The lines would make them look very clean, I imagine. I also don't believe meals would look undersized served on them. I had a wonderful meal at a Greek restaurant served on a square plate, and I was very satisfied.

Square plates are the move! My mom bought my sister and I Fortuna dinnerware in white. We both use the dessert plates the most because it controls the portions we serve. White square plates really make food pop.

i bought square plates with rounded edges from ikea about a year ago and i'm very happy with them - no chipped corners etc.! check out this picture of a couple of them at their website:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/series/07699

Patrick, I still haven't figured out if he was serious or not. I was just amused by that particular perspective.

matchbook--

I actually thought it was very funny, and quite endearing, to picture Mr. Grown-up Engineer working his way clockwise (I assume!) around a dinner plate. It made me smile!

matchbook - I am a little bit of a obsessive-compulsive eater (i.e. things don't touch, everything in equal portions, rotating the plate for maximum efficiency), but I've never been bothered by square plates. I am very glad to know that I'm not the only one who rotates her plate, though!

On topic - I love my square dishware! They are clean looking, easy to handle (grip on the sides!), and photograph beautifully. We have 8 place settings of the white ones from CB2 (3 sizes of plates, 2 of bowls). They are fine in the dishwasher and great in the oven and cabinet. I'm also a little bit awkward sometimes (smacking things into each other... lots of cracked glasses), but there are no chips anywhere to be seen. I have the same problem with the biggest plates not rotating in the microwave, but it's incredibly rare that we need to put the biggest plates in the microwave, anyway.

That said, I also have big round pasta/salad bowls from Ikea to go along with our white scheme. Salad is a pain in square bowls and even more of a pain on plates. We also still have a set of round settings - seems like the plate sizes are in between those of the square ones. Finally, we have serving pieces of all shapes and sizes, but since everything is white, it all goes together.

Finally... no on square drinkware. I don't know if that was part of your thinking process, but sometimes square dishware sets will come with square mugs. I have a real problem with liquid sloshing out the sides of my lips or the corners. Then again, I'm awkward!