We have been staging houses for over 14 years, from studio apartments to multi million dollar homes, and not once, ever, never have we “chopped” a pillow. I like to describe it as a favorite writer of mine once described the “Trump Grill” in midtown Manhattan. “It’s how poor people imagine rich people live.”
Chopping the top of a pillow was originally done when all sofas and all cushions were filled with pure goose down. After a land owner or their guests would sit on a sofa or a chair, their body weight would leave the down cushions deflated and looking wonky. Once they had left the room, the staff of servants would enter the room and fluff the down cushions back to their original shape. Some landlords wished to have a strong visual cue that the pillows had been fluffed and thus the harsh “chopped” top became the norm in some households.
In the luxury space, the chop can easily be attributed to a trend in new money circles and scoffed at by multi-generational old-money. It is now used as a tell-tale sign as to how long money has been in a family. If the cushions are “chopped” it says “We have had money in our family for less than one generation.” Not chopping the pillows says “We have had money in family for multiple generations and understand that the chopped aesthetic is… bourgeoisie.”