It depends on the look I want and the fabric....some do better with pleats than others. I like a brisby pleat...but the weight of the fabric has to stand up to it.

I am enjoying my new inverted pleated silk draperies in my bedroom and have had full pinch pleated linen drapes in the den forever and they don't look dated at all, probably because they are so classic.

I do think some fabrics and pattern look better with different pleats. Pin your fabric into different styles and get and idea how it hangs and how your pattern looks.

All my new drapes are pinch/French pleated. For me, that is how real grown up drapes should look!! Agree with mojomom that they are a classic.

Are they the orange chinoiserie fabric ones that were posted here a week or so ago? If so, I'd want a french pleat or another classic pinch pleat. That fabric is so elegant and classy.
I probably would not do an inverted pleat on that chinoiserie.

Yes they are the orange ones I posted previously. After I posted this I looked online and was thinking that the full French pleat was the way to go. Glad to see I'm in good company.

+1 for French pleat. Gorgeous. I used them in my dining room. Love them. And with that fab orange chinoiserie- stunning!

I also love French pinch pleat. To give it a bit more contemporary feel, we did 2 finger French pinch pleat instead of 3.

I've seen it called several things. When you say French pleat do you mean pinched a few inches from top or pinched at the top?

A few inches from top.

Funny, I thought French was pinched from the top. That is what I was referring to.

Thought this might help

mlweaving, that diagram does not match up with the ones I came up with when I searched. Most labeled the pinch/French as something that looked similar to your Two Finger but had an extra pleat. Buyer beware, make sure you know what you are buying when ordering drapes as it is very obvious that the nomenclature varies quite a bit!

A sample of drapery styles that is labelled differently from the one posted above.

Here is a link that might be useful: drapery style diagrams

Good photos showing the different pleat types

Here is a link that might be useful: Pleat types

Well Chispa, it's always a good idea to have a clear understanding of what you're ordering. I've worked two stints in window treatments, once in the early 90's when I owned a workroom, then again in the early 2000's when I moved to St Louis and worked for a custom window treatment fabric place, in sales and design.
I've always known the standard pinch pleat to be the 3-pleat illustrated here. And Everything else as a derivation that needed to be specified by name. French Pleats I've always known are the ones that are secured at the very top, releasing their fullness right away. They've got to be fabricated absolutely correctly so they don't "lean".

But a quick google search indicates that regionally pleats are labelled differently.

So I guess my advice would be, know what you want, and have a picture so there is no confusion, when specifying custom draperies.

Yes, definitely have a picture! That is what I did when specifying my "French" pleat.

I adore the smocking treatment! One of my friends used dotted Swiss curtains with smocking in her daughter's nursery, it was 30 years ago and I still remember how beautiful they were. I also love box pleats, but the fashion today is for a less structured look. Fwiw, I've always seen French pleats sewn together at the top also. (OT-- Mlweaving, we lived in Ladue, a close suburb of St. Louis, for several years. That tiny city had such lovely neighborhoods! )

I have to say my experience is the same as chispa's. We always had French pleats when I was a kid and they never came together at the top like that, always looked like the three or four finger pleats in your first image. (And I still prefer those to any other pleat style if they're suitable for the fabric being used.)

I wonder if it is regional and/or generational?

Spent most of my time in the northeast and now in CA and in both areas they are called French/pinch pleat.