The sad beige aesthetic: why has the world suddenly turned taupe?(theguardian.com)
theguardian.com
The sad beige aesthetic: why has the world suddenly turned taupe?
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jan/09/the-sad-beige-aesthetic-why-has-the-world-suddenly-turned-taupe
20 comments
I think this article, and the general reaction to this trend online completely misunderstands what's going on. this isn't some depressive conservative neutrality and lack of conviction, it's a conscious rejection of the blaring in-your-face marketing excite-o-sphere that we've all been herded into over the last 70 years. the real sad thing is that people think bright colours = happiness, not that some kids are being dressed more like their grandparents might have been.
I think part of it is that it's difficult to use bright colors well. It's very easy to go overboard and be tacky with non-neutrals.
My wife and I worked with a designer for our house, and we agreed that we would not leave a single wall white. The results are fantastic, and the house has so much more personality than would be possible with a neutral pallet. But the color and wallpaper choices were very deliberate and considered, not to mention how expensive the whole process was.
My wife and I worked with a designer for our house, and we agreed that we would not leave a single wall white. The results are fantastic, and the house has so much more personality than would be possible with a neutral pallet. But the color and wallpaper choices were very deliberate and considered, not to mention how expensive the whole process was.
Now I am interested in the result. Care to share some photos?
I'm one of those people that wear full black clothing, head to toe, most of the days (maybe some white and grey here and there). But for my home I prefer some vibrant colours thrown in, something to contrast.
I've started noticing this on cars. Not taupe, but something like 70-80% of the cars are white, grey, silver, or black, which are all monochrome in different ways. Few cars are colorful now.
I'm not convinced, those along with dark blue and dark red/maroon seem like evergreen car colors to me, always popular. But I also see a lot more vivid "neon" colors now. Bright blue, lime green, etc. I remember those sort of colors being very novel years ago, but now they seem common. A minority still, but still pretty common.
I sometimes think that I am neurotic, then I read an article like this and boggle at the lengths other people take neuroticism to.
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I wonder can this affect your vision? Like walking in snow with white featureless ground and white featureless sky.
I have kinda bad night sight, and recently went to some parties where more or less everyone was wearing black I couldn't tell where person a ends and person b begins most of the time.
there was an article somewhere claiming that all beige/neutral colors are bad for infants, they need color stimuli to develop their sight or sense of color.
I wear tech conference merch they are still quite colourful and not beige.
My first computer had that color ...
Hackers were ahead of the fashion curve.
Hackers were ahead of the fashion curve.
the seepage of sepia. bleah.
Jesus's wept, this needs to end soon.
The world is going to shite, let's have some vibrancy and colour to counter things.
The world is going to shite, let's have some vibrancy and colour to counter things.
Reject neutrality and embrace the Welsh seaside town aesthetic[1]. Aberystwyth is a good example of a place where the architecture makes it look happier than most towns, it's all bright colours and Victoriana that escaped demolition at the hands of the post-war Brutalists.
[1] https://static.cozycozy.com/images/catalog/bg2/horizontal-ab...
[1] https://static.cozycozy.com/images/catalog/bg2/horizontal-ab...
Exactly. The world is too grey to wear boring colours.
I noticed this in Seoul and Busan -- almost everyone was wearing similar outfits, predominantly in Beige / White / Black.
Sadly in most of Europe this pattern is taking over too. There are just a few cities in between that seem like a colourful bastion against the boring mainstream.
And not in their architecture, it's seems to be more about the youth scene. Pilsen in Czech republic is a mostly grey boring city, but the people wear much more colorful clothes than in similar cities. The main difference I saw is more nature and a healthy pub culture.
And not in their architecture, it's seems to be more about the youth scene. Pilsen in Czech republic is a mostly grey boring city, but the people wear much more colorful clothes than in similar cities. The main difference I saw is more nature and a healthy pub culture.
in Amsterdam, there seems to have been a slight counter culture movement against this in the last few years, combined with heavy 80s-00s nostalgia. the beige look feels very influencer or tasteless upper/middle class to me.
When I've been to the Netherlands (could be 6 years or so) Rotterdam was a grey nightmare for me. Streets, People (and weather that time of the year). Haarlem oder the other side was colorful even with bad weather (Amsterdam felt full of colour anyway :)
I used to dress mostly in black (with an exception for blue jeans and camo cargo pants, and the prints on t-shirts) but since I turned 30 to my surprise I find myself wearing more grey stuff.
At least it's good for jokes that I finally introduced some colors.
At least it's good for jokes that I finally introduced some colors.
> […] but since I turned 30 to my surprise I find myself wearing more grey stuff.
Perhaps in a few years you will go from Wink the Grey to Wink the White (just hope you don't need an encounter with a Balrog to accomplish it).
Perhaps in a few years you will go from Wink the Grey to Wink the White (just hope you don't need an encounter with a Balrog to accomplish it).
For sure. I live in Thailand, and it's super-dominant amongst East Asian tourists here.
I run a cafe in Vietnam. 90% Western tourists clientele especially over xmas. During the Christmas day rush, every table full (maybe 40 people total), my partner pointed out that every single person, young, old, and even most of the children, were wearing black with just a bit of white and grey.
I'm a western tourist in SEA currently, packed very light and realized I really don't know how to dress for warm weather because I'm so not used to it!
that combined with limited luggage space meant I left my colorful clothes behind and am wearing a lot of white, black, beige. hope I don't get judged too harsh!
that combined with limited luggage space meant I left my colorful clothes behind and am wearing a lot of white, black, beige. hope I don't get judged too harsh!
I'm not judging at all, just interested, and providing a counterpoint to the idea that it's an Asian fashion trend.
I don't think it was a weather thing. There was a "cold" spell here over Christmas. Probably 20 to 24C, which for us westerners is basically wear whatever you like weather. For Vietnamese it's winter time though, locals are all bundled up!
This incident was probably somewhat coincidental, but I have noticed several times previously in the cafe, with less people, it's all black, white, and grey.
Btw have a great trip! I was a western tourist too around 8 years ago and ended up never leaving. Life is good here, challenging and different.
I don't think it was a weather thing. There was a "cold" spell here over Christmas. Probably 20 to 24C, which for us westerners is basically wear whatever you like weather. For Vietnamese it's winter time though, locals are all bundled up!
This incident was probably somewhat coincidental, but I have noticed several times previously in the cafe, with less people, it's all black, white, and grey.
Btw have a great trip! I was a western tourist too around 8 years ago and ended up never leaving. Life is good here, challenging and different.
what I meant was, at home I have a good diverse set of outfits for colder weather: long trousers, long sleeved shirts, sweaters, jackets, boots... all in different colors and styles.
but I have a total of 2 shorts and a bunch of boring t-shirts for 25C+ weather - simply because I rarely have incentive to expand it :)
but I have a total of 2 shorts and a bunch of boring t-shirts for 25C+ weather - simply because I rarely have incentive to expand it :)
In Croatia all the youth are wearing black, and what makes even less sense, they wear black during summer too. Boggles the mind.
> I’m just going to say that maybe you’re criticising it because you yourself cannot achieve it. Or you want to be like that, but you just don’t know how,” she says.
Man, these influencer people are exhausting… it’s hard to believe that some people think this way
Man, these influencer people are exhausting… it’s hard to believe that some people think this way
Yep. A friend of mine was dating one a while back. We went on a double date and had to stop 22 times on the South Bank in London so she could do fish face and get a good picture for Instagram. Not talking about an iPhone here either. A Sony DSLR on a gimball.
The date I had said "maybe we should push her in the river?".
(They didn't last. Neither did we. At least ours was over a disagreement on a statistical model on an academic paper though)
The date I had said "maybe we should push her in the river?".
(They didn't last. Neither did we. At least ours was over a disagreement on a statistical model on an academic paper though)
Only the insane stand out.
Maybe it will evolve into a revival of the earthy warm color schemes of the 70s. Beige and brown, but also yellows, greens, oranges, etc. That wouldn't be so bad.
It's all cyclical; we've been here before.
As long as we don't go back to the nightmarish patterned carpets of the 1970s...
As long as we don't go back to the nightmarish patterned carpets of the 1970s...
The painted carpets weren't* nearly as bad as the kitchens. I was stuck with avocado appliances and FD-arrived-too-late brown cabinets once.
*Well, usually. If you shopped at a reasonable store, and had decent tastes. If not - horribly and ugly things have been available in every era.
*Well, usually. If you shopped at a reasonable store, and had decent tastes. If not - horribly and ugly things have been available in every era.
To be honest, I am seeing so much blandness that I will welcome patterned carpets for a change.
I would definitely go to the hotel featured in "The Shining" if it wasn't for the murders.
I would definitely go to the hotel featured in "The Shining" if it wasn't for the murders.
I once lived in a sharehouse with blue paisley carpets and dark wood trim in the living room. It had a lot of natural light and honestly wasn't too bad.
Looking forward to the great comeback of the popcorn ceiling.
> How does she feel about having the accusation of being sad and beige levelled against her? “Pretty neutral.”
I'm sure that response was cleverly edited (or a masterfully self-aware joke), but it sure demonstrates how the decor reflects their attitude. "If I don't survive, tell my wife 'Hello'", indeed.
I'm sure that response was cleverly edited (or a masterfully self-aware joke), but it sure demonstrates how the decor reflects their attitude. "If I don't survive, tell my wife 'Hello'", indeed.
Is this still covered by "Millennium Gray" trend or is it something new?
No, this something completely New(ish)!™
It is: Warmer, softer and cosier!
"Joa Studholme, a colour advisor for Farrow & Ball, thinks the proliferation of beige is a reaction to grey – sometimes dubbed “millennial grey” thanks to its association with a generation of renters out of ideas . . .
It’s a neutral with warmth – beige shades are softer, cosier and a little less hard-edged.”
It is: Warmer, softer and cosier!
"Joa Studholme, a colour advisor for Farrow & Ball, thinks the proliferation of beige is a reaction to grey – sometimes dubbed “millennial grey” thanks to its association with a generation of renters out of ideas . . .
It’s a neutral with warmth – beige shades are softer, cosier and a little less hard-edged.”
In my parents' house we had one beige and one grey bathroom (different floors) and the jury was still out 15y later which one looked better :P
"Why everyone's a normie?", the author is wondering.
Good luck being weird or even different in the world that enforces unanimity.
Good luck being weird or even different in the world that enforces unanimity.
I guess I never had a 'normie' style but since I've started to wear mostly bright, pastel or at least light colours people are actually nicer and more interested.
I haven't found any negative side effects other than the lost feeling when I accidently wear grey and the world somehow feels different.
I haven't found any negative side effects other than the lost feeling when I accidently wear grey and the world somehow feels different.
I mean, there's always a dominant fashion trend (_particularly_ in interior decoration; you can really date this to within a few years in many cases), and there are always people who don't conform to it. This isn't new and hasn't changed.
Regardless of the vibrancy of the colors, one trend I really like that I hope doesn’t reverse any time soon is how bright and sunny many new buildings are nowadays.
I immediately notice the difference in my mood walking into a modern office where the walls are essentially giant glass windows vs a building in an office park built over the last few decades. Old brick buildings with tiny windows on college campuses feel claustrophobic compared to the newer ones. Modern coffee shops are airier and cheerier compared to the dark caves of yore. Even homes are being built with larger windows now.
Not everyone likes this trend (and many people who code still prefer dark rooms), but for me I think it’s great. I thrive on a lot of sunlight.
Perhaps the bright and varied colors of the past were more so a counterbalance to the lack of sunlight? With more natural light available, muted color schemes feel more appropriate.
I immediately notice the difference in my mood walking into a modern office where the walls are essentially giant glass windows vs a building in an office park built over the last few decades. Old brick buildings with tiny windows on college campuses feel claustrophobic compared to the newer ones. Modern coffee shops are airier and cheerier compared to the dark caves of yore. Even homes are being built with larger windows now.
Not everyone likes this trend (and many people who code still prefer dark rooms), but for me I think it’s great. I thrive on a lot of sunlight.
Perhaps the bright and varied colors of the past were more so a counterbalance to the lack of sunlight? With more natural light available, muted color schemes feel more appropriate.
New buildings are meant for the floor to ceiling windows to look good to the people who will have them in their corner offices, but the floor plans are too deep to save the peons from overhead tube fluorescents.
What are really awesome are office buildings constructed before electric lighting was ubiquitous. They’re designed with shallow floor plates or inner open spaces so that (unless you break them up too much with cubicle walls) every desk can be fully illuminated with natural light.
What are really awesome are office buildings constructed before electric lighting was ubiquitous. They’re designed with shallow floor plates or inner open spaces so that (unless you break them up too much with cubicle walls) every desk can be fully illuminated with natural light.
Plus, when I last checked they are very inefficient in terms of heat isolation. The energy required to keep them at comfortable temperatures are way higher when compared to traditional building techniques.
I recently saw a special glass which is warmer to touch and has way less thermal conductivity, but even with that, the savings are ~20% at most. A brick wall with isolation adds minimum of 25% savings when compared to the same wall provides without isolation, which is way better than the glass to begin with.
I recently saw a special glass which is warmer to touch and has way less thermal conductivity, but even with that, the savings are ~20% at most. A brick wall with isolation adds minimum of 25% savings when compared to the same wall provides without isolation, which is way better than the glass to begin with.
> Plus, when I last checked they are very inefficient in terms of heat isolation. The energy required to keep them at comfortable temperatures are way higher when compared to traditional building techniques.
There are two things in play here: the first is, as you mention, the insulation quality (R-value / U-factor) of windows is abysmal, both in absolute terms and relative to other wall assemblies. Heat leaks out of windows in winter in high amounts (and then you also have to deal with unwanted thermal gain in summer, raising AC costs).
The other thing is mean radiant temperature:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_radiant_temperature
Many folks think that if the thermostat reads the correct temperature in a room, you're done: that is not the case. The thermostat reads the air temperature, and air temperature is often only half of what you feel in a room: the other half is what is radiated from all the surfaces around you.
A camp fire, fireplace, or radiator feels warm because it is at a temperature higher than your skin, and so the energy goes from it to you. But if there is something that is lower than your skin temperature, the energy will go from you to it and you will feel cold—regardless of what the air temperature is.
This is why in offices, even though a thermometer / thermostat reads 20C/70F in both summer and winter, people feel cold: the giant office windows work as "anti-radiators", where energy wants to move from your body/skin to them.
There are two things in play here: the first is, as you mention, the insulation quality (R-value / U-factor) of windows is abysmal, both in absolute terms and relative to other wall assemblies. Heat leaks out of windows in winter in high amounts (and then you also have to deal with unwanted thermal gain in summer, raising AC costs).
The other thing is mean radiant temperature:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_radiant_temperature
Many folks think that if the thermostat reads the correct temperature in a room, you're done: that is not the case. The thermostat reads the air temperature, and air temperature is often only half of what you feel in a room: the other half is what is radiated from all the surfaces around you.
A camp fire, fireplace, or radiator feels warm because it is at a temperature higher than your skin, and so the energy goes from it to you. But if there is something that is lower than your skin temperature, the energy will go from you to it and you will feel cold—regardless of what the air temperature is.
This is why in offices, even though a thermometer / thermostat reads 20C/70F in both summer and winter, people feel cold: the giant office windows work as "anti-radiators", where energy wants to move from your body/skin to them.
> Many folks think that if the thermostat reads the correct temperature in a room, you're done...
I was one of these (rather confused) folks who failed to understand why this was happening. Thanks for the info!
I was one of these (rather confused) folks who failed to understand why this was happening. Thanks for the info!
This is also why, even when the outdoor thermometer reads negative-bajillion, but it's really sunny,† it still feels nice to take off your winter coat: the Sun's radiant energy is heating your skin so you "are" warm regardless of the air temperature.
† Very cold and very sunny generally go together: the air is too cold to hold moisture, so there are no clouds, so you get the sun.
† Very cold and very sunny generally go together: the air is too cold to hold moisture, so there are no clouds, so you get the sun.
There's _some_ tension with insulation there, though really at this point it's largely surmountable with triple-glazing etc. Small windows in older buildings are to some extent a legacy of that; when you were working with single glazing it was really a very big problem.
But big windows are technology-driven rather than fashion-driven to an extent; most people like them, so they'll probably stick around.
But big windows are technology-driven rather than fashion-driven to an extent; most people like them, so they'll probably stick around.
> There's _some_ tension with insulation there, though really at this point it's largely surmountable with triple-glazing etc.
A typical triple-glazed window can maybe hit R-8 (U 0.125). A typical wall can be R-20 (or greater).
There is no surmounting, relative to other assemblies, the suckiness of glass as an insulator.
But few people want to live/work in an bunker with no windows if they had a choice, so we accept the compromise. But make no mistake it is a compromise when it comes to energy efficiency.
A typical triple-glazed window can maybe hit R-8 (U 0.125). A typical wall can be R-20 (or greater).
There is no surmounting, relative to other assemblies, the suckiness of glass as an insulator.
But few people want to live/work in an bunker with no windows if they had a choice, so we accept the compromise. But make no mistake it is a compromise when it comes to energy efficiency.
> I immediately notice the difference in my mood walking into a modern office where the walls are essentially giant glass windows […]
What's the R-value [1] / U-factor on all of those windows? In offices, even though a thermometer / thermostat reads 20C/70F in both summer and winter, people feel cold: the giant office windows work as "anti-radiators", where energy wants to move from your body/skin to them.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_radiant_temperature
I also find the first thing that what many folks do is pull down the blinds on windows in offices so they can actually see their screens. :)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_(insulation)
What's the R-value [1] / U-factor on all of those windows? In offices, even though a thermometer / thermostat reads 20C/70F in both summer and winter, people feel cold: the giant office windows work as "anti-radiators", where energy wants to move from your body/skin to them.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_radiant_temperature
I also find the first thing that what many folks do is pull down the blinds on windows in offices so they can actually see their screens. :)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_(insulation)
The reason for tiny windows is more technical. Windows are weak, expensive, offer poor insulation, privacy and security. Modern techniques mitigate this problem: better structure allows for less reliance on walls for support and therefore more room for windows, mass production make them cheaper, double pane glass improve insulation, security and privacy can be dealt with large motorized rolling shutters.
I don't believe the lack of sunlight is the reason for vivid colors of the past. If anything, the colors were darker, though more saturated. Also, while tiny windows did not allow for a lot of sunlight, it is the opposite at night, where modern lighting is much brighter thanks to cheap, powerful and efficient LEDs. Here, I think it is just fashion, nothing technical.
I don't believe the lack of sunlight is the reason for vivid colors of the past. If anything, the colors were darker, though more saturated. Also, while tiny windows did not allow for a lot of sunlight, it is the opposite at night, where modern lighting is much brighter thanks to cheap, powerful and efficient LEDs. Here, I think it is just fashion, nothing technical.
> Windows are […] expensive […]
I think it's the opposite: glass is really cheap, which makes up most of the window. Less expensive than rebar and concrete and the labour for the form work and such. Certainly the frame can be pricey, but most of the surface area is glass.
So glass is a popular facade because it saves the builder money: CapEx. But of course glass sucks an insulation the other side of the equation is heating/cooling: OpEx, which the builder may not care about.)
I think it's the opposite: glass is really cheap, which makes up most of the window. Less expensive than rebar and concrete and the labour for the form work and such. Certainly the frame can be pricey, but most of the surface area is glass.
So glass is a popular facade because it saves the builder money: CapEx. But of course glass sucks an insulation the other side of the equation is heating/cooling: OpEx, which the builder may not care about.)
As a society we need to do whatever it takes to keep architects happy. Whenever they get depressed they have a tendency to take it out on the rest of us. If they despair, they want everybody else to suffer too and design inhuman monstrosities that beat down the spirit.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penn_Station_conco...
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penn_Station_conco...
I mean, that's like that because they wanted to build Madison Square Garden on top of it; any architects involved were working under impossible constraints.
Just because the plan requires a low ceiling doesn't mean the end result needs to look like a dead midwest shopping mall.
It doesn't have to be like this specifically, but it demonstrates the point: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=moscow+subway&iax=images&ia=images
It doesn't have to be like this specifically, but it demonstrates the point: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=moscow+subway&iax=images&ia=images
A space that wide with a ceiling that low is always going to look a bit shit, unfortunately. The impressive subway stations linked are a combo of quite high spaces, and narrower spaces with lower ceilings, which can look good. But "broad wide space, low ceiling", there's really not a lot you can do.
A common approach for this sort of big low-ish train station is a partially or completely glass roof, ideally not flat, and that can look okay, but obviously not an option in this case.
A common approach for this sort of big low-ish train station is a partially or completely glass roof, ideally not flat, and that can look okay, but obviously not an option in this case.
What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were they just born with a heart full of neutrality?