The color black has always been the default.
It’s the go-to color that matches with everything and never goes out of style. It’s the color of our childhood; pink, glittery clothes would transition into black once we became teenagers to appear more “mature.” From cars and motorcycles to suits and shoes, black is timeless.
Brown, on the other hand, was never anyone’s first choice. It’s considered boring or too dull. Even when it comes to eye color, blue and green have always been claimed as more beautiful. So much so that some brown-eyed folks wear contacts because their eyes are, sigh, “just brown.”
Brown has always lived in that in-between — too ordinary to be admired, too common to feel special. It isn’t as cool as black, nor bold enough to stand out. It’s the color of hair people dye over, the shade no one ever picks first. Somehow, we were taught that ordinary meant undesirable. Why are we made to feel shame about something so natural, so human?
But somewhere along the way, brown started to make a quiet return. The color we used to ignore is suddenly everywhere.
The internet is full of latte makeup tutorials and mocha nail manicures. Coffee-colored clothes dominate fall inspo boards that used to be filled with black-and-white minimalism. Even our Instagram filters have gone from cool gray to warm sepia.
This resurgence reflects more than just changing trends. The idea of being strong and powerful has long been equated with sharpness and control, but people are now finding confidence within softness. And brown embodies that quiet strength.
However, calling someone soft isn’t necessarily a compliment. Perceived through an alternate lens, though, softness doesn’t equate to weakness. It equates to one possessing qualities such as humility, empathy, or reserve, which carry just as much weight as more evident characteristics. Even being more on the quiet side invites closeness. You don’t have to make a statement to be noticed.
Brown offers something different than black. It is the color of warmth, of the earth, of the things that make us feel grounded. Where black creates distance, brown feels comforting and lived-in.
By embracing brown, we’re also embracing a more inclusive idea of beauty. For so long, darker features were unappreciated or even erased in favor of lighter, Eurocentric standards. But now, the same shades that were once called ordinary, from hair to eyes to skin tones, are celebrated and uplifted. Brown is indeed a color, but also a reflection of identity. It represents a shift in how we define confidence and worth.
It may have taken some time, but there’s a collective recognition that beauty has always existed in what has been in front of us this whole time.
This cultural embrace of brown is about re-centering what’s real. We’ve finally transitioned from the coldness of black-and-white minimalism to something more human and worn. When you see brown, a sense of texture and connection is present, a feeling that is especially rare in this technological world we live in.
And maybe that’s why brown resonates now more than ever. It reminds us that beauty doesn’t always come from standing out. It can come from blending in, from belonging, from being part of something larger. We don’t need to fight for attention to have a presence.
Brown used to be called boring, but maybe boring was just another word for peaceful. In its softness, there’s strength. In its simplicity, there’s power. It’s the color of confidence without performance, the kind that doesn’t need to shout to be seen.
When we really think about it, brown is central in our lives. It’s in our go-to coffees, the wood we walk on in our homes, and our childhood teddy bear. It surrounds us constantly, holding warmth in every tone. Maybe we didn’t notice brown before because it wasn’t trying to be noticed; it was simply existing. Dare I say that black is performative, but brown doesn’t perform in the way black does. It just is. That quiet presence feels almost radical in a culture that glorifies the loudest and brightest thing in the room.
So yes, black will always be timeless.
But brown? Brown is timeless and human. It’s the warmth we return to, the comfort we crave, and the beauty we’ve finally learned to see.
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