The Soft Beige Aesthetic: What is it?
I love an aesthetic, and what I love more is that these style “trends” are becoming more than just the latest en vogue fashion decision; they are becoming ways of living. For instance, dark academia and cottagecore have captured the hearts and imaginations of many, turning it into a movement rather than just a colour palette. (see my post on Dark Academia here)
There feels like there is a philosophy behind an aesthetic now, and that is something I can fully get behind.
“Soft beige” has been trending in my Pinterest search bar for a little while now and it made me very curious. How can a colour once considered so bland and so unremarkable suddenly have a place in the aesthetic universe?
Despite my best efforts I couldn’t find any real authority on this aesthetic yet. It hasn’t entirely made the move from “hot topic” to “lifestyle” yet. No one appears to have made a commentary on it yet. So I’ll stake my claim and give it a go.
It’s light and airy while still containing some weighty substance. It’s not unlike an iced coffee. It looks pretty, the colour is really soothing and pleasing, but there’s an undercurrent of something else (caffeine).
Feminine, but by sticking to a kind of corporate, prep school vibe (not unlike the Dark Academia fashion choices, but beige) it steers away from a fantastical or romantic feminine and instead offers something more modern and chic.
I like the colour palette. Beige, obviously. But it mixes in some whites and deeper chocolate colours as well as a little pop of muted greens and blues and pinks. It could be described as “dusky”. I’m tempted to call it something like “Parisian” or “Italian”, it has a classic European city feel to it; pretty architecture, gentle hues but full-bodied hues, and it has real flavour. If this aesthetic was a food, it would be a flaky, all-butter croissant.
Aside form the fashion, what I found particularly interesting was the other subjects that pop up within the aesthetic (see our Pinterest board to see what I mean). It ranges from vintage cars (in beige, of course), to record players, linens and clothbound books.
It has a Dark Academia vibe in that sense. The focus on the vintage and items that might be considered “middle class” or “affluent”. Private school stereotypes that have graduated into adulthood are abundant.
It replaces the dangerous and tragic line that Dark Academia tows with something lighter and more hopeful. It’s emotional, but less fixated on mortality and philosophy. A modern rebuttal to the ancient question.
If ‘The Secret History’ is Dark Academia, then ‘Call Me By Your Name’ is Soft Beige. Both intelligent, exploring novels, but very different in the colours the emotions and the actions within text offers. (I mean, that’s until a “Fuzzy Peach” aesthetic starts trending and you know why I’ll have to move CMBYN over to that one…)
What do you think? Are you a fan? It’s really growing on me!
written by Sarah
