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Why the ‘sad beige’ trend for children’s clothes and toys is dividing the internet

Woman's Hour looks at why social media is obsessed with clothes & toys in neutral tones.

One colour has been taking over children’s clothes and nurseries recently on social media…beige.

The fashion for muted clothes, and toys, caught the eye of writer and librarian Hayley DeRoche.

She was surprised at how miserable the children looked in the marketing images for the mushroom-hued stacking cups, sludgy Amish pinafores, and oatmeal bonnets. And their hefty price tag.

She started creating videos skewering the trend, by pretending to be the legendarily sombre German filmmaker, Werner Herzog, and giving the outfits and toys more fitting names like the 'the locust are coming' and '‘in this life the sorrows can run deeper than the oceans’.

The videos have since gone viral with over 9.4million likes on social media. So, what is it about this sad beige trend that has struck a chord with so many?

Hayley DeRoche joined Anita Rani on Âé¶¹Éç Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour alongside journalist Martha Alexander - who has resigned herself to a multicoloured life with her six-year-old daughter.

You can listen to more of Woman’s Hour on Âé¶¹Éç Sounds.

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Duration:

10 minutes