Beige baby fashion fad sparks colourful reaction from experts
Colour is out, baby fashion and toy tipsters, say. But childhood experts say being on trend could come at a cost for developing little ones.
SA News
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When it comes to kids toys and apparel, the forecast is beige.
Bright and bold coloured toys and clothes are out, with parents reaching for neutral colours in attempt to remain “aesthetically pleasing” on Instagram.
Expert views wary, with some warning that depriving children of certain colours could stunt their vision development, while others say bright colours can be overstimulating.
“It’s important to expose kids to learning colours to help them with their visual perception,” paediatric psychologist Ann-Louise Lockhart told The Wall Street Journal.
“Having variety is important for brain development.”
Amanda Gummer, a neuropsychologist and children’s play expert in Britain, told the publication there was not evidence that colourless toys stunted developmental milestones.
‘(But) the motivation of having an Instagrammable house and not letting kids explore and make a mess worries me,” she said. ‘I don’t think many kids’ favourite colour is beige.”
Mummy podcasters Stephanie Campbell, Renee Barendregt and Lil McAvaney from The Mums Edit, have “absolutely” noticed a trend of neutral toys surfacing across Instagram.
“Most parents I have seen opting for the neutral toys have explained that it doesn’t interrupt the aesthetic of their home,” Ms Barendregt from Glengowrie said.
While some parents don’t want “any association with “gender stereotyped” toys”, according to Ms Campbell from Glenelg.
The third member of the trio, Ms McAvaney’s living room is “filled with a million rainbow coloured toys” which the West Beach resident says “are a sore sight to adult eyes” but “wouldn’t have it any other way”.
“Children are only children for such a short amount of time, and we believe in allowing them to play and interact with any types of toys that are the most entertaining and exciting for them.
“There is plenty of time once your children have grown and left the nest to have the perfect, neutral, aesthetically pleasing house — but a child’s youth isn’t one of them, for us personally,” the trio said.
While The Mum’s Edit’s members are “all for” colour, Hayley Herbig is drawn to the beige aesthetic.
“When I chose colour I pick ones I am drawn too,” the Little Hampton, mum of four said.
Ms Herbig, who runs @three.little.poppies Instagram page which has over 7000 followers, shares her children’s ‘beige’ aesthetic but she said it wasn’t always this way.
“My eldest daughter (15-years-old), when she was younger it was Disney and bright colours, but now you can’t find those things in stores anymore — especially the good quality clothes,” Ms Herbig said.
Ms Herbig says while her youngest daughter, Maisie, who is seven-months, is “drawn to brighter toys” she prefers to keep her room muted to avoid “overstimulation before bed”.
“I think everything now days needs to be Instagram-worthy,” Ms Herbig said.
“Everything revolves around Instagram now.”
When Ms Herbig is taking a photo specifically for Instagram, she will ensure the image includes clothes and toys that suit her page’s aesthetic, opting for beige, neutrals and muted tones.
However, when the cameras are down, Ms Herbig is far more relaxed with her daughters, choosing anything that makes her gorgeous girls happy.
Dom Willson, optometrist and Professional Services Adviser at Optometry Australia, said it is important for babies to have exposure to a variety of colours.
Mr Willson said, due to blurry vision, it can be difficult for babies to distinguish between objects if they can’t associate them with a colour.
“The more obvious you make things, in terms of colours and shapes, the easier it is,” Mr Willson said.
“A full variety of colours will provide the most stimulation to the baby’s developing brain,” he said.
Nicole Nelson, a developmental psychologist from the University of Adelaide said “infants need to have a broad range of experiences – including exposure to colour – in order to have optimal development”.
“Removing colour from an infant’s environment really just deprives them of the opportunity to learn about colour,” she said.
Whereas, senior lecturer in early childhood education at Flinders University, Rachael Hedger says “in an age where we’re seeing more and more children suffering from attention deficit issues, a calm, relaxed and welcoming space, full of natural resources for children to engage with would be an important aspect of the learning environment for everyone”.
Amber Grech, owner of The Infant Boutique at Norwood, says her store was all things “bright colours” when they first opened 10 years ago, but since the shift towards beige, her colourful shop has turned neutral.
She says the beige trend has gained momentum in the last “couple of years” with parents deciding to wait to discover the gender of their child.
“Parents are keeping the sex a surprise rather than know the gender so they are shopping gender neutral instead,” she said.
According to the children’s shop owner, beige is here to stay for at least the next six to twelve months.
Owner and maker of Emily wants Summer, Emily Ben agrees the beige trend is here to stay but as a parent believes “kids learn better with bold colours”.
“Bright colours help children’s development — it helps my daughter to learn colours and how these colours play a part in our daily life such as traffic lights,” she said.
Around 60 per cent of Ms Ben’s customers are asking for bespoke apparel crafted with “subtle earthy tones rather than vivid patterns from recent years”.
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