It turns out this isn’t exactly a new take on the seemingly blah color. Instead, the universal preference (or lack thereof) is rooted in centuries old history. Particularly, in fashion, brown represented the bottom rung. Brown pigments were easy to come by, cheap, and overly accessible. Ancient Rome’s plebeians were called “pullati” or “those dressed in brown.” As a result, brown clothing was often left for the poor. The wealthy instead turned to expensive dyes like scarlet to flaunt their status. They wouldn’t be caught dead in brown.

Throwing it back to the 4th century, England went as far as to make it law that "Keepers of Beasts, Threshers of Corn, and all Manner of People of Estate [...] that have not 40 Shillings of Goods" only wear russet (aka brown). The bourgeois’ greatest nightmare was rolling up on market day wearing the same color as a farmer.

We no longer think about brown through the lens of class, but boy, do we still dislike it. There are more emotive, symbolic reasons for this. Brown as a color is humbly inconspicuous. It is the color of dirt. Although a neutral color like black, white and gray, brown may carry too much baggage to hold the same representation in your wardrobe.