No, not the French wine-growing region and its attendant products.  I'm referring to the Color, a perennial favorite of American taste-impaired decorators who want to keep the palette of home and office as sober (irony!) as possible.  Walk into the home section of any of the big box stores--Walmart, JCPenney, and all the rest, although Target almost gets a pass--and you'll find this dull, lifeless shade imposed on everything from bedding to vacuum cleaners.  It's really the old new brown, a color so safe and drained of vigor that it shouts, no, sorry, whimpers "me, i'm just practical".   I know form should follow function, but please, how could one even bear to touch, let alone use such an ugly thing?

I actually had to turn Harvard down when they came calling because, frankly, I couldn't see myself wearing their hideous all-burgundy gear. Of course, you can always add hunter green and, why not, a bit of gold thread, and you've got the fabric for what seems like half the sofas/duvet covers from Queens, NY to Del Mar, CA.  Hey, at least it's comfy, and that's all that matters, right?