'Nude' in Fashion, Beauty, & Culture

For far too long the term nude (sometimes skin or flesh-colored), has taken on a different meaning than it should in the fashion and beauty industry. In discussions about how race, particularly Whiteness (via White supremacy & dominance) affected our perception of what is beautiful, at times what's left out of the conversation is how it created a default look that seems to be widely accepted by general population. In the efforts to unravel how society can change this attitude, it is often met with criticism, faux science, then derailed, dismissed, and ended with a predictable compliments, which further pushes the subject under a filthy rug. This allows the issue to continue remaining.

Rather than be protective of this attitude, society should examine and analyze not just why we view beauty through a Eurocentric lens, but how that determines and decides what is default. Most particularly, when it comes to universal terms becoming synonymous with whiteness, e.g. nude.

To grasp why whiteness is by standard default, it should be explained how White supremacy thrived, and still continues to flourish on a global scale. It was allowed to rule and control, not through a prior popular consensus, but due to enforcement. The methods of White supremacy worked by denigrating, dehumanizing, and mocking all that is non-White, usually at the expense of Blacks/Africans. It has been used as a measuring to stick to validate the worthiness of people, their humanity, and aesthetic. Today one can argue we celebrate differences and embrace diversity, but not long ago these differences deprived and shamed those who couldn't fall in line with the 'standards.' Inability to obtain set standards continued ridicule, and birthed Black stereotypes (among others) like Mammy, Sambo, Coon, Mandingo, the Black Buck, pickaninny, Jezebel, Sapphire, and the list goes on. Today, we see how the prevalence of this degradation has been reflected in ads, marketing, film, beauty, and fashion, and in various cultures in general.

It was further succeeded by oppressed groups internalizing these stereotypes and images, and viewing themselves through the same lens. The power of the media cannot be underestimated, as it is and continues to be the main enforcer of negative portrayals and misconceptions. As it has, the continuance has thrived and so has its narratives, which continue to plague minority groups.

Moving on into beauty and fashion, I'd say about 99.8% of the time, when the word nude is being used to describe a clothing item or cosmetic product, the color in question is beige, or a similar color that matches the skin-tone Whites typically have. While nude should be a universal color, and surely all lighter persons would not match the commonly accepted nude, there is however an industry that would be there to make and produce colors allowing Whites to have various options. This extends far beyond than you'd imagine. But what about the folks who are darker? Of course, population and consumer demographic plays a role in production, but why aren't companies tapping into a much ignored demographic? The Black buying-power is estimated to be $1.4 trillion in 2014. Using one example, New York state is in the top states for the largest Black markets. In addition to that, New York is also one of the top fashion capitols of the world and also has one the largest Black populations in the U.S. As a native New Yorker, I can't say I've seen any strides, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this.

50 shades of beige foundation

It's everywhere, and you may not realize it until you put it into perspective. Go to a pharmacy for bandaids—what color is that bandaid? A lightish beige color right? Maybe now we have clear bandaids, but why were they typically lightish beige? And why had they been accepted as the default bandaid color? I'm not an inventor of sorts, but I'm very sure the marketing brain behind clear bandaids created them so they could match anyone regardless of their complexion. But I must also wonder why was creation of a clear bandaid a solution, rather than creating various colors from the get? Skin-color specific bandaids do exist by the way, but I honestly don't find them as much as beige ones.

Next is makeup. For the women who wear it, when you see nude lip colors, what skin color is that nude closest too? And do you not notice that only one type of color is represented? Foundation too, though these are color specific.

50 shades of beige as they call it, a phenomenon of non-White women, in this case Black, being unable to find foundation colors that match their skin complexion. And usually, the foundation colors provided have various colors and types for White women, rarely any for browner women. See the picture to the right. The young woman in the photo is darker than all of the foundation colors (to the right) available.

Nude mannequins

Then we have mannequins which are typically a reflexion of a nude White person, modeling and showcasing clothing marketed towards everyone. In the case of the photo to the left, sometimes the mannequins are just plain white nude in color, and in those rare observations, you can actually find a dark brown one. Nowadays lots of mannequins are colors not reflective of anyones skin tone.

It's pretty much the same for undergarments. Nude is different per person, but not in the fashion and beauty industry. Nude by default is beige and a reflection of the skin tone the White majority shares, or is similar to. It's been so ingrained in me to view this color as nude, I never questioned it before. As a dark brown-skinned woman, it's quite the opposite for me. Everything from stockings, undies, lipstick, lipgloss, and such that are advertised as nude have only one race/color in mind. How am I going to wear a nude-like clothing item or cosmetic, that is the 'nude' of another woman? My nude is not that nude.

Venus Williams' nude shorts

Sure there are nude-like undergarments or clothes for darker women, but they are called what its color is, e.g. pecan, brown, etc; Rarely are these colors referred to as nude, unless otherwise stated. Take the Venus William's controversy a few years ago over her nude-like shorts under her tennis attire. Obviously this would be an example of her nude. But I'm willing to bet, if I referred to Venus' shorts as nude, a lot of people would try to debate that with me. This is why calling light beige nude is problematic. It's centered around Whiteness and people seem to think and accept that's what the word means.

Nude lingerie by aerie

Not long ago I received an email from American Eagle's aerie line. It's a line of lingerie, activewear, and lounge clothing. The email subject mentioned nude lingerie. But since I'm so used to seeing what society deems as acceptable 'nude,' I quickly scrolled through the email not expecting to be interested in what was going to be promoted.

But it wasn't until I noticed that the nudes came in more than just light and bright colors. I did have some criticism about the obvious hierarchy displayed (light at the top/dark at the bottom—also related the subject), but nonetheless I was still shocked that a retail store I've been a faithful customer to, had not only been recently representing women that look like me in their ads, but also had a 'nude' color that may actually look nude on me. Still, if you notice in the photo to the left, there are only two dark brown colors and I guess, two light brown ones. And as per usual, there are four even lighter ones. However, as I previously mentioned, I don't want to exclude that production of nude as beige is likely determined by the demographic of the consumers.

Finding nude colors that represent my skin tone can be a challenge. They are either too light or too dark, or in my case with some foundations, too red. Thankfully, as times change, there are companies who are inclusive of creating nude colors not specific to one type. MySkins is a lingerie website that caters to over 20 nude colors—a whole lot more than aerie's eight.

At times, the general attitude towards a topic like this would be shrugged off as an unimportant issue. And I can't deny it myself, I never thought it was an issue. However I was wrong. When you read between the lines, the normalization of nude is one of the many adverse affects of Whiteness as the dominant value. This topic is just as important to dismantling the dominance of Whiteness as it is a direct result of Eurocentric ideals via White supremacy. Nude should vary, because it does. And because of this normalizing of beige as nude, it has become an actual color type and name.

See for yourself.

Same goes for any reference to flesh-colored. Because whose flesh color are you talking about?