‘Nude’ lingerie for women of color creates buzz

Crayola changed the name of its “flesh” crayon to “peach” back in 1962 – but Google lingerie in 2014 and you’ll find the name “nude” still overwhelmingly refers to light-peachy-beige.

So a simple thing like wearing a white shirt to work isn’t simple for a woman whose nude isn’t “nude.”

Do you wear white, and know it’ll show? Or a close-as-you-can-get beige or brown – and know it will still show?

Nubian Skin, a new London-based lingerie/hosiery business that opened online Wednesday, is creating quite the splash with its answer: Four shades of lingerie and hosiery that range from a golden caramel to a deep brown with just a hint of rose.

Maybe even cooler? Founder Ade Hassan has keyed each to mainstream makeup lines’ foundation colors. So if you wear Mac’s NW47 or Bobbi Brown’s Warm Walnut, Nubian Skin’s Cinnamon is the shade for you. If you wear Bobbi Brown’s Golden or Bare Minerals in Warm Tan or Golden Tan, consider Caramel. (Your mileage may vary, of course. But it’s more help than we’ve seen anywhere else.) Other shades are Berry, the darkest, and Cafe au Lait, the lightest.

Charlotte’s Lashawnda Becoats calls the foundation-match idea “fantastic” – and the business overall “a really exciting thing.”

Becoats, recently named editor of Pride Magazine in Charlotte and a woman who’s written about fashion and lifestyle for years, says, “Most people probably don’t think about it.

“You wear white under white and black under black. But to have something and to not worry ‘Hey, can you see my underwear under this?’ would be fantastic … Every woman of color can definitely relate.” (Yep: Hollywood’s Thandie Newton and Kerry Washington have both posted about the place, even before sales began: “am excited!” and “Awesome,” respectively. And Charlotte women say they’ve seen Nubian Skin all over Facebook.)

Becoats says she hasn’t found anywhere locally that carries a color appropriate for her.

Charlotte fashion blogger Kenya Hunter, a Laurens, S.C., native who works in corporate IT during the day, says the lack of skin tone range “has always been a frustration,” and she doesn’t buy locally.

Since the rise of business-casual office dressing means many women don’t feel required to wear hose, she says, hosiery hasn’t been the problem it was five years ago. But the lingerie?

“I’ve made do … by finding something that was ‘close enough’ and going with it. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t. (If) I could select something that would match my skin tone, I’d be open to making that investment. That’s the way you have to look at it.”

Prices range from about $50 to $60 for bras (which run 30B to 36DD/E, with more sizes promised) and $16 to $25 for briefs, etc. That’s not too far outside mainstream upscale lingerie prices – but shipping to the United States tacks on roughly $25.

Hassan told British website Black Ballad she had worked in investment banking and finance before launching this company, at age 30: “When wearing clothes, especially in a professional environment, a large proportion of women’s tops are sheer. When you are in that context you want to be taken seriously and not worrying if someone can see your black bra strap.”

Says Becoats: “We’ve (been) missing out on a whole market of women who have needs but who have taken for granted that they have had to fit into the status quo. When you create a market that allows those women to see themselves, they’re going to move toward that market.

“I’m going to look into it, so I can get out of wearing only black underwear!”

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