Nude tights only worked for white women - until now

‘Nude’ products for women aim to blend into your skin and make you look just that: nude. It’s partly a fashion thing, and partly a practical one. There’s just one problem – for years, they’ve only worked for white people.

Any woman with darker skin will be familiar with the struggles of trying to find nude underwear, make-up and even plasters. The whole Kate Middleton nude heels trend? Not for the ethnic minorities. Wearing a skin-coloured bra so it won’t show up under a sheer top? Hah, please.

Kate Middleton wore her trusty nude heels after her daughter's birth

For years, nude has essentially just meant ‘beige’. I learnt this aged 11 when all the girls in my new secondary school wore nude tights. I tried to join in the trend, but quickly realised that neither ‘neutral’, ‘fair’ nor ‘tan’ matched my Indian legs.

Five years and countless different tights brands later, I eventually consigned myself to a life of opaques.

But now, it looks like things are finally changing. New website ‘Nudevotion’ is so devoted to nude that it has collated a huge range of clothing, accessories and make-up in a range of skin colours. The website directs users to these products, all from American brands or designers, to their own websites where most can be shipped to the UK.

Founder Steve Moscetti told us: “Not long ago, ‘nude’ meant 'matches white skin'. Because not everyone's ‘nude’ is the same, people with skin of any other colour were implicitly unable to participate in the trend.

“Now, all the big brands are offering nude shoe collections, makeup and nail polishes, and lingerie. We made it very easy to look for neutral items.”

The website helps people of any skin colour find relevant nude items, and customers can search using either a light brown or dark brown option. I think I may fall somewhere in the middle of the two colours – but it’s still a well-intentioned step, and Moscetti is considering adding more options in the future.

But he isn’t the only one finally trying to make nude accessible to all women – Christian Louboutin started last month when he added a number of new tones to his first capsule collection of nude shoes. He said he wanted to help people who couldn’t find shoes to match their skin colour, and is still developing the range from five shades to seven, as he’s ‘missing two colours’ in the middle range.

It means the fashion world is finally recognising that its female customers do not just come in one shade of beige.

At £525, the everyday woman cannot afford these heels, but it’s still an important move. Now that multiple shades of nude have appeared on the catwalk, a number of high street stores are sure to follow in Louboutin’s path.

It’s about time. Not being able to buy products in your skin colour may not seem like a huge problem in the context of overt and violent racism, but it’s still an example of discrimination. Take it from someone who knows.

Never being able to find a nude bra, lipstick or elastic plaster isn’t just inconvenient - it’s a reminder that we still live in a world with a white standard of beauty. The majority of models are Caucasian, magazines rarely have women of colour on the cover, and young girls grow up thinking that true beauty is a white Hollywood A-lister.

It’s why when an 11-year-old does realise she can’t have the same glossy see-through tights as her friends, it hurts. It’s one of the first examples that she’s different to her peers, and leaves an uncomfortable feeling that will just get stronger as she grows older, and encounters more discrimination.

So let’s just hope that Louboutin and Nudevotion will lead the way and make sure no more schoolgirls ever feel that way again.