Bras, Shoes and What’s Really Nude

Bras are in the news. Why? It's actually not surprising. It all has to do with the color Flesh. Or Nude. Or whatever you want to call it.

In short, bra makers need to get with the program. After all Crayola changed its Flesh color crayon to Peach way back in 1962.

But it's taken clothing manufacturers a very long time to get the Flesh color memo. Particularly undergarments

To Tara Raines, a 31-year-old Los Angelino psychologist, this is a no-brainer. So she's putting her brains behind effecting some change. Her impetus was the discovery, according to the Huffngton Post, that "for more than 30 years, her mother, family members and friends had been dyeing their 'nude' bras brown to match their skin color."

Now you all know how I feel about DIY beauty (although my tea bag solution for hair would probably work well for bras, too), so I understand her ire.

Where's the Fashion Police when you really need them?!
There are upwards of 34 million black and Hispanic women in American alone – that's a sizable portion of the economy that needs (or will need very soon) a bra. Is it too much to ask to have a nude bra that matches their skin tone?

No. And the reason I know this? Shoes!

The adage that wearing nude shoes makes your legs look longer – every red carpet denizen knows this! But of course, finding  "nude" shoes in the nude that's right for you is no mean feat.

Tkees.com knows this and began a line of flip flops to match any skin tone. Rumor has it they are ever expanding their Foundation line for perfect matches across the flesh color spectrum. Let's hope they branch out into pumps!

Meanwhile Tara Raines is taking action today, at the beginning of Black History Month, launching a campaign called "What's Your Nude?" on Facebook. Her goal is to move bra manufacturers to embrace a more inclusive nude bra color spectrum in ther lingerie lines. To support this logical cause, just go to Facebook.com/morebrownbras and click the "like" tab  (Twitter hashtag #whatsyournude).

Because every body should get to be nude.