Women’s Undershirt
“Why don’t they make Band-Aids in skin colors other than beige?” I remember asking that question early on in life. “Owies” are a big deal for kids..and what’s better than getting a Band-Aid to soothe the hurt when you’re little? They eventually came out with the clear ones, but that’s beside the point. The question of the beige Band-Aid always stuck with me.
For centuries, products claiming to be “nude” have been in one color only…beige. So, when I designed my patented women’s undershirts, it was very important to me to offer a color range to suit all the beautiful colors women come in. From the very start of Annienymotee, I wasn’t going to begin to sell a single women’s undershirt until I could offer a “nude” in shades for all women. Those shades are endless, of course. So I knew I had to narrow them down. Just matching a foundation shade to my skin tone is daunting and time-consuming. I didn’t want to put you through that with undershirts.
So, the quest began.
Fabric samples…I bought fabric samples. I bought Pantone color charts. I draped my torso with fabrics, and then tried different blouses over them. I did this indoors.. I did this outdoors. I tried colors on cloudy days and sunny days…fluorescent lighting, incandescent bulbs, and LED lights. And all this is just for my light color!
For the other two shades, I couldn’t use my skin tone.. so I employed friends… and strangers… as my skin tone models. No kidding. I carried my fabric swatches wherever I went and tried them on people of as many ethnicities and shades of skin as I could find. I didn’t know many of them..and I often caught them in the middle of an activity they were trying to get done. But you know what I learned?
- People truly want to see others succeed.
- People are generous.
- People are grateful someone acknowledges their beautiful shade of skin.
And so it was accomplished…to my high standards, even! I was able to narrow it down to three gorgeous shades of nude. I was able to finally give the “ok” to my fabric supplier, thread supplier, and manufacturer.
Annie…(you may be asking)..only THREE shades? Yep. Here’s what I discovered: to be truly invisible under sheer or light fabrics, the “nude” shade needs to be similar or darker than their actual skin tone. Lighter never works under sheer or light (white) fabrics. Think of the old white bras.. like wearing neon under most white/sheer fabrics, right? It’s why your red bra is more discreet under light or white fabrics than a white one. Same is true for our undershirts. Our light color is darker than my fair skin tone. But I dare you to see it under my clothes.. even under high definition cameras and lights in the studio where I anchor the news. The same holds true for our medium and dark colors.
So, chances are your Annienymotee undershirt won’t exactly match your skin tone.. but if you get the shade nearest to your complexion or darker.. it’s not going to show up under any fabric you wear over it.
It’s been that way since we sold our first women’s undershirt. We, along with a handful of bra manufacturers, have been leading the way on various shades of nude to cover all complexions for a few years now. Thank goodness others are starting to follow suit.
By the way.. we’ll be offering more colors down the road. Stay tuned!
Sincerely,
Annie