Update on nude bras for women of color-

Just wanted to make an update in case anyone with a similar skintone finds themselves in a similar predicament in the future!
I'll add finds to the comments if and when I find more )
Feel free to skip to the list~

And for reference because "women of color" is such a very broad term, I'm mixed caucasian(mom) and mixed Native American from Latin America(dad). My brothers have lighter skin while I'm interestingly darker skinned than both my parents, and I was born with even darker skin than I have now(sadly, I obsessively lightened my skin from 12-15, and 19-24 due to growing up in an incredibly racist environment/area-even my own mom is racist and encouraged this. I now have splotchy, stripey, extremely sensitive skin. I wish for more reasons than just those two that I'd never caved and done this but I can't change the past).

I most commonly see my skintone amongst other lighter skinned Latinos, light/medium skinned people of Asian descent, mixed US natives, people of southern european descent, lighter middle easterners, and lighter skinned people who tan, if this is any help whatsoever(of course, gene expression definitely varies, and tanning is of course a thing).

So, my skin is two different shades. My mid-face,now front of my neck,upper chest, bum, and legs are a light/medium shade. The back of my body, abdomen, and lower arms are more light tan.

Most of the time, I find the closest thing to my lighter skin and that's around a shade or two too light and shows through my tops, and I end up getting rid of the bra.
So I went with the color of the rest of my body, but I've been having a ton of difficulty finding things that can function as lighter tan, nude t-shirt bras.
Most of the time, I just wear black clothing because it's just such a pain and so I gave up.

Thankfully, by the responses I received in my last post and by searching around for days, it seems that some brands have finally released some deeper shades. It looks like there are now some viable options for NC45 & 50, and around NW50, which is awesome!
NC30-40 isn't uncommon amongst people at all, but oddly, finding options has been difficult. Idk if this is just my area, or just a problem of inclusivity. In person I even had difficulty finding bras for the aforementioned shades, even though I live in an area with a very high percentage of African American and Indian people, though I did find some options.

Anyway, this is probably a long digression- thanks so much to everyone who offered suggestions in my last post! I went into just about every bra store I could find. I thought Aerie's "Natural Nude" tones would work, but they're close to NC20(but more neutral). It looks like they have some people with similar skintone as mine modeling some of those, but I assume they were photographed next to a bright light source because that shade is very light against my skin and shows under a white top. Or instead of doctoring the model's bodies, they still doctor the picture's lighting? Idk.
Considering making up a spreadsheet of bras and shades that match skintones, but idk if this would be helpful since colors are cycled through so often.

On the off-chance that someone else around my shade is looking for a nude bra, here are some links to what I've found that work for me. It would be hard to find an exact shade match for anyone, but I tried these on with white shirts and they worked very well~

LIST(viable options for NC25-35, light/medium skin):

-True & Co. (Unfortunately kind of a bralette) in "Bronzed":
https://shop.nordstrom.com/s/true-co-true-body-triangle-convertible-bralette/5142221
This is a warmer lighter tan, darker than the model photos(more like the photo of it by itself).
They also have a similar bralette that has a bit more coverage with thicker straps.
This one worked well for me as a t-shirt bra, and perfectly matches my abdomen and back- it is a little dark against my chest, but functioned perfectly as a nude under a thin white top.
Of course this is a bralette type bra that you slip over your head- so it may not work well for those in need of more support. I'd place it around NC30-35(sorry for using makeup/MAC shades btw, even their range varies but I find it's best to use for reference as "tan" and all that are so very subjective).

-Natori Feathers in "Glow"
https://shop.nordstrom.com/s/natori-feathers-underwire-contour-bra/3122001
A cooler,pinky lighter tan.
(thank you cupandahalf for this suggestion! I used to love the Feathers bras but didn't think they made skin-color type shades besides the ivory/beigey one! I tried Glow on and it works wonderfully!)
Around NW35.

-Aerie Balconette in "Dark Tan"
https://www.ae.com/us/en/p/aerie/bras/balconette-bras/aerie-real-power-balconette-lightly-lined-bra/8791_8195_232
Warm, light tan(looks more like the photos by itself, looks lighter on the model. Also NOT "dark" tan- more NC25ish- matches my upper chest decently and functions as a decent "nude")

Aerie Lace Bralette in Raw Sienna:
https://www.ae.com/us/en/p/aerie/bralettes/longline-bralettes/aerie-happy-lace-padded-racerback-bralette/1698_2946_231
Not the exact model I got(can't find online) but the same shade. This one is a light pinky tan, with warm light tan lining on the back. Interestingly the warm lining is almost a perfect match for me, but the bra itself functions well as a nude due to the shade level.
My Aerie had a clearance bralette that was an exact color match for me, but the cut was odd.
So I think Aerie could be an option, if you're ok with bralettes. Hopefully in the future they'll release an golden light/med tan in the Sunnie- I've been enjoying wearing those now that I don't need as much support.
I did buy this one, but I dont like wearing bralettes with more fitted tops(what my light tops are) so idk if I'll be keeping it.
I noticed that "raw sienna" is a shade that Aerie carries in a few things online, so it could be worth a try.

And of course, if you can find a Claudette Dessous in Navy/Sandstone, sandstone was a pretty good match.

Victoria's Secret also has a light/medium grayish toned tan, though tbh because of their ridiculous dressing room lighting, I couldn't fully see the color against my skin. The fit of the bra and padding were also pretty unfortunate(I should've expected this, but I wanted to give every place I could find at my malls and surrounding stores a try).

Possible things that could work:


-Nubian Skin bras in "Cafe Au Lait" (thank you braluv!)
https://us.nubianskin.com/products/naked-bra
This looks close to the True & Co bralette, so I think it could work for NC30/35. I'd love to try the 30D, but I'm a little afraid that it'd be a little too big in the cups. When I have more $$ I'll definitely try it out as long as I stay around the same size 😅

-Fenty Savage X T Shirt Bra in "Nude Desert"
https://www.savagex.com/shop/t-shirt-bra-ba1825401-2456-8908078
I'll update on this one soon because I'm really considering buying it xD

-Fenty Savage X Triangle Lace Bralette in "Nude Desert"
https://www.savagex.com/shop/triangle-lace-bralette-bb1825444-2456-7180111

-Lively Mesh Trim No Wire Bra "Warm Oak"
https://shop.nordstrom.com/s/lively-the-mesh-trim-no-wire-bra-any-2-for-60/5053263
I can't tell if this would be closer to NC40. Might try it soon if they get 32A back in stock.

Anyway. Hopefully this will be helpful to someone else, and thanks so much again to everyone for the suggestions. I wish I'd been able to find more workable shades in person, especially more with underwire or at least back hooks, but after looking around at several places in my area, that's what I was able to find.
Though of course these shades and styles will likely be retired at some point, but for right now they look like pretty good matches

To end, sorry for my babbling, this has just been a pretty eye opening and somewhat frustrating experience. Goldenrod yellow is on trend right now and as someone with a golden undertone, I've been loving it. I've been stocking up on olive,yellow,burnt orange, and light orange tops after wearing primarily black,navy,and burgundy my whole life. The only time I wore light colors in the past was during interviews where I'd normally do a white blouse, so I didn't care as much about buying a bra specifically for what were usually 20 minute interviews, and would settle with this one fair beige I found at Aerie.

Anyway! I'll hopefully add some more at another time. And if anyone else has seen or tried any similar workable shades, feel free to comment with them ^_^ if you're familiar with MAC shades and want to comment with other shade matches(any shade fair-deep), that'd be cool too

https://shop.nordstrom.com/s/true-co-true-body-triangle-c...

https://shop.nordstrom.com/s/true-co-true-body-triangle-convertible-bralette/...

Filed under Bras ups and downs

Shared on Jan 11, 2020 Flag this