Living in Europe and due to the time difference, I didn’t watch the show last night (had I done it, I would probably be going to bed about now, around 10AM my time). But I did follow the commentary and pop culture tidbits in different blogs and Tumblrs.
Last night I mentioned how I was peeved over the use of nude to describe beige dresses and how this terminology perpetuates the notion of Caucasian skin being the default skin color (the only tone described as nude by commenters and fashion bloggers). To this, I will also add another one I kept encountering, the word “neutral” to describe also different tones of beige, especially when worn by white actresses. If a beige (also sometimes described as nude) dress is neutral, then what would a dark brown or black dress be? Would it be negatively or positively charged?
Yeah, someone might argue that I am nitpicking and analyzing words to a stretch, but I also believe that much of the jargon used in the fashion world also perpetuates ideas of race-normativity, especially portraying white skinned people as the default. The words used to achieve this matter, especially if we use them uncritically.
For the past decade and a half I have been making all my content available for free (and never behind a paywall) as an ongoing practice of ephemeral publishing. This site is no exception. If you wish to help offset my labor costs, you can donate on Paypal or you can subscribe to Patreon where I will not be putting my posts behind a lock but you'd be helping me continue making this work available for everyone. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter for new post updates.