Need to describe skin-tone colors? ‘Nude’ no longer cuts it

When you hear the word “nude,” what do you picture?

In fashion, it’s a common description of the shade a little darker than champagne, lighter than sand and perhaps with a hint of blush or peach.

But when Michelle Obama wore, in the words of designer Naeem Khan, a “sterling-silver sequin, abstract floral, nude strapless gown” to a state dinner at the White House — and it was reported as such — that sparked questions about the definition of nude and its relation, if any, to the wearer’s skin color.

The Associated Press called Mrs. Obama’s dress color “flesh” and got immediate retorts: “Whose flesh?” one newspaper editor asked. “Not hers.” The description was revised to “champagne.”

“We talk of nude now, and there is no one color. It’s politically incorrect,” said Gale Epstein, creative director and co-founder of undergarment brand Hanky Panky. “There is a wide range for skin-tone colors. Human skin tones are a whole color palette unto themselves.”

Epstein says she realized years ago that the brand would need a full range of skin-tone shades. The middle ground of Hanky Panky’s dozen or so neutrals is probably taupe, which falls somewhere between the very light chai, which is also the best seller, and the much darker espresso.

Designer Pamella Roland, best known for her eveningwear, also treats nude as a broad color category. “Nudes are a group of elegant shades, but there are a lot of specific shades,” she said. “I can’t describe a single specific color for nude.”

That champagne-sand hue, though, is usually what the word is used to describe in fashion shows, stores and the pages of fashion magazines. A quick search for “nude” in the online color finder for Pantone, the company that largely sets color-formula standards for fashion and home-goods manufacturing, turns up a light beige.

It’s a popular color in decorating, said Anthony Noberini, design director for Iconix’s home brands, including Waverly, but, logically, the names are linked back to where the shade is being used.

In the kitchen, for example, the neutrals are oatmeal or flax. When it comes to the increasingly popular coffee shades, Noberini said he’ll hear directly from consumers if they think his latte is too light or dark roast too dark.

It’s not unprecedented for color names to change with the tastes of society. In the 1960s, for example, Crayola changed its flesh color — which resembled white skin — to peach. The company attributes the switch on its website at least partially to the civil rights movement.

Nude as a term is too generic at this point, Epstein said. “When you find the right color name, it means more to the customer. It’s more literal.”