Finding the perfect bra that disappears underneath a white T-shirt is no easy feat. Contrary to what you may think, the answer might not lie in a nude bra, rather a striking red one. There are many corners of the internet that argue wearing a red brassiere can make all the difference in giving you that seamless silhouette. But just how does it work?
Jada Schumacher, a color expert and professor at Fashion Institute of Technology, offers an explanation. At its core, it’s all about our warm-toned skin. Since we all have blood running through our veins, our skin naturally has redish-brown undertones, even those of us who have fair skin or prefer cool-tone foundations. This, Jada argues, is why a red bra hidden beneath a white tee can create the perfect, subtle illusion.
But what if there isn’t a red in the same color values as your skin tone? While finding the exact shade of nude color can be quite the challenge, Jada reassures us that finding the perfect red should be much simpler. Unlike light or dark tones, the color red has no specific value, meaning you’re likely to find a hue that suits your complexion.
Wirecutter senior editor Catherine Kast puts this theory to practice. She swears by wearing a deep wine color that works perfectly with her blush pink skin. Catherine tested the company’s upcoming white T-shirt picks with the underwire Empreinte in grenat – and it looked great. It just proves that a mix of the right color and texture are the keys to making a lingerie piece disappear.
Making the perfect color match isn’t always a breeze either. Associate Editor Allyson Payer had her own struggles with sourcing the right red to pull off the trick. She shopped over a dozen red bras in a variety of fruity hues, but none of them did it for her. In the end, she came to terms that she’s just too pale to pull off red.
Improved lingerie options in skin tones may be scarce, but that doesn’t mean you have to succumb to its limits. Holly Powell, owner of Portland’s The Pencil Test, encourages customers to embrace color and texture play, which is the secret to finding the perfect illusion of nothing-there support. This is why she still believes that reds may be the answer.
In the end, getting the perfect colour for a seamless silhouette may just require perseverance, testing, and embracing colours outside of the expected nude.
