Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/08/07/british-retailer-offers-nude.html
…
3 Likes
Its not realistic to expect a manufacturer to produce a bunch of slight variation of skin tones. I do applaud them for their current offerings, one can only hope that they do indeed add more tones if the economics works out for them.
4 Likes
As far as I’m concerned, wearing heels is just like women mutilating themselves. They should wear flat heels. Their feet & spines will thank them.
4 Likes
None of them seem to match my skin tone(s) either. But couldn’t it be done on a custom basis? Isn’t there a common thing where you can have the shoes for wedding parties dyed to match the dresses? Seems that could be done for matching someone’s skin tone on a one-off, custom-order basis, maybe by submitting a photograph of your leg…Then again, thinking about photographs, is that dress blue and black, or white and gold? So much room for error. Maybe you’d need one of those color sensors sold in the BoingBoing store that reads exactly what color something is (whoops, sold out, too bad Marks & Spencer).
But who actually has a need for a high-heeled shoe that matches their skin tone? (serious question) Is it just more of a PR move for M&S, as a way of making a statement about diversity??
1 Like
Tell that to the bosses who insist that we wear them.
I cannot wear high heels or make-up for health reasons so if anyone tried this on me they would be looking at a day in court that they would lose, but other people can’t do that.
20 Likes
Yes, the vendor would have to measure the customer;'s skin tone with their own precisely calibrated equipment, under controlled lighting conditions. Then, to ensure that the manufacturer made the shoes in the correct colour, they would have to match it to a specific shade in an industrial colour space such as Pantone.
3 Likes
I’m not sure why skin-tone heels would be a good thing? If you want skin tone, why not take off the heels?
1 Like
I was thinking these manufacturers could all save a lot of money if they used acrylic or lucite, instead. That way, you don’t have to worry about matching.
3 Likes
Or, we could try to just stop judging women for what they wear whether it is heels or flats, and trust their own judgement/preferences even if you think it is bad for them.
And yeah, get upset at bosses who believe that the purpose of a receptionist is to be “on display” and insist they wear heels.
10 Likes
I think several commenters are missing the point of the article. There has been a wide range of color in footwear for a while. But “nude” in this context usually means “white woman nude.” You’ll see what I mean if you image search “nude heels” (apologies in advance if you get some nudes-in-heels results).
Does anyone remember how crayola “peach” crayons used to be called “flesh?”
7 Likes
don’t dyable shoes have a reputation for being uncomfortable? (or rather, even more uncomfortable than the non dyable variety)
1 Like
Shoes are already an outlier even in the fashion world. Shoe manufacturers bring a huge number of new SKUs to market every quarter. For every design, for each color, they need to manufacture two dozen sizes, multiple widths. It’s why the first consumer 3D printed clothing item being produced at anything approaching scale is athletic shoe midsoles (I’m thinking of Adidas Futurecraft). Volumes for each SKU are comparatively low. I’m not actually sure, at present, how the economics would work out for another factor of 5-10 increase in colors for these models of shoes, though.
2 Likes
I have no idea! And now you’ve got me wondering—if they do, why that would be…Cheaper materials? (because probably intended to be worn only one time?) Buying the same style shoe for every member of the party, to keep the look consistent, whereas various styles might fit better on various feet? (Those things could be true for any wedding party, though, not just with dyable shoes, I would think…)
1 Like
“Virtue Signalling”
1 Like
Depends on whether you buy them in a bridal shop or shoe store. The bridal shop’s dyable shoes are generally fabric and non-leather, because they are usually only worn that one time.
Shoe shops often carry different lines of dyables. I’ve gotten all-fabric uppers and leather insoles that were no more uncomfortable than any other good quality high heeled shoe. (And cost less than the bridal shop horror.)
2 Likes
I might agree in principle. But who encouraged (enforced) this sort of mutilation to start with, eh?
So let’s not get all Boris Johnson about it.
1 Like
There is such a thing as overstock, carrying an expanded inventory that is not going to sell can be a problem. Retailers already destroy quite a bit of unsold product, however don’t take that as an excuse for not selling more skin tones and the like. If a company could offer more accurate tones, or preferred colors at the request of customers and make them on demand i think that’d be a win.
1 Like
Stop, you’re making way too much sense.
I do, and they changed it after a stink was made; “Whose ‘flesh’ is that supposed to be representing?!?”
5 Likes
