For a long time, the full-bust lingerie world has been largely homogeneous when it comes to nude bras: In SS15, there was one brown bra between Freya, Fantasie, Elomi/Goddess, Panache, Gossard and Curvy Kate, and before SS15, it had been pretty much the same. However, the recent overwhelming success of brands such as Nubian Skin seems to have given the lingerie industry the kick it’s needed for a long time.
Image courtesy of Nubian Skin
In AW15, the number of brown bras between the aforementioned full-bust brands went up to four (Fantasie Premiere in Ombre, Fantasie Eclipse in Ombre, Freya Deco Vibe in Mocha, and the Gossard Glossies in Rich Brown). This season (SS16), this number has gone up to eight, and many brands are starting to phase out the obnoxious use of the word “nude” to mean “beige”. So, today I thought I would share the options available this season.
First up, the Fantasie Alex in Ombre. This will be available from March, in sizes 30-38 D-J, 40-42 D-FF.
There are two brown colourways in the Freya Deco family: The Freya Deco Delight in Frappe (left), and Freya Deco Vibe in Mocha (right), both in 28-30 D-GG, 32-36 B-GG, 38 B-G. The Deco Delight in Frappe is a fashion colourway (and incidentally, the lightest shade included on this list), while the Deco Vibe in Mocha is a continuity range, first introduced in AW15. Both are available now.
The Elomi Raquel in Taupe, a new continuity colourway to be released in February. This is an unpadded lacy number, available in sizes 34 D-JJ, 36 E-FF, 38-42 DD-JJ and 44 DD-G.
Another continuity style, the Gossard Glossies in Rich Brown. This colourway was first introduced in AW15, and is available now in sizes 30 D-G, 32-36 A-G, 38 B-G.
The Fantasie Eclipse in Ombre is a moulded spacer style, introduced a couple of seasons ago as a continuity piece. This style is available now in sizes 30 D-G, 32-36 C-G, 38 C-FF, and 40 D-F.
The Sculptresse Chi Chi in the new continuity colourway of Cappuccino. This will be available from April, in sizes 34-36 E-H, 38 E-HH, 40 DD-HH and 42-46 D-HH.
Finally, the Elomi Cate in Pecan, another new continuity colourway. This is available as a soft-cup bra (pictured) in sizes 36 E-G, 38 D-G and 40-48 B-G, as well as an underwired full-cup bra in sizes 34-36 E-K, 38-42 DD-K and 44-46 DD-HH. Available now.
Some currently available styles from other brands include (left to right) the Samanta Risberia A122 in Chocolate, the Bravissimo Alana in Mocha (discontinued; will not be restocked), the Samanta Risberia A142 in Chocolate, and the Anna Pardal Coffee Flower (available via ‘A Sophisticated Pair‘ and ‘Bra Obsessed‘).
I’m glad to see there has been an increase in the number of brown bras available, and I’m very glad to see this trend is continuing into AW16 (more on that later)! I will say that, as expected, the number of beige/blush bras still drastically outnumbers the number of brown bras, with some of the largest brands (i.e. Curvy Kate) currently not offering any. I will also say that I would like to see some of these styles modelled on women with darker skin-tones – while I have noticed that the number of full-bust nude bras for women of colour is increasing, women of colour are still underrepresented when it comes to modelling these brands’ collections, something I would definitely like to see change.
What do you think? Are you a fan of any of these styles? What do you think is missing from the full-bust lingerie world? Let me know any thoughts in the comments below!
All product images courtesy of respective brands. No copyright is claimed over any image within this article.
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Great post Anna!
I agree with you about the need to have models of colour wearing these bras in photos. It’d be significantly more helpful for customers to be able to see how the bras hold up as ‘invisible’ on a model with darker skin.
I really like brown bras, and have bought them as fashion colours (I own the Coffee Flower from the last picture). If people like me have any sway over convincing brands to keep making these, that’s great – but we’re not the reason manufacturers *should* be making them.
Hi Anna,
Have you noticed Parfait charlotte in bronze? It looks awesome.
Thanks,
Sowmya.
Hey Sowmya! The Charlotte in Bronze is an AW16 colourway (next season), so I’ll be featuring it in my Parfait AW16 preview and likely a similar post for next season. It’s really gorgeous!
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