How To Look Good Nude
On Kim Kardashian’s new beauty line
That’s the real thing about nudes: Do them wrong, and they look cheap as hell. Our eyes are attuned to the minute peculiarities of living human skin, and badly made facsimiles gross us out. The illusion netting on a figure skating costume might read beautifully from an arena seat, but seen by an HD camera it’s just mall-store stuff, rhinestone and nylon, nothing luxe about it. A well-done nude reveals but also effaces the wealth it took to create that look, the same way that it reveals and effaces the body that wears it. To be beautiful enough to truly not need makeup is its own kind of wealth. To be so wealthy that you can create beauty that appears natural is another.
Awl Pal Zan Romanoff has an excellent essay over at Racked about Kim Kardashian, skin, makeup, bodies, nudity, bodycon dresses, and colors. Read the whole thing here.
