To ask why my DD doesn't have as much of a choice?

[drspouse]

DD is 10 and fairly tiny but it's getting to the point I want to talk to her about crop tops.

Looked up to see where we can get some. She wears white polos and I know from teaching girls with white school shirts that you want skin tone bras and crop tops. Maybe a tiny bit lighter but not white if you have brown skin.

Except I can only find about two shops that do crop tops for brown skin. And DD has brown skin (she's mixed ethnicity - M & S is one of the shops and their "light brown" looks about right).

I've looked at about 10 shops and supermarkets, the only other one is Asda with a "dark tan".

I was looking at some census data for work and 25% of under 10s are non white British. Granted, some of them will be Irish/other European and pale as ghosts but surely preteen clothing for girls with brown skin is a pretty big market? DD's class is about what I'd expect from the national data - 15 girls out of 30 - 4-5 not white.

It was the terminology that bothered me. Skin toned. Not my skin tone.
it just used to make me bristle.

I think you're overthinking it, lower end underwear is white as it's cheap and not supposed to be seen, not because it's for people with white skin.

Sounds like a gap in the market to me....

This. And believe me, white underwear most certainly can be seen under white clothes on people with white skin. I used to wear black bras under everything btw and unless the garment was very sheer I couldn't have cared less. Surely any colour other than white would look okay.

The other thing is that I wear a white camisole vest with a white bra under a white shirt, if I’m going to wear a white bra.

Just thinking about practical solutions.

Pale as ghosts? Charming.

I do not know the answer OP. But I have light brown bras. They were cheaper than the white version of the same bra because they do not sell very well, So for whatever reason, I assume girls and women are just not buying these products in significant numbers.

Scottish here and not so much white as pale blue...

I agree with the OP that white underwear really stands out and it seems absurd that brown and black girls can't easily find 'flesh-coloured' underwear: sounds like a good campaign!

Next, ASDA, Sainsburys, M&S, New Look all did bras in a variety of "natural" shades when I was looking for first bras for DD a few years ago.

It doesn't matter if your skin is white, white bras are often visible under white shirts. I'm white and I wear nude bras under white tops.

Huh? Surely the point is that a darker brown bra will show up less on the OP's daughter than a white or beige bra. Hence why many white women wear ' skin tone ' or ' nude' underwear instead of white. All OP is asked for is the equivalent for darker skinned women.

What colour is nude?

Have you tried Pink, OP? Pink as in the shop, not the colour! I too have a DD with a tiny rib cage and when she was younger that was the only shop where I could find a good range that would fit her. Not cheap though.

I called it nude because it matches my skin tone the actual color is called Cafe.

Heck, I'm white with a bit of a tan and I'd never dream of wearing a white bra and a white shirt! It's extremely obvious I agree. Good luck with your search

Here's a weird tip: I once read that you can't see red underwear under white. I've never tested that.

I'd have a look in primark. DD has a variety of crop top colours from there.

Otherwise Asda, H&M, peacocks all sell a range of skin tone camis.

I was going to say the same suggestions, but to be honest the best solution for any skin tone is to buy shirts that aren't transparent.

Then the child is free to wear any colour under wear they want to. What 10 year old wants to wear skin toned underwear.

I'm not in the UK, but Boody sell underwear in many different shades of skin colour here.

As do I. White skin is not actually white and people who wear white underwear under white clothing wear it because of the colour of the clothing, not the colour of their skin.

Maybe try pink or grey if you can't find brown?

I had the reverse problem at school, when Mother finally let me wear a bra (she was of the opinion that as she did not need one and certainly hadn't at my age, I would not either and it took a letter home from school to make it clear that at a D cup at 12, I bloody did!)... she gave me some awful second hand crap, in various fairly dark colours.

These shone through the awful practically see through polyester mix shirts like a bloody beacon.

Cotton shirts were the answer, denser weave, no see through effect, wore what I liked under it.

It is shit that you're struggling to find a skin tone crop top/bra for her, but that is always the way with anything the manufacturers consider a 'niche' market and the only way forward is to make it clearer that it isn't a niche market!

The other option and tbh, I wouldn't fancy it - is to dye white ones to the colour you want, but you'll need to know the fabric and use a dye appropriate to it, synthetic fabrics will likely need an acid dye and heat (standing over a pot of bras, as it bubbles away on the stove, fun.. ugh).

I've tried and it doesn't work

Its demand led. Shops are there to make profit. Its very difficult to match varying darker skin tones and you don't make a lot of profit selling small quantities of 10 different shades.

Most white girls don't attempt to match flesh tones with underwear, because there's a huge range from very pale skin to olive tones. Its the norm to just wear white under white school uniform. No one cares if it shows slightly.

I’ve never heard of matching a bra colour to your skin tone. I thought it was generally white bra under white top. I’ve never bought a skin colour (my tone) bra and don’t think I would want to.