The other day, I opened my drawer and realized all of my stockings were the same—various shades of coffee brown. One odd pair was even pigeon gray. Clearly, it was time to get a new pair in a more neutral tone.
So I went out to buy what I thought would be a simple pair of stockings in a natural, skin-like color. I expected labels like “natural beige” or “skin color.”
But instead, what I found on the shelves was: Apricot.
🟠 Apricot? Since when is that a stocking color?
I stood there, package in hand, wondering whether apricot was just the new name for what we used to call “skin-tone.”
Since I don’t like apricots much, I couldn’t clearly remember what the fruit even looked like color-wise.
Would it match my legs, or make me look like I was cosplaying a fruit?
That moment made me realize: the language we use for color has changed—and it carries more meaning than we often think.
🔎 Why product labels have changed
In recent years, many brands across beauty, fashion, and packaging have moved away from vague or biased terms like “flesh” or “skin-tone.” These labels often only referred to fair or light skin, leaving many people out.
To create more inclusive experiences, brands now use:
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More descriptive words like: Beige, Mocha, Cocoa, Sand, Caramel
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Or softer metaphors like: Peach, Apricot, Honey
It showed the industry—and consumers—that “neutral” isn’t one fixed color, and helped redefine how brands talk about skin.
🧵 Brand Language: Korea vs. the U.S.
In Korea, the term 살색 (“flesh color”) was officially changed to 살구색 (“apricot”) in 2002 by the Korean Standards Association to reflect inclusivity.
Yet in everyday conversation, the older term still persists without much thought.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Crayola changed its crayon name from "flesh" to "peach" during the Civil Rights Movement in 1962.
Today, cosmetic and fashion industries use a broad range of terms like:
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Caramel, Mocha, Sand, Almond, Cocoa, Espresso
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or softer ones like Peach, Honey, Rosewood
These terminology changes reflect growing awareness that no single shade can represent everyone’s “natural” color.
🍑 But fruit names aren’t perfect either
Fruits aren’t fixed in color—ripeness changes everything.
“Apricot” could mean pale yellow, warm orange, or peach-pink, depending on the brand or lighting.
Even the trendy term “watermelon” leaves room for confusion: do we mean the red inside or the dark green outside?
These names may be softer and less offensive, but they’re not always clear.
🎨 Final Thoughts
All I wanted was a basic pair of neutral stockings.
But I ended up thinking about how much words matter—even on small product labels.
Color is not just visual. It’s cultural, emotional, and sometimes political.
💬 Have you ever been confused by color names?
Leave a comment if you’ve come across unusual or misleading labels—I’d love to know.
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