National Nude Day: 20 Black Queens Who Rocked 'The Naked Dress' Trend

A black-and-white portrait of a woman wearing elaborate jewelry and a revealing costume, contrasted with a modern image of a woman in a sparkling gold dress posing on a red carpet.

In case you didn’t know, today (July 14) is National Nude Day. While it doesn’t give us a 24-hour pass to break the law by committing acts of public lewdness — save the skin show for the showers! — it does give us the agency to be proud of the skin we’re in and look onto our bare bodies with the utmost confidence.

One way we’ve seen that happening in recent times is with the popular “naked dress” trend that’s become a staple in the fashion world for some time now. The latest example was with Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, who rocked a sheer number to last week’s world premiere of her new film, The Odyssey, proving with zero doubt that she is in fact suitable to play the most beautiful woman in the world.

The naked dress trend has been a topic of much discussion when it comes to conversations about body image, particularly as it relates to empowerment and cultural expectations of the female figure. You have one side that takes pride in embracing diverse body types through high fashion and making women feel at home in their natural state. Others have argued that it’s nothing more than a ploy to oversexualize the female body on display for the entertainment of others. However, as long as the body in question is in full control of what and how it’s being presented, we say let it all hang out.

Celebrities of course add an extra emphasis to the influence of it all, working in tandem with designers to tell a style story through not just the nude body but also by the specific textiles incorporated, construction techniques in tailoring and styling as it pertains to accessories. Makeup, shoes, hairstyling and jewelry do a greater job at standing out against sheer overlays, and layering does the trick in terms of preventing the most private areas from being overexposed.

Black women, known to be influential figures whether acknowledged or not, have not only helped pioneer the trend but in many cases did it the most justice. We rounded up a list of the best in order to get our point across.

Ring in National Nude Day in the most safe-for-work way possible by taking a peak below at 20 Black divas who put it out there for all to see with tasteful takes on the popular naked dress trend:

National Nude Day: Black Queens Who Rocked 'The Naked Dress'