[Avodah] Is Body Paint Halakhically Clothing?

[Michael Makovi]

Air New Zealand's new safety video features - aside from some
delightfully light-hearted and endearing humor - the flight attendants
and pilot wearing nothing but body paint. (Their body parts are
covered by deft placement of clipboards and skillful camera work.)

Off-list, R' Ken Bloom asked, "Halachically, are you still watching
erva if it's painted like clothes?"

I replied:
> I'd imagine that halakhically, the principle isn't whether one
> is wearing clothing per se, but rather, whether another can see
> whatever's supposed to be covered. In this case, the
> private parts are covered by clipboards, seats, and camera angles,
> while the color and texture of the skin is covered by paint. On the
> other hand, if someone wore
> transparent clothing, such as plastic wrap, this would not be halakhically covered.
>
> But even if I'm wrong in the above - i.e., even if the principle is
> (contrary to my above argument) one of actual clothing, rather than
> (as I argued) the inability to see what should not
> be seen - nevertheless, I'm pretty sure that body paint would qualify
> as a hatzitzah for the mikvah; if so, then it must also qualify as clothing,
> along with plastic wrap.
>
> In other words: body paint, whichever way you cut it, appears to suffice.
> The only nafka mina I see is with plastic wrap.

(Watching the video, I never got the feeling that I was seeing
anything I shouldn't be. I've gotten more hirhur from people wearing
clothing, than I did from these body-painted individuals. The paint,
plus the skillfully placed obstructions and deft camera work, resulted
in there being less to see on these people than there to see on many
people on the streets.)

But I haven't studied Hilchot Bigdei Tzivei haGuf in the Shulhan Arukh
yet, so I'm not sure. Any ideas?

Mikha'el Makovi