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July 1, 2011That IS the question.
At least it is today.
A couple of days of sunshine have meant I’ve seen that very question being discussed around the interweb by vintage ladies everywhere. Miss Matilda wrote a couple of posts with some lovely photographs of ladies in the 1930s and 40s sporting sun tans. So why do vintage loving ladies these days go to such lengths to stay pale and interesting?
Lets have a little history lesson.
Prior to the 20th Century anyone who could stayed as far out of the sun as possible. Having a sun tan meant you probably worked out doors a lot, and were therefore probably poor. Smart ladies would apply lead based products to their skin to look even whiter (covering yourself in lead being, obviously, far more healthy than a sun tan.) they wore gloves and carried parasols to protect their delicate doll like pallor.
Then, in the late 19th and early 20th century, research started to indicate that sun light could have health giving effects. In 1903 Niels Finsen won a Nobel Prize for his “Finsen Light Therapy” using artificial sunlight, and Dr Auguste Rollier opened the first “sun clinic” in the Swiss Alps. Both of these therapies were designed to cure infectious skin diseases.
In the 1920s and 30s lower class work increasingly became indoor work, in factories and mines, and the upper classes increasingly began to take exotic overseas holidays. Tanned skin started to become a sign of prosperity, and, so the story goes, when Coco Chanel accidentally got sunburnt whilst on holiday on a yacht the look really took off. Suddenly a tan signified “sporty”, “fashionable” and “rich”.
The fact is, that in the 1930s and 40s a sun tan was most definitely a desirable look. Magazines carried advice on tanning and a variety of products were available to sooth sun burn and help you get a deeper tan. By the 50s and 60s it was a positive art form with women basting themselves in oil and using reflective screens to obtain a deep, even tan.
Sooooo, why do today’s retro ladies shun the sun?
Of course, we all know now that too much sun is BAD for your skin, but there are a huge number of safe, effective and easy to use self tanning products on the market these days, most of which won’t turn you orange if used sparingly.
My thoughts are that it creates a point of difference. Choosing a vintage look for many people is about more than just liking those clothes. You might not think about it in these terms, but somewhere in there it’s often about a rejection of mainstream popular culture. A rejection of the “look” that in it’s worst excesses gives us this:
Vintage ladies also often come to the style from a background of teenage dabblings in sub cultures like Goth and Indie, and they therefore arrive with a preference for paler skin already programmed in.
Like the ubiquitous red lipstick and black eyeliner, pale skin is a signifier. Human beings love to belong to a “tribe” they want to connect with other human beings with similar views that will reinforce their own, and to identify those people we use out outward appearance. Pale skin, red lips and elaborate hair have become those signifiers of a “vintage” outlook on life and style. Even in a perfectly business like pencil skirt and jumper those things can be used to set yourself apart.
Of course, this lady probably has something to do with it too. As the worlds most famous modern burlesque performer and pin up her look has become inextricably linked with vintage style.
Personally, I lean towards a *light* tan in Summer. I often use a product with a hint of self tan to take some of the whiteness off my skin, what I don’t like are tan lines, and avoiding those often leads to avoiding a tan completely! To keep your skin smooth, glowing and free from patchy tan lines check out my Top Tips for Perfect Summer Skin.
What are YOUR thoughts?
Do you like to stay as pale and interesting as humanly possible? Do you deliberately cultivate a tan? Or do you just go with the flow and make no effort either way?
44 Comments
I don’t go out of my way not to tan but would never sit out in the sun with the deliberate intention of getting one. Saying that I did go on my first beachy holiday in early May and did spend a couple of days by the pool. Got a tiny tan but didn’t really like it. Much prefer to be pale.
I go with the flow! I’m not a fan of the pale and interesting look unless of course it’s natural, I don’t tan easily at all, in fact a smattering of freckles – yes still at 44 – and a slight latte colouring is as dark as I get, though it not cos I’m trying to retain some kind of ‘vintage’ look it’s just who I am. My OH on the other hand has very latin skin and can get quite dark, does it make him look less ‘vintage’ nope it doesn’t, he just looks more like Ricky Ricardo which in my opinion is not a bad thing!
I don’t lean either way. I’ll protect my skin and if I get a bit of colour whilst going about my normal life then that’s fine.
hehe – my OH is Brazilian and tans well – when he dresses vintage he is always told he looks like a South American spy/drugs baron. I think is cute but it makes him shy.
I cannot tan. It is a sad, sad fact. I go red and then white again. It is boring and the source of much frustration when I come from a family that just has to look at a picture of the sun and they go a lush olive colour.
So I fake it – but only on my arms and declotage. I have tried fake baking my legs – and it ends up a wishy washy mess – despite trying heaps of products, exfoliating.. blah blah..
I am not fussed either way with regards to the “vintage-ness” of pale skin or tanned. I do not strive for one camp or t’other. I go with what looks best for me 🙂
Ah, I just wrote about this – with the exact same title! (Great minds, eh?!)
I don’t tan because I find sunbathing really dull, and I just don’t think I look my best with a tan. I dye my hair black and so I love to keep my skin as pale as I can to play up the contrast – a bit like Dita! I think it’s great that women like her, along with Nicola Roberts, Christina Hendricks and others, are flying the flag for pale ladies!
We hail from Denmark on my mother’s side, and whilst I dye my hair black, I am a very fair skinned blonde. I have never been able to tan. Huzzah for pale and interesting.
Yes, I think Dita has a lot to do with it. Before she came along, I don’t think people into vintage stuff (not that it was called that back then) were that fussed about skin tone.
It does worry me a little that the obsession with pallor is a bit disadvantageous for people who tan easily (like me) or who aren’t Caucasian, as I’ve seen some hurt caused on a forum once (which shall remain nameless) where a woman with Indian ancestry said she felt sometimes that the pallor obsession made her feel as though she “couldn’t do vintage”. And I think that’s a terrible shame. Which isn’t to say that people shouldn’t feel happy with their pale skin if that’s what they were born with, but it’s important not to make people feel excluded, even accidentally.
That’s something I have wondered about too. The pale = fashionable fad was at a time when, let’s be blunt, many people were more casually racist and -for example- people of Asian, African or mixed origin would be expected do all they could to appear ‘white’ if they wanted to ‘get ahead’ (if they were lucky enough to get the chance and not live somewhere segregated). So when reviving that look it’s really important not to (accidentally) revive memories of the unsavoury side of it.
This is very true. There’s a lot of skin bleaching still going on – in places like India, Japan and China. And of course eyelid surgery in countries like Japan, China and South Korea because people want to “look European”. I’m certainly not saying that people who want to preserve their pallor are terrible racists, but I *do* think it has the potential in some quarters to reinforce the idea of northern European = pale, or vintage = pale, which just seems a bit bizarre. I tan very easily and when people go on about “looking pale for that vintage look”, it kind of pees me off. I quite like my natural tan, and it comes from walking 6 miles a day. It doesn’t make “less vintage”! Utter codswallop.
I prefer a light tan, too. I have strange skin as a result of some veery mixed heritage (3 continents of origin) – I look as pale and Celtic as they come but don’t actually burn that easily! Whereas my dark olive-skinned cousins do. But nor do I tan fast either. Weird!
My product of choice for no-sun tanning is Palmers Cocoa Butter gradual tan- it smells nicer than many and because it is gradual there is NO risk of becoming a tangerine dream, I just miss a day if I think that’s happening.
I read this with interest – I’ve shunned the sun since my early teens (before I even discovered you could be a bit vintage) as I just don’t like sunbathing and so I came to embrace my celtic paleness.
Then when I did discover the vintage scene – and more significantly tattoos! – I became a bit obsessive about staying out of the sun – and I mean, parasols and cardigans if I have to go out and staying in wherever possible. However I’m now a bit concerned about vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis, plus I read an article just yesterday about 3 hours of sun a day reducing the risk of breast cancer so I’m getting a bit concerned!
I don’t want to tan at all, I want to protect my tattoos and worst of all, I HATE suntan lotion…it’s always greasy and sticky (no matter what the bottle claims) and it brings me out in spots across my chest. What’s a girl to do???!
Spray on clear suncreams, I find, are the least sticky. Less so even than ‘sensitive’ ones. But it depends what factor you need as most only go to 20.
I don’t try to tan, partly from having been a goth for a couple of decades and partly because I tan a nasty shade of yellow (mixed ancestry; if I’d inherited my dad’s naturally tanned-looking skin I’d be pleased as punch). There’s nothing wrong with a tan and vintage, imo. Not only was it fashionable at some times, nowadays it’s a matter of personal choice!
Tan lines, though – just say NO. I don’t recall seeing photos of any of the great glamourpusses with honking great stripes of white above the bodices of their evening dresses.
I think we all need a little sinshine as it keeps the skin healthy. As to whether we should tan or not as a mixed ethnicity I am not naturally pale. I personally do not like the way some people think that you have to be pale to have the perfect vintage look, or that just to be a chav you have to have orange skin. However everyone’s perception of beauty is different albiet it being influenced my magazines and the media. I would rather people concentrate on the dangers of such beauty extremes, like you pointed out women used to use lead based products. I read a report saying that the increased use of strong sun factors actually prohibits the body making vitamin d which is essential for healthy bones leading to a rise in ailments cuased by a lack of vitamin d and also of course there is the whole tan bed/cancer link issue.
I think it’s quite similar to the skinny v’s curvy debate, some say one is better than the other whereas the person who is one or the other has no real say in the debate and can be quite offended as to what is deemed right or wrong but that’s just me opening up a different can of worms (sorry I got a bit carried away).
The last three summers, I have maintained a pasty complexion by working inside 40 hours a week and not having an outdoors-y social life. This summer, however, I’m spending much more time outside and have decided not to fight the tanning process that much. I do wear sunscreen etc but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll be much darker this fall. (Which is fine since I’ll still look positively pasty next to the gaggle of undergraduates who spent the summer in tanning beds.)
I’m no vintage lady but I love Dita’s look and she has made me embrace my pale skin. I’m sort of the English rose type, that having lived in Spain since her childhood got laughed at for being pale as milk. I still get it. When I was a teenager I tried to blend in by attempting a tan, but hardly anyone noticed as I only got a tad golden. Now, older and wiser I have embraced my pale skin and while I like to get some vitamin D and colour my shoulders and legs a little, I normally stay out of the sun. I also do it to keep my skin as young looking as I can, so there’s some vanity there too 🙂
As I said in my own blog I prefer pale, but have no axe to grind in terms of faking it (I love faking just about everything). But to be pale and burn and singe your skin… not at all bohemian. xx
I prefer not to tan because the sun ages my skin. I did enough damage when I was younger. Self tanners never look right and with dark hair, it is more striking to be pale with blue eyes and dark hair than to sport a tan.
I definitely agree with your comment about modern girls arriving at vintage via a subculture such as goth as those subcultures are often, in part, a reaction against the norm (aptly illustrated by your picture of that ludicrously orange monstrosity above). I still have a touch of the goth about me and I do prefer pale, milky white porcelain skin due to the poetic and dramatic nature of it, however, I don’t mind a healthy glow in the summer either.
I wear 30 sunblock all summer, I used to wear 60 but it left me with absolutely zero cover and I like a tiny hint of tan after months outside. My face is always covered by a big hat and sunblock.
I don’t attempt to tan. If I tan from gardening or doing things outside, that is okay, but it isn’t something I seek out. I find laying out in the sun dull and need to be doing something. I can’t really do the super pale look either. I’m of slightly Hispanic heritage (1/8th). My older sister got the pale skin, blue eyes, and quite pale skin. I, on the other hand, am a strange combination of slightly tan skin tone, but with dark red (auburn) hair and eyes that match my hair color. Even in the dead of winter, I never get very pale, or at least not compared to my friends of northern European or Irish heritage. I am that rare creature, a natural red-head that tans easily.
My mother (1/4 Hispanic), tans even easier than I do but studiously avoids the sun. She will wear loose long sleeves that cover her from neck to over the wrist. Everywhere else gets 50+ sunblock. I must say, her avoidance of the sun has helped her out because most people would peg her age at somewhere in her 50’s when she is actually 70 years old.
I think a natural healthy glow will do for me, I use factor 30/50 cause I burn easily, and I also find lying on a sunbed the most boring thing in the world, (apart from football that is) I’ve used a few fake-it products over the years but can’t really be bothered with it all. X
Having Gaelic and Mediterannean blood I can go either way with ease. For three years I’ve kept as pale as I can and have had mixed views on it, with some spiteful comments thrown in there too. It’s not that I’m giving into them, but this summer I have decided to leave the parasol at home and bare my skin – safely, of course – to the sun. A healthy glow is my aim – like the sort you get from a week sat in a deck chair on an English beach – not the Oompa-Loompa-Leather look!
I’m kinda fond of the old Seventies porno-tan line look, but I’ll never achieve it because I burn. I tan deeply if I burn and keep going, but as someone smothered in moles…it’s dangerous. I hate the fact that I’m constantly checking my moles and that I have to spend any time in the sun slathered in factor 50.
But rather than feeling miserable about it, I choose to embrace my culture. I’m proud of my naturally pale skin, in the same way that a black, asian, hispanic person is proud (quite rightly) of theirs. Fashion doesn’t come into it, it’s just me. When the fashion is for dark hair/small boobs/weird eyes, I’m in fashion. Yuck to that! 😉
I wouldn’t be traumatised if I suddenly tanned very deeply, and I like it when I get a healthy glow from a bit of walking around, but I have no intention of seeking that out by frazzling myself or staining my bedsheets in fake tan. The most you’ll get out of me is a temporary ‘glow’ in a bottle, just to take the edge off my glaring legs…
Well you know, some of us retro-loving ladies – like myself – are actually black, which is something people tend to forget. So for us “tan vs. no-tan” is a bit of a non-issue lol
I’m yet to find a place with info about the perfect retro make-up look for black women… Any advice warmly welcome! 🙂
Are there any vintage interviews with stars like Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge anywhere online? They might talk a little about their makeup regimes there. I’m guessing mainstream makeup companies didn’t cater for darker skins decades ago as far as foundations, blush etc. went so the options might have been limited even for Hollywood stars like those, though.
Thanks a million! I’ll look for it!
x
Have you had a look at Lauren Rennells book on vintage hair and make up? I think she makes reference to Billie Holliday (did I spell her name right?) and her make up style for stage performances.
I don’t really agree with the idea that’s been thrown out there that people who preserve their pale skin are or were racist, or are encouraging racism- even the hint at it.
I’m naturally pale and I do not tan, and I don’t feel like I should have to ruin my skin by forcing it to.
As I currently study beauty there is a riddiculous ammount of pressure from both the students and teachers to wear fake tan. I don’t- which makes them all comment on how pale I am, how can I feel pretty, they could never feel pretty without fake tan, etc etc etc.
The way I see it is this is how I look,it’s who I am- it’s nothing to do with social pressure or Dita Von Teese, I just can’t possibly fathom why I should buy a £50 bottle of fake bake or St Tropez in order to effectively change the colour of my skin- not unlike ladies using skin bleaching creams. I personally think both are wrong and that I shouldn’t feel abnormal for not doing it. But that’s just me I guess.
I don’t think racism has much to do with it either these days, but there is indeed a political aspect that emerges when certain skin hues are promoted as being more “authentic” than others.
Personally, I think everyone should embrace whatever skin colour they have, as they’re all beautiful in their own way. If you have pale skin you shouldn’t feel the pressure to get a tan, and vice versa. Only do it if you feel like it and it’s not going to hurt your skin.
I just wrote about this for Finishing School. Well, actually, I wrote it about a year ago but I just published it today. I really believe that purposefully sunbathing for a tan is just silly and not worth the health risks and really and truely those that tan a lot look dreadful. As for the ladies with orange skin – yuk! in my opinion pale is definitely more attractive.
I used to be pale, super pale, but since leaving out here and despite plastering myself in sunscreen and never ever sunbathing I have got a serious tan going on. I can well imagine that some people, no matter how hard they try will just never achieve the perfectly pale look of the gorgeous Dita.
People ought to just stay safe and not worry about what colour their skin is. L-x-
I am ridiculously pale and have been my whole life. I can’t tan, I just go an embarrassing lobster colour. I have received countless negative comments in my life about how unhealthy and ill I look. I am relieved that being a vintage girl for over 10 years has allowed me an excuse almost to not feel like a freak amongst the Ronsealed masses. In the real world, those of us who shun sun beds and fake tan are very much an oddity and are still treated as such by “normal” people. Having said that, I don’t think vintage is any way any exclusive club for us pale-as-death types or inaccessible to those of other skin colours at all and nor should it be perceived as such.
I have never tanned well I am either bright red or patchy. So now I stay in the shade and use high factor sun screen. I would love to have a natural golden tan but its not going to happen so I stay pale. I don’t use fake tans because I don’t like the results I get mainly rather streaky.
I think you are right, that being pale, even if it was fashionable back then, is a way to look different from “normal” fashion.
Personally I think that a light glow is quite becoming, but for myself I have opted for pale since long before I got interested in a retro look. I just don’t tan, so why bother. And it is paying off, after staying away from the sun for 20 years I have nothing to show my age but some faint crowsparks around my eyes- and I quite like those. 🙂
To Tan or Not to Tan? – Retro Chick http://t.co/kI8DANfd9g
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Most likely depend on ethnicity of wearer, perhaps?
Nope, my foundation is porcelain, winter or summer, I just dont tan! But I dont mind 🙂
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Well yes, maybe ethnicity and vintage is another issue.
I only ever write from my perspective. I can’t claim to know anyone else’s experience of anything.
It probably has to do with available representations in pop culture. With a few notable exceptions such as Lena Horne, very few vintage icons are women of color or even have vaguely darker shades of skin. Heck, even women who would have had olive toned skin–Sophia Loren (Italian) and Merle Oberon (part Indian–her mother was Maori via Ceylon (Sri Lanka) passed as white)–we’re considered “exotic”.
I find that anyone I meet who is into a vintage style tuts at people who tan themselves & still want to dress vintage but I just look better with a little tan (fake) to my skin! I would love to be pretty pale (just to save the hassle of self tan ) but I’m just not and really I don’t think it matters everyone should adapt a style to their own and not follow. x