A couple hundred years ago being pale was a sign of affluence, since it meant you didn’t have to work outside in the fields. Somewhere halfway last century it flipped around. It became an indication that you could afford vacation to places where you could tan, especially in winter times. Some people still care about shit like that.
IIUC, it was around the time the artistic set (F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald, et al) started to be written about & photographed sunbathing, playing outdoor sports, & generally enjoying themselves around Antibes.
Suddenly the world wanted a piece of that luxury, or at least wanted to look like they’d had a piece of it.
In addition to being tanned, the bright young things of the French Riviera were fit and lean. So this, too, became fashionable. In previous centuries, fat was instead the sign of wealth.
A couple hundred years ago being pale was a sign of affluence, since it meant you didn’t have to work outside in the fields. Somewhere halfway last century it flipped around. It became an indication that you could afford vacation to places where you could tan, especially in winter times. Some people still care about shit like that.
Also matters which country you’re in, since many places have the exact opposite preference.
True, most of Asia and south America still want to be pale
IIUC, it was around the time the artistic set (F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald, et al) started to be written about & photographed sunbathing, playing outdoor sports, & generally enjoying themselves around Antibes.
Suddenly the world wanted a piece of that luxury, or at least wanted to look like they’d had a piece of it.
In addition to being tanned, the bright young things of the French Riviera were fit and lean. So this, too, became fashionable. In previous centuries, fat was instead the sign of wealth.