Why and how did tanning become a thing?

[-]

Duck_Diddler@reddit

I would say longer than Americans have been around bro.

Why? I do it safely for like 20 minutes a day, and I find it good for my health

[-]

hokiegirl759397@reddit

That's right, get your Vitamin D for free

[-]

When international air travel was invented, the rich could afford to travel to exotic locations for short vacations. They'd come back with a tan, and that became a status symbol for someone wealthy and with a lot of leisure time. It then spread to the general population, which is why tan skin is fashionable and tanning salons exist.

[-]

Cinisajoy2@reddit

Before my time and I was born in the 60s.

[-]

penguin_0618@reddit

My SIL tans (like in a tanning bed) and she looks stunning. She’s on a vacation on some island right now. My husband keeps showing me what she’s posting and she looks like a model. It’s too bad tanning will give her premature wrinkles. I was actually shocked when my husband told me she tans, because premature wrinkles seem like something she’d try to avoid.

[-]

PopcornyColonel@reddit

Some people only live for the present.

[-]

goblin_hipster@reddit

I heard that it became stylish after Coco Chanel accidentally got herself tanned by falling asleep on a yacht, back in the '20s or so.

[-]

JimBones31@reddit

Leatherwork was invented several thousand years ago to make clothing by dehydrating leather and oiling it.

[-]

WildlifePolicyChick@reddit

Look up Brigitte Bardot.

[-]

TsundereLoliDragon@reddit

People think it looks nice.

[-]

Ok_Concentrate4461@reddit

Yeah, but that’s what OP is asking. The things that people look nice change over time and due to cultural circumstances.

[-]

TsundereLoliDragon@reddit

Then he should ask the French.

[-]

Responsible-Care-388@reddit

Certain celebrities popularized it, and combined with more Americans wanting to go on vacation to tropical areas, it became a popular way to show off wealth and the fact that “sun kissed” skin looks nice and (when you’re younger) reduces appearances of skin imperfections.

Honestly though these days it’s become less fashionable with young people. I think part of it is awareness of health risks like cancer, and the fact that pop culture for young people seems to prioritize actors/singers who are specifically pale. The rise in Asian pop culture and stuff like Korean cosmetics emphasize pale skin a lot more compared to years before.

[-]

artsyfartsyMinion@reddit

Tanning became popular in the 1920s, shifting from a sign of working-class labor to a symbol of luxury, health, and leisure. Primarily popularized by Coco Chanel in 1923 after a sun-kissed vacation in the French Riviera, the trend was driven by the rise of "leisure class" travel, changing beauty ideals, and the health-focused post-Industrial Revolution era.

Prior to this shift, paleness was a signifier of wealth because it showed one did not have to work outdoors. The shift in the 1920s redefined this to mean that the rich could afford to travel to sunny destinations, making the tan a fashion accessory.

The invention of the bikini in 1946 accelerated the trend toward, and acceptance of, exposed, tanned skin.

[-]

DOMSdeluise@reddit

I believe leather tanning was invented before the historical era, so our knowledge of why and how it became a thing is very limited. I am sure that archaeological evidence can point us to some approximate period of when it began, however.

[-]

Maurice_Foot@reddit

In the US, after WWII, as majority of jobs became indoor non-agricultural work, folks who could afford to go on vacation, especially during the winer months, would come back tan. It became a status thing to show off that you had time and money for leisure while others had to work.

[-]

Braith117@reddit

I vaguely remember it becoming a thing for leisure in the 1950's after aome celebrity went on a boating trip to the Riviera and specifically set out to tan while there, and that was when the trend caught on as not just something people who worked outside had.

[-]

ChilindriPizza@reddit

Coco Chanel popularized it.

Or are you asking about how did tanning beds and parlors become popular specifically?

[-]

NakDisNut@reddit

My friend from Portugal has been tanning her whole life. I don't think Americans can claim invention here.

[-]

OneNerdyLesbian@reddit

The story I've always heard is that it became popular when rich people starting going on international vacations to hot places and coming back home with tans. Everyone started wanting to imitate them.

I'm pretty sure this was also something that was happening in Europe around the same time it was in the US though.

[-]