Just in time for winter, The Times' writer Ruby Warrington has declared fake tans tacky:
As we segue into autumn/ winter 2008, a season in which goth and grunge are the buzz words -- and the threat of recession is turning our thoughts to more more puritanical beauty routines -- my "tan" is beginning to look as outmoded as last season's It bag. And while the pursuit of the perfect tan gets even more dizzyingly absurd -- the latest craze being the illegal "tan in a needle" Melanotan, an injectible hormone purchased over the internet that encourages a "natural" tone -- I think the time has come for me put down the fake bake and rediscover my inner pallor.
....Further moral support comes from Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York department store and the author of Eccentric Glamour, a guide to "creating an insanely more fabulous you". According to Doonan, "every trend has a sell-by date, and the fake tan thing definitely expired this year. What once looked healthy and lush now looks cheesy and has baaad connotations". Such as? "Well, I associate a tanned look with skin cancer," he says, pulling no punches. "But, really, it's the fake thing. Centuries ago, women used powdered lead to whiten their faces. It made them ill and is just as loony as hosing yourself with tangerine fake tan."
We couldn't agree more. In fact, blogger (and Living section editor) Verena von Pfetten did earlier in the year in an aptly titled post "Tan Is The New Tacky," taking the argument a few steps past the fashion trend:
Shades of tan (or the lack thereof) are the new class dividers. Classism exists, people, and we've got the tan lines to prove it. Remember way back when Queen Victoria was still around, and tans were the ultimate faux pas? A tan was a dead call-out that instead of lounging on sedans and munching on puff pastries, you'd been out working the fields all day, you pauper, you. The manor-born even went so far as to douse themselves in white powder and paint little blue veins on their foreheads to prove just how translucent they were.
So yeah, while I'm not advocating a return to the feudal system, I think we have to open our eyes to the fact that tans have once again become a sign of a lower class. The 80's are over, and the well-oiled tan has been relegated to Staten Island, while conversely, nothing says Upper East Side lady-who-lunches more than a smooth, white, and almost plasticine forehead. Now, that said, I've got nothing against Staten Island, nor do I have a particular affinity for UESiders, but considering that people in the US spent over 14 billion dollars on cosmetic surgery in 2006, it would seem that the over-arching trend in beauty is to look good. And to look good is to look younger. And I don't think I have to be a doctor to tell you that tanning ain't doing nothing for your complexion.
Beyond a sign of wealth, paleness is held in high regard within circles of the hipsterdom's intellectual elite. Have you ever seen a tanned hipster? I thought not. (And if your answer was yes, I'll bet you a million dollars that they just got back from writing grants in Burma, or something, so there. Point: Me.)