The short history of tanning
From the pale and diaphanous complexion of young women in the 19th century to the caramel skin of models in the 1960s, the ideal of beauty has evolved. Over the centuries and fashions, tanning was decried then acclaimed, until an awareness of the dangers of the sun reshuffled the cards once again. A look back at the history of tanning through time, from Renoir's bathers to... Gisèle Bunchen.
When paleness was fashionable
Just walk around a museum and look at the paintings of Rubens or Poussin, and later Renoir and Manet: the women's skin is pale, almost transparent. An ideal of beauty that can also be found in literature, particularly in the 19th century, which produced so many heroines with an almost sickly paleness, from Emma Bovary to Marguerite Gauthier.
A time when a woman, to be beautiful, had to have a very light complexion and dark hair. Then we discover with the hygienist movement that was born at the dawn of the 20th century the benefits of the sun. It was then praised for its therapeutic virtues, but certainly not aesthetic ones.
Tuberculosis and anemia are sent to take what were called “light baths”, but not too much! At the time, tanning was the preserve of the working classes and workers. The aristocracy, on the other hand, had to have a white complexion! It was not until the 1920s that the idea of a tanned complexion slowly made its way. And who do we owe it to? Coco Chanel!
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From Coco to Bardot: tanning for everyone
Legend has it that Coco Chanel, while on holiday in Deauville, accidentally got sunburned. That was all it took for those around her to rave about her subtly tanned complexion! But it was in the mid-1930s that the real turning point took place. With the Popular Front came paid holidays, the French discovered the pleasure of holidays in the sun, bodies got naked and minds were freed.
At the same time, in 1935, Eugène Schueller created the Ambre Solaire line, the first range of products designed to protect the skin from the sun! However, it would take until after the Second World War and the 1950s and 1960s for tanning to become a real fashion. From Brigitte Bardot and her sublime tanned body in Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman to Ursala Andress, statuesque in James Bond against Dr. No, actresses set the tone! A few years later, in Plein Soleil by René Clément, Romy Schneider and Alain Delon made tanning a weapon of mass seduction.
From the 70s to the 90s: I tan therefore I am
These two decades were also, let's be clear, the era of big anything goes! It was the sea, sex and sun era of excessive tanning. You had to tan more and more, faster and faster. Women covered their bodies in milking grease, oils of all kinds, and even self-tanner. Being (very) tanned became chic and trendy, the most popular models had caramel-colored skin and all women wanted to look like them. However, little by little, we began to hear about the harmful effects of the sun, studies multiplied and the number of skin cancers linked to inconsiderate exposure exploded.
When the sun becomes a danger
Previously considered an ally, the sun has suddenly become a threat. The sunscreen market is growing at breakneck speed and laboratories and major cosmetic brands are competing in inventiveness to offer ever more effective products (and also, it must be admitted, ever more chemical). At the same time, brands are working to invent alternative solutions, like Canopea and its anti-UV swimsuits for children, girls, boys, babies (and now women!) made from a fabric created from Econyl, a 100% recycled fiber whose mesh is particularly effective in protecting the skin from the sun.
We now know that the sun is full of benefits for our health. In particular, it helps to synthesize vitamin D and prevent rickets and osteoporosis. We need it to feel good, it is a real morale booster! But the public is now fully aware of its harmful effects on health and few stars or magazines today promote an outrageous tan. On the contrary, distrust is the order of the day and awareness is increasingly early. Fashion is such that we can nevertheless wonder if one day the Cindy Crawford version of the 90s could not make a resounding comeback...
How to protect our children from the sun in style with anti-UV swimsuits for babies, girls and boys, it's here
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