Throughout history, since the time when people began to form societies, the people within those
societies have had an effect on one another. As humans we naturally compare the circumstances of our lives against the circumstances of
those around us. The first prehistoric man to devise the means of killing and skinning an animal and keeping its fur for warmth in the
winter showed courage and skill. He inspired admiration and envy in those around him. Soon enough, everyone was wearing animal skins for
protection from the elements so they could be like him.
This is in essence how trends form even today. Craftspeople and designers work to create their best,
inspiring admiration in some of the people around them who then want to purchase the creations, or envy in other craftspeople and
designers who want to create something better to garner their own admirers. The admirers, in turn, display the creations they have
acquired and the people around them are inspired to feelings of admiration, which causes them to seek to possess a similar creation, or
envy causing them to search for something better to garner more admiration.
Admiration, envy and disdain are responsible for all human drive for possessions, fashion, body image,
etc. But within the everlasting spin of admiration and envy, patterns are present. People who themselves possess attributes that are
admired or envied can inspire admiration and envy for previously unnoted items. The attributes that are admired or disdained, as well as
the circumstances of the people who possess them, change through the years.
As our societies developed, we began to develop dichotomy within the circumstances of those within the
societies. Among our prehistoric forebears, those who were capable of acquiring furs for warmth held an advantage over those who were not
able to do so. They were admired for their strength and prowess and often inspired emulation of these attributes in others. Sometimes they
inspired envy causing others to not only emulate them, but to strive to appear better and thus again admiration on their own. And
furthermore, those who were unable to acquire furs for warmth, and thus held no positions of esteem within the society, inspired emotions
of their own among their fellows - disdain. The incapable were disdained for their lack of ability and their weakness and inspired their
fellows to try to be as unlike them as possible.
But many of you are probably asking, "How does this relate to fashion trends?" The answer is simple.
The drives behind what is considered fashionable at any point in history are controlled by the same concepts of admiration or envy and
disdain. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, society was divided sharply between the elite - those persons with wealth or noble
birth - and those who were considered common - the serfs and servants, laborers and trades-people. One fashion of the period dictated that
a person's skin should be pale and clear, unmarred by sun, wind or worry. This was primarily because only the commoner would need to
expose him-or-herself to the elements while toiling away in the fields. A lady of the upper class particularly would spend her day mostly
indoors doing needlework, or practicing artistic pursuits, and if she did venture outside it was only under the cover of a parasol, or
strolling a shaded garden path. To have sun-kissed or tanned skin made you look like a laborer or common farmer, and not like a lady or
gentleman of worth.
The fashion represented the disdain of the upper class for the lower, and those whose skin was
naturally pale and smooth inspired both admiration and envy. Those members of the elite classes whose skin was not naturally pale and
smooth began to devise ways to gain that appearance, and began using powder to whiten their complexions. And those elite persons with
pale skin often used powder as well, to ensure that they were indeed looked paler than others among the elite.
Now, think about the way attitudes about skin tone have changed. The advent of the industrial age
shifted the locations of most of society's working class indoors into factories. The information age brought still more jobs indoors.
Modern society has developed an admiration for evenly tanned skin. Now that the majority of the working class performs its jobs indoors
the only persons with the time to devote to tanning and lounging in the sun are those among our society's elite. In the last half of the
last century our newspapers and magazines were often filled with photos of Hollywood celebrities and wealthy socialites spending long
vacations in places like St. Tropez, Aruba, Jamaica, the French Riviera, Mallorca and Fiji, lounging around in the sun and surf. Their
bronzed countenances displayed as the badges of privilege.
