Pale or Tan?

[C-dot]

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""pale"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

 

[rue]

lol lol lol

 

[Yeps]

I have to say, working at the pool and being Italian-American, tan is pretty much the rule for me. I was at a kinda, normal, active person who spends a lot of time outdoors color then I forgot sunscreen for my most recent 8hr shift and now I am brown.

 

[Stray Cat]

.. and now I am brown.

Hurray!
(I'm not the only one)

 

[C-dot]

I have to say, working at the pool and being Italian-American...

OT: I'm Italian too, but I must have caught the recessive gene lol Although, Southern Italians tend to have much darker hair and complexions than us Northerners.

 

[zombiecakes]

Pale

I love being pale. It used to be a case of "I won't tan myself, but if I get one whilst out and about I don't mind". Now it is "Eek I really don't want a tan /slaps on suncream".

I like pale, I think it is interesting, and a nice break from the orange women that seem to dominate here!

 

[W-D Forties]

I have just got back from a couple of weeks in Italy and this is the darkest I have ever been. Well, ok, it wouldn't look that tanned to most, but to me it's unusual. And I have to say that I really don't think it suits me at all, my skin looks 'tired' and in need of 'a good wash'!

I'm actually looking forward to it fading!

 

[Stray Cat]

I'm actually looking forward to it fading!

I understand, since I'm feeling the same.
It's not that I dislike my skin.. it's just that all my make up DON'T LOOK GOOD on me any more.

How do I put make up on tanned face?! I've been pale for so long. I mastered it. And now: my foundation is WAY to white, my eye shadows do not look appropriate, ..lipstick even!
Oh.. I'm desperate!
I feel like a beginner..
Ideas?

 

[Widebrim]

Boy, I didn't know it was okay for men to post here. Okay, then...

I generally prefer darker skin, but that is more about complexion. I am not a fan of the California blond look with lighter hair than the over tanned skin. That is not attractive. If you are tan, that is fine, if you go tanning, that is silly.

As for myself, I have been deathly pale for the past couple years, and it looks a bit unnatural on me (I have a generally olive complexion) but I just started working at an outdoor pool and in the past week, despite sunscreen, my skin has gone 5 shades or so darker.

Yeps, like you, I'm of continental Italian blood (as well as part Sicilian, and we know there's a difference), and I've also got some Greek in me to boot! So as a Mediterranean, my face and the tops of my lower arms tan easily in the summer, while the rest of me stays somewhat chalky. If I use at least SPF 30, it keeps me looking less like a walking study in contrast (if I were to wear shorts and a tank top outdoors and have no sunscreen on, I would burn). Add to this the fact that I have blue eyes, and it all makes for a "unique" combination.[huh]

Here in Iraq I try to stay out of the sun as much as possible. The sun is very intense here in the Middle East. The wind is bad enough in the summer, feels like your standing in front of a huge hair dryer with no "off" switch.

Brother, I have never tanned as much as when I was in Iraq (and I think it affected my melanin level, if that is possible). I've got a photo outside my CHU, showing me wearing just Army shorts; my head and lower arms are very tanned, my lower neck somewhat reddish, but my biceps, chest and legs are pale as usual.

Regarding skin tone and women, though, whatever is natural to the lady in question is fine with me, tan or pale. What's not appealing is a salon tan, a reddish burn-look, or an extremely pale complexion resulting from never going out in the sun.

 

[Stray Cat]

Boy, I didn't know it was okay for men to post here. Okay, then...
............
Regarding skin tone and women, though, whatever is natural to the lady in question is fine with me, tan or pale. What's not appealing is a salon tan, a reddish burn-look, or an extremely pale complexion resulting from never going out in the sun.

Yes, it is okay to post here (I for once, do like male opinion on this subject). More over, most women tan to become more appealing to opposite gender.. hence the need to ask one of them (you, as you are here present): do you find tanned to be less vintage? (or do you see it as "farm girl got her self some tan" look)?

 

[C-dot]

do you find tanned to be less vintage? (or do you see it as "farm girl got her self some tan" look)?

I'm interested in the answers to this question, too. Tans were popular in the 40's and some of the 50's, when colour photography was more mainstream. You'll notice that film stars in the 20's and 30's had much paler skin, because it showed up better on the black & white cameras.

Porcelain Clara Bow, 1927:

Marilyn with a tan, circa 1956:

Pale skin also has Victorian roots - ladies of leisure never worked in the sun, therefore had paler skin. Its interesting how this status symbol is completely reversed today.

 

[Yeps]

Pale skin also has Victorian roots - ladies of leisure never worked in the sun, therefore had paler skin. Its interesting how this status symbol is completely reversed today.

.
I think that it reversed itself when people stopped generally working outside (factories, service industry, office grunt etc). So, if one is of the leisured class, one can take part in outdoor recreational activities and beach/tropical vacations

 

[chanteuseCarey]

I have a vintage sewing Pattern catalog, showing fashions to make for Summer 1947. The models were sporting tans.

I'm interested in the answers to this question, too. Tans were popular in the 40's and some of the 50's, when colour photography was more mainstream.
Porcelain Clara Bow, 1927:

Marilyn with a tan, circa 1956:

Pale skin also has Victorian roots - ladies of leisure never worked in the sun, therefore had paler skin. Its interesting how this status symbol is completely reversed today.

 

[chanteuseCarey]

I have never attempted to get a tan or ever thought of the idea to be tan- for the appeal of the opposite gender! Sorry, to disagree with your comment, I find it a bit insulting and a little sexist.

I'm tan only because I swim for exercise in an outdoor pool to be fit and healthy. The tan is merely an aside, without ever working on it. I do use sunscreen on my face and neck, and wear a long sleeve rashguard shirt when in the pool.

I actually find the tan shade I am most attractive to myself. If I am content and happy with myself, it shows. That is far more appealing one would hope to a man than whether I have a tan. I have found that there are gents that find my white tan lines from my swimsuit (on my back primarily) very appealing tho'...

Since I swim all year 'round, my tan never fades! I have a pic that was taken in early Dec., standing by next my peaches and cream dd, I look very tan by contrast.

More over, most women tan to become more appealing to opposite gender..

 

[chanteuseCarey]

I use a tinted moisturizer (color Medium currently) instead of foundation with being tan. The rest of my makeup- blush and lipstick and eyeshadows have never changed with being tan versus not. I've used the same color range for my makeup for some 30+ years (I'm a Spring). You may need a slightly darker shade of foundation and powder for your coloring - whether you are a warm or cool season, but otherwise the rest hopefully should still work for ya. Good luck! Post pics in the Beauty forum, ok??

it's just that all my make up DON'T LOOK GOOD on me any more.

How do I put make up on tanned face?! I've been pale for so long. I mastered it. And now: my foundation is WAY to white, my eye shadows do not look appropriate, ..lipstick even!
Oh.. I'm desperate!
I feel like a beginner..
Ideas?

 

[Widebrim]

Yes, it is okay to post here (I for once, do like male opinion on this subject). More over, most women tan to become more appealing to opposite gender.. hence the need to ask one of them (you, as you are here present): do you find tanned to be less vintage? (or do you see it as "farm girl got her self some tan" look)?

As another FLer mentioned, there was some calculated "Golden Age" tanning (no pun implied), at least among actresses and models, likely due to the increased use of color film. In addition, "farm girls" like my dad's Pennsylvania cousins would also naturally pick up some color during the summer, due to their lifestyle. So I think that a woman today could be tanned and not be considered "less vintage." As applies to "ordinary" city girls, though, I don't believe that trying to get a tan during that time period was a goal. As an example, I've got scores of photographs of my (Sicilian) grandmother, mother, and aunt taken in NYC from the 1910s to the 1950s, and in none of them do they have anything that resembles a tan (of course, they wore hats a lot, too). To this day, my mother is against even going out in the sun to tend a garden, and has instilled the same attitude in my sister...So as applies to vintage, speaking of tanned vs. pale, I think that a case could be made for the inclusion of both.

 

[MissMeraRose]

I've always wished that I was tan, but I'm pale and freckled. My skin is really interesting, however.
I have pink AND olive undertones, and whether I tan or burn is a 50/50 chance.
Guess I just have to get lucky haha

(Edit to add that I have Southern Italian roots that I wish were more apparent. ha)

 

[Widebrim]

I have never attempted to get a tan or ever thought of the idea to be tan- for the appeal of the opposite gender! Sorry, to disagree with your comment, I find it a bit insulting and a little sexist.

Carey, being a native southern Californian, I think that Stray Cat's comment has some validity. It's my experience that some girls do lay out in the sun because they know that a lot of guys find tanned skin attractive.


"The west coast has the sunshine,
And the girls all get so tanned..."

(California Girls by The Beach Boys)

 

[MissMeraRose]

Carey, being a native southern Californian, I think that Stray Cat's comment has some validity. It's my experience that some girls do lay out in the sun because they know that a lot of guys find tanned skin attractive.


"The west coast has the sunshine,
And the girls all get so tanned..."

(California Girls by The Beach Boys)

As a California native, I've always been insecure about my pale skin. When I was younger, I thought boys would never like me because of it ha

 

[Stray Cat]

Carey, being a native southern Californian, I think that Stray Cat's comment has some validity. It's my experience that some girls do lay out in the sun because they know that a lot of guys find tanned skin attractive.


"The west coast has the sunshine,
And the girls all get so tanned..."

(California Girls by The Beach Boys)

Yes.. but the strangest thing is: I live as far from California as it is geographically possible. Still, the idea of "pale skin shows that you are sick & tanned body is a healthy one" is imprinted in our brains. I get it: you tan when you do your outdoor exercises. But, really: when was the last time this statement was taken seriously?!
"Outdoor exercises"?!
Here, that term pretty much died in the late 1980s.
No one exercises outside.. they go to a gym. And they tan in a booth. Most people here just skip the first part (going to the gym), and hit the booth for that "sun kissed, healthy glowing" look; that they know is a generaly accepted sign of healthy, lovely and (why not add) sexy body. (so much for the "nature is our friend" attitude that my grandma and my mom grew up in)

But, what about MEN?!
"..to tan or not to tan, the question is now"