Friday, May 18th, 2012
Jillian Gilogley on how the sun-tanned look is no longer just for summer; bronze skin is a year-round fashion accessory and not just for Essex birds n’ blokes
The sun is out and the pressure to be tanned is well and truly on; as the bronze skin trend is no longer an annual holiday event – it’s a daily on…
The idyllic bronzed beauty no longer simply comes in a female sex Barbie Doll Esq. manner; the hairless men are now even slapping on the fake tan, hitting the sun beds and even wearing bronzer!
The initial thought is that it’s not very butch or manly; but some of these guys look fantastic and resemble real life Ken dolls, with their bronzed, toned and non-hairy bodies.
Threat of the ump lumpa
Everybody looks great with a golden glow from holidaying abroad, but when it comes to fake tan, there really is only a certain shade you can achieve before morphing into an umpa lumpa.
A tan is such a topical commodity; you could be the centre of attention for all the right reasons if you get the look right, but you can also be come the centre of attention for not wearing any or getting it completely wrong; “she is so white,” or “she is so orange,” and neither is a good shade of affairs to be in!
The fake tan phenomenon is a stark contrast to when you look back to the fifties heyday when the dewy white English-rose look was considered perfection; when icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Lauren and Doris Day were the benchmark of glamour, beauty and original sex-appeal.
So what is it that has changed?
Certainly, the rise of the “Essex” brand has a great deal to answer for in recent times…
From the glamorous lifestyles, social lives and sex lives to the textbook Essex look; for the girls it’s all about the big boobs, stilettos and big hair, for the boys it’s all about the built and hairless body and some extra slick hair, but, for both more than anything it’s all about the fake tan.
Bronze skin is an expensive trend to keep up and a hard one to cut down on once you have started, but vanity is vanity, and it must be obeyed – because it’s certainly keeping the sun bed tubes warm!
Do you prefer the pale skinned English rose look of the 50s movie sirens, or do want seasons in the sun all year round? Comments welcome
Jillian Gilogley is a regular wowdewow commentator on fashion trends. She tans rather nicely herself
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Tags: Barbie dolls, big boobs, bronze skin, Doris Day, English rose look, fake tan, hairless men, Ken dolls, Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, the Essex brand
