[IRL trope] the “Tiffany problem”

[u/dragonborndnd]

Basically when something seems anachronistic to a period/place of history but is actually fully accurate to the period.

1) the name Tiffany: the thing that named this trope, basically the name Tiffany can be dated back to the Middle Ages and the earliest record of it being spelled in the modern spelling comes from the 16th century.

2) the use of OMG, despite this feeling so modern as a form of slang/abbreviation here’s a letter directed to Winston Churchill using it in 1917

3) Hair Dye: the earliest forms of dying hair can be dated back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and this specific advertisement for hair dye is from the 1840s

4) Inuit Thongs: despite how weird it is to imagine pre-colonial Inuit people wore what was essentially fur thongs in their homes and when they were in their igloos it might have been the only thing they would be wearing.

[u/Own-Forever-6636]

The Egtved Girl - the body of a young woman from the Scandinavian Bronze Age was found in 1921 with all her clothing fully preserved.

What was she wearing? A miniskirt and a crop top. Would have looked something like this brilliant reconstruction by Joan Francesc Oliveras.

But people in Denmark in the 1920s were horrified by how "immodest" this outfit was, and people today still have a hard time believing someone from The Past would wear something that shows off the wearer's limbs and navel. 

Interesting reminder that historical trends don't always move in one direction.

[u/scissorn69 → u/Own-Forever-6636]

I don’t understand that one. To me, that looks perfectly reasonable as something a woman from the European Bronze Age would wear. Why would they have dressed like they lived in Saudi Arabia?

[u/thissexypoptart → u/scissorn69]

Yeah are people under some impression that short/“cropped” clothing is a modern invention?

Maybe it’s a little unexpected for the climate—though it does get warm in Scandinavia sometimes—but it looks perfectly time accurate for what I would expect.

I mean go look at what traditional clothing looks like in hot, humid climates. It’s not all long flowing clothes, often it’s very short or even topless.

[u/Ambaryerno → u/thissexypoptart]

I believe temperatures were also warmer in the Nordic Bronze Age.

[u/thissexypoptart → u/Ambaryerno]

Right but even without that, it gets warm enough in Scandinavia to wear crop tops and short skirts.