How the recruitment of children is fueling wars and destroying futures worldwide
For centuries, women in China underwent the painful practice of foot binding, which involved breaking the toes and bones of the arch and binding them tightly together, NPR reports. Lotus feet, as they're called, signified beauty and status because those who couldn't walk or work were seen as wealthy enough for it not to matter.
We can't stop hearing about teeth-whitening today, but for hundreds of years black teeth were the preferred look for the wealthy in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.
It was particularly common among married women with money, and the process of lacquering the teeth black (known as "ohaguro") actually functioned as a sealant to help avoid tooth decay.
In the early 20th century, Americans were fascinated with X-rays and their ability to see inside their bodies. So much so, in fact, that crowds would gather to basically just see bones.
"Tulipomania" overtook Holland in the 1600s as a major status symbol after bulbs first arrived in 1562. It's said that an Austrian ambassador stole them from the Ottoman court and brought them over. Their rarity, beauty, and colorfulness meant the wealthiest in the country had to have them.
The "Crackowe" was a popular shoe in the Middle Ages, whose tip was anywhere from six to 24 inches (15-61 cm) in length! The impracticality of the shoe meant that the wearer was obviously wealthy enough to avoid doing any work.
It became such a widely recognized status symbol that King Edward III of England even restricted shoe length to six inches for commoners, 15 inches (38 cm) for gentlemen, and longer tips for the nobility, Gizmodo reports.
Up until the early 20th century, the greater one's weight was, the higher the status they held. This is because if you could afford to be overweight, you clearly had enough money to buy a lot of food and avoid manual labor.
The long, flat skull has been a status symbol across many Indigenous cultures around the world, including the Mangbetu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
By the 16th century, sugar in England was no big deal, but having a pure white wedding cake comprised of triple-refined white sugar (which was much pricier and harder to producer) was all the rage, according to Gastronomica. It doubled as a way to both showcase wealth and symbolize the bride's purity.
In 18th-century Europe, aristocrats would rent pineapples not to eat them but to put them on display for guests. Native to South America, the fruit was a rarity and an exotic mystery to Europeans who went crazy for it after Columbus brought them back, Foodbeast reports.
There is no material reason for the extremely high price–only its rarity is to blame. Stars like Victoria Beckham famously have their own collections of the bag.
Sources: (Atlas Obscura) (NPR) (Gizmodo) (Foodbeast) (Medscape) (Gastronomica) (Smithsonian) (Los Angeles Times) (Wall Street Journal)
See also: Crazy facts about luxury cars
Increasingly popular Citizenship by Investment Programs offer citizenship to those wealthy enough to invest (usually a six-figure sum) in a country. Along with increased global mobility, the second passport has become a status symbol among investors.
Named after Jane Birkin, this line of tote bags by the French luxury brand Hermès quickly became a symbol of wealth and exclusivity in the ‘80s and still persists to this day due to its high price and long waiting lists. Even in 2020, prices reached up to US$380,000.
Extremely counterintuitive, this trend of buying expensive, pre-ripped clothing reached its peak in the 2010s.
In increasingly work-centric societies where doing overtime became the norm, getting eight hours of sleep became a symbol of success. Nancy Jeffrey, a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal, wrote in 1999 that sleep had become such a “rare commodity in stressed-out America” that it was “the new status symbol.”
Once the uniform of high school geography teachers, "ugly sneakers" made a high fashion comeback, like multi-colored, clunky Balenciaga shoes that can cost around US$900.
These games were beautifully hand-crafted and made with pricey materials. Most importantly, however, they signified that you had the leisure time to be able to play them.
In the ancient Near East, board games were the signifier of wealth and status, and they were often what elite would give to one another as diplomatic gifts, the Smithsonian reports.
In the early 2000s, we all know style took a left turn. Strange status symbols emerged like Juicy Couture sweatsuits and Von Dutch trucker hats, which somehow became a must-have for rich celebs like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The Los Angeles Times referred to the Von Dutch phenomenon in 2004 as the “anti-status status symbol” of the moment.
Large white collars and cuffs were a way to obviously demonstrate your cleanliness and therefore your elite status.
Though bodily hygiene wasn't great, instead of bathing regularly the way people distinguished their status in 16th- and 17th-century England was by keeping their whites spot-free.
You wouldn't believe it, but a single pineapple back then was worth the equivalent of around US$8,000 in contemporary money! No wonder people rented them...
In more recent times, as food is not so hard to come by, cooking healthy food and going to the gym has come to signify those who have more leisure time and money, and thinness has become a status symbol instead. The idea of the "perfect" body shifted only within the last century to mean "thin," and many of the wealthiest even undergo expensive surgeries to slim down.
In 18th- and 19th-century Britain, building a "folly" was a trend for the ultra-wealthy. Follies are massive structures that are built to mimic the look of castle ruins, but which were purely for entertaining other rich guests with legends and false stories.
Owning your own personal X-ray picture became a status symbol, and they were often hung on the walls as if they were paintings.
One of the more gruesome symbols, mummies were all the rage during England's 19th-century "Egpytomania" craze. The wealthiest not only had Egyptian mummies on display, but would host elaborate “unwrapping” parties, according to Atlas Obscura.
Among ancient Mayans, skull alteration— achieved by binding babies’ heads between two boards while their skulls are still malleable—was meant to make people look more "noble," Medscape reports.
As a social species, humans spend a lot of time distinguishing themselves within their society. For centuries, we have asserted our social status through the use of recognizable, sought-after symbols, even though they may not serve us any real purpose regarding our survival.
Nowadays, the symbols that come to mind are jewels or nice cars, but status symbols from history show that the things we value are constantly changing and are somewhat arbitrary. Even contemporary luxury items can seem downright counterintuitive.
Symbols of luxury have also changed according to how much of a novelty they were and how difficult they were to procure at the time, so there are things that you probably have in your home right now which, a few hundred years ago, signified that you were wealthy and important.
Click through this gallery to see the strangest, most outlandish status symbols from history to present day.
Bizarre status symbols through history
Rotting pineapples, ripped jeans, and black teeth...
LIFESTYLE Wealth
As a social species, humans spend a lot of time distinguishing themselves within their society. For centuries, we have asserted our social status through the use of recognizable, sought-after symbols, even though they may not serve us any real purpose regarding our survival.
Nowadays, the symbols that come to mind are jewels or nice cars, but status symbols from history show that the things we value are constantly changing and are somewhat arbitrary. Even contemporary luxury items can seem downright counterintuitive.
Symbols of luxury have also changed according to how much of a novelty they were and how difficult they were to procure at the time, so there are things that you probably have in your home right now which, a few hundred years ago, signified that you were wealthy and important.
Click through this gallery to see the strangest, most outlandish status symbols from history to present day.