oh foxy, you're so...

I first saw a train dancer wearing one. He didn't dance with it. He passed it to his friend while he danced and then put it back on when he was done. Then I saw a kid on my block wearing one. Why are these kids wearing these stupid things? It's Kanye's fault. It's always his fault with stupid trends:

What a dope but, his true influence on this story starts here...in 2008:

He looks mid-complaint, right? Like he's bitchin' about something. Really, I'm talking about his tail. Fox tail, that is. Was he such a trend setter that Louis Vuitton followed suit in their SS2010 line?

 

When did the Japanese figure it out? Before right? Like Kanye has some peeps over in Japan that tell him what's up, I'm sure.

Or was his true influence a movie from the 80s?

I don't think he could be that cool. I bet some Japanese kids were going through their library of ridiculously dressed American classic movies and pulled this one out. Saw this scene and started cutting the tails off of foxes and viola! A trend.

I've read a little about the true history of these things. It is said that in the 14th century (think Medieval fair), women's clothing was so tight that they wore fox tails to hide their ass. Or that they were used to attract fleas. Or that they were tagged on people in the same sense as a "kick me" sign. As one woman writes here:

The French humanist Rabelais, in his work La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel, writes a character named Panurgi who mocks academics by sneaking upon them and hanging fox tails from their backs.  This insult is effective because the fox tail is clearly associated in the 16th century mind with the fool.

Speaking of fools... here's how some of the kids are wearing these ridiculous ornaments:

But really. What does it say about me, that this trend has been around since the 14th century, and I am just noticing it now. Such a fool! I'm gonna go out and pin a fox tail to my back now. Kisses!