Tracking "comfortable in one's skin" in English

[Nancy Friedman]

I noted with interest that a new ad campaign for Dove Men and Care features
athletes (Magic Johnson, Joe Girardi, etc.) who conclude each spot with the
tagline "I'm [NAME], and I'm definitely comfortable in my own skin."
(Article: http://nyti.ms/ibKwfN)



I'm curious about a couple of aspects of this tagline:



1.      The translation and adoption of French "bien dans sa peau" into US
English. It seems to me, though I can't find evidence to prove my hunch,
that virutally no one in the US used "comfortable in my/her/one's skin" 15
years ago, and now it's everywhere-TV shows, interviews, blogs. Did the
bestselling "French Women Don't Get Fat," with its glossary of essential
French-women-isms (including "bien dans sa peau"), have something to do with
it, or did the trend start earlier? Did it enter US English from UK English?

2.      Although I've been hearing "comfortable in one's skin" a lot in
recent years, I'm pretty sure I've never heard it said by a man. Is Dove
breaking new ground here?



"Comfortable in one's skin" isn't in the OED or the idiom databases I'm
familiar with, so any leads that would help with antedating would be much
appreciated.



I'm aware that there's an equivalent German idiom, but I somehow doubt that
it's the source of the US craze for "comfortable in one's skin."



Nancy



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