About this item

A panoramic social history that chronicles the quest for beauty in all its contradictions - and how it affects the female body.. "Women have been fat or slim, hyperthyroid or splenetic, sallow or pink-cheeked, slouched or erect, according to the prevalent notions of beauty." - Cecil Beaton, The Glass of Fashion Who decides what is fashionable? What clothes we wear, what hairstyles we create, what color lipstick we adore, what body shape is "all the rage". The story of female adornment from 1860-1960 is intriguingly unbuttoned in this glorious social history. Virginia Nicholson has long been fascinated by the way we women present ourselves - or are encouraged to present ourselves - to the world. In this book, we learn about rational dress, suffragettes' hats, the Marcel wave, the Gibson Girls, corsets, and the banana skirt.