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(NICHOLSON) Virginia Nicholson ~ All The Rage: Power, Pain, Pleasure: Stories From The Frontline Of Beauty 1860-1960: First Edition, Signed By Author

Author ~ Virginia Nicholson

Title ~ All the Rage: Power, Pain, Pleasure: Stories from the Frontline of Beauty 1860-1960

Edition ~ First Edition 

ISBN ~ 9780349014319

Publisher ~ Virago

Published ~ 2024-04-11

Language ~ English

Pages ~ 519

Format ~ Hardcover 

Condition ~ Used, Near New

Signed, First Edition. Slight shelf wear. Slight curling to top and bottom of dust jacket and slight lean to spine 

Categories ~ #Military, #MilitaryHistory, #WorldWar1, #SocialCulturalHistory, #FirstEdition, #NonFiction, #Signed, #VirginiaNicholson, #9780349014319

At the heart of this history is the female body.

The century-span between the crinoline and the bikini witnessed more mutations in the ideal western woman's body shape than at any other period.

In this richly detailed account, Virginia Nicholson, described as 'one of the great social historians of our time...' (Amanda Foreman) takes us to the Frontline of Beauty to reveal the power, the pain and the pleasure involved in adorning the female body.

The Power

Who determines which shape is currently 'all the rage'? Looking at how custom, colour, class and sex fit into the picture, this book also charts how the advances made by feminism collided with the changing shape of desirability.

The Pain

Here is Gladys, who had botched surgery on her nose; Dorothy, whose skin colour lost her an Oscar; Beccy who took slimming pills and died; and - unbelievably - the radioactive corset.

The Pleasure

Here are the 'New Women' who discovered freedom by bobbing their hair; the boyish, athletic 'Health and Beauty' ladies in black knickers; and starlets in bohemian beachwear. Among the first to experience true women's liberation were the early adopters of trousers.

Encompassing two world wars and a revolution in women's rights, All the Rage tells the story of western female beauty from 1860 to 1960, chronicling its codes, its contradictions, its lies, its highs - and its underlying power struggle. 

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