From the popular historian and author of Among the Bohemians and How Was It For You? comes a new offering, unbuttoning the multi-layered, hundred-year-history of women''s lives through fashion and beauty from 1860 to 1960
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 Pai
