Woman As Design: Before, Behind, Between, Above, Below

Description: In "Woman as Design", Stephen Bayley discusses how the female body works as a sign, a symbol...as a designed object. Both provocative and beguiling, "Woman as Design" is an eclectic mix of design, cultural history, erotica, fashion, fetishism and observation. In Part One: Before, Behind, Between, Above and Below, Stephen Bayley takes us from Aphrodite to the Delta of Venus and then to the industrialisation of the breast (in bra form) and sexual identity. He questions what strange mixture of evolution, social competition, cultural modelling and (predominantly male) desire made the substance and the style of women. In Part Two he examines pin-ups, stereotypes, cosmetics, hemlines and heels and looks in detail at how design has appropriated the feminine form. He illustrates how we see, display, dress, decorate and distort women - including how shoes and clothes form our impression of womanly ideal and how different ages and different cultures developed different womanly ideals. Wonderfully designed and superbly illustrated, "Woman as Design" is a compulsively attractive book and a modern study of the continuous conflict between the real and the ideal...in its most familiar form. Contents: 10 Introduction PART?ONE 32 Before: Cults of Aphrodite 44 Behind: The eroticised bottom from the Kalahari to Prada 58 Between: Delta of Venus: the geography 72 Above: The Industrialisation of the breast 88 Below: The Chevalier d'Eon's frock: sexual identity PART?TWO 102 Pin ups: From the Virgin to Pamela Anderson 140 The camera always lies: Stereotypes in photography, movies, advertising 176 If I?have one life, let me live it as a blonde: A history of cosmetics 216 Hemlines and heels: How fashion distorts and exaggerates 280 The Callipygan curve: How design appropriated the female form 316 The future of sex: Surgery, telematics, ex-utero foetal development, smart drugs 330 Bibliography 332 Index 336 Acknowledgements Author Biography: Stephen Bayley is one of the world's best known authorities on design and popular culture. He has been a design consultant working on imaginative communications projects for Ford, Absolut Vodka, The Coca-Cola Company, Ford, Volkswagen Audi, Marks & Spencer, Penhaligon's, Foster Associates, Harvey Nichols, BMW, Piaggio and the V&A amongst others He is also well-known as an outspoken commentator on art and design, contributing regularly to The Times, The Daily Mail, The Observer, The Evening Standard, The Guardian, The Spectator, The Los Angeles Times, High Life, New Statesman, The Independent and GQ. He often broadcasts and appears on various popular programmes including PM, Today, Newsnight, Start the Week, Channel 4 News, London Tonight, and Any Questions. He has also written numerous books including Design: Intelligence Made Visible with co-author Terence Conran, and Cars both published by Conran Octopus. In addition, he has lectured in universities and museums throughout Britain as well as around the world. He has also been a judge of many national and international design competitions, including Campaign Press Awards, RIBA Architectural Awards, The Building Awards, Louis Vuitton Concours d'Elegance at Hurlingham, Cartier Style et Luxe at Goodwood and BBC Good Food Awards. In 1989 he was made a Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France's top artistic honour, by the French Minister of Culture.