Seduction: A Celebration of Sensual Style

by Caroline Cox

Seduction is the first book to explore the sensual style of the seductress, from Marie Antoinette and Madame de Pompadour in pre-revolutionary France, through the screen queens of 1930s Hollywood, such as Jean Harlow and Marlene Dietrich, to the contemporary sex sirens of today, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez. In chronological, themed chapters, international fashion authority, Caroline Cox explores the art of seduction, examining the many ways in which women have used their environment, clothes, and behavior to create a seductive allure. The lively and authoritative text is accompanied by gorgeous new and vintage images. Seduction is a visual feast and a fascinating study of the development of a woman's means of sedecution throughout the centuries.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fashion, Sexuality

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2006

About the author

Caroline Cox, professor of cultural history at the University of the Arts London, is a leading fashion authority whose work explores the relationship between fashion, beauty, and culture. A lecturer and broadcaster, she is also a cultural trends advisor at Vidal Sassoon.

Reviews

[Harley Claes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a study in aesthetics and the history of popular seductresses through the ages. "An aesthetic revolution" is a phrase used in the book and it sums up the pages quite nicely. I enjoyed the images and pasted them up on my walls. I took a liking to it as a woman who is employed in the art of seduction myself. As for the text, I enjoyed learning the history and evolution of fashion and decorum I had not previously known, and I was pleased to learn a few names of alleged femme fatales that really stuck out to me and made me want to learn even more about them.

An enjoyable passage, "Women sinned on tiger skins in rooms heady with incense, swathed in silks and velvet, or played the part of Art Noveau femmes fatales."

I enjoyed learning about Jean Harlow's Birth of Venus shell bed replica, and how Jayne Mansfield always signed her name in pink for fans.

[Yinzadi]

Read online here.

[Faraebie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The images chosen for this book are fantastic and the written material is very interesting, but reads like an undergraduate term paper, complete with awkward transitions into an excessive number of quotations. On some of the pages more than half of the text is comprised of quotes. If that doesn't put you off, it is, like I said, interesting material.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written history of fashion, women and sexuality. Beautiful images.