Glamour: A History

by Stephen Gundle

Overview

Here is the first ever history of glamour, ranging from Paris in the tumultuous final decades of the eighteenth century through to Hollywood, New York, and Monte Carlo in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, from the glamorous fictional characters of Walter Scott to iconic figures such as Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe to modern idols such as Paris Hilton. The book maps the origins of glamour and investigates the forms that it took in modern times, discussing the role of writers, journalists, artists, photographers, film-makers and fashion designers, occupations like the model and the air stewardess, cities and resorts such as Paris, New York, and Monte Carlo, and products including luxury cars and jets--all of which are bathed in the public mind with the magical aura of glamour. And he shows how glamour feeds on the middle class yearning for a thrilling and colorful life, a yearning reinforced by the cinema and the press, which serve as a stage for acting out scenes of a desirable life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199569786
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	09/28/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Stephen Gundle is Professor of Film and Television Studies at Warwick University.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Walter Scott and the origins of glamour
2. 1. Building the shopping city in London and Paris
3. The birth of sex appeal
4. Wealth and style in the gilded age
5. Café society and the publicity phenomenon
6. The Hollywood star system
7. The Riviera touch
8. Glamour for the masses
9. Photography and the public image
10. Style, pastiche, and excess
11. Harlots and heiresses
Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"This book captures the tantalizing appeal of glamour while exposing its sleazy underside."—The Standard

"Well researched and thoughtfully written, this book manages to be an excellent read and will appeal to anyone interested in popular culture."—Sarah Jenkins, The Guardian

"Gundle is brilliant at the old razzle-dazzle."—Veronica Horwell, Saturday Guardian

"This book is a thoroughly comprehensive and meticulously researched history of glamour."—Times Literary Supplement

"A narrative rich with captivating details and commentary....Essential for those with a keen interest in the sociology of popular culture and stardom."—Library Journal

"A substantial book about an insubstantial, yet somehow fascinating, topic."—The Independent

"Well-researched and thoughtfully written, this book manages to be an excellent read and will to anyone interested in popular culture."—Books Quarterly

"Glamour: A History is on the whole a wonderfully engaging read."—Otago Daily Times

"The book captures the excitement and sex appeal of glamour while exposing its mechanisms and exploring its sleazy and sometimes tragic underside. As Gundle shows, while glamour is exciting and magnetic, its promise is ultimately an illusion that can only ever be partially fulfilled."—Irish Mail on Sunday

"[A] pathbreaking study...Gundle has written the first general history of what has become a central drive of our contemporary consumer culture and its expressions in the popular culture that accompanies it."—Journal of Social History

From the Publisher