The Power Of Glamour

An exploration of glamour, a potent cultural force that influences where people choose to live, which careers to pursue, where to invest, and how to vote, offers empowerment to be smarter about engaging with the world.

Whether it's sleek leather pants, a shiny new Apple computer, or a designer toaster, we make important decisions as consumers every day based on our sensory experience. Sensory appeals are everywhere, and they are intensifying, radically changing how Americans live and work. The twenty-first century has become the age of aesthetics, and whether we realize it or not, this influence has taken over the marketplace, and much more. In this penetrating, keenly observed book, Virginia Postrel makes the argument that appearance counts, that aesthetic value is real. Drawing from fields as diverse as fashion, real estate, politics, design, and economics, Postrel deftly chronicles our culture's aesthetic imperative and argues persuasively that it is a vital component of a healthy, forward-looking society. Intelligent, incisive, and thought-provoking, The Substance of Style is a groundbreaking portrait of the democratization of taste and a brilliant examination of the way we live now.

Early in the history of English, the words "grammar" and "glamour" meant the same thing: the power to charm. Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools, aims to put the glamour back in grammar with this fun, engaging alternative to stuffy instructionals. In this practical guide, readers will learn everything from the different parts of speech to why effective writers prefer concrete nouns and active verbs. The Glamour of Grammar gives readers all the tools they need to"live inside the language" -- to take advantage of grammar to perfect their use of English, to instill meaning, and to charm through their writing. With this indispensable book, readers will come to see just how glamorous grammar can be.

Reveals the inner qualities of 14 remarkable women who define style in ways that have lasted for generations. Witty and fascinating excursions into the worlds of Coco Chanel, Pauline de Rothschild, Diana Vreeland, Elsie de Wolfe, and others are captured in lavish photographs and entertaining anecdotes. We discover not only the preeminent influence that these women held over fashion and culture, but also the wry, often poignant tales of their personal lives.--From publisher description.

Showcasing three decades of Glamour’s Women of the Year, this book is a record of the ceiling-shattering achievements that have reshaped our world, and a manual for success for the women of today—and tomorrow For over 80 years, Glamour has been the preeminent female empowerment title in America. From Glamour’s origin as the magazine “for the girl with a job” to today, strong, ambitious women have always taken center stage, and no place more so than at Glamour’s annual Women of the Year Awards. Launched in 1990, the annual awards have become a 30-year living, breathing history, mapping out the evolution of women’s power across the worlds of film, politics, sports, activism, and more. Many of the names are familiar. We’ve grown up with Billie Jean King, Madonna, Nora Ephron, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Titans of change like Michelle Obama and Malala Yousafzai have rocked our world in lasting ways. Stars such as Reese Witherspoon, Ava DuVernay, Julianne Moore, Lupita Nyong’o, and Ashley Graham have used their global influence to shift the needle in filmmaking, reproductive rights, criminal justice, and representation. Other names you may not know so well include women who have transformed the futures of school children in local communities, and teens who organized millions to fight against gun violence. Glamour: 30 Years of Women Who Have Reshaped the World touches on some of the most culturally important moments of our recent history. Additionally, it includes original content from Shonda Rhimes, Diane von Furstenberg, Arianna Huffington, and more to inspire future generations. Most importantly, the book offers inspiration and service, reminding today’s women and girls that, in the words of 2015 Women of the Year honoree Reese Witherspoon, ambition is not a dirty word.

A stunning reinvention of the myth of Narcissus as a modern novel of manners, about two young, well-heeled couples whose parallel lives converge and intertwine over the course of a summer, by a sharp new voice in fiction Wes and Diana are the kind of privileged, well-educated, self-involved New Yorkers you may not want to like but can't help wanting to like you. With his boyish good looks, blue-blood pedigree, and the recent tidy valuation of his tech startup, Wes would have made any woman weak in the knees—any woman, that is, except perhaps his wife. Brilliant to the point of cunning, Diana possesses her own arsenal of charms, handily deployed against Wes in their constant wars of will and rhetorical sparring. Vivien and Dale live in Philadelphia, but with ties to the same prep schools and management consulting firms as Wes and Diana, they’re of the same ilk. With a wedding date on the horizon and carefully curated life of coupledom, Vivien and Dale make a picture-perfect pair on Instagram. But when Vivien becomes a visiting curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art just as Diana is starting a new consulting project in Philadelphia, the two couples’ lives cross and tangle. It’s the summer of 2015 and they’re all enraptured by one another and too engulfed in desire to know what they want—despite knowing just how to act. In this wickedly fun debut, A. Natasha Joukovsky crafts an absorbing portrait of modern romance, rousing real sympathy for these flawed characters even as she skewers them. Shrewdly observed, whip-smart, and shot through with wit and good humor, The Portrait of a Mirror is a piercing exploration of narcissism, desire, self-delusion, and the great mythology of love.

Profiles of the famous movie queens of the 1930s help demonstrate how they changed society's definition of glamour.

From Paleolithic flax to 3D knitting, explore the global history of textiles and the world they weave together in this enthralling and educational guide. The story of humanity is the story of textiles -- as old as civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, the need for textiles has driven technology, business, politics, and culture. In The Fabric of Civilization, Virginia Postrel synthesizes groundbreaking research from archaeology, economics, and science to reveal a surprising history. From Minoans exporting wool colored with precious purple dye to Egypt, to Romans arrayed in costly Chinese silk, the cloth trade paved the crossroads of the ancient world. Textiles funded the Renaissance and the Mughal Empire; they gave us banks and bookkeeping, Michelangelo's David and the Taj Mahal. The cloth business spread the alphabet and arithmetic, propelled chemical research, and taught people to think in binary code. Assiduously researched and deftly narrated, The Fabric of Civilization tells the story of the world's most influential commodity.