I did not think I had a particular interest in glamour until I read The Power of Glamour: Longing and the Art of Visual Persuasion, by Virginia Postrel. As it turns out, I have a strong interest in glamour (at least certain types of it) and this book offers a fascinating and cogent analysis of what glamour is and why it is important.
I was drawn to the book by my long interest in Virginia’s
work, dating back to the 1990s when she edited Reason magazine and I wrote some
articles for it. (My involvement and post-Postrel break with the magazine are
recounted here.) A decade ago, I reviewed her book The Substance of Style, which espoused a growing linkage of
aesthetics and economics. (Subsequently, after marrying an architectural
lighting designer, I gained some exposure to a field that exemplifies that
connection.)
In her new book, Postrel distinguishes glamour from concepts
with which it may blur, such as luxury, celebrity or charisma. She defines
glamour as “nonverbal rhetoric” (typically conveyed by visual images) that
“leads us to feel that the life we dream of exists, and to desire it even
more.” Glamour has, in her telling, three essential elements: “a promise of
escape and transformation” (letting people project themselves into a desired
situation); “grace” (hiding or removing flaws and distractions); and “mystery”
(leaving some things to the audience’s imagination).
The Power of Glamour ranges widely across examples of its
subject. Glamour can attach to a variety of people, places and objects—as
diverse as people’s desires. Postrel examines various archetypes or “icons” of
glamour, including aviators, princesses, superheroes, suntans, smoking, wind
turbines, California and Shanghai. As this list suggests, things can become
more or less glamorous over time; for instance, smoking and California have
both seen more glamorous days (and nights).
Glamour has long been part of human experience, evident in
Greek myths and Renaissance paintings (Postrel cites Lippi’s Vision of Saint Bernard as glamorous in encouraging the audience to project itself into a
scene with the Virgin Mary). Yet glamour grew in importance in the 19th and 20th
centuries, she argues persuasively, since it thrives on mass audiences and a
sense of social mobility.
This book is to a degree a defense of glamour but it is no
whitewashing of its complex subject. Often dismissed as superficial or decried
as an advertising snare, glamour can spur positive change. Besides being
pleasurable, glamour can inspire people to strive for a better life and world.
But there is no guarantee it will be put to good uses, and in an extreme case
to the contrary terrorists attract their recruits with an idealized promise of
escape and transformation—in short, glamour.
Discussing mystery as an element of glamour, Postrel offers
three subcategories of that element (not mutually exclusive), which she labels
“shadow,” “sparkle” and “complexity.” Hats, veils and Paris in the rain have
the mystery of things obscured (shadow); glittering jewels and fabrics
fascinate and confuse with change and ambiguity (sparkle). The third type of
mystery—complexity—Postrel describes thus:
This form of mystery hides information not through concealment or confusion but through complexity and depth. We don’t know what history or nature will produce; there are too many variables and too much detail to comprehend in a glance. Hence the mystery of rugged coastlines, verdigris patina, and twisting woodland paths. As a design element, such mystery appears in Alexander McQueen’s 2009 Plato’s Atlantis collection, with its phosphorescent sequins, opalescent beads, and jellyfish and reptile-skin prints. This is the mystery of the layered, the fluid, and the fractal: the mystery of complexity. [Italics in the original.]
Me: The above passage is what I particularly had in mind at the start of this review when I wrote “As it turns out, I have a strong interest in glamour (at least certain types of it)….” Reading Virginia’s passage above crystallized for me what is a significant aspect of what I like to write and read about, what sorts of art and design I tend to enjoy, and where I like to hike. I am an aficionado of the “mystery of complexity” and the glamour that stems from it. Until I read this book, I did not realize that about myself.
Tyler Cowen recently opined that The Power of Glamour is
its author’s “best and most compelling book” to date. I agree, and highly
recommend it.
