Extreme Beauty

Received Second place in the Popular Culture category given by ForeWord Magazine

Over time and across cultures, shifting concepts of beauty have given rise to extraordinary fashions that constrict, enhance, minimize, or exaggerate various zones of the human body. This stimulating book displays and discusses an array of such extreme fashion practices, from the bound feet of aristocratic Manchu women to the tea-tray supporting bustle of an 1880s French visiting dress.

“This well-produced, heavily illustrated volume makes costume history accessible and, indeed, entertaining.”—Colin McDowell, Sunday Times (London)

“Enlightening and very readable.”—Library Journal

“A landmark study of human customs and foibles in remarkable photos and intriguing text that show us what is and has been ‘in’ around the world.”—Susan Swartout, Big Muddy: A Journal of the Mississippi River Valley

Harold Koda is Curator of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Harold Koda is Curator of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.