Red Lipstick: An Ode to a Beauty Icon
Book Cover and Interior Design
A celebration of lipstick’s most iconic shade, Red Lipstick is the first volume to honor the enduring allure, glamour, and power of its subject, a beauty staple that has inspired unwavering devotion in women worldwide since ancient times.
With unprecedented access to makeup experts and the archives of couture brands, beauty writer and red lipstick devotee Rachel Felder explores the shade’s diverse history, illuminating its various associations with aristocracy, sex appeal, illicit sexuality, rebellion, emancipation, empowerment, fame, and beauty. She also examines the fascinating array of influential women who have worn red lipstick through the ages.
Along with a wealth of anecdotes, quotations, literary excerpts, and trivia, Red Lipstick offers a museum’s worth of fine art, including that of Man Ray, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Wayne Thiebaud, Alex Katz, Francesco Clemente, and Maira Kalman. The work of renowned fashion illustrators such as René Gruau, Cecil Beaton, and Joe Eula is featured in the mix as are rarely seen vintage magazine advertisements. And, of course, images of famous red lipstick wearers throughout history abound—Queen Elizabeth I, Coco Chanel, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Madonna, Diana Vreeland, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Sade, Paloma Picasso, and Rihanna among them.
Finding the perfect red is a lipstick lover’s holy grail, and Felder demystifies the process in a special section, providing expert advice on tones and finishes.
With its captivating, chic design, beautiful selection of images, and engaging, entertaining text, Red Lipstick is a classic, like the color itself.