Hot Bodies, Cool Styles: New Techniques in Self-Adornment Book

The first book to reflect the global wave of enthusiasm for all forms of body decoration.

Along with tattooed celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, men and women around the world are embracing body decoration. If Chanel jewelry is out of reach except to the few, asking for Chanel—or Gucci—tattoos has become the new craze. Nose rings have entered the boardroom, and navel piercing or tattoos at the base of the spine are de rigueur.

Ultraviolet face and hair paint, hair extensions, bleached crew cuts, henna design on hands and feet, ornaments made from found objects—the new creative options give both the single-minded makers of style and the more uncertain majority the opportunity to join in.

Ted Polhemus shows how body adornment has been natural to all peoples until the modern period, and why we are now reverting to our roots. After analyzing the various forms of decoration, he shows how we are influenced by the exotic, drawing on tribal or Far Eastern models; the naturalness of artifice and the artifice of the natural look; and how body decoration makes us masters of our own identities.

The photographs, taken by the talented young team of UZi PART B, reveal key designs and creative techniques. A practical advice section, specially commissioned from Betti Marenko, includes body preparation, healing times, and safety tips, and provides a valuable guide for those acquiring a tattoo or piercing. 200 color illustrations.