The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness
Virginia Postrel
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.
- Author
- Virginia Postrel
- Original title
- The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness (P.S.)
- Edition published
- March 17, 2009
- First published
- January 1, 2003
- Publication year
- 2009
- First published
- 2003
- My rating
- 3/5
- Goodreads rating
- 3.49/5 from 530 ratings and 52 reviews
- Publisher
- HarperCollins e-books
- Edition
- Kindle Edition · 268 pages
- Language
- English
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Design, Business, Cultural, Art, Sociology, Economics, Fashion, Psychology, Society
- ISBN
- 9780061852862
- Added
- November 29, 2014
- Times read
- 1
- Owned copies
- 0
- Goodreads
- Book record