Through their metaphorical and material qualities, textiles can be seductive, exciting, intimate and, at times, shocking and disquieting. This book is the first critical examination of the erotically charged relationship between the surface of the skin and the touch of cloth, exploring the ways in which textiles can seduce, conceal and reveal through their interactions with the body. From the beautiful cloth which is quietly suggestive, to bold expressions of deviant sexuality, cloth is a message carrier for both desiring and being desired. The drape, fold, touch and feel, the sound and look of cloth in motion, allow for the exploration of identity as a sensual, gendered or political experience. The book features contributions on the sensory rustle and drape of silk taffeta and the secret pleasures of embroidery, on fetishistic punk street-style and homoerotic intimacy in men's shirts on screen, and a new perspective on the role of cloth and skin in the classic film Blade Runner. In doing so, it interrogates experiences of cloth within social, historical, psychological and cultural contexts. Divided into four sections on representation, design, otherness and performance, The Erotic Cloth showcases a variety of debates that are at the heart of contemporary textile research, drawing on the fields of art, design, film, performance, culture and politics. Playful, provocative and beautifully illustrated with over 50 color images, it will appeal to students and scholars of textiles, fashion, gender, art and anthropology.

The reigning mistress of erotica, Susie Bright, has expertly chosen 40 of the hottest stories ever written: breathtaking new stories as well as the most sought-after stories from The Best American Erotica series. Luminaries like Carol Queen and Robert Olen Butler contribute to the stories about all kinds of lovers: heartbreakers, foxes, maniacs, romanticists, hell-raisers, and utter bandits. This delicious collection is certain to satisfy.

To stripe a surface serves to distinguish it, to point it out, to oppose it or associate it with another surface, and thus to classify it, to keep an eye on it, to verify it, even to censor it. Throughout the ages, the stripe has made its mark in mysterious ways. From prisoners' uniforms to tailored suits, a street sign to a set of sheets, Pablo Picasso to Saint Joseph, stripes have always made a bold statement. But the boundary that separates the good stripe from the bad is often blurred. Why, for instance, were stripes associated with the devil during the Middle Ages? How did stripes come to symbolize freedom and unity after the American and French revolutions? When did the stripe become a standard in men's fashion? "In the stripe," writes author Michel Pastoureau, "there is something that resists enclosure within systems." So before putting on that necktie or waving your country's flag, look to The Devil's Cloth for a colorful history of the stripe in all its variety, controversy, and connotation.

From Paleolithic flax to 3D knitting, explore the global history of textiles and the world they weave together in this enthralling and educational guide. The story of humanity is the story of textiles -- as old as civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, the need for textiles has driven technology, business, politics, and culture. In The Fabric of Civilization, Virginia Postrel synthesizes groundbreaking research from archaeology, economics, and science to reveal a surprising history. From Minoans exporting wool colored with precious purple dye to Egypt, to Romans arrayed in costly Chinese silk, the cloth trade paved the crossroads of the ancient world. Textiles funded the Renaissance and the Mughal Empire; they gave us banks and bookkeeping, Michelangelo's David and the Taj Mahal. The cloth business spread the alphabet and arithmetic, propelled chemical research, and taught people to think in binary code. Assiduously researched and deftly narrated, The Fabric of Civilization tells the story of the world's most influential commodity.

Skin Crafts discusses multiple artists from global contexts who employ craft materials in works that address historical and contemporary violence. These artists are deliberately embracing the fragility of textiles and ceramics to evoke the vulnerability of human skin and - in so doing - are demanding visceral responses from viewers. Drawing on a range of theories including affect theory, material feminism, skin studies, phenomenology and global art history, the book illuminates the various ways in which artists are harnessing the affective power of craft materials to address and cope with violence. Artists from Mexico, Africa, China, the Netherlands and Indigenous artists based in the unceded territory known as Canada are examined in relation to one another to illuminate the connections and differences across their bodies of work. Skin Crafts interrogates ongoing material violence towards women and marginalized others, and demonstrates the power of contemporary art to force viewers and scholars into facing their ethical responsibilities as human beings.

• A full-color collection of Eastern erotic art that presents lovemaking as a highly spiritual expression. • Brings together some of the finest examples of erotic art from India and Nepal, including pieces from the private collection of Nepalese royalty. • Includes commentaries and translations of verse from authentic Tantric treatises. • Companion book to The Erotic Sentiment in the Paintings of China and Japan. Hindu culture has always viewed lovemaking as one of the highest forms of spiritual and artistic expression. In the past it was customary to present newlyweds with beautifully painted erotic manuals on their wedding night. These "pillow books," often illustrated by great artists, helped to break down barriers and initiate the young couples into the aesthetics and techniques of physical love. A variety of pillow books are represented in The Erotic Sentiment, bringing together some of the finest examples from India and Nepal, including pieces from the private collection of a Nepalese king. Accompanying these exquisite reproductions are commentaries and translations of verse from authentic Tantric treatises. Together with the paintings, they elevate physical love to the spiritual realm of joyous ecstasy.

Slow Hand: Women Writing Erotica is an anthology of stories in which women artfully explore their own erotic terrain. To create this newest of her popular anthologies, Michele Slung challenged women--straight and gay, old and young, journalists, poets, academics, women whose job descriptions range from "anthropologist" to "performance artist", as well as professional novelists and short story writers--to turn her on. And from across the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, a variety of daring and talented women, hearing that she was putting together a book to reflect their most intimate sexual selves, enthusiastically responded. Michele Slung has collected the best of these pieces in Slow Hand, offering page after page of tantalizing sensual adventure for our reading--and feeling--pleasure. But whether the stories stay as close to home as a familiar partner's embrace or whether they move into the darker recesses of extraordinary desires and even more extraordinary experiences, the special quality shared by these tales is their ability to seduce us. So while the mood of this collection is indeed slow (in all the right ways), it's certain that your pulse will quicken.