Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie: Intimacy and Design - Tapa blanda

Malu Halasa is one of the most original writers and editors covering the Middle East ... witty, sumptuous and genuinely revelatory ... also superbly produced and designed. --Newstatesman

'A peek into a nation's underwear drawers can be very telling ... frank discussions about marriage and sex follow from voices that are rarely heard ... however, this is not a heavy book about female oppression. I casts a light into some private areas, but also picks up on the exuberance of Syrian sexual culture' --The Independent

Syrian lingerie is racy attire little-known in the west. Manufactured in Syria and exported throughout the Middle East, it blinks, sings, vibrates, and flashes lights, and is adorned with everything from faux fir to artificial flowers and feathered birds to colourful plastic toy cell phones. This sort of lingerie is well known and accepted in Syrian culture, and is openly displayed in the markets and souks - it forms an important part of the longstanding folk traditions around weddings and marriage. Brides-to-be are given it as gifts by their mothers, or buy it themselves; husbands buy it for wives. "The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie" gathers together text and photo essays that introduce and celebrate some of the most outrageous undergarments in the world, and challenge our perceived notions of women, sex, and humour in the Muslim world.