Stephen Bayley: A History of Beauty and Ugliness, Selfridges Beauty Salon

‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’, wrote John Keats. But, the ephemerality of good looks proves the poet wrong, argues style arbiter Stephen Bayley. It is ugliness that has longevity and this fact alone makes it superior to attractiveness, as Bayley will discuss at A History of Beauty and Ugliness, as part of Selfidges Beauty Project.
The best selling author of ‘Ugly: The Aesthetics of Everything’ will explore our idea of beauty and its constant flux; shaped by shifts in taste and style. Our obsession with beauty, Bayley will argue, precludes its attainment – and ugliness is a valuable necessity.
The setting of Selfridges Beauty Salon is archly relevant: this wonderland of cosmetics and "miracle treatments" symbolises the contemporary values challenged by Bayley.