Dear Diane and Shaded Viewers,
Tuesday night saw sexual anthropologist, designer and author Betony Vernon discuss the creation of her book, The Boudoir Bible – The Uninhibited Sex Guide for Today. The event was fittingly held at The Pleasure Chest Upper East Side, a 5600 square-foot adult boutique and education space founded by Brian Robinson "with an emphasis on education, enjoyment and inclusivity" offering a vast array of toys, collectibles, literature and workshops.
Vernon notes that she was inspired to write the guide in a bid to make her work more accessible to a wider audience. “I started to teach and thought that it was kind of elitist, that I’m not going to reach the people I want this way," she says. "The jewelry had become a bridge to my understanding that I needed to do more and that’s how The Boudoir Bible was born.”
Akin to her high-end jewelry line in which pieces serve as much as sculptural objects to admire as they do as sources of erotic enjoyment, The Boudoir Bible is a prime example of form meeting function in the most aesthetically seductive way. “The book is written in a loving and democratic way for everybody. I felt there was a desperate need to inform people how to use these objects that were being absorbed by the fashion system -Tom Ford included – from whips to chains to blindfolds to whatever,” she explains.
Five years in the making (six if including the year that Vernon struggled to find a publisher who didn’t request her to “romance each chapter”), the end result is an elegant yet approachable guide for the sexual sophisticate, filled with coquettish illustrations by Francois Berthoud and presented in a bondage-roped cover. Chapters cover topics ranging from role play to erotic flagellation, geared at both men and women of all sexual orientations. “I sustain that the last taboo is pleasure itself, not sex,” Vernon states. “I’m a pleasure advocate and invite everyone to take the same voyage.”
The Boudoir Bible – The Uninhibited Sex Guide for Today, published by Rizzoli, is available now at The Pleasure Chest and selected bookstores.
The Pleasure Chest
1150 2nd Avenue
New York, NY
10014
Later,
Carla
