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Flashback: Fashion and the Black Shirts (1920–1945)

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Italian Fashion since 1945

Part of the book series: Italian and Italian American Studies ((IIAS))

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Abstract

The chapter returns to the period between the two wars to show the origins of phenomena that will develop later. The numerous unsuccessful initiatives taken by the fascist regime to try to create a distinct Italian fashion are described. Then there is an examination of the ecological aspects related to the production of materials such as wool, cotton and leather, as well as the transformations which occurred with the development of chemistry, starting with artificial fibres. Equal importance is given to an analysis of the characteristics of, and the part played by, tailors and seamstresses in Italy. Finally, the evolution of the cultural concept of the female body, starting from the first struggles for greater freedom in clothing (trousers and sports clothes), is considered.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Contessa di Parma, directed by A. Blasetti, Italy 1937.

  2. 2.

    E. Paulicelli, Rosa Genoni. La Moda è una cosa seria. Milano Expo 1906 e la Grande Guerra, Deleyva, Monza 2015.

  3. 3.

    G. Balla, Azione dei colori (1914), in ibid., Scritti futuristi, Abscondita, Milan 2010, p. 21.

  4. 4.

    Volt [V. Fani], Futurist Manifesto of Women’s Fashion, 29 February 1920 (published also in E. Braun, “Futurist Fashion: Three Manifestoes”, in Art Journal, 54, 1, 1995, pp. 39–40).

  5. 5.

    E. Crispolti, Il futurismo e la moda: Balla e gli altri, Marsilio, Venice 1986.

  6. 6.

    FAI Archives, Villa Necchi Campiglio Collection, Album 00, Friends 1929–1962, photographs nos. 7 and 8, September 1935, and no. 9, Salsomaggiore September 1940.

  7. 7.

    L.B. Arthur, “Dress and Social Control of the Body”, in Religion, Dress and the Body, Berg, Oxford and New York 1999, pp. 1–7; J. Craik, Uniforms Exposed: From Conformity to Transgression, Berg, Oxford and New York, 2005.

  8. 8.

    E. Hackspiel-Mikosch, “Uniforms and the Creation of Ideal Masculinity”, in The Men’s Fashion Reader cit., pp. 121–124.

  9. 9.

    As before, the description of this wardrobe is based on the results of a wide-ranging inquiry with semi-structured questionnaires and targeted interviews (Autumn 2014). In this case, the interview with G. Bertasso of 13 October 2015 was particularly useful. Regarding the family referred to, cf. the interviews of Raimondo B. born in 1932 and Concetta A. born in 1933, conducted by A. Bonanno in 2014.

  10. 10.

    S. Gnoli, La donna l’eleganza il fascismo. La moda italiana dalle origini all’Ente Nazionale della Moda, Edizioni del Prisma, Catania 2000, pp. 43–44, 57–65.

  11. 11.

    Ibid., pp. 89–99; A.M. Ruggiero, “L’immagine della donna italiana nelle riviste femminili durante gli anni del Fascismo”, in Officine della storia, 9, April 2013, http://www.officinadellastoria.info.

  12. 12.

    E. Paulicelli, Fashion Under Fascism: Beyond the Black Shirt, Berg, Oxford and New York 2004, pp. 75–76, 142–143.

  13. 13.

    O. Soffer, J.M. Adovasio, D.C. Hyland, “The ‘Venus’ Figurines: Textiles, Basketry, Gender, and Status in the Upper Paleolithic”, in Current Anthropology, 41, 4, 2000, pp. 511–537.

  14. 14.

    D.R. Headrick, Technology: A World History, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2009, pp. 5, 27–28.

  15. 15.

    A. Castagnoli, E. Scarpellini, Storia degli imprenditori italiani, Einaudi, Turin 2003, pp. 120–122.

  16. 16.

    I. Good, “Archaeological Textiles: A Review of Current Research”, in Annual Review of Anthropology, 30, 2001, pp. 209–226.

  17. 17.

    G. Riello, Cotton: The Fabric That Made the Modern World, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2013.

  18. 18.

    Castagnoli, Scarpellini, Storia degli imprenditori italiani cit., pp. 24–25.

  19. 19.

    Istat, Sommario di statistiche storiche dell’Italia, 1861–1975 cit., p. 94; G. Federico, S. Natoli, G. Tattara, M. Vasta, Il commercio estero italiano 1862–1950, Laterza, Rome and Bari 2011, p. 48.

  20. 20.

    L. Cafagna, Dualismo e sviluppo nella storia d’Italia, Marsilio, Venice 1989.

  21. 21.

    Castagnoli, Scarpellini, Storia degli imprenditori italiani cit., pp. 24–29.

  22. 22.

    G. Federico, Il filo d’oro. L’industria mondiale della seta dalla Restaurazione alla grande crisi, Marsilio, Venice 1994, pp. 14–69; Castagnoli, Scarpellini, Storia degli imprenditori italiani cit., pp. 102–105.

  23. 23.

    G. Federico, Il filo d’oro. L’industria mondiale della seta cit.

  24. 24.

    Le fibre intelligenti: Un secolo di storia e cinquant’anni di moda, ed. M. Garofoli, Electa, Milan 1991, pp. 13–16.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., pp. 22–28.

  26. 26.

    A’s interview of Gianni B., Milan 13 October 2015.

  27. 27.

    A. Colli, “Fibre chimiche”, in Storia d’Italia, Annali 19. La moda, eds., C.M. Belfanti, F. Giusberti, Einaudi, Turin 2003, p. 509.

  28. 28.

    F. Chiapparino, Riccardo Gualino, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Treccani, Rome 2003, vol. 60, pp. 172–178.

  29. 29.

    M. Spadoni, Francesco Marinotti , in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Treccani, Rome 2008, vol. 70, pp. 550–554.

  30. 30.

    Colli, Fibre chimiche cit., p. 498.

  31. 31.

    M. Spadoni, Il gruppo Snia dal 1917 al 1951, Giappichelli, Turin 2003.

  32. 32.

    M.E. Hermes, Enough for One Lifetime: Wallace Carothers, Inventor of Nylon, American Chemical Society and the Chemical Heritage Foundation, York 1996.

  33. 33.

    Le fibre intelligenti cit., p. 43.

  34. 34.

    The information summarized here is drawn from the copious collection of documents both about the development and promotion of nylon by DuPont and about W.H. Carothers held in the Hagley Archive, cf. in particular: DuPont Company Product Information photographs, 1895–1968; DuPont Company Textile Fabrics Department videotapes, photographs, slides and promotions, 1918–2004; David A. Hounshell and John K. Smith research notes for Science and Corporate Strategy, 1903–1986.

  35. 35.

    Archivio storico Pirelli, G. Restellini’s sketches for advertising Pirelli soles and heels, 1920–1925.

  36. 36.

    Archivio storico Pirelli, Price lists for waterproof fabrics—Price lists of waterproof overcoats and cloaks, from 1880 to 1900. Various documents can be found online at http://search.fondazionepirelli.org/pirelli/.

  37. 37.

    Archivio storico Pirelli, Loviano, Bozzetto per pubblicità degli impermeabili Pirelli (Sketch for advertising Pirelli raincoats), 1910–1914.

  38. 38.

    Archivio storico Pirelli, G. Muggiani, Bozzetto per pubblicità degli impermeabili Pirelli (Sketch for advertising Pirelli raincoats), 1920–1925; G. Tabet, Bozzetto per pubblicità degli impermeabili Pirelli, 16 November 1929.

  39. 39.

    Archivio storico Pirelli, D. Bonamini, Bozzetto per pubblicità degli impermeabili Pirelli, 4 May 1925.

  40. 40.

    The Pirelli Historical Archives have a wealth of documentation, consisting of production and sales documents, photographs and advertising posters of the products referred to here.

  41. 41.

    Le fibre chimiche, edited by the R&S (Mediobanca), Milan 1972, p. 18.

  42. 42.

    “Tribuna illustrata”, cover, XLVI, 11, 13 March 1938.

  43. 43.

    D’Annunzio’s clothes can be seen at the Vittoriale degli Italiani (http://www.vittoriale.it/). Many of these have been described and photographed in Conformismo e trasgressione. Il guardaroba di Gabriele D’Annunzio, La Nuova Italia, Florence 1988.

  44. 44.

    Gabriele d’Annunzio padre dello stile italiano, Silvana editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo 2012.

  45. 45.

    Archivio del Vittoriale degli Italiani; Conformismo e trasgressione cit.

  46. 46.

    La creatività sartoriale campana. Abbigliamento maschile e moda mare, eds. M.A. Taglialatela, A. Spinelli, Arte’m, Naples 2010.

  47. 47.

    J. Peers, The Fashion Doll: From Bébé Jumeau to Barbie, Berg, Oxford and New York 2004.

  48. 48.

    V. Pouillard, “L’alta moda in Francia. Rotture e continuità fra le due guerre”, in Memoria e Ricerca. Rivista di storia contemporanea, 50, 2015, p. 30. The exchange rate has been calculated on the basis of the Annual Rates—Serie storiche di Banca Italia.

  49. 49.

    Boneschi, “Le sarte milanesi del ‘miracolo’ tra moda, industria e cultura”, in Annali di storia dell’impresa, 18, 2007, pp. 75–103; M. Canella, “Dalla sartoria al prêt-à-porter. Le origini del sistema moda in Italia”, in I consumi della vita quotidiana, ed. E. Scarpellini, il Mulino, Bologna 2013, pp. 62–76.

  50. 50.

    Istituto centrale di statistica, Censimento industriale e commerciale 1937–1939, vol. V, Industrie tessili, dell’abbigliamento e del cuoio, Rome 1950, p. 89.

  51. 51.

    Ibid., p. 123.

  52. 52.

    M. Bellocchio, Aghi e cuori. Sartine e patronesse nella Torino d’inizio secolo, Centro Studi Piemontesi, Torino 2000, pp. 19–38; V. Maher, “Un mestiere da raccontare. Sarte e sartine torinesi tra le due guerre”, in Memoria. Rivista di storia delle donne, 8, 1983, pp. 52–71; F. Imprenti, Operaie e socialismo. Milano, le leghe femminili, la Camera del Lavoro (1891–1918), Franco Angeli, Milan 2007, pp. 145–152.

  53. 53.

    E. Tosi Brandi, Artisti del quotidiano : sarti e sartorie storiche in Emilia-Romagna, Clueb, Bologna 2009.

  54. 54.

    S. Stanfill, “The Role of the Sartoria in Post-War Italy”, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 20, 1, 2015, pp. 83–91.

  55. 55.

    Cf. for example, three photographs of a different period in the Archivio storico Alinari: dressmaking and leather workshop: a group of ladies with sewing machines, s.l. 1890–1899, FVQ-F-225254-0000; A young woman using a sewing machine, Rome 1916, CDP-A-MAL703-0039; A woman using a sewing machine, Florence 1950, CDP-A-MAL703-0037.

  56. 56.

    The Culture of Sewing: Gender, Consumption and Home Dressmaking, ed. B. Burman, Berg, Oxford 1999 (in particular the essays by N.P. Fernandez, T. Putnam, N. Oddy); R. Oldenziel, M. Hård, Consumers, Tinkerers, Rebels: The People Who Shaped Europe, Palgrave, Basingstoke 2013, pp. 29–35; P.A. de la Cruz-Fernández, “Marketing the Hearth: Ornamental Embroidery and the Building of the Multinational Singer Sewing Machine Company”, in Enterprise and Society, 15, 2014, pp. 442–471.

  57. 57.

    A. Gerschenkron, Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective: A Book of Essays, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1962.

  58. 58.

    M. Vasta, Innovazione tecnologica e capitale umano in Italia (1880–1914), il Mulino, Bologna 1999; R. Giannetti, Tecnologia e sviluppo economico italiano 1870–1990, il Mulino, Bologna 1998.

  59. 59.

    D. Crane, Fashion and Its Social Agendas: Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing, University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2000, pp. 112–113.

  60. 60.

    “L’equivoco di mille persone”, Corriere della Sera, 13 March 1911; “La ‘jupe culotte’ a Torino”, ivi, 25 February 1911; “Una signora in ‘jupe culotte’ sequestrata per tre ore e mezza in un negozio”, ivi, 31 March 1911; “La ‘jupe-culotte’ urlata a Catania”, ivi, 20 March 1911. Cf. also 1911 Calendario italiano, eds. L. Benadusi, S. Colarizi, Laterza, Rome-Bari, 2011, pp. 123–132.

  61. 61.

    P. Bernasconi, “La donna e i calzoni”, Corriere della Sera, 8 April 1911.

  62. 62.

    M. Foucault, Foucault’s History of Sexuality, vol. 1, An Introduction (1976), Pantheon Books, New York 1978; Ibid., Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975), Pantheon Books, New York 1977.

  63. 63.

    P.A. Cunningham, Reforming Women’s Fashion, 1850–1920: Politics, Health, and Art, Kent State University Press, Kent 2003.

  64. 64.

    V. Steele, The Corset: A Cultural History, Yale University Press, New Haven 2001.

  65. 65.

    I. Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Managing the Body: Beauty, Health and Fitness in Britain, 1880–1939, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010; M. Hau, The Cult of Health and Beauty in Germany: A Social History 1890–1930, Chicago University Press, Chicago 2003.

  66. 66.

    L. Conor, The Spectacular Modern Woman: Feminine Visibility in the 1920s, Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2004; A. Gigli Marchetti, Dalla crinolina alla minigonna: la donna, l’abito e la società dal diciottesimo al ventesimo secolo, Clueb, Bologna 1995.

  67. 67.

    R. Lagier, La Femme et le Cheval. Des siècles d’histoire, Hérissey, Janzè, 2009; C. Tourre-Malen, Femmes à cheval. La féminisation des sports et des loisirs équestres: une avancée? Belin, Paris 2006.

  68. 68.

    A. Gigli Marchetti, La donna, l’abito e la società dal XVIII al XX secolo, Clueb, Bologna 1995, pp. 152–155, 198–200; Sport e stile. 150 anni d’immagine al femminile, eds. M. Canella, S. Giuntini, M. Turinetto, Skira, Milan 2011.

  69. 69.

    Archivio storico Luce, A. Monteverde, A group of women skiers at Abetone, 22–23 January 1927, n. CAD-S-040005-0008; A woman skier in movement, in Val Grosina, in Lombardy, 1 January 1924, n. AVQ-A-002555-0068.

  70. 70.

    Cf. various interesting documentaries of the Archivio dell’Istituto Luce, some of which have been collected by L. Laurenzi, Mare e Moda. Una giornata al mare nell’Italia degli anni trenta, http://video.repubblica.it/luce/vita-italiana. The first bathing costumes in elastic fabric were patented by the American firm Jantzen in 1921. Cf. Jantzen Knitting Mills Collection, 1925–1977, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

  71. 71.

    Cf. some photographs of her on the website http://www.radiomarconi.com/marconi/alfonsina/index.html.

  72. 72.

    Crane, Fashion and Its Social Agendas cit., pp. 114–118.

  73. 73.

    V. de Grazia, How Fascism Ruled Women: Italy, 1922–1945, University of California Press, Berkeley 1992; Ibid., Irresistible Empire: America’s Advance Through Twentieth-Century Europe, The Belknap Press, Cambridge 2005.

  74. 74.

    Cf., for example, Archivio storico Luce, Giornale Luce A0832, August 1931; Giornale Luce B0882, 13 May 1936. Cf. also de Grazia, Le donne nel regime fascista cit.; P. Ferrara, “La ‘donna nuova’ del fascismo e lo sport”, in Sport e fascismo, eds. M. Canella, S. Giuntini, Angeli, Milan 2009, pp. 209–234.

  75. 75.

    Archivio storico Luce, Giornale Luce B0938, 19 August 1936.

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    Emanuela Scarpellini

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Scarpellini, E. (2019). Flashback: Fashion and the Black Shirts (1920–1945). In: Italian Fashion since 1945. Italian and Italian American Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17812-3_3

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