Fashion Through History : Costumes, Symbols, Communication (Volume I) [1 ed.] 9781527512122, 9781527503441

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Fashion through History

Fashion through History: Costumes, Symbols, Communication (Volume I) Edited by

Giovanna Motta and Antonello Biagini

Fashion through History: Costumes, Symbols, Communication (Volume I) Edited by Giovanna Motta and Antonello Biagini This book first published 2017 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2017 by Giovanna Motta, Antonello Biagini and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-0344-5 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-0344-1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................................ xi Fashion in Historical Perspective Giovanna Motta Chapter One From Antiquity to the Ancien Régime Dress and Culture in the Hittite Empire and during the Late Hittite Period according to Rock Reliefs............................................................................ 2 Murat Turgut Clothing in Medieval Scandinavia: Social and Legal Implications ........... 14 Carla Del Zotto Court Clothes of the Sixteenth Century in the Romanian Principalities .... 23 Ana-Maria Moisuc Poupées de Mode: The Fashion Exchanges of Early Modern Europe ....... 31 Samantha Maruzzella Foreign Travelers on Romanian Clothing in Eighteenth Century Wallachia and Moldavia ............................................................................ 44 Mihaela Grancea Glamour and Style in Mid-Nineteenth Century Russia: Family Education and Italian Allure in the Character of a Princess........................................ 57 Paolo De Luca Chapter Two The Centuries of the Bourgeoisie Fashion and Trends at the Tsar’s Court from Peter the Great to Nicholas II ............................................................................................. 68 Elena Dundovich

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Uniforms and Hats: The Reality and Symbols on Austro-Hungarian Uniforms .................................................................................................... 80 Alessandro Vagnini Leisure and Fashion in Transylvania at the End of the Nineteenth Century: The Romanian Case .................................................................... 88 Cornel Sigmirean and Maria Tătar-Dan Between Tradition and Modernism: Romanian Fashion Reviews at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century ................................................ 98 Giuseppe Motta The Decline of the Habsburg Empire through its Fashion........................110 Cesare La Mantia Chapter Three Soviet Fashion La Maison Moscou: Some Considerations on Fashion in the Soviet Union ........................................................................................................118 Andrea Giannotti Dress of a New Man: A Concept of Socialist Fashion in the Polish People’s Republic of the Early 1950s ...................................................... 130 Magdalena Pasewicz-Rybacka From Sweatpants to Mini-Skirt: Fashion in Czechoslovakia from 1945–1968 ...................................................................................... 140 Zuzana Šidlíková Chapter Four Traditional Costume Imagery of Cathay: Chinese Costumes in the Eyes of Early European Missionaries............................................................................................. 150 Silvano Mo Cheng The National Dimension of Fashion: Women’s Traditional Garments as a National Symbol in Romanian Society............................................. 156 Georgeta Fodor

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Greece: The Traditional Costume that Made History .............................. 168 Elena Dumitru Dress and Identity: A Georgian Case Study............................................. 177 Mariam Chkhartishvili, Sopio Kadagishvili and Zurab Targamadze The Circassians (Adyghe): The Symbolic Meaning of the Caucasus Mountains ................................................................................................ 189 Emilia Sheudzhen and Ruslan Tleptsok Cultural Identity and Fashion: We are What We Dress and Vice Versa ... 200 Emma Gago Sánchez Costumes and Customs as Modes of Identification in the Balkan Peninsula ................................................................................................. 207 Volodia Clemente The Romanian Traditional Blouse Ia: A Cultural Identity Passport ........ 215 Liliana ğuroiu Chapter Five Dressing your Faith The Color Blue in the Liturgical Vestments of the Middle Ages: Fact or Fiction? An Iconographic Analysis.............................................. 226 Rafaá OjrzyĔski The Relationship between Clothing and Religious Identity for Monks and Hermits in the Middle Ages .............................................................. 235 Umberto Longo Chasubles and Cassocks: Between Tradition and Innovation ................. 241 Antonello Battaglia The Reform of Ecclesiastical Clothing and the Vatican II Council ......... 250 Marco Iervese Turkey’s Headscarf Issue Unveiled: Fashion, Politics and Religion ....... 263 Iulia-Alexandra Oprea

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Chapter Six Youth Culture, Counterculture, and Marginality Court of Miracles, Charity, Contempt: Beggars and Mendicants from the Middle Ages to Modern Times.................................................. 274 Alessandro Pistecchia Beat is Rebellion. Beat is Rhythm. Beat is Fashion ................................ 284 Roberto Sciarrone Haute Couture and Science Fiction: Space Fashion during the Sixties and Seventies ........................................................................................... 291 Valentina Mariani The Tattoo Trend and Ephemeral Appeal ................................................ 301 Alessandra Castellani Chapter Seven Fashion, Health and Sustainability Fashionability and Comfort: Designing Chemotherapy Uniforms to Enhance the Well-being of Patients and Oncology Nurses.................. 312 Dana Connell and Amanda Huff Ethical Fashion as a Post-Postmodern Phenomenon ............................... 326 Laura Bovone The Cosmetics Industry: Market Evolution and Customer Behavior ...... 337 Martina Musarra, Carlo Amendola and Raffaella Preti Chapter Eight Fashion Theory A History of Waste: Fashion, Culture and Luxury as a Clash between Democratic and Elitist Forces.................................................................. 348 Nello Barile Fausto Squillace: The Fashion Proto-Sociologist .................................... 359 Angelo Romeo

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The Trans-Disciplinarity of Fashion Theory: Identity, Language, Media... 367 Patrizia Calefato C. Garve and N. Elias: Two Interpretations of Fashion and Costume ..... 379 Anna Maria Curcio How is Fashion Possible?: A Relational Analysis of Fashion as a Form of Social Life ........................................................................................... 387 Davide Ruggieri The Contemporary Fashion System......................................................... 399 Bianca Terracciano Fashion as a “Scientific Poem”: The Semiotic Studies of Greimas and Barthes .............................................................................................. 408 Isabella Pezzini When Crisis is Fashionable: Ethnicity, Pauperism and Environmentalism as Value.................................................................................................... 418 Emanuela Ferreri Fashion and Modernity: The Mixture of Love and Luxury in Werner Sombart ................................................................................................... 428 Roberta Iannone The Laws of Fashion ............................................................................... 437 Victor Aquino Real Clothing and Performativity: An Extension of Roland Barthes ...... 448 Gabriela Muñagorri Mendiola Chapter Nine Language, Media and Advertisements Cool and the Gang: The Everlasting Fashion of an Unfashionable Word ........................................................................................................ 460 Fabiana Giacomotti Habits of Power in Period/Fantasy TV Series ......................................... 469 Luisa Valeriani

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Politeness and Impoliteness in Fashion Advertisements in Spanish ........ 479 Laura Mariottini Slow Motion: Images of Women in Vogue Italia’s Fashion Advertisements over the Last Fifty Years ................................................ 496 Paola Panarese Fashion Brand Searchability: From TV Series to Audience Online Interaction ................................................................................................ 508 Romana Andò

INTRODUCTION FASHION IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE GIOVANNA MOTTA

The history of fashion, apparently a history on the small-scale, is, in fact, closely connected to the social, political, and religious history of every period and every country. At the beginnings of humanity, people covered their bodies to protect themselves from the cold or, on the contrary, to shelter from the heat, using various materials to hide their nakedness. Soon, even in primitive societies, they used signs to distinguish themselves from each other to whom they intended to communicate their social, sexual, and identitary status. From grave goods that still preserve vestiges of clothes, along with more or less valuable objects, one can decipher the social structure of buried civilizations; resurfacing after millennia, we can use these objects to interpret the specific importance of a person, whether a man or a woman, and the role that they had in their community—leader, priest, warrior, queen or slave. In the diachronic theories of political, economic, social, and anthropological history, every sign serves to indicate a change. Each change, in a dynamic perspective, alters our perception of reality, taking on new forms and assuming new meanings. Thus, every epoch, through its self-images, tells of the values in which people believed, their codes of behavior, and the symbols through which their identities were made. The intrinsic meaning of fashion, even if difficult to define, can be contemplated in its literal meaning of modus—of manner, rule, and norm—which directs every periodic change of style to an extent that even George Darwin (son of Charles) studied it, considering it a manifestation of the evolution of men (although for others it was a negative sign expressive of triviality). The transformation of society can be marked in different ways, one can look at political forms or economic data, but it can also be followed through the evolution of clothes: used by the ruling classes to affirm the image of their power and by the emerging ones to indicate the

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achievement of their social position. From the Nobles of the Sword who presented themselves to others through their blazon to the new “bourgeois” signs of merchants marked on their bales of clothes to make them recognizable on the road (and for ease of retrieval in case of accident), later used as a sign on the walls of their mansions; social mobility—even if in some areas very limited—describes the course of the emerging classes as they rose alongside the ruling ones, creating, between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age, new realities. Aristocrats, nobles, and sovereigns were joined by merchants, bankers, physicians, and judges—a varied bourgeoisie that adopted models and colors to indicate their social and professional roles. Clothing (and everything connected to it), become a way of expressing human typology. In a period that saw the rise of a globalized economy, with its structural changes and acceleration of commercial flows, widespread improvement in living standards and increasing consumer demand stimulated commercial activity and caused a significant growth in exchange. In this context, it was increasingly important to openly express, and even accentuate, one’s social role through clear, immediate, and easily decrypted messages. These signs revealed, through precise modes of dress, whether one was a pilgrim, traveler, knight, priest, merchant, magistrate, or physician. The conceptualization of clothes offers an ideal model of an epoch, which, in the constitutive elements of clothing, expresses the rules of a world through a combination of fabrics, colors, and sizes, and, in its artistic, technical, philosophical, aesthetic, political and economic concepts, indicates definite virtues and qualities. It could be said that in this case “clothes make the man,” since clothes reveal social membership, economic status, and cultural standing, as demonstrated through the use of valuable materials and an increasingly refined style.

The new bourgeoisie During this transition from the old to the new order, the emergent classes were ready to take on the indications of modern thinking and to assume codes stratification. But what was the theoretical-conceptual model to which they appealed? This was the moment in which humanistic and Renaissance thought advanced beyond that of the Middle Ages, no longer placing God at the center, but replacing him with man. This new thinking was affirmed and consolidated and could not but subvert the order of society—the individual whished to stand out, distinguish themself from others, and show off their political, economic, and artistic personality. To choose one type of clothes instead of another was part of a

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new psychological dimension that induced new perceptions of the other, encouraging thinkers and artists to become interested in clothing and what it meant. It was a new language, born of the Renaissance, which aimed at representing novel political doctrines and scientific thought, and the new dimension of a society developing in an urban context—the ideal city—in contrast to the previous agrarian context in which the distribution of property represented the old economic differences and hierarchies. The new city expressed itself in architecture, art, and model aesthetics; it provided the background to novel political subjects, the new “entrepreneurs,” the classes of merchants and bankers, social categories for which the choice of clothes was of great importance.

Figure 1. Queen Elizabeth.

Material life only caught the interest of historians later and it only acquired a scientific value once attention had shifted to social and economic history and material culture, which opened up new research horizons. Notarial records, marriage contracts, dowries, testamentary bequests, and property inventories of various kinds have all given new leads to research and offered new suggestions. The extremely analytical descriptions that these artefacts report demonstrate very different ways of life—between the ruling classes and the common people—and the momentous occasions of marriage and death well represent the gap between classes that clothes highlighted, signaling diverse realities in relation to social categories and local custom. For important families, it was not just about affirming their economic standing, but also about demonstrating their excessive attention to valuable and/or unusual objects, as attested to by primary sources that give every detail of clothes regarding

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their origin or rarity. In marriage contracts (and also in death registers), the detailed descriptions of goods highlighted the need to give the best guarantee to the contracting parties, especially in the event of a woman’s death—and the legal restitution of the dowry—which often gave rise to decades-long feuds.

Figure 2. King Louis XIV of France.

In addition to the linen for the house and bed, attention was given to clothes, often richly decorated with golden and silver embroideries, with shirts of different shapes and in different colors. From this a true and proper model of life emerges that demonstrates not so much the everyday necessities (as clothing was generally modest), but above all one’s social obligations at public events during which people at the top of the social hierarchy were expected to display themselves to others. As such, in the most formal dowries the inventory for clothes for celebrations and events continues over several pages with accurate descriptions of bonnets, coats, hats, bags, gloves and combs—hand-woven, lined, and embellished, with fringes, images, initials and coats of arms. Rich clothes intended for the upper classes were necessary for social activities. Valuable silk and wool, linen from Holland and voile of different origins and in different colors are enumerated and described (Motta 2013) with great precision highlighting the rank of an important spouse—for her family or for the family of the

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man whom she is about to marry. From the ruling classes down to the petty bourgeois, dowries—and the garments that they contained—reflected the status of the contractors and their families in a game of alliances aimed at the preservation of power or the achievement of a higher social status. The institution of the dowry testified to the transfer of assets from one family to another and could, in one single act, renew the destiny of an ancient impoverished family through the acquisition of a fortune by marriage to a rich bourgeois spouse. In the medieval and modern periods, women, on whom society imposed marriage as the only solution to status outside the monastery, were used as a means of connecting groups of relatives interested in consolidating their political and economic power— dowries and clothes reveal their stories.

Textiles and colors International trade, starting in the sixteenth century, provided supplies of fine goods and curiosities that could satisfy the most demanding consumers. During the Renaissance, certain countries began to emerge as leaders in production and were able to offer quality products at the international level, enriching exchanges between different markets and across great distances. The world economy created new categories of consumers who, thanks to an overall improvement in living conditions, stimulated production, dividing it into a wide variety of sectors—from fine fabrics exchanged on the markets of Antwerp and Southampton to the many types of textiles that filled local markets. From the sixteenth century onwards, a great variety of clothes existed between Flanders and the Mediterranean. There was an enormous differentiation of commodities by country and region:Catalan, Tuscan, English, and Flemish fabrics; satin and damask from Venice; velvet from Genoa; voile from Arezzo and Messina; and linen from Holland and Brabant, to name just a few. In every city merchants brought all kinds of goods and clothes, including shirts, bonnets, slippers, socks, belts, hoods, caps, scarselle to go around the waist and hold coins, and fur from Northern Europe (of wolf, fox, marten, sable, ermine). In the markets of the modern era, different types of fabrics circulated, including linen, silk, and cotton, for a vast public with limited economic possibilities who still, however, desired to imitate the ruling classes of the past as much as possible, all of which influenced the spread of fashion and the transition frrom individual to collective consumption. Based on the documentation of the Archive Datini of Prato, Federigo Melis has reconstructed the entire cycle of wool production, from the

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purchase of wool—before shearing—to the final fabric, passing through every working phase of the system of trading-banking agencies: “Documenti sulla mercatura … ne troviamo a decine e decine negli archivi toscani, che non sono mai stati considerati … essendosi preferite le cronache o altre fonti, mentre tutti i problemi tecnici … possono trovare soluzione soltanto in questi documenti commerciali, i quali ci trasmettono tutti i particolari delle operazioni realmente concretate” (Melis 1974).

A vast sector of economic history studying the origins of textiles opens up here, especially with reference to those periods in which the manufacture of fabrics constituted an important stage in the development of production, becoming “industrial” in the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern period with the introduction of new “machinery.” Wool and silk became ubiquitous in many cities in the north of Italy, and in the north of Europe where the seeds of this new capitalism (protocapitalism) grew, from which, in the following centuries, the industrial revolution started. On the Italian Peninsula, the regions of the North that saw the development of production were Tuscany—already by the Middle Ages clothes were being produced in Florence, Lucca, and Prato—the Republic of Venice, and that of Genoa. In Europe, England and Flanders were the first to set up “factories” with mechanical looms preceding the more advanced machinery that would come later. The process of production went through a series of phases necessary to create a final product, and the more serious and competent these passages were, the better the final product. Wool fabrics constituted the final point of a long and complex process of work where each stage was necessary for attaining high quality finished material. For this reason every city (or state) had specific regulations covering the technical aspects of the working phases, upon which ever growing controls were exerted. Workers were divided according to their skills and belonged to guilds, rigidly divided between Arte maggiori and Arti minori. These workers included weavers, silk weavers, tailors, makers of caps and socks, embroiderers, in short, a myriad of craftsmen that included every segment of production and the sale of both textiles and clothes. The guild system did not develop in the same way and at the same time in the different countries of Europe, but from the first establishment of trading guilds, the system expanded to other sectors, assuming control and political power. The main task of the guilds was to protect the quality of products through the oversight of raw materials and the techniques of production, as well as through a monopoly over the profession. The competent authorities imposed precise regulations and taxes on the production process, which grew ever heavier, and to

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escape this state of affairs, Flanders, for the first time in the sixteenth century, “invented” what is today called de-localization, i.e. moving the production from the cities—that imposed stricter rules on production—to smaller towns located in rural areas where control was less severe. It was an example soon followed by others and increased the number of products by introducing less valuable fabrics into the system, purchased primarily by local consumers.

Figure 3. The Sword Nobility.

There were many products and the movement went from north to south; factories emerged in the north in those areas where the first structural changes in production were made, being able to offer a better final product (Motta 2003). Raw materials came from the south: the best wool—merinos—from Spain (Mallorca) and raw silk from Sicily, which exported Calabrian products from port of Messina. Between the Middle Ages and the modern period, guilds established clear rules. In Florence, the Arte dei Tintori rigidly defined the categories of artisans for dyeing according to color; those who belonged to the Arti maggiori could dye in any color, others from the Arti minori, however, used red, and those from the Arte del Guado blue. The products for dyeing were of animal origin, such as cochineal for red and mollusks (murex) for purple, or of plant origin, such as grasses, flowers, fruits, leaves, and roots They brought in a

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fortune to their places of origin, such as the Hanseatic city of Erfurt, which became rich thanks to the export of woad, a plant from which the blue color used for dyeing the most valuable textiles was extracted: “a tintura la si fa co’ colori vegetali de le piante e de le radici… il guado e l’indaco danno la colorazione azurra, lo zafferano gialla, la robbia rossa… il colore va poi trattato con la cenere e fissato con l’allume” (Tuccio Fioravanti, 1526).

Equally esteemed were indigo, which gives a dark blue color (especially the particular shade of indigo blue from Morocco); madder, the root of a perennial herb from Southern Europe used for red; kermes (coccus ilici), a scarlet color obtained from an oak parasite of the Mediterranean Basin—Sicily, Sardinia, Southern France, North Africa, the Middle East—(Macina); Brazilwood, a tree that yields a red dye, also present during the Middle Ages. Regarding other colors, ivy and nettle were used for green; pomegranate for orange; broom and saffron for yellow; the husks of nuts, coffee and chestnut for darker colors. Blue could also be obtained from some minerals, including lapis lazuli—from Iran and Afghanistan it was highly sought after and extremely expensive—and Azurite, extracted in Germany and Bohemia. With the increase of sea routes to the New World, new products were brought for dyeing, so kermes used for obtaining a crimson color was replaced by cochineal from Mexico, also of animal origin, because of its superior dyeing capacity. With scientific development, chemical dyes were introduced. Some dyeing materials were already known in ancient times and were often hidden as “secrets” of dyers who jealously guarded their knowledge. Due to the movements of populations and certain categories of workers, most of that information spread across Europe, mixing together the knowledge of ancient peoples—Egyptians, Phoenicians, Etruscans, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and Indians. As with dyeing, weaving also attests to traditional craftsmanship, technical advancements and scientific knowledge involved, but its development is more closely linked to the dictates of fashion. In the course of the production process, dyeing is the last operation— in the Middle Ages it was often performed by Jews (Muzzarelli 1999)—which required great skill and knowledge in the use of colors of plant or animal origin. Every epoch and country shows preferences for one color or another, ascribing different meanings to them, as evoked by the writings of merchants who accurately wrote down the prices of fabrics, the price and number of which were higher or lower depending on the dye—the color of clothes, as with furniture and paintings, speaks its own language, communicates messages and refers to symbolic content that can only be

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understood by looking at codes of communication and cultural standards, which change over time and space. Colors “open up” another large sector of research, compelling and seductive, in which technical and symbolic paths, not always easy to interpret, are disclosed, not limited to a specific area of production, but becoming a means of social and cultural expression.

Figure 4. A merchant with his products.

Colors hide remote meanings, superstitions, and ancestral beliefs: in Europe, black instills fear and connotes fierce, terrible and potent meanings; yellow, is considered a warm color representing wealth and cheerfulness; brown, is considered depressing; blue, which today is preferred in the West had a very weak social role in ancient times, when for the ancient Romans it was considered the color of barbarians and therefore had negative connotations (Pastoureau 2010). In Europe, during the modern era, when the end of Spanish influence removed the prevalence of black clothes with large white ruffs, the new fashion trend, which turned towards France, introduced a lot of colors, both soft and bright. The latest specialized historiography has highlighted the important role of colors in clothing. This is demonstrated, for example, by the ban on certain colors for clothes in theatre performances: in France green was banned because that was the color worn by Moliere before his death in his last performance, The Imaginary Invalid; in Italy, purple, as it referred to

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the days of Lent during which performances in theatres were prohibited in the Middle Ages (they could only take place on the streets and squares). Generally, black is the color of mourning, symbolizing the pain of an individual and of a community. In China white is obligatory, in Japan yellow, and in India red.

Texts and manuals of fashion The Commercial Revolution—with its increase of available goods, the improvement of living standards, and greater wellbeing enlarging the body of consumers—contributed to the creation of preconditions for the spread of new clothing trends. Between the first and second half of the sixteenth century, these created, in a more systematic manner, the first fashion. This started from the ruling classes, who were born with the propensity to choose new clothes without having worn out those already in their possession. This was dictated by the need to give a strong image of disinction, to stand out in society, and to dominate in politics. Attention to detail was considerable and well matched the Renaissance ideals of beauty and perfection. Individual taste was important, but trends were also formed thanks to special treatises that dealt with the topic and were the result of early knowledge regarding fashions and costumes of different countries, as well as the moral principles of the time. The authors, who represented the avant-garde of this new way of approaching the canons of fashion and who aimed at regulating symbols and styles according to what they meant in a society that was differentiated into categories increasingly marked by the participation of the “high,” “medium,” and “low” bourgeoisie, are worth mentioning. The texts that they wrote describe the different ways of dressing depending on the country, Western or Eastern, and showed the need to include the world of fashion in a system of recognized and recognizable rules that already demonstrated the complexity of its articulation. The chapter De veste et ornamenti of the book Libro del arte de la mercatura e del mercante perfetto, starts “La prima veste fu trovata in paradiso terrestro, di pele semplice del montone, per coprire li pudibundi.” This is a treatise that the author, Benedetto Cotrugli (1416– 69), dedicated to the large commercial sector and the merchant (Motta 2000). Outlining the profile of the latter, the author specified his characteristics and functions and could not avoid recommending suitable clothes for the exercise of the profession aimed at offering to customers and colleagues the right image to give by choosing an appropriate way to dress. It provides us with important evidence of the mentality that governed the mercantile world, to which “work” was central; a “full”

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merchant had to dress well to instill confidence in his buyer, but at the same time he had an obligation to be moderate, choosing appropriate, not exceedingly luxurious clothes. “Et per cierto vedete uno plebeo o una plebea bene et ornate vestita, pare che quelli vestiti l’accusano et quanto à più preçiose veste tanto più pare scimia amantata. Et vedete uno gentiluomo in uno simplice manteleto o una gentildona in dobleto; judicarai per aspecto la nobiltà et pare come alla plebea piangeva l’ornamento, così in costor ride l’umile. Et però multo sono da eserno ripresi multi mercanti, li quali hanno posto usançe discrete in multe terre e maxime in Italia, che ogi vesteno con tanta sumptuosità che non dico ad uno conte basterebe, ma ad uno re.”

To sustain his assumptions, Cotrugli (accredited in Naples as the consul of the Dalmatian republic) recalled how King Alfonso of Aragon was moderate even if wearing clothes of “fine fabric.” His example of moderation and sobriety was to be followed by every gentleman who conformed to that model by adopting knee-length clothes, giving an image of modesty. “Alfonso, re d’Aragona et cetera… usava vestiti di pano fine di lana… et rarissimo veluti, ma lo suo comune vestire era panno de lana, la qual cosa induse in consuetudine non solo la cità felicie di Napoli, ma in toto regno et in gran parte de Italia, che mi pareva una sobrietà vedere quelli gentilomeni con cierti gonelecti et ciopate asetate et di sopra mantelli di pano fine et presertim quelli che erano in moderata longeça. Non dico di cierti ciervelli ligieri che excedevano mensura tanto ierano curti. Lo divo re sempre socto lo gienochio che mi pareva cierte una humanità, mansuetudine, urbanità et modestia...”

In other cities—the merchant reported—the manner of dress was very different and many people wore very long clothes and very large sleeves. The advice that followed was that clothes should not be so long as to hamper the movements and therefore should be maintained “until the knees.” The use of luxurious fabrics was also to be avoided—silk lined with fur (both of marten and sable), taffeta, zendati, in short very expensive and pretentious fabrics. “Lungo vestire de manto che non exceda modo, cioè a meça gamba e la vesta sotana destra chel a te sia sença graveça e importunità, che tu signorigi (governi) la veste e non essa te … In alcune cità il culto del vestire difforme da ogni manera et costume economico né politico, cioè ogni gente, tanto li gintilhomini quanto manualii et ministralli, vestire fin al talo et non bastando lor questo, dui maniche vi agiungono altro tanto

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Baldassar Castiglione (1478–1529), a humanist and man of letters, worked as a diplomat in the Papal States, Mantua and Urbino. His experience at the Gonzaga led him to publish Il libro del cortegiano (1513–24), a true manual, almost a practical guide, which falls fully within the context of sixteenth-century culture, establishing the most appropriate behavior for a true gentleman of the court or a perfect lady. The work represents the reality of the court, which was a place of power and also a place in which that same power was concealed by political mediation, and conflict resolution practiced through the use of conversation, highlighting its “civilizing” function. Persons who moved in these scenarios, needed to conform to precise rules, also with regard to clothing. The style that was followed at the court, Castiglione wrote, was not easy to define and in fact he admitted his difficulty in identifying a prevailing one because what he observed was rather a multiplicity of styles, which every person tried to adapt based on their own choice. “Non saprei dar regula determinata circa il vestire, se non che l’omo s’accomodasse alla consuetudine dei più…. chi veste alla francese, chi alla spagnola, chi vuole parere tedesco, né ci mancano ancora di quelli che si vestono alla foggia dei turchi…”

Cesare Vecellio (1521–1601), a cousin of the great Tiziano, published in Venice one of the first texts on the subject Degli abiti antichi et moderni di diverse parti del mondo. Libri due fatti da Cesare Vecellio e con discorsi da lui dichiarati (1590), in which he collected 420 Italian and foreign illustrations and costumes from the middle of the sixteenth century. The work is a testimony to the styles used in the sixteenth century, drawing on the the Italian tradition—with illustrations related to Ancient Rome, medieval Venice and other areas of the peninsula—and the history

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of Europe, including France, Spain, Germany, the Nordic countries, and eastern Europe up to the Ottoman Empire, and shows how the latter, even though it was often opposed to the Christian powers, belonged to the broader history of the Mediterranean (the treatise in fact contains, among other things, a gravure that shows a very elegant woman, probably Roxelana—Hürrem—the wife of Suleiman the Magnificent). Another part of the book shows dresses of various non-European peoples, enriched with details gathered from pieces of information reported by travelers who, depending on the city and the court that they had visited, spoke of the many forms and styles they had seen. The goal of Vecellio was not only to offer a collection of images, but to make a historical, philologically accurate reconstruction of fashion, explicitly specifying that “la cosa degli habiti non conosce stato né fermezza” (Nofri). Agostino Lampugnani, the author of Della carrozza da nolo, overo del vestire e usanze alla moda (Monza 1666), at the beginning of his work, which had numerous editions, asked himself: “che monta tanto fantasticare intorno al vestire della moda se non se ne fa il cimento della sperienza? A guisa di buon medico, cacciatevi, signori, i guanti dalle mani e tochiamo con le dita della considerazione il polso a questi febrificianti della moda… alla nobil fiera che fatta si è ne’ borghi di Bergamo, in quella bella pianura, fra i luoghi più frequentati, c’è la contrada che dicono de’ milanesi per la molteplicità delle merci e delle curiose mercatantie … trovandomi sul tardi in una bottega vidi… far leggera pompa di se stessa una manica di giovinotti di diverse parti d’Europa vestiti, come oggidì s’appella, alla moda.”

Lampugnani, a theologian and scholar of copious output, used all his critical spirit to argue against those who went too far in following fashion and against the natural tendencies of women, and also of men, who were obviously also attracted to the new trends. He was not the only one! Against the inclination to exaggerate, sumptuary laws were introduced that for centuries sought to limit, prevent, and punish those who enjoyed luxury in an unrestrained manner, as happened especially at court, where, however, there were many formal occasions during which it was necessary to show off one’s attire in the latest fashion. In the legislation of city statutes, specific prohibitions fought against this tendency, which dragged society towards modernization, finding new forms of freedom, recognized even in clothing, which assumed aesthetic, social, and moral meanings. Between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, sumptuary laws intervened to limit excesses in different ways depending on local conditions. They were more or less permissive, but they did not have great impact in their

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prohibitions, which rigidly measured the quantity and quality of fabrics, jewelry, lace, and even buttons. The demand for luxury conquered the society of the ancien régime—first the aristocratic classes and then the middle classes that imitated them—and especially in the period of the Renaissance attention was focused on details affirming in every way an ideology of beauty. For this reason, sumptuary laws intervened constantly to limit excessive ostentation and prohibit shapes that were considered improper; Florence and Venice, as well as Naples and Palermo, and the Church agreed, calling for more moral behavior, while political authorities hoped to prevent people from spending too much money just to show off and fall into debt. Women were especially accused, denigrated and criticized for their use of expensive clothes. Provocative necklines, especially in the period of the counter-revolution, were censored by the Church, which seemed able to assert a certain moderation. Soon after, the Baroque of the seventeenth-century reversed this process, inciting the aversion of thinkers and philosophers who strongly denounced the negative influence of fashion on women—a further confirmation of the misogyny with which the society of men was imbued and of the parallel course taken by the history of the costume and the history of gender. Lampugnani despised many particularities, disapproving of excessive make-up, shoes with exaggerated heels, and bulky hair; every detail seemed inadequate to him, in a kind of game in which the sexes were mixed up, with women who ceded to men “womanish” behavior, obtaining from them “liveliness and boldness.” Maybe, he suggested, these characters were more typical of the French than of “modanti” Italians, because it “spropositato vestire che nella gioventù si è avanzato … le sregolate usanze … la bizzarria nell’addobbarsi.” This was supported by one of the first tailors in Bergamo, Master Leonardo, Lampugnani cited his words, who complained of the situation created in tailoring and accused the French of coming to Italy “a guastar drappi” imposing their symbols on a country that had always excelled in quality manufacturing: “Hora è tempo che, chi più sgraziatamente strapazza la nostra arte e fa il peggio che sa, quegli è il più valente sarto alla mod.”

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Figure 5. The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck.

To express oneself through clothes As it is possible to infer from the cited authors, related to the cultural context of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, every epoch is consigned to posterity through the representation of its own ideological model, by which it also affirms its aesthetic taste. Until Leonardo, the painter “runs as much as he can from the clothes of his age” to focus on the emotional construction of figures—their faces, smiles, and looks—and in that way express their personalities. Over time, literary interpretations and, even more so, pictorial ones, give figures whose clothes significantly contribute to shape the characters of such subjects, important for their political and social roles, or significant from a human point of view. Depictions by painters, almost photographic—such as those of Bronzino, the ‘portraitist’ of the Medici court and one who excelled in portraying textiles—reveal details that enable modern analysis of handwoven and colored fabrics, often embellished with golden threads of wool or silk, and enriched with ‘reserves,’ whose decorations changed according to the epoch (palmette, floral motifs, rocailles, feathers etc.). Thus a “realist” description of clothes is achieved, showing all their glory: brocades, damasks, velvets, light voile, golden reticella that “encaged” the hair of ladies, excessively puffed sleeves, often gathered and cut, the so-called “fenestrella,” to show white shirts (the most appropriate example may be the Portrait of Eleanor and Her Son, 1545). All contributed to emphasize the importance of the

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subject in a painting, but clothes, especially, took on a central role in their minute description through which the most prestigious artists added emotional tensions, making of characters and their clothing a unicum, precisely because of that individual ideal that the Renaissance had introduced. The history of costume, the literature that describes it, the painting that reproduces it, and the theatre that stages it, interpreting personalities and roles, are all important pages that attest to the values, ideologies, and symbols of all ages; through the armor of a warrior, the velvet palandrana of a bourgeoisie, the fur-lined cloak of a banker, they, in fact, display the strength of their subjects political and economic power. Art, in all its expressions, often refers to the shape or color of a dress that strengthens the look of a loved young girl: the gold of her hair and the silk dress worn for a special occasion. And, as well, to the red gown of a magistrate, the black clothes of a doctor, or to an equally dark Venetian bautta. The variety of images refers to a reality characterized by a large abundance of commodities, with diverse textiles and models that both commercial production and distribution—following the “first revolution” in the manner of production—made available to every market with products of different qualities and prices. In every epoch, clothes express the prevailing aesthetic concept; thus, in the sixteenth century, they were centered on a rigid outline, made with harmonious, symmetrical proportions and conforming to pre-established rules—the same rules required an orderly and balanced decoration of fabrics with a regular arrangement of patterns. Around the middle of the sixteenth century, rules aimed at differentiating clothes for different occasions started to be introduced, distinguishing clothes for a gala from travel or city clothing (Levi Pisetzky 1978). Not surprisingly, in the same period, military fashion started taking shape. This came from France and was affirmed in Italy thanks to writings (Regole militari sopra il governo e servitio particolare della cavalleria of Lodovico Melzo, 1611) that introduced the first uniform: designed to make a comrade in arms more recognizable when compared to the enemy and to make soldierly actions easier (such as coats that opened at the sides and back to facilitate access to flasks of gunpowder). In the seventeenth century—a time when the scientific revolution brought into question the centrality of the earth in the system of the universe, social revolts inflamed Flanders with the aim of taking it from the Spanish Monarchy, and religious wars marked the area of the Protestant Reformation—the Renaissance categories of beauty, symmetry, and harmony were no longer sufficient for this new reality, and the Baroque triumphed. Bizarre, grotesque, absurd, perhaps even a

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manifestation of a growing fragility, the Baroque turned towards decay and was expressed in many ways. In so doing, it overcame Renaissance composure, with its fomenting of disorder, sloppiness, excess, and, in the creative activities of performances, parties, and games, to which other means of expression, voice, gestures, movements of the body and clothes, were added. Clothes displayed, seduced, and somehow even associated people of different social classes in order to represent them. Everything that was extravagant, exaggerated, disproportionate, and sometimes of bad taste, prevailed; the imagination of poets was manifested in new expressions of virtuosity, while historians marked the century out as one long period of crisis—demographic, economic, and social. In fact, contradictory tendencies coexisted and, if on the one hand, signs of change were noticeable, which would actually be realized in the following century with the cultural revolution of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution in England, on the other hand, wars and famines caused a decrease in agricultural and industrial activity, weakening, in every way, the productive sectors. The theme of decadence, economic issues, and social disintegration fostered a debate that was dealt with in the famous journal Past & Present. It was later compiled into an anthology, edited by Trevor Aston, in which eminent authors confronted each other over the concept of crisis, disagreeing about its historiographical interpretation. With an introduction by Christopher Hill, Hobsbawm, Trevor-Roper, Mousnier, Goubert, Elliot and others analyzed the economic and political crises and the relationships between religion and society with different suggestions, enriching the studies in this field and offering a comparison of the events in different countries that changed the course of history in Europe (Trevor Aston 1968). According to some, this crisis contained elements of future transformation; this potential engaged progress and thus, despite the undisputed centrality of the economy, gave rise to revolutionary social change. Other historians and economists—Italian and French, contrary to the Anglo-Saxons— introduced another consideration—in times of crisis luxury becomes the real engine of the economy, reaffirming the role of the “superfluous” that, in satisfying the rising classes, becomes a “need”—fashion conditioned by social demand. In the Middle Ages, according to Giovanni Rebora, “l’economia europea ha fondato le sue fortune sulla propensione al lusso.” With the spread of consumption, it came to be seen “en termes de luttes symboliques entre les classe sociales, avec leur stratégies de distinction et d’ostentation de la part des dominants,”as Lipovetsky claims, but, the author also asks, “cette interpretation est-elle encore valable?” The complexity of social history discourages clear answers; perhaps it can be

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affirmed that, although luxury represented a means of discrimination between classes, when an increase in consumption affords market access to a greater number of consumers, the distance between them is somewhat reduced; but it is not erased altogether and it is very unlikely that the bourgeoisie, although enriched, could ever have competed with a distinguished client such as Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence or Federico of Montefeltro in Urbino, symbols of the Italian Renaissance. It could be said that as long as the basic nucleus of the established order was found at court, the place of centralized power, the symbolic value of clothes was in the projection of power through displaying oneself to others; of representing oneself through the choice of clothing—from the “uniform” of the emperor or of prince (which bore signs indicative of their sacredness) to the wealth and taste of courtiers—which became an integral part of the role of everyone in society. Between the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the symbolism of clothes was manifested in the theatre, a palce of allegory and metaphor, both in religious and profane dimensions, which was very popular. Lope de Vega, in the Spanish Golden Age, introduced representations including auto sacramental and commedias de santos, interpreting, in a popular and national tone, the actions of the Church of Rome during the CounterReformation. In England, in the theater of Shakespeare, varied themes were expressed with great skill—the love of Romeo and Juliet, Othello’s jealousy, the unrestrained ambition of Macbeth—without giving much significance to clothes, which were often unrelated to the characters of the time and, with some exceptions, were usually Elizabethan in style. This was, however, not an absolute rule, and sometime between the second half of the sixteenth century and the seventeenth century, the English theatre “adjusted” its costumes in order to be understood by the public at different cultural levels. Even in this case, however, clothes assumed relevance; for example, an actor wearing the clothes of a prince could not be arrested even when municipal authorities accused him of insolence—the clothing, even in theatrical fiction, carried the sacred symbols of a sovereign who had received his investiture directly from God. This norm reaffirmed the centrality of the monarchy and this power was often underlined in theatrical representations through the costumes used. In France, intense activity flourished in a series of theatrical types introducing the genre of tragedy, mostly addressed to an educated public in the work of Corneille and Racine, and the genre of comedy with Moliére, which was generally more popular. In both cases the clothes used were Baroque, which had replaced, perhaps as a reaction, the severity of the lines and color of Spanish clothing during the Counter-Reformation. In Baroque clothes,

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curvilinear motifs were used with a bodily form that accentuated the curved lines of the bust and the skirt, resting on a farthingale—a structure built of concentric rings (iron, wood, bones) of increasing size—which women used to keep their skirts lifted and inflated. Criticized as excessive, despite being modified and adapted, it was worn for a long time—more or less from the second half of the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century. It was often an object of scorn used to deride women, displaying the strongly misogynist tendencies of society under the Ancien Régime. The description given by Lampugnani in describing a meeting with a lady, can applied more broadly: “Vestiva costei stravagante invoglio che davanti e d’ogni intorno, le faceva smisurato ingombro, coperto di gonnella di seta di vario colore, trinciata e tagliuzzata per ornamento. Con tale ingombramento, sembrano fanciulline nelle ceste di salice o di castagno.”

Despite the criticism of conformists and their irony, “modanti” took the upper hand. Increasingly, clothes became the undisputed protagonists at civic and religious ceremonies and weddings; and at carnivals, during which costumes added various formal aesthetic symbols, breaking for that brief moment ordinary social conventions (Stefani 1974). Between the end of the seventeenth century and the early eighteenth century, fashions changed frequently, indicating different stages depending on the year. From the Baroque to Rococo to Neoclassicism, the modification of taste marked the time and manner of change, accepting the hegemony of French fashion, which triumphed everywhere, as was the case with Italian fashion during the Renaissance. The new image of women’s clothes was represented by a bust tightened by a bodice and a petticoat still resting on hoops, which became lighter and less over the top giving a softer, lighter figure in the model and the fabrics. Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, added “weight” to this appearance; clothes, accessories, and hairstyles became important elements of seduction. The towering wigs, invented for her and prepared by her legendary coiffeur Léonard, spread rapidly from France to Italy—so much so that Queen Carolina, the sister of Marie Antoinette and wife of Ferdinand of Bourbon, demanded Léonard go to Naples to teach this art to her hairdressers. The artist covered his own works with ointments and powder, making them rich and eye-catching, with ribbons, feathers, flowers, jewelry, and perfumes, and scents of rose, amber, and musk. Due to this trend, the use of perfumes spread; they had long been used throughout history, from the Egyptians to the Arabs and the Greeks to the Romans. The origins of perfume lie somewhere between history and mythology, religious practice,

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magic and the art of medicine, evoking the supernatural, the imaginary, and, increasingly, individual sensuality (Maderna 2009).

Figure 6. Eleanor of Toledo.

After the penitent and intransigent Middle Ages, between the fifteenth and the sixteenth century, the production of perfumes developed in Italy— Florence and Venice—and Caterina de’ Medici exported its use taking her perfumer, Renato, with her from Florence. Between the seventeenth and the eighteenth century, the first commercial products, like the eau de cologne of Gian Maria Farina, and centers of production, such as Grasse, emerged; southern Italy exported raw materials, such as the Calabrian bergamot orange, which had an essential place in the bouquet of every perfume until the development of modern chemistry. At Versailles, even more so than at any other court, perfume became an additional element of seduction and completed the elegant toilette of a lady, and of a gentleman too. There days passed with games of chance, theatrical performances, and nights of scandal, which were spoken ill of at court where the queen stood out on frivolous occasions, surrounded by her young friends and perhaps also by attractive and dissolute lovers. Her marchande de modes, Rose Bertini, created clothes and accessories for her, which became the very image of that court and saw her defined as “the minister of fashion.” She spent huge sums of money to ensure the satisfaction of the queen’s every whim, exceeding the annual amount destined for her clothing (for each season she ordered 36 dresses—for galas, fantasies, and ceremonies—as

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well as a disproportionate number of petticoats, bonnets, corsets, gloves, socks, shoes, and hats). The queen financed Bertini who, in 1770, opened her first boutique in Paris—Le Grand Mogol. In the second part of her life at court, this same Marie Antoinette changed, falling in love with the simplicity and taste of Arcadia and wearing peasant clothes in the fantastic universe of the Petit Trianon—a building in front of the gates of Versailles; she went down in history as one of the most exorbitant queens for her sovereign and the state budget. Even with the accessories—defined in the eighteenth century as galanterie—the games of individual and social presentation was played. Each collection of clothing indicated the taste of an era, in shoes, gloves, hats, umbrellas, muffs, wigs, hand fans, etc., the success of which depended on fashion, which also imposed the type of fabric and color. Every component had the task of completing the toilette, sending a perfect image. If common people mostly chose moderate clothes, for those attending the court, nothing was sufficient. Ladies and gentlemen wore rich and showy clothes, which could provoke astonishment, showing how social acclamation was achieved through outward appearance in clothes and accessories. A myriad of objects surrounded the upper classes, including both the aristocracy of ancient origin and the emergant ones engaged in social climbing. Particular attention was paid to precious stones, whose function was manifold. In the still metaphysical concept of existence, talismans were considered capable of protecting the wearer from physical ailments and misfortune. Medieval treatises had dealt with the relationship between stones and medicine, advising their use simply through contact (Motta 2007). In the eighteenth century, the rationalism of the Enlightenment overruled these metaphysical elements, and the road to real science was taken. This was a slow process and for a long period of time it was believed that “the metal juices” (as they had been defined by Boyle) from precious stones could effectively be used to treat patients. Both medieval gentlemen and the courtiers of the modern age sought for emeralds, rubies, and diamonds, which were loved by women, but also wanted by men who could not escape their charms. They collected precious blue stones that recalled the color of the sky and the sea, green ones that recalled the color of meadows and forests, and red ones, which were associated with passion and love. Suitably cut, carved, and set, the skills of artisans/artists made them into precious jewels, remaining as evidence of ancient knowledge and excellence (Motta 2004). During this century, custom called for a special figure, that of the gallant, who, in Italian cities, in the absence of husbands, had the role of accompanying ladies to social events, dances, theaters, and festivals of all kinds:

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“Il cavalier servente deve contribuire allo sviluppo della rete di conoscenze e relazioni che la nobiltà utilizzava per affermare e sviluppare il suo potere. L’uso fu infatti ristretto alla sola classe nobiliare e, in rari casi, a quella altoborghese. In quest’ultimo caso era assai frequente che il cavalier servente venisse preso a servizio soltanto la domenica.”

This character became a figure of prestige through the popularization of salons where the aesthetic-formal component had great importance and which became places where femmes savantes could demand a new role in society through their own cultural affirmation.

Revolutionary and post-revolutionary fashion Clothes took on a political value through a series of transformations that, after 1789, emphasized the principle of freedom, gained by both men and women. This new historical course prompted a taste for simple, modest clothing, without excessive decorations, embroidery, or gold buckles, in contrast to the luxury of clothes previously worn at court. In principle, the Jacobins followed the British model of the democratic ideas of England, while the Girondists preferred the French model that remained connected to the monarchy. The difference was not absolute, for instance, Robespierre, defined by his ideas rather than the way he dressed, chose the French style, which he considered more elegant. Colors also gained significance with those of white, red and blue present in the fabrics, ribbons and cockade (obligatory from 1792) of revolutionary France. For women, the Revolution brought about major changes, erasing forever the Ancien Régime and introducing simplified and more practical clothes. Revolutionary women looked to men’s fashion and drew inspiration from it in clothes and hairstyle. The reactionary-bourgeois style was opposed to the libertarian-revolutionary one and there were frequent exotic suggestions: Turkish, Circassian, polonaise. Counter-revolutionary women wore highly symbolic colors, including: red ribbons around the neck, which symbolized decapitation by guillotine; clothes and shoes trimmed with black as a sign of mourning; and white gloves, in memory of innocent victims. In the post-revolutionary world, the nobles who escaped the Revolution took refuge in London and began to conform to the British model; although Paris was the capital of fashion, British style symbolically triumphed as a symbol, at least until the advent of mass society. The nineteenth century, a century that saw the rise of the ideas of nation and nationalism, the bourgeoisie, liberalism, and capitalism, combined a general profile with different regional and local styles. Political history, cultural history, and socio-economic history suggested complex paths on which to locate the

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elites and the emerging classes—the new protagonists of a changing world. The early nineteenth century (1800–21) was marked by the figure of Napoleon who, having dethroned the sovereigns of Europe, created a new court. The style involved strict and linear ankle-length clothes, with the waist moved upwards and flat shoes. Evening attire was less moderate, with an overcoat of precious fabrics, golden decoration and embroidery, and necklines recommended especially for evening dances and theater. After the French Revolution, the conservatives reconquered a space along with a part of Romantic culture, convinced that monarchical absolutism could guarantee moral and civil values, while the economic—urban— development that in their view created unfair conditions for workers was used as a pretext for the alleged, generic “happiness” of the traditional, patriarchal countryside. This trend had nevertheless begun to change its course with the bourgeoisie as the advocate of the Romantic ideal; they supported political antagonism against the conservatives and fought for the conquest of civil liberties. Liberalism conquered progressive aristocrats and the moderate upper-class who took the exercise of power, interpreting, in an elitist way, the principles of equality while also supporting the liberal economic thinking that was behind the new production system. England made great contributions to the liberal doctrine, with Smith, Ricardo, and Malthus; Germany with the Hegelian, historicist and idealist doctrine, one of the origins of Marxist philosophy; France with the thought of Guizot, a conservative, liberalist, and supporter of parliamentary monarchy. In Italy, the legacy and illusions of 1848 has to be taken into account and the postRisorgimento regime would respond in a totally inadequate manner—on the national question—with a conservative option that delivered the country into the hands of the House of Savoy. However, notwithstanding the obvious differences, changes in behavior, relationships, styles, and fashions happened everywhere. This change could not but affect the selfperception of this new, diverse, middle class (with a nobility that was by now residual, but, in many areas, still powerful), which expanded with economic growth and the development of technology, while remaining substantially opposed to a rigid social scheme. The complex reality of the nineteenth-century costume, marked by the changing influences that basically affirmed the rise of the bourgeoisie and its canons; even those aesthetic ones to which the first manufacturers of fashion are related. The tailor Charles Frederick Worth (1825–95), an Englishman who moved to the French capital, entered into the empyrean circle of the great when Princess Metternich, the wife of Richard (son of Klemens, a famous statesman and the leading figure of the Congress in Vienna) the Austrian

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ambassador to Paris, wore a dress of his for a ball at the Tuileries, which was admired by Eugenia de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III. The empress, inspired by Marie Antoinette, reintroduced eighteenth-century models of dress and used clothes made by Worth—who had won the acclaim of both bourgeois and aristocratic ladies and became a court tailor in 1864—and those of other tailors, such as Doucet, Paquin, Marcelin, Palmyre, and Vignon. According to experts, Worth is acknowledged as the father of haute couture; unlike previous tailors, he was the first to offer his creations (and therefore is referred to as the first couturier or fashion designer) and sign his clothes by affixing a tag inside with his label, no longer working solely on commissions. France dictated the rules (Gnoli 2005) and fashion gained in importance in the Second Empire, when Napoleon III reintroduced the splendor of the court that had been ended by the Revolution, to attract the Bourbon and Orleans nobility. Clothing contributed to an outburst of elegance in dances and feasts, which came back into fashion. It was enriched with “panniers” (such as the famously large ones from Pompadour), huge cloaks, and shawls that wrapped up the entire figure. Paris became the true capital of European taste. At the turn of the century, Lord Brummel stood out in men’s fashion as a dandy par excellence and the prototype of the charming man. Another leading name of the fashion industry was Paul Poiret (1879–1944) who, considered the first true designer in a modern sense, inspired the first illustrated magazines and organized touring fashion shows in European capitals to promote his work, giving rise to what would be called marketing. Poiret was a friend of one of the first fashion illustrators, Georges Lepape (1887– 1971), who used simple lines and exotic elements, which were inspired by Oriental culture from Persian miniatures to Russian ballets. He drew the first catalogues and collaborated with La Gazette du bon ton and other important magazines like Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vogue.

Il Corriere delle dame In the general renewal of ideas, objectives and methods when fashion stared to become a socially important phenomenon, France, in the second half of the eighteenth century, saw a new type of journalism that was not intended for the educated population, but had a didactic role and was addressed mostly to women—noble and bourgeois ladies, and later middle-class women, who were curious about what was happening outside their cities. In Paris, in 1757 Madame de Beaumer founded Le journal des dames (later Journal des dames et de mode), but more generally there was the development of newspapers and pamphlets, addressed to a wider

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public on political and social topics, which became instruments for the formation of a popular consciousness. The first journalists, scholars and established professionals also offered cultural content related to current events, which had the effect of opening up new horizons for women and set a precedent in terms of feminism. This type of “female” printing press favored the theme of fashion, without neglecting other important topics. It also rendered, in a simple manner, stories, poems, some frivolous news, gossip, minor scandals, accounts of the social life of the upper classes. The goal was to provide an enjoyable, but readable account aimed at reducing, if not erasing, the cultural subordination of women. This type of “specialized” publishing spread from France and England to other European countries including Italy; first to Tuscany—where, in the second half of the eighteenth century, several newspapers were published—then to Milan, where one of the first fashion magazines, Il corriere delle dame (1804–74) was born, founded and directed by Carolina Lattanzi. This was a weekly magazine that came out on Saturdays and that was sent to other parts of Italy at the cost of eight lire; or ten lire if sent abroad. Many of its themes concerned fashion, without neglecting information about current events—international politics, natural tragedies, historical events and environmental issues. In the section “Termometro politico della settimana” the story of Napoleon and his conquest of Europe could be followed by readers. Bonaparte had just become the emperor of the French and his glorious ascent demonstrated the consolidation of his power and his harsh opposition to England, who he tried to isolate by means of the “continental block” (Motta 2014). Napoleon hated the British and the magazine reported a hypothetical dialogue between a Frenchman and an Englishman in which the weaknesses of the British were highlighted: an agriculture that was insufficient to feed them; a “barbarian-piratical” navy; an oppressive colonial system; a mediocre literature; and a melancholic luxury. The conversation was ironic, tending to devalue all aspects of life in Britain; the one who wrote it was openly pro-French, which can be seen in the small details that tell, for example, how the British put stoves in their carriages, while the elegant Parisians preferred to hang mirrors that enabled them to “change their hairstyles” and, if need be, their clothes. Wars and victories; achievements and progress, the magazine followed every step Napoleon took and reported the position of various European countries that challenged him. There were also news from Milan, such as the introduction of lighting in the city, as well as criticism of the new modes of behavior; both in love and in fashion. Now, everywhere “regnano la falsa filosofia, l’impudenza, il libertinaggio,” wrote one reader, while another accused the publication of feminism, guilty of

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“sentenziare a braccio” and said that “è meglio cadere nelle mani del bargello (capitano della Giustizia) che in quelle di una donna in collera”… adding “non odio le donne e se scrivendo sul proposito non potrò dirne bene, non è colpa mia.” There were many events taking place in Milan and the newspaper reported on every intitiative, such as the “resurgence” of the National Academy of Arts, attributing the vibrancy of city life to Bonaparte. In the halls of Brera, a competition was organized and various works of Italian artists were exhibited; both paintings and engravings (June 1806). In short, as stated by a French reader, the newspaper welcomed “tout ce qui peut avoir quelque rapport aux sciences, aux arts ou aux talents.” This shows how wide the scope of Corriere was; while describing the latest fashion in France to an increasing number of ladies from different social classes, it also disseminated the latest and most important news from around the world. However, the main focus was clothes and, in fact, to that end the newspaper introduced figurines that were minutely described—“soprabito di finissima mussolina tutto ricamato in lana all’intorno con un festone sul davanti dalla cintura fino in fondo con fazzoletto unito in un pezzo solo, e sott’abito di Firenze come si vede”—at the cost of ten sequins. On these items, even a hat with a bouquet of flowers could be added and they would be sent without delay to the ladies who subscribed to the magazine. The most glorious descriptions were reserved for the evening dances and theatre shows, where the toilettes of the ladies were of particular interest to the readers, thus, next to the reviews—of shows, musical events, ballets, and opera buffa—reports on clothing were given prominence. The fashion was youthful and light; but there were ladies who wore richer clothes, such as black velvet pellegrinas, dresses with “bordure e paramani simili,” collars like those of the Medici (high behind and thinner towards the throat), redingote of cazemire, velvet coats or ones of soft wool. Pages were adorned with illustrations of French models, confirming the imperial style, with a waist moved upwards to accentuate verticality. Paris was the highest reference. Among the select audience that rushed to the theater, actresses were admired for their grace and dress. Every week the magazine published a riddle, whose solution was given in the subsequent number, provoking a series of responses from readers and becoming so popular as to cause several attempts at plagiarism. Lattanzio contacted the owner of the gazette of Venice Il nuovo postiglione writing “voi non potreste, copiando ad literam il mio giornale, inserire nel vostro gli articoli della moda corrente come quelli che formano la base e costituiscono lo scopo primario, anzi la natura stessa della mia istituzione che ha una anzianità di vari anni” (May 11, 1811). The magazine—which had already become Il

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corriere delle dame and Giornale delle famiglie—chose to give particular attention to fashion, giving political news only under the headings Racconti geografici and dedicated to the “fair sex,” proffering popular and exemplary stories of both well-known and lesser known characters and travelers, their stories somehow intertwined with commentary on fashion. What mattered, in this as in other magazines for women, was the ability to represent the varied bourgeoisie of the nineteenth century: its ethical and aesthetic canons; prevalent behavioral patterns; the ability of fashion artists to propose models that went beyond clothes; and the demonstration of many stages of the history of gender. Quite appropriately, the opening sentence with which the Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris welcomed the visitors was “La Création est un voyage.”

The Belle Époque (1890–1914) The time between the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century brought about new realities. National movements liberated people from the great supranational empires, technological advances led to the development of new industries—light, radio communication, automotive transportation, cinematography—science, for the first time, gave new hope against previously uncurable diseases, such as tuberculosis. Overall progress saw a definite improvement in living conditions encouraging a general faith in the future. The main European capitals now shone with a thousand lights; with cultural and artistic movements in full swing and elegant and refined elites that expressed the best of their period in the name of freedom of ideas and behavior in ways that, only a few years before, would have been unthinkable. Extraordinary festivities and adventurous travels led to the meeting of politicians, diplomats, artists, writers, distinguished ladies, who visited the same places—Italy, Greece, as well as Egypt and the East—and shared the same manners and attitudes. From Rome and Sicily to the Greek islands, Cairo, and Istanbul, the new atmosphere triumphed in all its forms, marking an important stage in the evolution of lifestyles. These movements took different names—Catalan Modernism in Spain; Art Nouveau in France; Jugensthil in Germany; Secession in Austria-Hungary; Liberty in Italy; Modern Style in England and Prague; Nieuwe Kunst in the Netherlands; Secesja in Poland, Serbia, and Croatia; Style Sapin in Switzerland—but uniformly looked to new horizons through materials used for the first time. The Glass of Gallé in France and Tiffany in New York, used iron, guilloche enamel, onyx, opal, and semi-precious stones, replacing diamonds in jewelry. These raw materials were reinterpreted according to the new styles that enhanced

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figurative art in a radical transformation of design; these objects now turned towards curved lines and floral motifs, plants, and animals (such as the famous dragonflies of René Lalique). This was a real aesthetic revolution with artists whose names went down in history—Gaudi in Barcelona and Horta in Brussels. Across Europe, the centers of many cities still testify to the innovative philosophical and cultural projects of Art Nouveau—from Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Riga, Salzburg, Graz, Salamanca, Oporto, Italy (Venice, Trieste, Naples, Rome, Florence, Palermo, Syracuse), to Istanbul, Tbilisi, Buenos Aires, Valparaiso, Rio, and Havana. Architecture—more generally, art—“used” fine crafts, gleaning inspiration from nature, which was reinterpreted by many virtuosi who looked to the influence of Oriental models (especially Japanese ones). This free form of expression, however, was neither generic nor indeterminate, on the contrary, it was intended to express a clear ideology, ruled as it was by a vision that promted and represented the new social class—the bourgeoisie. After centuries of aristocratic supremacy, the decades at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century enhanced the role of recently emerged bourgeois groups. They became the protagonists of industry and trade, buying prestigious houses and wearing clothes that heralded radical changes in dress.

An increase in production and mass consumption The late nineteenth century inaugurated what economists have defined as two decades of prosperity—the period between 1890 and the eve of the First World War (Luzzatto). The development of the market economy was based on the increase in products used by a growing number of consumers. On the one hand, this required a wealthy middle class engaged in consumption, while on the other, it needed a workforce in production. Labor power assumed a central role, beginning to develop organized bargaining power—to get wage increases—and becoming another layer of consumers. As a result of new production processes, this also led to a division of power between rich countries that invested capital in production and non-industrialized countries and regions—the south of Italy, Poland, and Russia—that, due to a growth of population, provided labor both for agricultural and industrial production. It was the beginning of a cycle of demographic, industrial and trade growth, both in Europe and elsewhere, with which, in the context of colonial expansion, an exportimport mechanism was established that assigned to non-European countries the role of providing food and raw materials, such as cereals, cotton and coal, and to Europe that of “advanced” industrial production.

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The motherland exploited the colonies in two directions: producers of raw materials could become markets for the consumption of finished products, as part of a nascent global distribution network that, thanks to new distribution strategies, approached previously unreachable consumers. This is the context of those few years of the “turn of the century,” known as the Belle Époque, with elites, groups, personalities, labor and cultural movements that were particularly innovative and “modern.” It was a period of development and peace that the Great War would wipe out, turning that dream into a nightmare. However, new styles had emerged in every field: in visual arts, architecture, clothing, furniture, jewelry, and gifts—each sector was reconsidered through a somehow “subversive” proposal of the European avant-garde, which intended to break with tradition and express a different language. Innovation challenged “power” and became a disruptive element with respect to the dominant politics that assumed nationalist tones, such as in Catalonia, or anti-Prussian, such as in the Weimar Republic. Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and Prague were enriched with the original signs of new authors who engaged symbolic references in their work. Klimt is one the most important, but Tiffany, Lalique, Mackintosh, Alfons Mucha and Otto Eckmann also demonstrated art as an absolute value. Dress (and what revolves around it) could not but be influenced by this love of life and by these innovations. Clothing became more practical: the train and bust that restrained the figure were removed, soft skirts were allowed and fresh fabrics like linen and pastel colors were chosen. Evenings were enriched by sumptuous dresses with large necklines and decoration of pearls and sequins, while for shoes, ankle boots were preferred, being considered refined and elegant. The hat was perhaps the most peculiar detail of the time. It was massive, with large and numerous decorations—flowers, fruits, feathers, ribbons—and became the symbol of the wealthy, stylish, bourgeois, “D’Annunzian” women. But the world turns and so does fashion. Soon new simplifications came about: clothes became straightened, especially for women who entered new spaces in the world of work and society; pullovers, knitted and crocheted fabrics; clothes to wear in an automobile, all devveloped to meet the needs of a dynamic turn of the century society. Finally, the Great War represented a break that forever changed the balance of the Old Continent. In the long course of history, we can see how fashion combined aesthetics and functionality, proposing factors founded on the ideology of each particular age, including, as it unfolded, individual and social representations as an exclusive or additional language confirming its role of “form.” As I wrote in my recent work, “fashion contains history and punctually narrates it” (Motta 2013).

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Figure 8. Adele Bloch, Klimt.

Bibliography and archives Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Messina, Palermo, Pisa, Prato, Venezia. Archivo General Simancas, Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid. Barthes, Ronald. 2006. Il senso della moda. Forme e significati dell’abbigliamento. Turin: Einaudi. Cotrugli, Benedetto. 1573. Libro del arte de la mercatura e del mercante perfetto, (1416-1469). Venice. Gnoli, Sofia. 2005. Un secolo di moda italiana. Rome: Maltemi. Lampugnani, Agostino. 1649. Della carrozza da nolo, overo Del vestire e usanze alla moda. Milan. Melis, Federigo. 1974. “Gli opifici lanieri toscani dei secolo XIII-XVI.” In Produzione e consumo dei panni di lana, edited by Marco Spalanzzani, 237–43. Florence. Levi Pisetzky, Rosita. 1978. Il costume e la moda nella società italiana. Turin: Einaudi. Lipovetsky, Gilles, and Elyette Roux. 2003. Le luxe éternel. De l’âge du sacré au temps des marques. Paris: Gallimard. Maderna, Erika. 2009. Aromi sacri fragranze profane. Simboli, mitologie e passioni profumatorie nel mondo antico. Sansepolcro: Aboca. Maugeri, Vincenza, and Angela Paffumi. 2005. Storia della moda e del costume. Bologna: Calderini.

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Melzo, Lodovico. 1611. Regole militari sopra il governo e servitio particolare della cavalleria. Morini, Enrica. 2011. Storia della moda, XVIII-XXI secolo. Milan: Skira. Motta, Giovanna. 1983. Strategie familiari e alleanze matrimoniali in Sicilia nell’età della transizione (secc. XIV-XVII). Florence: Olschki. —. 2000. “Dal Mediterraneo al nord-Europa. La presenza italiana sui mercati di Londra e di Anversa (1526-1527).” In Mercanti e viaggiatori per le vie del mondo, edited by Giovanna Motta, 45–63. Milan: FrancoAngeli. —. 2002. “Bona Sforza, una regina del Rinascimento.” In Regine e sovrane. Il potere, la politica, la vita private, edited by Giovanna Motta, 11–25. Milan: FrancoAngeli. —. 2003. “La rivoluzione mancata del lungo Cinquecento. Elites e sviluppo economico fra continuità e nuove strategie distributive.” In Studi in onore, edited by Giorgio Mori. Florence. —. 2004. Paesaggio, territorio, ambiente. Storie di uomini e di terre. Milan: FrancoAngeli. —. 2007. “In bona salute de animo e de core.” In Malati, medici e guaritori nel divenire della storia, edited by Giovanna Motta, 7–62. Milan: FrancoAngeli. —. 2013. Nell’Europa dell’età moderna. Memoria collettiva e ricerca storica. Florence: —. 2014a. “The Marriage Policy of Napoleon Bonaparte.” In Empires and Nations from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century, vol. I, edited by Antonello Biagini and Giovanna Motta, 455–461. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. —. 2014b. “Un’alleanza matrimoniale nel destino dell’imperatore dei francesi.” In L’imperatore dei francesi e l’Europa napoleonica, edited by Giovanna Motta, 9–44. Rome: Nuova Cultura. —. 2015. La moda contiene la storia e ce la racconta puntualmente. Rome: Nuova Cultura. Motta, Uberto. 2003. Castiglione e il mito di Urbino. Studi sull’elaborazione del Cortegiano. Milan: Vita e Pensiero. Muzzarelli, M. Giuseppina. 2013. Guardaroba medievale. Vesti e società dal XIII al XVI secolo. Bologna: Il Mulino. Nofri, Valeria. 2012–2013. Cesare Vecellio. La prima storia del costume. Ma Thesis. Sapienza University of Rome. Pastoureau, Michel. 2010. I colori del nostro tempo. Milan: Ponte alla Grazia.

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Rebora. Giovanni. 2000. “Pasta, zucchero, pesce salato. Bisogni alimentari e circolazione del cibo in Europa.” In Mercanti e viaggiatori per le vie del mondo, edited by Giovanna Motta, 120–139. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Saggioro, Alessandro. 2007. Simbologia del vestire. Rome: Nuova Cultura. Sergio, Giuseppe. 2010. Parole di moda. Il “Corriere delle dame” e il lessico della moda nell’Ottocento. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Simmel, Georg. 1998. La moda. Milan: Mondadori. Trevor Aston, ed. 1965. Crisis in Europe. 1500-1660. New York: Routledge. Vecellio, Cesare. 1590. Degli abiti antichi e moderni di diverse parti del mondo. Venice.

CHAPTER ONE FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE ANCIEN RÉGIME

DRESS AND CULTURE IN THE HITTITE EMPIRE AND DURING THE LATE HITTITE PERIOD ACCORDING TO ROCK RELIEFS MURAT TURGUT

Historical Background to the Hittites The Hittites were an Indo-European people who lived in Anatolia during the second millennium BC. Studies about the Hittites show that they spoke a kind of European language (Hoffner-Melchert 2008, 2; Darden 2001, 185; Beckman 1996b, 23). There are many resemblances in terms of vocabulary between the Hittite language and other European languages.1 It is known that before the Hittites, the Hattian people lived in central Anatolia in the third millennium BC. In the southeast of Anatolia, the Hurrian people and in the southwest of Anatolia the Luwian people lived. The Hattians became a developed civilization and after the migration of the Hittites to this district, the cultural elements of this community were incorporated by the Hittites. In the second millennium BC, the Hittites settled in Central Anatolia. The Hurrians and the Luwians influenced the Hittites in many aspects. That is to say, in the development of the Hittites, the surrounding cultures had a great impact. It is known that when the Hittites came to Anatolia, they settled in the Kuššara region. Pithana, known as the king of Kuššara, captured the Neša city (Kayseri/Kültepe). The successor to Pithana, Anitta, conquered Hattuša and cursed the city. Later, it would become the capital city of the Hittites under Labarna (BC 1590–BC 1560). Hattuša was

This paper was supported by the Selcuk University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit (Project Number: 15701162). 1 For example watar which means water in the Hittite language has a great resemblance with water in English and wasser in German. Another similarity is milit which means honey in the Hittite language and resembles meli in ancient Greek and miele in Italian.

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sheltered and arable. For these reasons, Hattuša was chosen as the capital by Labarna. Labarna, who came to the throne after Anitta, broke the curse. He also changed his name into Hattušili I, meaning someone from Hattuša. Hattušili I expanded his dominion into Assyria and Northern Syria. He waged war against Halpa (Aleppo), Uršu (Urfa), Hahhu (the eastern part of Sivas?) and won many victories. After the Halpa campaign, the stormgod of Halpa was brought to Hattuša by the Hittites (De Martino 2003, 39). In the reign of King Muršili I, the Hittites made military expeditions into many regions, especially towards the southeast. King Muršili I invaded Babylon (Klock-Fontanille 2005, 21–22), which brought an end to the Hammurabi dynasty. However, he was assassinated while returning home by his brother-in-law, Hantili I, after which a period of instability ensued in the Hittite civilization. Tuthalia I ended the period of instability in the kingdom. The successors of Tuthalia I also tried to maintain the kingdom’s stability. Tuthalia II waged war on Aššuwa, which was located in Western Anatolia, and won. After the war, Tuthalia II offered a saber to the storm-god because he believed that it was thanks to this god that he had defeated the Assuwa Kingdom. Tuthalia II waged war against the kingdoms of other people, like the Kaškians who lived in the northeast of Anatolia, the Hurrians who lived in the southeast of Anatolia, and the Išuwas who lived in the east of Anatolia. In the reign of Šuppiluliuma I (BC 1345), the Hittite Empire and Egypt became the two super powers of Asia Minor. From time to time, these two powers lived in peace and sometimes they were in a state of war. When the Egyptian King Tutankhanum died, his wife Ankhesenamun wanted one of Šuppiluliuma’s sons for her husband and to be king of Egypt . After he had learned of her true intentions, he sent his son, Zananza, to Egypt. However, he was killed during the journey to Egypt by those who did not want Ankhesenamun to marry the son of the Hittite king. This event became one of the reasons for the Syrian campaign against Egypt. Shortly before the battle, the Hittite King Muwattalli II moved the capital city from Hattuša to Tarhuntašša (Bahar 1996, 6–7; Bahar, Çay and øúçan 2007; Freu 2005, 399) (See Figure 1). In the sixteenth year of the battle, a solar eclipse occurred. Prophets interpreted this as a sign that the gods did not want a battle. This event led to the end of the battle and the signing of the Kadesh Peace Treaty between Egypt and the Hittites. This treaty was signed by Hattušili III.

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Figure 1. The location of the Kurunta and Ivriz reliefs. Map by the author.

In the reign of the Hittite King Tuthalia IV there were droughts and famines, which were interpreted as the gods being angry with the Hittites. Tuthalia IV stressed the importance of religion and restored sacred places.2 His successor was King Šuppiluliuma II. During his reign, Cyprus was invaded. At the end of the thirteenth century, with the migration of “the Sea Peoples,” the Hittite Kingdom collapsed. After the fall of the Hittite Empire, for a long time, no written sources giving information about the history of Anatolia appear. Small kingdoms were established in Anatolia as successors to the Hittites. These were the Neo-Hittite kingdoms.

Clothes in Hittite Relief Art The religion of the Hittites was polytheistic; they perceived their gods in human form and constructed sacred places for them. Some of these sacred places remained plain, but others were decorated with altars and reliefs, which could be used in their religious life. Apart from gods and kings, queens and religious men were also described in these reliefs. We are informed about the clothes of the gods and also about the clothes of kings, queens and religious men thanks to these reliefs. 2

The temple area in Hattuša, the Karakuyu dam in Kayseri, and the Yalburt Sacred Pool in Konya were all made during the reign of Tuthalia IV. Although the date is not yet certain, the Eflatunpinar Sacred Pool was also made in that period. Probably, these areas were used for rain prayers and rituals.

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Many rock reliefs have survived from the Hittite era. They display some common elements in the clothes of the gods. These common characteristics included horned,3 conical, pointed headdresses, short tunics above the knees and Hattian shoes, which were pointed and turned up at the toes (Darga 1992, 96–129). The most important difference between the clothes of gods and kings was in their headdresses. It is apparent that a king did not wear a conical cap, but a coif/calot shaped cap. Hittite queens were depicted with long dresses, conical/cylindrical caps and Hattian shoes. After examination of Hittite reliefs, it has been established that the oldest known Hittite relief is the Sirkeli relief. This relief belonged to Muwattalli II and was carved in about 1290 BC. In the relief, the back of the king’s dress is long and the front short. The king is depicted with his right hand turned upwards in a position of prayer and holding a lituus (spear) in his left hand. The lituus that the king is holding is the symbol of his power. There is no certain information about the exact date of the Gavurkale relief; it was probably made in the same period as the Sirkeli relief. Two male figures facing left are depicted walking towards the queen who is sitting on her throne. The male figures are wearing short tunics. The male figure in the back is represented with a horned cap and a beard, the man in the front is depicted without a beard and is in a position of prayer. A scene depicting the Hittite King Hattušili III and Queen Puduhepa making a libation to their god and goddess is shown in the Fraktin relief. With a short dress, conical headdress and Hattian shoes, the god relief on the left reflects the common characteristics of Hittite iconography of the gods. He has a triangular object4 in his left hand. The king is wearing a horned conical coif. Because of the king’s horned cap, it can be presumed that it was carved after his death (Darga 1992, 178–79). There are numerous reliefs that include depictions of gods, goddesses, kings and queens on the walls of the temple in Yazlkaya, located close to Hattuša, the capital city of the Hittites. It is known that these reliefs were 3

As in Mesopotamian cultures, horned caps were seen as the symbol of divinity in Hittite culture. It is generally thought that when Mesopotamian kings were alive, they had divine powers, but Hittite kings would gain these powers after they died (Beckman 1995, 531–32). For example from the Hittite cuneiform tablet KUB 3.1 i63: “And when (King Hantili [grew] old and began to become a god (i.e., to die), then Zidanza murdered Pišeni…” (Beckman 2001, 90–91). However, some scholars indicate that Hittite kings could have gained this power when they were alive, like Mesopotamian kings (Akurgal 1964, 98; Ensert 2006, 95). 4 It is known that the “triangle” meant health and goodness in Hittite culture.

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carved in the period of Tuthalia IV. Because of the short slit skirts that the god figures are wearing, their muscled legs can be seen. Goddess figures are shown wearing long skirts. Both the figures of gods and goddesses are shown with belts (Seeher 2011, 23).5 One of the most important figures of the Hittite reliefs is a male figure without a beard found at a gate known as the King’s Gate in the capital city of Hattuša. The figure is wearing a horned helmet, which covers his ears. On the figure, a short fishbone-patterned skirt is shown. As accessories, he has a crescent-shaped sword and in his right hand he is holding a ceremonial ax. This relief was also carved at the time of Tuthalia IV. The Karabel relief, which does not belong to the Hittites but was carved in that period, reflects the art of that time. It was found close to øzmir. A figure without a beard is depicted walking towards the right side, wearing a pointed cap, a short skirt above his knees and Hattian shoes. In his right hand he is holding a lituus, while on his left shoulder is a bow. The lituus and the bow, shown in the relief, were the symbols of the local kingdom’s kings.

The Kurunta Relief The Kurunta relief is located in the Hatp district of the Konya Province (Figure 1). The relief was discovered in 1994 during an archaeological survey carried out by Hasan Bahar from Selçuk University. It is known that the relief was carved in the second part of the thirteenth century BC. Moreover, the relief reflects the general characteristics of that time. Kurunta was the king of the local kingdom Tarhuntašša. It is known that his reign was in the early period of the thirteenth century BC. He was the son of Muwattalli II who was the king of the Hittites during the Battle of Kadesh. For ten years, the capital city of the Hittites was moved from Hattusa to Tarhuntassa by Muvwattalli before the Battle of Kadesh. Treaties were signed between the Hittites and the local kingdom Tarhuntašša, which depended on the Hittite Kingdom. The Bronze Tablet is the most famous of these treaties. Kurunta sometimes used the title of “Great King,” which belonged to the Hittite kings. The Kurunta relief is located on a flattened rock surface which is 2x1.75 m high and 5 cm deep. Because of erosion, the relief has fallen into ruin (Figure 2). The hieroglyph script on this relief starts 1m behind the 5 These belts do not have a geometric pattern. The belts on the Ivriz relief have geometric patterns. We can differentiate these belts because of this.

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relief. Here is written: “Kurunta, Great King Hero of Muwattalli, Great King, son of the hero” (Bahar, Çay and øúçan 2007; Blasweiler 2014, 9; Freu 2005, 400).

Figure 2. The Kurunta relief adapted from Bahar, Çay and øúçan 2007.

The god/king figure on the relief is depicted striding to the left. He is wearing a short sleeveless tunic reaching to his knees, a horned pointed cap on his head and Hattian shoes on his feet. He is holding a lituus/lance in his right hand and on his left shoulder is a bow. He is depicted without a beard and sword and with earrings as accessories. As mentioned before, horns and earrings are known to be symbols of divinity. Bows and lances were the symbols of local kings. Kurunta became the local king of the Tarhuntašša region and gained privileges from the Hittite King Tuthalia IV, who was the son of Hattušili IIIPuduhepa and constructed temples and sacred pools.

The Ivriz Relief The Ivriz relief (Figure 3) is located in Ere÷li in Konya province (Figure 1). This relief6 is 4.20 meters high. Because of the products and wealth that his god gave, the scene of worship of the Tabal King Warpalawaš is described on the relief. The script on the relief reads: “This (is) the great Tarhunzas of Warpalawas. For him let him/them put long? SAHANA(?). This is the image of Warpalawas the hero… Tiyamartus Warpalawas’s belo[ved? …] carved it…” (Hawkins 2000, 516–17). 6

With one copy of the Ivriz relief (not completed) and one male figure walking with a bull, in total there are three reliefs in the region. See Bier (1976).

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Figure 3. The Ivriz relief. Photo by the author. The drawing is taken from: http://www.hittitemonuments.com/ivriz/

Tarhunt, the god of storms, is holding an ear of wheat in his left hand and bunches of grapes in his right hand. The king is offering gratitude to Tarhunt, who is wearing a horned headdress. His face, long hair, ringlets, and beard are different to those found in other Hittite reliefs, demonstrating Assyrian influence (Melchert 2003, 335–36). Also, the wristbands on the god’s arms and the king figure indicate Aramean influences (Figure 4).

Figure 4. The effects of foreign cultures on the Ivriz relief with notes made by the author. The drawing is taken from: http://www.hittitemonuments.com/ivriz/

Tarhunt is wearing a short v-collar tunic dress, with volutes at the end. The body of Tarhunt and some visual details of his dress designate the influence of Hittite culture. Tarhunt is wearing Hattian shoes and his belt is

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similar to Phrygian metal belts (Muscarella 1967, 83–84; Vassileva 2014, 220). The hands of Warpalawaš are depicted in the form of a fist. Warpalawaš is wearing Hattian shoes and a patterned headdress and his beard, hair and wristband are influenced by Aramean art, while geometric patterns demonstrate the impact of Phrygian art (Figure 5) (Vassileva 2012, 323; Vassileva 2014, 223).

Figure 5. A comparison of the two reliefs. (The differences are written in capital letters and the similarities in lowercase). The notes are made by the author. The kurunta relief is adapted from Bahar, Çay and øúçan 2007. The Ivriz relief is taken from: http://www.hittitemonuments.com/ivriz/

Interaction Routes There were cultural interactions in ancient communities just as in the present day. Thanks to technology, communication is easy today; however, in ancient times, contact was not so simple. Wars, migrations, trade relations, political marriages and the adaptation of writing systems, as well as artistic and cultural influences, made contacts possible. From the time that the Hittite Empire was established, it was closely involved in the territory of Syria, which had important trade routes (Figure 1). This territory not only attracted the attention of the Hittites, but Egypt and Assyria also fought over it. During the time when the Ivriz relief was made, Assyrians increased their military attacks on Syria and Anatolia

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Dress and Culture in the Hittite Empire

(Rollig 1992, 96; Collon 1995, 128). During these struggles, letters were sent between communities and they took captives from each other. Migration had an important role in the mutual influences between different cultures. The migration of the Sea Peoples led to cultural transfers between the ancient Eastern and Western worlds in the late thirteenth century BC and at the beginning of the twelfth century BC. When people migrated, they brought their cultural values with them and were influenced by the values of other cultures. North Syria, which had important routes, was also in a significant position in terms of trade. The routes of this region were used by different peoples who belonged to different cultures, especially for trade between Anatolia and Mesopotamia (Figure 1) (Crawford, Harper and Pittman 1980, 7–8; Rollig 1992, 94–96). It is known that when the Hittites migrated to Anatolia, they did not use a writing system. After they came to Anatolia, they adapted the cuneiform system that the Babylonians had used in Mesopotamia. The Hittites adapted not only cuneiform from Mesopotamia, but also religious and literary texts into their own culture. It should be understood that there may have been artistic interactions during this transfer of writing. In the early period of Hittite works, although not in the period of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms, Mesopotamian influences can be seen. Political marriages were common in the ancient world. We can see political marriages in the Hittite Kingdom. Šuppiluliuma I was married to the daughter of the Babylonian king. The document numbered EA 41 is a letter sent by Šuppiluliuma I to the Egyptian pharaoh. In this letter, Šuppiluliuma I suggests to the Egyptian pharaoh that brotherhood should be established with a marriage between them. “Now, my brother, [yo]u have ascended the throne of your father, and just as your father and I were desirous of (exchanging) greeting gifts between us, so now too should you and I enjoy good relations with one another. The request (that) I expressed to your father [I shall express] to my brother, too. Let us establish a [mar]riage bond between us” (Harry-Hoffner 2009, 278).

When Tutankhamun, the king of Egypt, died, Ankhesenamun, his wife, wrote a letter to Šuppiluliuma I. In this letter, she wanted one of the sons of Šuppiluliuma I as her husband and to be king in her country. “He who was my husband has died. I do not have a son. I will never take one of my subjects and make him my husband. I have written to no other country: only to you I have written. They say you have many sons. So give me one of your sons. To me he will be a husband, but in Egypt he will be king” (Guterbock 1956, 96).

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One of the most important factors of cultural and, especially, artistic interaction was the transfer of sculptors between communities. Kings borrowed sculptors with good workmanship. We can see an example of this in a letter that was sent by Hattušili III, the king of the Hittites, to Kadašman-Enlil II, the Babylonian king. §16 (rev. 58-61) “[Furthermore, my brother]: I want to make [images] and place them in the family quarters. My brother, [send me] a sculptor. [When the sculptor] finishes the images, I will send him off, and he will go home. [Did I not send back the previous] sculptor, and did he not return to Kadashman-Turgu? [My brother], do not withhold [the sculptor]” (Beckman 1996, 137).

As is seen in this letter of the king of the Hittites, the transfer of sculptors was done in the early periods. These sculptors worked in the places to which they were invited and they would have used their own style when producing these works. Kings sent gifts to each other for different reasons. Document EA 41 states that Šuppiluliuma I’s father had not send the gifts he had promised. The gifts which these kings sent to each other were very important for the artistic development of communities. It is likely that new styles and forms were shared thanks to these gifts.

Conclusion The Hittites constructed many sacred spaces for religious and political propaganda. They constructed figures, like kings and gods, and ritual scenes in these spaces. The features of Anatolian culture can be seen in the reliefs from the period of the empire. The physical structure of the figures and Hattian shoes, which had religious meanings, show Anatolian influences. Mesopotamian influences can also be seen on some parts of the reliefs, especially in the horned headdresses of gods. The horned headdress, seen from victory reliefs in Mesopotamia onwards, belonged to Naramsin, the king of Akkade, and was one of the most important symbols of deity. We can see horned headdresses on god and king figures in the Hittite reliefs and the symbols of local kings, arches and lances, in the Kurunta and Karabel reliefs. After the migration of the Sea Peoples, the Hittite Kingdom was destroyed. Members of the Hittite royalty maintained their existence in the regions of southern Anatolia in the form of local kingdoms. In that period, intensive cultural interactions occurred with the Sea Peoples. The works in the period of the late Hittite kingdoms were more heavily influenced by

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this process in comparison to the works of the imperial period. Some of these influences are Mesopotamian, which can be seen in the hair and beard of gods and kings. God and king figures from that period resemble those in Mesopotamia. On the Ivriz relief, we can see geometric patterns and fibulas, which were used by Phrygians. These items show Phrygian and Mesopotamian influences. Interactions among communities occurred in many ways, primarily through migrations, the transfer of sculptors and the exchange of gifts. Trade, wars, writing systems, political marriages were also a part of these interactions.

Bibliography Akurgal, Ekrem. 1964. “Die Kunst der Hethiter.” In Neuere Hethiterforschung, edited by G. Walser, 74–118. Wiesbaden: Steiner. Bahar, Hasan. 1996. “Ein Neues Hethitisches Denkmal in Konya Hatip.” Arkeoloji ve Sanat 73: 6–7. Bahar, Hasan, Tayfun Çay, and Fatih øúçan. 2007. “The Land City of Tarhuntassa and Geodesic Researches Around It.” The ICOMOSISPRS Committee for Documentatiton of Cultural Heritage (CIPA), Athens. Available at http://www.isprs.org/proceedings/XXXVI/5C53/papers/FP019.pdf Beckman, Gary. 1995. “Royal Ideology and State Administration in Hittite Anatolia.” In Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, vol. I, edited by J. Sasson, 529–43. New York: Scribner. —. 1996a. Hittite Diplomatic Texts. Writings From the Ancient World. Society of Biblical Literature 7. Atlanta: Scholar Press. —. 1996b. “The Hittite Language and its Decipherment.” Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies 31: 23–30. —. 2001. “Sargon and Naram-sin in Hatti: Reflections of Mesopotamian Antiquity Among the Hittites.” In Die Gegenwart des Altertums Formen und Funktionen des Altertumsbezugs in den Hochkulturen der Alten Welt, edited by Dieter Kuhn and H. Stahl, 85–91. Heidelberg: Edition Forum. Bier, Lionel. 1976. “A Second Hittite Relief at Ivriz.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 35 (2): 115–26. Blasweiler, Joost. 2014. “Tarhuntassa, City of King Muwattalli II and the Stormgod of Piপaššašši.” Arnhem 6: 1–69. Collon, Dominique. 1995 Ancient Near Eastern Art. Los Angeles/ Berkeley: University of California Press. Crawford, Vaughn E., Prudence O. Harper, and Holly Pittman. 1980. Assyrian Reliefs and Ivories in the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

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Palace Reliefs of Assurbanipal II and Ivory Carvings from Nimrud. New York: Met Publications. Darden, Bill J. 2001. “On the Question of the Anatolian Origin of Indo Hittite.” In Greater Anatolia and the Indo-Hittite Language Family, edited by Robert Drews, 184–228. Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph Series 38. Washington, D. C: Institute for the Study of Man. Darga, Muhibbe. 1992. Hitit Sanat. Istanbul: Akbank Kültür ve Sanat Yaynlar. Ensert, H. Kübra. 2006. “Is the Small God Figure in the Seal Impression of Tudkhaliya IV, RS 17.159, Murshili II?” Anatolia 30: 93–109. Freu, Jacques. 2005. “Des Grands Rois de Tarপuntaššaa aux Grands Rois de Tabal.” Res Antiquae 2: 399–418. Guterbock, Hans Gustav. 1956. “The Deeds of Suppiluliuma I as Told by His Son, Muršili II.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 10: 75–98. Harry, A., and Hoffner Jr. 2009. Letters from the Hittite Kingdom. Writings from the Ancient World 15. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. Hoffner, Harry, and Melchert H. Craig. 2008. A Grammar of the Hittite Language, Part I: Reference Grammar. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Hawkins, J. D. 2000. Inscriptions of the Iron Ages, Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian, I, 2. Berlin-New York: Walter de Gruyter. Klock-Fontanille, Isabelle. 2005. Hititler. Ankara: Dost Kitabevi. Melchert, H. Craig. 2003. The Luwians. Leiden: Brill. Muscarella, Oscar White. 1967. Phrygian Fibulae from Gordion. London: Quaritch. Rollig, Wolfgang. 1992. “Asia Minor as a Bridge Between East and West: The Role of the Phoenicians and Aramaeans in the Transfer of Culture.” In Greece between East and West: 10th-8th Centuries B.C., edited by Günter Kopcke and Isabelle Tokumaru, 93–102. Mainz: Verlag Philipp von Zabern. Seeher, Jürgen. 2011. Gods Carved in Stone The Hittite Rock Sanctuary of Yazlkaya. Istanbul: Ege Yaynlar. Vassileva, Maya. 2012. “Phrygian Bronzeworking.” In Phrygians in the Land of Midas, In the Shadow of Monuments, edited by Taciser Tüfekçi Sivas and Hakan Sivas, 310–31. Istanbul: Yap Kredi Yaynlar. —. 2014. “Phrygian Bronzes in the Greek World: Globalization through Cult?” In The Ancient World in an Age of Globalization, edited by: Markham J. Geller, 217–34. Berlin: Max Planck Research Library.

CLOTHING IN MEDIEVAL SCANDINAVIA: SOCIAL AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS CARLA DEL ZOTTO

Clothing in medieval Scandinavia went through several phases and reveals various trends and foreign influences, as documented by the extant iconographic and literary sources. During the early Middle Ages, which in Scandinavia coincides with the Viking Age, one can observe that the basic elements of Nordic costume did not differ much from those already in use among the early Germans and common to the Franks and Saxons— according to the description of Einhard, the biographer of Charlemagne, in De vita Caroli Magni. Classical and Christian authors, the reliefs on Trajan’s Column, depictions on rune stones, and archaeological finds from the Bronze Age onwards attest to the use of a cloak, a tight tunic, trousers and fur coats as basic clothes. A remarkable find from the Egtved barrow, dating from about 3000 years ago in Jutland (Denmark), revealed the remains of a young girl dressed in a fitted bodice with sleeves to the elbow and a short skirt made with strings of leather; she also wore accessories consisting of bronze bracelets and a large bronze disc, decorated with spirals, like a buckle, on a woolen belt (Nørlund 1941, 5–12). The ancient authors often stressed nudity and the use of skins among the Germanic tribes, but this seems rather to be a topos emphasizing the barbaritas of foreign peoples; Pliny remarked that for Germanic women, the best robe was of linen (Naturalis historia xix.ii.8); Strabo describes Cimbrian priestesses clad in white with flaxen cloaks fastened with a clasp (Geography vii.ii.3). Given the perishable nature of flax, archaeological finds are obviously very poor, although the Norse sagas and poetry often mention “the linen of the bride,” referring to the bridal veil, and employ the metaphors (kenningar) as “the goddess of flax” (hör-Gefn), and “the linen-oak” (lín-eik) as poetic synonyms for “woman.”1 From ancient times, a particular value was also attributed to dress color (lín-klæði): the 1

See the Eddic lay Fáfnismál st. 43 (Larrington 1996, 164) and the Skaldic stanza composed by King Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson in Heimskringla, The history of Harald Hardrade (Monsen 1932, 523).

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Greek official Prisco, who was part of an embassy to the court of Attila in 448, notes that many maids were sitting around the wife of Attila, Kreka— probably a Germanic woman, dyeing linen fabrics with which to embellish the costumes of the barbarians (Müller 1851, 89). From Antiquity to the Middle Ages, the main occupation of women was the work of weaving. In medieval Iceland, a standard measure of canvas, about 114 x 90 cm in width, the so-called vaðmál, had a real economic value, equivalent to gold and silver coins. For example, the lІgsögumaðr, the president of the General Assembly in Iceland, received an annual reward of about twentyseven meters vaðmál; the vaðmál was used to make bedclothes, sails, and it was one of the main items of export to England (Falk 1919, 50–66). In the sagas, vaðmál is the fabric woven in Iceland while klæði are fabrics of foreign provenance (Ewing 2007, 146). In modern times vaðmál indicates handmade fabric and klæði is machine made (Cleasby-Vigfússon 1957, 673). The bronze plates of the Torslunda helmet from the island of Öland (Sweden) attest to the use of trousers made of leather or shaggy wool in the Migration Period. These breeches proved very common through the Viking Age and beyond. In the first half of the thirteenth century, the Psalter of Margaret Skuladottir, wife of the Norwegian King Håkon Håkonsson (1204–63), presents an image of a shirtless man with baggy trousers rolled up around the waist as an allegory of a summer month (Nørlund 1941, 39). Cloaks, tunics up to the knees, tight trousers, a conical type of headgear and another laced with ribbons are depicted on the rune stone n.181 from Sanda (Sweden), on show in the Historiska Statens Museum of Gotland. In the bottom panel, there are three men, respectively endowed with a spear, a club or hammer, and a sickle; they have been identified as Odin, Thor and Freyr (Ewing 2007, 110). Their clothing, typically Viking, consists of a mantle (hekla) and a conical hat decorated with bows (skott-húfa). The same gods are also represented in the top panel, where a large bird, probably a crane or a goose, seems to bend itself towards the head of Freyr (Nørlund 1941, 23–24). The long cloaks of the three gods are of a square shape and appear similar to the mantle in use among the Franks, as described by the Monk of St. Gall, Notker Balbulus, in his Life of Charlemagne (De Carolo Magno I, 34) composed between 884 and 887: “The last part of their dress was a white or blue cloak in the shape of a double square; so that when it was placed upon the shoulders it touched the feet in front and behind, but at the side hardly came down to the knees” (Ganz 2008, 84). The Icelandic term hekla refers to a hooded cloak, often in different colors, which was mainly worn by women; the Old Norse name for

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Clothing in Medieval Scandinavia: Social and Legal Implications

“cloak” is skikkja, whereas the synonym möttull is a loanword (cf. Lat. mantellum). The latter, worn equally by men and women, could be laced up to the neck with ribbons (tugla-möttull); it probably derived from a foreign model and was of a fine fabric (Nørlund 1941, 25–27, 47). Another Icelandic term for “cloak” is feldr (derived from falda “to fold,” “wrap”), which often indicates a fur-lined coat, like the heðinn, a short fur coat, similar to the sagum mentioned by Tacitus in Germania ch. 17. In Heimskringla, The history of Hacon the Jarl, a son of Erik Bloodaxe is called Haraldr gráfeldr: Harald “gray coat” (Monsen 1932, 108–109). The word feldr is never used for a female cloak (Falk 1919, 165–90). Besides the cloak, numerous finds from Greenland, the Orkney Islands and Denmark attest to the use of a leather hat for protection from wind and weather (Nørlund 1941, 42–46). The mantle could also indicate the social status or rank of the man who was wearing it. In the Bayeux Tapestry, made before 1100, the cloak is characteristic of the noble classes; according to the Norwegian Speculum regale, dating from the first half of the thirteenth century, it was compulsory to remove both mantle and hat before approaching the king (Hellevik 1976, 96). Icelandic manuscripts and Danish altar reliefs show different types of cloaks: the mantle could traditionally be fastened on the right shoulder with a fibula, or tied with ribbons as in the image of Canute the Great depicted in the MS Stowe 944, fol. 6r (Ewing 2007, 86); the mantle could have short sleeves or be put on with another drape. In the MS AM 426 fol. 2v, from the late seventeenth century, the Icelandic poet Egill Skallagrímsson is depicted with a typical Viking cloak (Kristjánsson 1993, 35); a century later, Odin is portrayed in a cloak with sleeves and a drape in the MS Nks 1867,4°, fol. 94r, from c. 1760 (Danish Royal Library of Copenhagen). In the altar relief of Øist, around 1200, Herod, who is about to order the massacre of the innocents, is represented with the traditional cloak fastened by a brooch at the shoulder; conversely, in the relief of the Altar of Odder from c. 1250, Herod has a longer and wider coat, draped in a different way, and with short sleeves (Nørlund 1941, 25–27). Irrespective of the implications of rank and different fashions, the cloak was commonly used by men and women when travelling and to shelter from bad weather. In 922, the Arab envoy Ibn Fadlan describes the costume of a group of Varangians, Swedish warriors and tradesmen, who had arrived at the centre of Bulgar on the Volga. He remarks that they did not wear caftans, but cloaks, which covered one half of the body, leaving one arm uncovered (Montgomery 2000, 5). The Icelandic word röggvarfeldr indicates a shaggy cloak, with the hairy side on the outside to give better protection

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from the rain; the name varar-feldr refers to a cloak ready for sale in the marketplace. The men’s clothing in the Oseberg Tapestry, dating from about 800, is represented both by a long dress for men of high rank and a short tunic for common people; the same is observed in the Bayeux Tapestry, which shows long dress only for the English king and the Norman dukes (Nørlund 1941, 26–32). The long dress for men of rank is to be considered a foreign fashion. Einhard reports the irritation of Charlemagne at floorlength robes and states that the Frankish emperor agreed to wear a long tunic in Rome only at the insistence of the pope (Ganz 2008, 35). A century later, in the Report of his mission to Constantinople in 968 on behalf of the Saxon Emperor Otto the Great, the Bishop Liutprand of Cremona (c. 920–72) complains that at the court of the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas he was requested to wear the teristra, a dress similar to a female robe with hood and veil; he remarks that the men there were swathed and clad in tunics down to their ankles and with long sleeves (Henderson 1910, 460). Similarly, in the twelfth century, the Norwegian King Sverrir mocks the supporters of his antagonist, King Magnus Erlingsson, because they wore long dress, similar to cassocks, and were therefore called Heklungar (“Frockmen”).2 On the contrary, he praises the courage of his followers, who, even if poorly dressed in short tunics, were much braver. However, the supporters of King Sverrir, who were mostly peasants, were disparagingly called Birkibeinar (“legs of birch-wood”), since they generally used birch bark as footwear. A change in the length of male dress over time may be observed in the relief on the south portal of the Church of Ørsted (Randers, Denmark) and on the tombstone of the Church of Anst (Ribe, Denmark), (Nørlund 1941, 33). A tapestry from the Church of Skog, in Hälsingland (Sweden), dating back to 1100, shows three male figures, each wearing a long dress, who have been interpreted as the Christian kings of Norway, Denmark and Sweden: Olav the Holy, Canute the Holy, and St. Eric. A different interpretation identifies these three men as the Norse gods Odin, Thor, and Freyr (Lindow 2001, 251). In Viking times, ordinary male costume looked very similar to the costume of the Franks, described by Notker Balbulus as consisting of a cap, a cape, a tunic, breeches, stockings or bands for legs and shoes. Finds from the Thorsberg peat bog in Schleswig (Germany) have preserved the oldest long-sleeved tunic and the oldest men’s trousers, dating to the fourth century of our era. We know that the tunic (blaðakyrtill) up to the knees 2

Heklungar became the name of a political party in Norway in the days of King Sverrir (1184–1202). Hekla is a kind of cowled or hooded frock (Cleasby and Vigfússon 1957, 253).

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had side vents to enable a person to ride. The Icelandic kyrtill, which is probably a loanword from Frisian (Nørlund 1941, 31), and the synonym skyrta refer to a “short dress.” Skyrta was a kind of shirt, worn under the tunic that could be made of linen. Some finds show that these shirts were made by sewing together several strips of fabric. The opening for the head could be adjusted by laces around the neck and it was dishonorable for a man to wear a tunic or a shirt with a wide neckline across the chest. Trousers with socks attached from Thorsberg are the earliest evidence of leista-brækr, footed breeches (Nørlund 1941, 37–38). In the Eyrbyggja saga ch. 45 (ÍF 4, 129),3 we read that Thorodd wore long trousers when he was injured. Because he was dripping with blood, a servant tried to pull his trousers down, but in vain and he thought that they were too tight. The trousers of Thorodd were supposedly footed breeches like those found at Thorsberg (Schleswig Germany) and Hedeby (Denmark). Other types of trousers in Iceland were the stutt-brækr (knee-breeches fastened with belts or straps), and the ökul-brækr (slacks, possibly a sort of Scottish kilt, the typical dress of a beggar), while hosur were socks that covered the legs, but not the feet (Ewing 2007, 94–102). The Eddic lay Hymiskviða seems to refer to a new fashion (Del Zotto 1979, 102), which arrived in Scandinavia during the reign of King Olaf “the Quiet” (1066–1093), as described in Heimskringla, The history of Olav Kyrre: “In King Olav’s days guildhalls and burial feasts became common in the market towns and men then took up new fashions in clothes: they had fine hose laced to the leg, and some wore gold rings on their legs; men then wore long kirtles with cords on the side and with sleeves five ells long and so tight that they had to pull them on with hand cords and tie them tight up to the shoulders; they wore high shoes, all of which were silk-sewn and some overlaid with gold” (Monsen 1932, 577).

In general, trousers could be more or less fitted and end in feet. In the Fljótsdæla saga ch. 16 (ÍF 11, 262), we read that the trousers of Ketill Thidrandason did not have socks, but straps under the feet. Moreover, trousers had no pockets, or flap, and various objects were therefore hung on the belt, around the neck, or attached to pins. Trousers were tied at the waist with a string or a tape. In the Bárðar saga ch. 6 (ÍF 13, 121), the belt of Lon-Einar’s trousers breaks during a fight; he tries to pull them up and Einar Sigmundarson strikes him with the fatal blow at that moment.

3 Saga references are to the standard edition of the Old Icelandic sagas, published in the series Íslenzk fornrit.

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Underwear could be worn in the form of línbrækr, knee-length linen breeches cinched at the waist with a ribbon and at the knees with laces. In the Gísla saga Súrssonar ch. 16 (ÍF 6, 52–54), Gisli enters the neighboring farm at night in a shirt and linen breeches with a cape on his back. The lack of trousers would make it difficult for the occupants of the farm, who were asleep, to recognize him as an intruder by touching him. His sister touches his cool hand, but she thinks that it is the hand of her husband. Gisli kills his brother-in-law, Thorgrim, who is asleep, and then returns home and slips into bed as if nothing had happened. In the Fljótsdæla saga ch. 18 (ÍF 11, 271), the Norwegian, Gunnar, known as Thidrandabani (Slayer of Thidrandi), comes out of the tent at night to relieve himself, wearing only a shirt and linen breeches and putting his shoes on without tying them. He happily escapes when his enemies reach the tent, but he almost freezes because he is only wearing linen garments. The poor and the servants, however, probably slept naked, as is told in the Fljótsdæla saga ch. 16 (ÍF 11, 262) and in the Ljósvetninga saga ch. 8 (ÍF 10, 51). Socks were long strips of rolled wool, reaching from the knees to the toes. These strips were common among the Franks and Saxons and in general to the whole eastern Nordic region. In Iceland, these bands of cloth, which were wound around the leg to the foot were called spjarrar. In the GullThȩris saga ch. 9,4 Grim is called Vafspjarra-Grímr (Grim “swathing bands”), because he used to wear bands wrapped around his legs. In Viking times, shoes were made with a single piece of rawhide, closed behind with a vertically inserted nail and held together by laces over the instep and under the arch (Nørlund 1941, 56–59). Shoes could be short legged, as those found on the Oseberg ship, or low with laces. A typical medieval shoe was low with laces. In three different episodes of the Brennu-Njáls saga chs. 48; 92; 157 (ÍF 12, 123; 233; 452), pausing to tie a shoelace gives rise to dire consequences. Viking female attire is described in the Eddic lay Rígsthula (Larrington 1996, 248) and the poet distinguishes three social classes according to their dress. The farmer is married to a woman wearing a goatskin kirtle, with keys at her belt; the nobleman’s wife has a straight head-dress, a pendant on her breast, and wears a long dress with a train and a blue blouse (Larrington 1996, 249–50). The lavish clothes of a nobleman have been preserved in a grave, dated to the late tenth century, at Mammen, near Viborg (Denmark): they are made of woolen fabric, embroidered with silver and gold threads, and decorated with motifs of animals, human heads, and acanthus leaves (Ewing 2007, 160). Archaeological finds from 4

The saga is not published in the series Íslenzk fornrit. The reference is to the Icelandic Saga Database: sagadb.org/gull-thoris_saga.

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Clothing in Medieval Scandinavia: Social and Legal Implications

Uppland and the island of Öland (Sweden) have unearthed small female figurines made of silver; their clothing includes a long skirt down to the feet and a dress with a train (Nørlund 1941, 51). During the Viking Age and up until 1300, a cloak worn on both shoulders was aristocratic, especially if it was longer than usual and reached to the feet (Nørlund 1941, 32–33). In the Brennu-Njáls saga ch. 123 (ÍF 12, 312–14), Njal pays Flosi a sum in silver as compensation for the killing of Höskuld, and in addition he gives him a present of a blue silk cloak (slœðor) that was so long it touched the ground. Flosi considers it to be a woman’s dress and misinterprets the gift as an insult. In the same saga, ch. 129 (ÍF 12, 329– 30), Helgi flees disguised as a woman with a female coat (kvennskikkja) and a cap (faldr) on his head. The cap seems to be an element of the costume of married women: in the Laxdæla saga ch. 45 (ÍF 5, 138), Kjartan gives his future wife, Hrefna, a head-dress as a wedding present. In the Eddic lay Rígsthula, both the old woman and the rich man’s wife wear a cap (faldr) on their heads. A very detailed description of female dress is provided by the Saga of Eirik the Red and concerns the clothing of the “little prophetess”: “she was wearing a black cloak with straps, which was set with stones right down to the hem; she had glass beads about her neck, and on her head a black lambskin hood lined inside with white catskin. ... On her feet she had hairy calf-skin shoes with long thongs, and on the thong-ends big knobs of lateen. She had on her hands catskin gloves which were white inside and hairy” (Jones 1961, 134).

A luxurious blue cloak has been found in a female tomb of the Viking Age at Birka (Sweden), and a great number of fibulae (brooches) among the finds are to linked to the “suspended dress”—a female dress worn above a long robe with sleeves and held up by strips fastened with brooches, more or less elaborate and more or less precious (Ewing 2007, 39–52). The woman’s dress had a neckline that was much wider than a man’s tunic and if a man wore a shirt cut so low that the nipples of his breast could be seen his wife could sue for divorce. In the Laxdæla saga ch. 34 (ÍF 5, 94), Thord suggests that Gudrun makes for her husband Thorvald a shirt with the neck so low-cut that it will give her grounds for divorcing him. Then Thord announces that he is divorcing his wife Aud, nicknamed Bróka-Auðr (Breeches-Aud), on the grounds that she had taken to wearing breeches with a codpiece like a masculine woman (Laxdæla saga ch. 35, ÍF 5, 96). According to Grágás, the Icelandic law code, the penalty for transvestism was a three-year exile:

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“If women become so deviant that they wear men’s clothing, or whatever male fashion they adopt in order to be different, and likewise if men adopt women’s fashion, whatever form it takes, then the penalty for that, whichever of them does it, is lesser outlawry” (Dennis et al. 2000, 69–70).

As underwear, women wore linen shirts and trousers (kvenbrækur), up to the knees, tied with a ribbon, which had to remain hidden from the suit. In Laxdæla saga ch. 9 (ÍF 5, 18), Hallgerd, one of the daughters of Höskuld and Jorunn, is called langbrók (“Long-Breeches”). The nickname, however, seems to refer to the high stature of the girl and not to the length of her linen trousers. On the other hand, trousers did not belong to women’s apparel in Scandinavia, nor in the rest of Europe during the Middle Ages. Moreover, as has already been noted, the law provided a clear differentiation between menswear and womenswear. The eddic lay Thrymskviða tells of the worries of Thor about Heimdall’s proposal to dress him, instead of the goddess Freyja, with the bridal veil to retrieve the hammer that had been seized by the giant: “Then Heimdall said, the whitest of the gods- .../ ‘Let’s dress Thor in a bridal head-dress,/ let him wear the great necklace of the Brisings./ Let keys jingle about him/ and let women’s clothing fall down to his knees.’ ... Then said Thor, the vigorous god:/ ‘The Æsir will call me a pervert,/ if I let you put a bride’s veil on me” (Larrington 1996, 99).

In the same way, at the beginning of the conversion of Iceland to Christianity, the canonical dress of the missionary clergy could impress the people attending Mass, or be considered unmanly and be mocked by pagans, as in the lampoon composed about the Saxon Bishop Fridrek and the Viking Thorvald: “He gave birth,/ the Bishop, to nine sons,/ of all of them,/ Thorvald is the father” (Del Zotto 2010, 23). As one can see, in medieval Scandinavia, clothing expressed a true “dress code” and the hierarchical relationships of society.

Bibliography Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfússon, and William Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Del Zotto, Carla, ed. 1979. La Hymiskviða e la pesca di Thórr nella tradizione nordica. Rome: Istituto di Glottologia Università di Roma. —. 2010. “La letteratura cristiana nell’Islanda medievale.” In La letteratura cristiana in Islanda, edited by Carla Del Zotto, 13–53. Rome: Carocci.

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Dennis, Andrew, Peter Foote, and Richard Perkins, trans. 2000. Laws of Early Iceland, Grágás II. Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba Press. Ewing, Thor. 2007. Viking clothing. Stroud: The History Press. Falk, Hjalmar. 1919. Altwestnordische Kleiderkunde, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Terminologie. Kristiania: Videnskapsselskapets Skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. Klasse 1918. No. 3. Ganz, David, trans. 2008. Einhard and Notker the Stammerer: Two Lives of Charlemagne. London: Penguin. Hellevik, Alf, trans. 1976. Kongsspegelen. Oslo: Det norske samlaget. Henderson, Ernest F., trans. 1910. Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages. London: George Bell. Icelandic Saga Database. http:// sagadb.org Íslenzk fornrit. 1928. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag. Jones, Gwyn, trans. 1961. Eirik the Red and other Icelandic Sagas. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jungner, H. 1930. “Den gotländska runbildstenen från Sanda.” Fornvännen 25: 65–82. Kristjánsson, Jȩnas. 1993. Icelandic Manuscripts. Reykjavík: The Icelandic Literary Society. Larrington, Carolyne, trans. 1996. The Poetic Edda. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lindow, John. 2001. Norse Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Monsen, Erling, trans. 1932. Heimskringla, or the lives of the Norse kings, by Snorre Sturlason. New York: Dover Publications. Montgomery, James E. 2000. “Ibn FadlƗn and the Rnjsiyyah.” Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 3:1–25. Müller, Carl. 1851. Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum, vol. 4. Paris: Didot. Nørlund, Poul. 1941. “Klædedragt i Oldtid og Middelalder.” In Dragt (Nordisk Kultur XV:B), edited by Poul Nørlund, 1–88. Stockholm: Bonniers Förlag.

COURT CLOTHES OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY IN THE ROMANIAN PRINCIPALITIES1 ANA-MARIA MOISUC

Regardless of space and time, attire has always had major importance. Each era has been characterized by a certain clothing style, reflecting the image and mentality of a society. We can talk about the evolution of attire, in close connection with political, economic, social, or cultural factors. A nation’s manner of dressing represents not only their specific lifestyle, habits, and customs, but the changes that have occurred following a political event, their economic development, or influences from elsewhere; and also the transmission of a message. In the Romanian Principalities, the sixteenth century, or the century of “pearls,” was impressive in its use of golden buttons on clothes and aprons and the beauty of precious stones fastened on shirt fronts; on the buckles of belts; on the stripes of dresses and hems; and on the florets of princely diadems. Throughout the century, the outfits of princes and great boyars were influenced by both West and East. These trends of dress were highlighted in votive portraits and in the writings of foreign travelers. These travelers noted the following on the manner of dress of Moldavians and Walachians: “they do not dress alike, because Walachians follow almost completely the customs and dressing manner of the Turks, while Moldavians are very fond of their clothing habits.” In this period, the long Oriental fur coats and chepenege were used; fur mantles, thin cloaks, and fur dulame were added. Furthermore, the role of Byzantine golden stripes or straps was taken over by furs: by the expensive misadas with wide lapels that covered the shoulders entirely (sometimes with fur added to the entire length), and by fur hems (which bordered the clothes). Other items were introduced in the same period, including: the Turkish shawl, the belt with a knot in the front, overcoats, the wearing of shirts as a separate piece of undergarment, and Turkish footwear. Men adopted the trend of full 1

This work was supported by the strategic grant POSDRU/159/1.5/S/133652, cofinanced by the European Social Fund within the Sectorial Operational Program, Human Resources Development 2007–2013.

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Court Clothes of the Sixteenth Century in the Romanian Principalities

beards and thick moustaches. Despite all of these new elements, court attire maintained the characteristic features of the fifteenth century. The fifteenth century was characterized—both in Moldavia and in Walachia—by short tunics (down to the ribs) worn underneath cloaks, by fur collars, and by sable overcoats. In votive representations, princes are featured with heads covered with Italian brocade headpieces (“sprinkled” with pearls), and with with pearled caps (Alexianu 1971, 111). Western influence combined with Byzantine influence and together they added a special beauty to the attire. In manufacturing clothes for the princely court, people used Italian fabrics in the first half of the century, which they gradually replaced with Oriental silks. In terms of origin, Italian velvets may be divided into two broad categories: those produced in Florence and those brought from Venice (Nicolescu 1970, 18). The fabrics preserved within collections, those discovered in archaeological excavations, and the ones mentioned in written documents can also be divided into two categories: cut velvet (velour coupé) broached with silver and golden silver threads, folded on floss silk threads; and uncut velvet (epeinglé et ciselé) with motifs made of cut velvet, with a layer of uncut velvet underneath (Nicolescu 1970, 38, 41; Lăzărescu 1986, 7). Italian fabrics also included drappi d’or, silver thread and golden silver thread fabrics with motifs highlighted using velvet; the thread was used along the entire length of the clothing item (Nicolescu 1970, 41). Oriental fabrics were brought from the Ottoman Empire by “Greek” and Levantine merchants. The “Greek” merchants were actually from across the empire and the Balkan Peninsula, and included Greeks, Macedonian-Romanians, Bulgarians, Jews, and Turks (Dan and Goldenberg 1968, 546–47). They brought cloth, fabrics, hemp carpets, fine silks, and clothes from the south Danubian ports (Bursa, Adrianople, Vidin, and Nicopolis) to Walachia. The customs registry of 1503 provides a clear record of the main fabrics imported into Moldavia and Walachia. Alongside varied clothing fabrics, it mentions fifty-six damask veils, six golden cloth veils (griЮ), 50 ½ measures of cotton, and sixteen libre of silk (Pascu 1956, 212). The socalled “Turkish merchandise” recorded in the lists of Brasov-based merchants in 1507 included camha (silk fabric with relief motifs), boucassin, camlet, and purple (Iorga 1915, 146). The list was completed, from an inventory of 1508–1509, with brocade, taffeta, atlas, golden brocade, cufteria, zerhaft, munkkas, cotton, silk of various colors (red, black, and green), and velvet (Meteú 1921, 102).

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As stated previously, the attire specific to the century of “pearls” preserved the characteristics of clothes worn in the previous century. The fifteenth century was characterized by two types of attire. The first one belongs to the reign of Alexander the Good, while the second one dates from the reign of Stephen the Great. The ceremonial attire was similar to the one worn at the Palaeologus court, featuring long clothes in the Oriental fashion: a golden, richly decorated tunic; a large, green cloak with crimson flowers; a long kaftan, of dark green-bronze hues highlighting the waist and decorated with medallions and griffins with their back facing each other (Bréhier 1994, 41–44). The attire worn by Alexander the Good—where Byzantine influence is noticeable—was comprised of a long, rigid, ankle-length brocade mantle (the Byzantine granaĠa) with a gold embroidered hem. The fur coat was worn over a long, silk tunic (buttoned from the upper chest to the waist area) and the shirt was made of toile or silk, with embroidered sleeves and collars (Nicolescu 1970, 109). In the representations of Alexander the Good, (at the monasteries of BistriĠa, VoroneĠ, SuceviĠa, and Roman) his ceremonial costume shows clear Byzantine influences. The second type of costume—dating from the reign of Stephen the Great—has similar patterns to the previous one, while the tailoring and general appearance of the main items of clothing worn by the prince and the court boyars show Byzantine influence. The ceremonial costume of the prince—as it is featured in fifteenth-century representations—comprised of a long toile shirt, with sleeves and cuffs embroidered with pearls (Nicolescu 1970, 13). On top of it, he wore a long silk tunic, with embroidered collar (turned-down or left up). The sleeves of the long, elbow-fitted tunic had embroidered cuffs. On top of this tunic, the prince wore a granaĠa made of rich fabric—brocade or silk velvet with golden thread—folded down to the ground. The ankle-length mantle only left the tip of his red-hued footwear in sight. It was open in the front and had golden buttons and chenilles (sometimes only down to the waistline). The sleeves were long and flared towards the ends. All the clothes featured a silk and gold thread embroidered wide strap, decorated with pearls and precious stones (usually placed around the neck, on the shoulders, the sleeves and the bottom) (Nicolescu and Dumitrescu 1957, 100–101). The prince is shown in his ceremonial costume in the church founded by him at PătrăuĠi wearing “a long coat with wide sleeves, embroidered with golden thread stripes on the collar, below the shoulders, on the sleeves and on the bottom” (Voinescu 1964, 471). The Byzantine influence is also visible in the costume worn by Petru Rareú. In his representation at MoldoviĠa (alongside the members of his

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Court Clothes of the Sixteenth Century in the Romanian Principalities

family), the members of the princely family wear ceremonial costumes— granaĠa. The mantle was decorated with wide straps, on top of which small pearls and various types of precious stones were applied. These wide straps usually decorated the tailored collar, the chest, the bottom, the shoulder and the wide shoulders (Solomonea 2006, 326). Furthermore, in the votive portraits of Baia or Humor, the prince wears the same ceremonial costume (Sinigalia 2004, 64). The Byzantine influence is also apparent in the attire of Neagoe, as illustrated in the portrait of Curtea de Argeú. The prince wears a mantle made of a fabric with floral motifs, decorated with a wide, gold embroidered collar, and a golden pin fastening the collar and the front edges of the lilac-colored attire, which are decorated with a wide golden stripe. Underneath it, one can notice a crimson, turned-down tunic, with linear decoration, unlike the floral motifs featured on the sleeves and bottom stripes. Below the bottom of the item of clothing, a gold embroidered Byzantine eagle is visible. As for the costume worn by Theodosius, it is red and the decorations are the same as those of Neagoe. Underneath it, he wears a green tunic (Brătulescu 1967, 586). During the reigns of Bogdan III the Blind and of ùtefăniĠă, fashionable Western clothes, which followed the model of Polish and Hungarian attire, were in trend (Alexianu 1971, 163). The Western—Occidental—influence was characterized by the “knight’s” costume, comprising a knee-length tunic with sleeves, on top of which there was a second tunic, shorter, with tailored collar and sleeves, a belt, leg-hugging trousers and pointed shoes (Nicolescu 1970, 87; Nanu 1976, 101). These pointed shoes represent Polish influence (Brătianu 1933, 166). The son of Mihnea is featured in a western European inspired costume on the royal doors of the Ivir monastery (Costea-Ene 2003, 46; Beza 1937, 43). Mihai Viteazul wore a similar type of costume (Nanu 1976, 106). The shirt was an indispensable piece of clothing for both men and women. The term is mentioned in sources from the sixteenth century, within the list of goods left by Petru ùchiopul to his son. Unlike the shirts worn by villagers, merchants, or lower boyars (made of linen or hemp and usually simple), those worn at court by the prince or the higher boyars were elegant, and made of imported fabrics (săsească, Lithuanian, or German) and silk. The cut and the embroidery represent the original elements of these shirts. The shirt was long, made of four layers of fabric, and fastened with a small key made of needle-worked gold and silver thread. The sleeves were straight, not cut out, and ended in a narrow cuff. Embroidery was used only for ceremonial costumes, using fine threads and pearls. It was

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applied to the collar, the chest, the sleeves, the lower part, and the wrist. In some costumes, only the chest and the upper margin of the shirt were embroidered. The difference between the Moldavian and the Walachian shirt was the red or white collar; it was usually simple, garnished with pearls and worn over a surplice collar (Nicolescu 1970, 115). Silk shirts can be counted among the treasury of Petru Rareú and among the list of goods belonging to Petru ùchiopul, as well as in various bills of payment (for buying estates or paying off debts). Concerning the sixteenth century, one of the most important items included in the court costume was the caftan. The role of this item developed from the second half of the sixteenth century on, due to Ottoman influence on Romanian territory and the caftan became a ceremonial mantle. The ceremonial coronation received several alterations over time and included two phases: the first phase took place at the court of Constantinople, where the prince received the “princely flag,” while the coronation phase per se took place in Moldavia or in Walachia.2 In Constantinople, the sultan offered to the newly appointed prince (besides the marks of power, which were the two military symbols called tuiuri and the green Turkish flag) a caftan, which was the equivalent of the Turkish kabanica, and a symbol of authority. For the Turks, the kabanica was actually the sultan’s mantle, sewn with gold and silver thread, and garnished with precious stones and sable or black fox fur, with a 30-cm train made of the same type of fur, floor-length sleeves, and furred margins. A long and furred Oriental item of clothing, the caftan was adopted by the Byzantine court from the twelfth century on: it was transformed from the mantle worn by Persian soldiers into an elegant coat that buttoned down the front (Laver 2000, 48). Made of rich fabrics and fringed with gold and silver threads—following the Byzantine and Sassanid tradition— the caftan was provided by the sultan as a costume of honor, called hil’at, to the highest Ottoman dignitaries, ambassadors, and emissaries; and to Romanian princes (ùăineanu 1900, 73). In Romanian territory, the caftan was characterized by wide laps, being ankle-length and with narrow sleeves that fell to the back. This attire broadened in the lower part and was worn open; in the front, it was fastened with thread găitane and buttons, sometimes only down to the waist. The presence of thread găitane to fasten buttons made of silver or precious stones was also visible on the chest (Nicolescu 1970, 134). The mantle was made of velvet or brocade of various hues and it also included a fur collar (round in Moldova and worn 2 This information on the coronation ceremony was provided by Dimitrie Cantemir in Descriptio Moldaviae, Bucharest, 1973.

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Court Clothes of the Sixteenth Century in the Romanian Principalities

on the outside in Walachia). In the representation on the royal door of the “Schimbarea la faĠă” church, Alexandru Lăpuúneanu is featured wearing a green kaftan, with toggles and laces on the chest, the waistline, and the sleeves, as well as golden brocade; the item underneath is red and includes a golden collar (Iorga 1905, 50). Another prince depicted in ceremonial attire, who wore extremely elegant clothes, was ùtefan Tomúa. The prince appeared before the emissaries “clad in sparkling outfits; his golden kaftan shone from far away” (Panaitescu 1930, 15). In a representation at the BistriĠa Monastery, Barbu Craiovescu is featured wearing a costume specific to the sixteenth century, made of a light-brown surplice with a golden girdle, and a green caftan with a red collar and margins. The image in the Episcopal church of Argeú is similar: Radu Paisie (featured alongside his son Marcu) wears, over his bright red silk surplice, a green caftan with sable fur. The fur is worn on the outside and over the shoulders. Globular buttons are sewn on the caftan down to the waist; three buttons are sewn on the ends of each sleeve. Marcu wears a similar costume, only in different colors. Over the blue-gray surplice, he wears a red velvet caftan, embroidered with thread, doubled in flowery yellow silk. In the portrait included in an icon donated to the Tismana Monastery, Mircea Ciobanu wears a caftan with long, wide sleeves, over his surplice. The presence of this item within the court costume is attested to not only by the votive portraits in which it is featured. Because it was made of expensive fabrics, the caftan completed the dowry of princes, great boyars, and of princesses and ladies. For instance, from the possessions of Petru Rareú (after retiring from Hotin to Transylvania in 1538), his servant Sienco Popovici, took “12 kaftans with silver fasteners, worth 20,000 aspri each.” In an inventory made in 1569, it is stated that the wife of Prince Pătraúco had two golden kaftans, one of which featured twenty-five buttons, and worth twenty-five and thirty florin respectively. Seraser kaftans completed the wealth of Petru ùchiopul and of his son, ùtefan, to whom he left—among other items—four kaftans, two of which were made of “quality seraser and two kaftans of avor.” At the same time, this clothing was used to buy certain estates. In a case of 1510 during the reign of Prince Neagoe, one of the boyars paid—for several villages, mountains, forests, and Gypsy servants—the amount of 500 aspri and a Perneú caftan. Similarly, in 1517, Chancellor Stanciul paid for a “vineyard and orchards” with a caftan worth 100 aspri. Along with the caftan, princes also wore other types of mantle. One of them was the dulama or dolman—a long tunic worn underneath the caftan. This waist-enhancing dulama was made of silk, with long, narrow sleeves, and was buttoned up. Expensive fabrics (brocade, damask, scarlet), with

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golden and pearl buttons were used to make it. The dulama also had rich furs. It was initially as long as the surplice, but it became shorter under the influence of Occidental fashion. The embroidery was of Oriental inspiration. Another item encountered in the court costume of the sixteenth century in Moldavia and Walachia is the conteú. This Oriental-inspired mantle had a wide, elbow-length sleeve. In the Romanian Principalities, the sons of princes and great boyars wore this piece of clothing. It was made of white silk with golden thread, of velvet, broadcloth, or Oriental threaded silk; some of them also included furs. * The court attire worn by the princes and great boyars of the Romanian Principalities throughout the fifteenth century impressed foreign travelers with its beauty and elegance. Because they loved pomposity and luxury, the princes struggled to obtain distinguished fabrics and special attire, both for themselves and their subjects. This period was dominated by Italian and Oriental fabrics and by expensive furs. The same period witnessed a combination of Oriental, Byzantine, and Occidental influences. The caftan was one of the quintessential items of the court costume. A symbol of princely power, this item of clothing was impressive in its elegance and beauty in fabric and embroidery. Along with the other items, the court costume highlighted the status of its owner and conveyed a message. Therefore, the attire specific to this century was truly impressive, through the sparkling of their precious stones, the richness of the fabrics used, and the artistry of the embroideries and motifs.

References Alexianu, Alexandru. 1971. Mode úi veúminte din trecut. Cinci secole de istorie costumară românească, vol. I. Bucharest: Meridiane. Beza, Marcu. 1937. Urme româneúti în răsăritul ortodox, 2nd edition. Bucharest: Lumea CredinĠei. Brătianu, G. I. 1933. “Anciennes modes orientales à la fin du Moyen Âge.” Seminarium Kondakovianum VII: 165–68. Brătulescu, Victor. 1967. “Frescele lui Dobromir zugravul mănăstirii Curtea de Argeú.” Mitropolia Olteniei 7–8: 582–97. Bréhier, Louis. 1994. CivilizaĠia bizantină. Bucharest: Editura ùtiinĠifică. Costea-Ene, Irina. 2003. “Mihnea al II-lea Turcitul, domn creútin sau dregător otoman?” Muzeul NaĠional: 44–53.

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Dan, Mihail, and Samuel Goldenberg. 1968. “Regimul comercial al negustorilor balcano-levantini în Transilvania în sec. XVI-XVII.” Apulum VII/1: 546–47. Iorga, N. 1905. InscripĠii din bisericile României. Bucharest: Minerva. —. 1915. Istoria comerĠului românesc. Drumuri, mărfuri, negustori úi oraúe, vol. I până la 1700. Vălenii de Munte: Neamul Românesc. Laver, James. 2000. Histoire de la mode et du costume, with an additional chapter by Amy de la Haye, translated from English by Michèle Hechter and Christine Chareyre, new edition. Paris: Thames & Hudson. Lăzărescu, Anca. 1986. ğesături de artă în Evul Mediu românesc. Bucharest: Muzeul de Arta al Republicii Socialiste România. Meteú, ùtefan. 1920. RelaĠiile comerciale ale ğării Româneúti cu Ardealul până în veacul al XVIII-lea. Sighiúoara. Nanu, Adina. 1976. Artă, stil, costum. Bucharest: Meridiane. Nicolescu, Corina. 1970. Istoria costumului de curte în ğările Române. secolele XIV-XVIII. Bucharest: Meridiane. Nicolescu, Corina, and Florentina Dumitrescu. 1957. “Date cu privire la istoria costumului costumului în Moldova (sec. XV-XVI). Costumul în epoca lui ùtefan cel Mare.” Studii úi Cercetări de Istoria Artei 3–4: 99– 131. Panaitescu, P. P. 1930. Călători poloni în ğările Române. Bucharest: Cultura NaĠională. Pascu, ùtefan. 1956. “RelaĠiile economice dintre Moldova úi Transilvania în timpul lui ùtefan cel Mare.” In Studii cu privire la ùtefan cel Mare, 203–17. Bucharest: Academia română. Sinigalia, Tereza. 2004. “Ctitori úi imagini votive în pictura murală din Moldova la sfârúitul secolului al XV-lea úi în prima jumătate a secolului al XVI-lea – O ipoteză.” In Arta istoriei. Istoria Artei, Academicianul Răzvan Theodorescu la 65 de ani, 59–65. Bucharest: Editura Enciclopedică. Solomonea, Carmen Cecilia. 2006. “IntervenĠii de restaurare a tabloului votiv din Biserica ‘Bunavestire’ MoldoviĠa.” In Proceedings of the National Symposium Monument–tradition and future, 7th edition, volume edited by Silviu Văcaru and Aurica Ichim, 323–37. Iaúi: FundaĠia Axis. ùăineanu, Lazăr. 1900. InfluenĠa orientală asupra limbii úi culturii române. Vocabularul, vol. II. Bucharest. Voinescu, Teodora. 1964. “Portretele lui ùtefan cel Mare.” In Cultura moldovenească în timpul lui ùtefan cel Mare, edited by M. Berza, 46– 477. Bucharest: Editura Academiei.

POUPÉES DE MODE: THE FASHION EXCHANGE OF EARLY MODERN EUROPE SAMANTHA MARUZZELLA

Although they suffered long periods of oblivion and their actual existence has even been disputed (Cf. Croizart 2007), “living dolls” were a crucial means for the circulation of styles and fashions in past centuries. Their role in this field is recorded in the monumental work by Rosita Levi Pisetzky on the Storia del costume in Italia: “Accanto ai viaggi di stranieri in Italia e di italiani oltralpe, che fanno conoscere in tutta Europa i nostri costumi, graziose bambole abbigliate sono un mezzo ingegnoso per la diffusione della moda italiana all’estero. Le pue o pupe, ‘mannequins’ e figurini al tempo stesso, vengono mandate oltralpe abbigliate con le nuove fogge, riprodotte in minuscole proporzioni, ma con la massima certezza e con tutti i particolari” (Levi Pisetzky 1964– 69, 19).1

One of the first difficulties in attempting to frame the history and circulation of these luxury items is a problem of nomenclature, as different dialects and languages had several different names for them: we thus find mention of pupae, popera, popina, puotta, pua, pupa, and puva; alongside the more popular Gallicism poupée, poupée de lin or poupées de France, poupées des Modes, Pandore (the Grande Pandore version for clothes and the Petite Pandore version, expressly conceived for lingerie); also pupi di Fiandra, piavole or pievole de Franza, pigotta, and gallica pupazza. 1

For the benefit of the general reader, I supply unpolished, word for word translations of the texts cited in this paper. “Alongside foreigners travelling through Italy and Italians residing abroad, all of whom made our styles known across Europe, prettily accoutred dolls were an ingenious device for the propagation of Italian fashions abroad. The pue or pupe, ‘mannequins’ and fashionplates at the same time, were sent abroad wearing the latest styles, rendered in the smallest sizes, but most accurately and in full detail.”

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Poupées de Mode: The Fashion Exchange of Early Modern Europe

This last name first occurs in the Sermoni and Satire by Ludovico Sergardi, a satirical poet from Siena who was better known by his nom de plume of Quinto Settano. In the Satire latine, published in 1694, Settano writes: “Vano discorso sull’odierna moda, e consultar il Figurin venuto dall’arbitra Parigi. Il vero Codice di gentilezza è questo! Niuna è tanto stolta, e dell’onor suo tenera poco, che non segua la gallica pupazza. Dessa prescrive se di fibbia aurata deggia esser morso il fianco, e se le vesti voglionsi azzurre, o verdi: Essa decide su tutto il mondo femminil! Se avviene, che vesta Proculea purpureo drappo, né il consenta lo Archetipo, diventa Favola, e gioco dei Conclavi illustri, come se avesse in pubblico bordello del casto l’onor prostituito! E nemmen dir si può che donna sia cortese, e bella, ove non abbia in casa scrigno elegante, e pien di bagattelle. Perciò tutte hanno d’ebano, e di bosso armarj, stipettini, scarabattoli con bei cristalli: sono in Roma artefici eccellenti da ciò, che più di Mentore ti sapranno scolpir Fauno, o Sirena” (Settano 1833; 209).2

What is significant about this passage is that it documents how fashion-dolls were widespread in Italy before the eighteenth century, contrary to the prevailing opinion that dolls emerged as fashion messengers (corriere di moda) only in the eighteenth century, when they were supposedly invented by Madame Rose Bertin (1747–1813), milliner and dressmaker to Queen Marie Antoinette of France. The earliest definition appears in the Dictionnaire universel de commerce: d’histoire naturelle, & des arts & métiers, a work in two volumes published in 1795 by Jacques Savary des Brûlons, who was Inspector General of the Manufactures for the King at the Paris Customs during the reign of Louis XIV. While Savary provides a general definition for Poupée, and cross-references the term with Bimblot, he does make an interesting mention of dolls as fashion messengers: 2

“O vain it is to discuss the day’s fashion, and to seek the fashion-plates that come from the great arbiter, Paris. The true Code of nobility is this! No woman is so foolish and neglectful of her honor as not to observe the trends set by the gallica pupazza [Gallic doll]. For it is she that prescribes whether a gold buckle should bite into the waist, and whether frocks are to be sky-blue or green: [The doll] rules over all women! Should it come to pass that Proculea wears a purple drape, against the Archetype, immediately she is the gossip and sport of all illustrious Conclaves, as though she had sold her chaste virtue at the brothel! Nor shall woman be said courteous and beautiful who has not at home a trove of bagatelles. So all have at home their ebony and boxwood wardrobes, chests, and cabinets of fancy crystals: there are in Rome excellent craftsmen, who better than Mentore shall sculpt you a Faun, or Siren.”

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“POUPÉES—Se dit en général de tous les jouets d’enfants que font les Bimbloriers, lorsque ces jouets ont une figure humaine; c’est de ces jouets dont il se fait un si grand négoce a Paris & particuliérement au Palais. Ce terme s’entend néanmoins plus ordinairement de ces figures proprement habillées & coefées, foit d’homme, foit de femme, qu’on envoye dans les Pays étrangers pour y apprendre les modes de la Cour de France, ou qu’on donne aux enfants d’un moyen àge pour les amuser” (Savary des Brûlons 1795, 340).3

The Dictionnaire classique des origines, inventions & découvertes dans les arts, les sciences, et les lettres, présentant une exposition dommaire des grandes conquétes du génie de l’homme; ouvrage destiné aus gens du monde et aux élèves des écoles, by W. Maigne (1864) records: “Poupées—Les Poupées ont servi, de tout temps et dans tout les pays, à l’amusement des petites filles. Le mot pupa, par lequel les Romains les désignaient et d’où vient leur nom français, n’avait même pas, dans le principe, d’autre signification que celle de «petite fille». Du reste, les anciens avaieut, comme les modernes, des Poupées de toute espèce, même del Poupées articulées. L’usage des Poupées de modes existait déjà au XVII° siècle, peut-être même avant. Chaque année, dès le temps de Louis XIII, on envoyait de Paris, en Angleterre et Allemagne, pour servir de modale aux dames du pays, de grandes Poupées habillées dans le denier goût de la mode courante.”4

Moreover, the Trésor de la langue française also acknowledges their function as fashion messengers in the definition it provides for Poupée: “POUPÉE, subst. fém. […] d) HIST. DES MODES. Petit mannequin au corps de femme servant à présenter la mode, les nouveautés; mannequin 3

“Poupées—Used in general for all children’s toys made by doll-makers (Bimbloriers), when they have human resemblance; these toys are greatly in vogue in Paris & particularly at Court. The term is increasingly used for those fully dressed & coiffed figures, some male, some female, that are sent to foreign countries as illustrations of fashions at the French Court, or that are given to older children to keep them entertained.” 4 “Poupées—Dolls have been used in all countries and times for the amusement of little girls. The word pupa, which was the name the Romans used for them and from which the French term comes, originally meant simply ‘little girl.’ Besides, the ancients had dolls of all kinds, including jointed dolls, like the moderns have. The use of fashion dolls (Poupées de modes) goes back to the Seventeenth century, and possibly further still. Every year, since the time of Louis XIII, large dolls dressed in the latest styles have been sent from Paris to England and Germany to serve as models for the women of those countries.”

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Poupées de Mode: The Fashion Exchange of Early Modern Europe des tailleurs. Poupée de mode; poupée de colporteur; poupée de la rue Saint-Honoré. Une armée de mannequins sans tête et sans jambes, n’alignant que des torses, des gorges de poupée aplaties sous la soie (ZOLA, Bonh. dames, 1883, p. 780). Ils vont lui raser la tête et c'est une chose affreuse à penser qu’elle deviendra semblable aux poupées des modistes” (A. France, Rôtisserie, 1893, 284).5

It is also significant that there is in Diderot and D’Alembert’s Encyclopédie a general entry, which also touches upon the far more specific issue of fashion dolls: “Poupées. S. f. (Histoire ancienne et moderne)—Ce jouet des enfants était fort connu des Romains; leurs poupées étaient faites d’ivoire, de plâtre ou de cire, d’où vient le nom de plaguncula que leur donne Cicéron dans ses lettres à Atticus. Les jeunes filles nubiles, dit Perse, allaient porter aux autels de Vénus les poupées qui leur avaient servi d'amusement dans le bas âge. Veneri donatae à virgine puppae. Peut-être voulaient-elles faire entendre par cette offrande à la déesse des amours, de leur accorder de jolis enfants, dont ces poupées étaient l'image; ou plutôt encore cette consécration de leurs poupées indiquait qu'elles quittaient ces marques de l’enfance, pour se dévouer aux occupations sérieuses du ménage. C’est ainsi que les garçons, lorsqu’ils entraient dans les fonctions publiques de la société, déposaient la robe de l’enfance, et prenaient celle de l’adolescence. Aussi les Romains donnaient le nom de puppa et pupula aux jeunes filles, comme nous l’apprend Martial dans ce vers satyrique : Puppam se dicit Gallia cùm sit anus. De plus, ils ensevelissaient leurs enfants morts avec leurs poupées et leurs grelots; les Chrétiens les imitèrent, et de-là vient qu’on a trouvé dans des tombeaux des martyrs près de Rome, de ces sortes de petites figures de bois et d’ivoire parmi des reliques et des ossements d’enfants baptisés. L’usage des poupées a passé jusqu’à nous; et c’est si bien notre triomphe, que je ne crois pas que les Romains eussent de plus belles poupées que celles dont nos Bimblotiers trafiquent. Ce sont des figures d’enfants si proprement habillées et coèffées, qu’on les envoye dans les pays étrangers pour y répandre nos modes. S. Jérôme conseillait de donner aux enfants pour récompense, outre les douceurs qui pouvaient flatter leur gout, des brillans et des poupées. Ce moyen n’est certainement pas le 5

“POUPÉE, subst. fém. […] d) HIST. DES MODES. Small mannequin with female body used for the presentation of fashions and new styles; dressmaker’s mannequin. Fashion doll; travelling salesman’s doll; rue Saint-Honoré doll. An army of mannequins with neither head nor legs, displaying nothing but their chest and doll’s breasts flattened beneath the silk.” “They want to shave her head, and it is a frightful thing to think she will resemble a milliner’s doll.”

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meilleur à pratiquer dans la bonne éducation; mais nous l’avons préféré à tous les sages conseils de Locke. Cependant un philosophe pourrait tirer parti des poupées, toutes muettes qu’elles sont: veut-il apprendre ce qui se passe dans une maison, connaitre le ton d’une famille, la fierté des parents, et la sottise d’une gouvernante, il lui suffira d’entendre un enfant raisonner avec sa poupée” (D.J. [Louis de Jaucourt]).6

The Dizionario del Dialetto Veneziano has a sub-entry for fashion messengers under the general entry for Piàvola, “doll”: “Piavola de Franza, Fantoccio, Quella figurina vestita da uomo o da donna che s’espone ogni mese da’ Modisti e che vien dalla Francia, ov’è sempre variabile il gusto (Boerio 1829, 436).”7 We know, however, that poupées were being exchanged among the courts of Europe much earlier than the dictionaries suggest; the earliest empirical evidence can be dated to 1398, when Isabeau of Bavaria sent the Queen of England, Isabella of France, a magnificent doll with a refined 6

“Poupées. S. f. (Histoire ancienne et moderne)—This toy for children was well known by the Romans; their dolls were made of ivory, plaster, or wax, hence the name plaguncula given them by Cicero in his letters to Atticus. Young unmarried women, says Persius, would offer at the altar of Venus the dolls they had played with in childhood. Veneri donatae a virgine puppae. It is possible that this offering to the goddess of love meant they wished to be granted pretty children, represented by the dolls; or perhaps the consecration of their dolls meant they were casting off these ensigns of childhood, in preparation for the serious occupations of marriage. Similarly, when boys make their entrance in society, they cast off the clothing of childhood and wear the robes of adolescence. Also, the Romans call young girls puppa and pupula, as we learn from Martial’s satirical verse: Puppam se dicit Gallia cùm sit anus. Furthermore, when children died they were buried with their dolls and bells; Christians imitated them, and so it is that we find in the tombs of martyrs around Rome certain statuettes in wood and ivory amidst the relics and bones of baptized children. The use of dolls has come down to us; and it is our triumph that I am quite certain the Romans could not make prettier dolls than those made by our doll-makers (Bimblotiers). There are some in the likeness of children that are so well dressed and coiffed that they are sent abroad to advertise our fashions. St. Jerome recommended rewarding children not just with sweets to please their taste, but with beads and dolls. This system may not be the best form of education; but it seems to us far better than all the wise advice provided by Locke. Yet a philosopher may well side with the dolls, dumb though they be: if he wishes to learn what occurs within a household, assess the manners of a family, the pride of the parents, the foolishness of a housekeeper, all he needs to is listen to a child talk to its doll.” 7 “Piavola de Franza, Puppet, This figure clothed like a man or woman which Milliners have on display each month, and comes from France, where tastes are ever mutable.”

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outfit of luxurious brocade. It is recorded that Isabeau of Bavaria paid De Varennes, the court dressmaker, 450 francs for the creation of the doll’s outfits, and that the outfits were specifically intended to provide the young queen with miniature models of new styles of dress. Although, as in some of the instances discussed in this paper, the sender and receiver were distinguished by especially high rank, the gift of a doll was not necessarily an exceptional fact. Records from the fairs that were held annually all over Europe (and especially in Florence and Venice) show that dolls came in all kinds of material (e.g. wood, cloth, and wax), and were in fact commonplace by the end of the fourteenth century. It is not uncommon to find expenditure on dolls duly recorded in accounts books held in the archives of certain families. One famous instance is that of Anne, Duchess of Brittany, who was a fond collector of dolls and paid an exorbitant price in 1494 for a poupée to give to the queen of Spain as a gift. The story goes that the duchess was dissatisfied with the original set of the doll’s outfits, which she feared would not impress the queen, and ended up having two more artisans tailor two new sets of outfits. Documents from the archives of the court of Charles V record purchases made by the emperor of several French dolls for his daughter and her ladies-in-waiting, for which he paid ten francs each. It is also known that Henry IV’s courtship of Maria de’ Medici involved sending her expensive dolls from Paris, each with a precious collection of outfits. With his work on documents held at the Archivio di Stato di Modena, Luigi Alberto Gandini, an eclectic historian of the customs of the dames d’Este, found that the women of the French court were not alone in their passion for dolls. He found that the exchange of wedding gifts among the local aristocracy included piavole, as well as collections of tales and anecdotes about them. In a similar vein, Gandini himself composed occasional pieces for his nieces: on the occasion of the wedding of his niece Carolina Montanari to Antonio Boccolari, he accompanied his gift with a prefatory letter, which bears the date September 5, 1884: “Cara nipote, non farti meraviglia, se nel fausto giorno delle tue nozze, vengo io a parlarti di bambole. Certo, l’argomento è frivolo, ma ho speranza che un po’ di storia possa renderlo interessante, e poi… ti farà correre col pensiero a quei bei giorni della tua fanciullezza, quando a tergere il facile pianto bastava la vista di una pupattola. Gradisci dunque il pensiero e lo scritto, insieme coi più lieti auguri che il mio cuore sappia formare, e non ultimo quello che fra qualche tempo il tuo salotto sia

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ingombro di pupattole, la qual cosa, son certo, farà piacere a te e ad altri” 8 (Battaglioli 2010, 26).

As a careful observer of historical facts, Gandini acknowledged that although the subject of “pupattole” (dolls) was somewhat “frivolous,” they were nonetheless a valid and valuable historical document of past styles and customs (especially those of women), on account of their role in the circulation of fashion. Gandini’s pamphlet Di una pupattola del secolo XV studies their origins, and the importance they had among the dames d’Este; in his study of the Registri della guardaroba della Corte di Ferrara del secolo XV, Gandini found “libri di spesa” (accounts books) dating from 1484 detailing “spese fatte per una bambola, che la Duchessa di Ferrara Eleonora d’Aragona, moglie di Ercole I, mandava in dono ad Anna Sforza di Milano, fidanzata del figlio Don Alfonso d’Este” (Battaglioli 2010, 37).9 Dispatching dolls between courts was a matter of the utmost importance: in order to travel safely and speedily, some dolls were issued with official papers, or a passport. The trunks in which they travelled with their outfits were made by fine artisans and decorated by the finest seamstresses and marchandes in the country—foremost among them was Madame Bertin. It was not uncommon for an artist to be involved in the realization of the doll’s accessories or travelling case. Without exception, women impatiently awaited the arrival of their own piavola; duchesses, princesses, tsarinas, and grand duchesses alike would count the days in expectation. Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, famously sent puve to her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, so that the latest fashions in Paris would reach her in far-off Vienna. As dolls travelled ceaselessly from country to country, the ancestor of the modern mannequin finally entered the scene in the year 1778—a fullscale doll, allowing dressmakers’ clients to assess the fit of a new robe before placing their order. Mannequin, interestingly, comes from the Dutch manneken, meaning “small man,” although they were invented at the court of Louis XVI by madame Eloffe, chief among Marie Antoinette’s 8

“Dear niece, wander not if on the happy day of your wedding I speak to you of dolls. Granted, ‘tis a frivolous matter, but I hold hopes that some history shall add interest, and then… shall remind you of the days in your youth when the sight of a doll was enough to wipe the tears from your eyes. Kindly receive both the intent and the text, along with the happiest wishes my heart can express—not least that in due time your parlour be crowded with dolls, as I am certain will please both you and others.” 9 “Expenses made for a doll sent by the Duchess of Ferrara, Eleonora d’Aragona, wife of Ercole I, as a gift for Anna Sforza of Milan, betrothed to her son Don Alfonso d’Este.”

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seamstresses. Still, the most beautiful dolls were probably those made in the Venice laguna at a magnificent atelier in Calle Mercerie called “La Piavola de Franza” (the French doll)—in homage to their prestigious, though somewhat putative, homeland. That Venice was the native city of Italian fashion has been fully documented: Venice is the city where elaborate lace, precious silks, tapestries, and linens were made. Due to its position, Venice was able to import and export the raw materials of high fashion, as well as its own manufactured goods. Luxury became the soul of the city—so much so, that several families went bankrupt in their pursuit of ever-changing fashion. So precocious was the craze in Venice that the city authorities issued sumptuary laws as early as May 2, 1299 in an attempt to restrain extravagance, especially at wedding ceremonies. Sumptuary laws were renewed over the years leading to the creation of the office of Provveditori alle Pompe, specifically appointed to enforce the laws, hold courts, and levy fines—the Venetian Archivio di Stato holds a vast collection of court records and provisions on the subject. The church also attempted to prescribe appropriate behavior and apparel—in 1437, the first patriarch of Venice, Lorenzo Giustiniani, warned women, under threat of excommunication, against wearing dresses of silk, with a train, or with gold or silver embroidery. Unable to hold the Venetian display of luxury in check, the state was eventually forced to retract somewhat and allowed significant exceptions. The importance of fashion in Venetian affairs did not escape Goldoni, who frequently touched upon the subject. In a paragraph of his Memorie, entitled La piavola de Franza, he observed: “La moda appunto è sempre stata il primo impulso dei Francesi. Essi infatti danno norma all’Europa in fatto di spettacoli, decorazioni, abiti, acconciature, gioie e in ogni specie di adornamento; dappertutto si cerca d’imitare i Francesi. Al principio di ogni stagione si vede a Venezia, in Merceria, un fantoccio abbigliato di tutto punto, chiamato la bambola di Francia. Questo è il prototipo a cui le donne si uniformano, e par bella ogni stravaganza, purché parta da questo originale. Le Veneziane amano variare come le Francesi; i sarti, le sarte, i mercanti ne profittano assai, e quand’anche la Francia non somministrasse mode a sufficienza, gli operai di Venezia hanno la furberia di far variazioni alla bambola francese, e far passare le loro invenzioni per idee oltremontane” (Goldoni 1969a, cap. 10 XXXVII). 10

“Fashion has always received its first impulse from the French. When it comes to shows, decorations, clothes, hairstyles, jewellery and all other adornments, the French set the trends for all Europe and are imitated everywhere. With every new

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Apart from his personal recollections in the Memorie, Goldoni11 also evoked puve, dolls, in his comedy I Rusteghi. In the play, an exasperated husband, Lunardo, launches into a tirade against his wife, who is guilty of spending excessively on clothes and produces a Venetian phrase likening an overly elegant woman to a piavola de Franza: “Mi no m’importa, che fruessi, vegnimo a dir el merito, anca un abito a la setimana. Grazie al Cielo, no son de quei omeni che patissa la spienza. Cento ducati li posso spender. Ma no in ste buffonarie; cossa voleu che diga quei galantomeni, che vien da mi? Che sè la piavola de Franza. No me 12 vôi far smatar” (Goldoni 1969b, 34).

Nor was Goldoni a literary exception: Domenico Balestrieri (1714– 80), an Italian vernacular poet, mentions fashion dolls (using the Milanese form pigotta) in his Rime toscane e milanesi: “La pigotta de Franza no la ven de tant in tant che per el bell sess, e notee che intant el se ciamma el bel sess, inquant i donn voeuren ess bei o per amor o per forza. Alla cà di can se jutten col proverbi ‘Dove manca la natura arte procura’” (Balestrieri 1774, 18).13 The Venetian writer Count Francesco Algarotti (1712–64), in his Epistole, also mentions poupées: “Col fangoso corrier giunse l’altr’ieri Quella di cui tanto aspettar s’è fatto, La bella di Parigi alma fantoccia, Che d’ogni villa feo levare a stormo season, in the Venice Merceria, a puppet in full attire we call the bambola di Francia (French doll) makes its appearance. That is the prototype to which all women conform, and whatever eccentricity is allowed, so long as this exemplar is taken as a model. Venetian women love novelty as much as the French; tailors and seamstresses and merchants alike draw great profit from this, so that even if France failed to furnish new fashions, our artisans have the cunning to come up with variations on the French doll, and present them as ideas from across the Alps.” 11 The importance of fashion in Goldoni’s plays has been amply illustrated by Christina Petraglia, Donne alla moda nel teatro goldoniano, in “Carta Italiane,” vol. 5 (2009, 36–49). 12 “I wouldn’t even mind it if, say, you used up a new dress each week. Thank God, I can take the expense. I can afford the hundred ducats. But not on such buffooneries; what do you think I have to take from those men who call out at me? That you’re the piavola de Franza. I don’t like being everyone’s fool.” 13 “The pigotta de Franza makes its appearance every now and then for the benefit of the fair sex alone; and mark that it is called the fair sex because women will go to any lengths to appear fair, whether they be or not. When all else fails, they resort to the proverb ‘Where nature fails, art steps in.’”

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Poupées de Mode: The Fashion Exchange of Early Modern Europe ‘Donne gentili devote d’amore.’ Tu le vedresti a lei dinanzi in frotta L’andrienne, la cuffia, le nastriere, L’immenso guardinfante a parte a parte Notomizzare, e sino addentro e sotto Spinger gli avidi sguardi al gonnellino” (Algarotti, Lettera a Fillide, 470).14

The popularity of fashion dolls in the seventeenth century also emerges in the two-volume Le roman bourgeois: ouvrage comique by Antoine Furetière. In the glossary to the annotated edition of the work, published a century and a half later, M. Pierre Jannet, its editor, writes: “Poupées de modes, I, 54. Ces poupées de modes, qui donnaient le ton pour les toilettes, dit M. Ed. Fournier, avouent d’abord été attifées chez Mlle de Scudery, d’où elles partaient pour la province ou l’étranger. L’une étoit pour la négligé, l’autre pour les grandes toilettes. On les appelait la grande et la petite Pandore, et c’est aux petites assemblées du samedi qu’on procédoit à leur ajustement dans le cercle des précieuses. Un siècle plus tard, nous trouvons encore une de ces poupées courant le monde pour y propager les modes parisiennes. ‘On assure, lisons-nous dans un livre très rare, que pendant la guerre la plus sanglante entre la France et l’Angleterre, du temps d’Addison, qui en fait la remarque, ainsi que M. l’abbé Prevost, par une galanterie qui n’est pas indigne de tenir une place dans l’histoire, les ministres des deux cours de Versailles et de Saint-James accordaient en faveur des dames un passeport inviolable à la grande poupée, qui étoit une figure d’albâtre de trois ou quatre pieds de hauteur, vêtue et coiffée suivant les modes les plus récentes, pour servir de modèle aux dames du pays. Ainsi, au millieu del hostilités furieuses qui s’exerçoient de part et d’autre, cette poupée étoit la seule chose qui fût respectée par les armes’” (Souv. D’un homme du monde, Paris, 1789). 15 (Furetière 1666, 156). 14

“With the mud-soiled post there came the other night the one who was long awaited, the fair Parisian puppet-soul, that stirs the crowds in every city ‘Fair women to love devoted.’ You’d then see them rushing to her, Anatomizing the andrienne, bonnet, ribbons and the immense farthingale, from part to part, right through and beneath the skirts Pressing their avid eyes.” 15 “Poupées de modes, I, 54. These fashion dolls, that set the tone for proper grooming, says M. Ed. Fournier, were initially devised by Mlle de Scudery, who sent them to the provinces and abroad. One is made for the underclothes, the other for the outer garments. They are called la grande et la petite Pandore, and it is at the small Saturday get-togethers that they are set up and adorned for the benefit of their fair audience. A full century later we still find one of these dolls travelling world-wide to promote the Paris fashions. ‘It is avowed, we read in a rare book, that during the bloodiest war between France and England, at the time of Addison, who remarked the fact, as also did M. l’abbé Prevost, in an act of gallantry that deserves to make history, the ministers at the courts of Versailles and Saint-James

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Yet a further attestation is to be found in the Raccolta de’ proverbi, detti, sentenze, parole e frasi veneziane, arricchita d’alcuni esempi ed istorielle—a collection of Venetian proverbs and popular sayings composed by Francesco Zorzi Muazzo (1732–75) in the years 1768–71: “La piavola de Franza tanto celebre, che ogni anno in tempo di Sensa compariva, come un novo fogo artifizial o un lampo del cielo, in mostra; e tutti la andavano a mirar un spettacolo de natura, e su sta piavola vegniva appoggiada e tutte quelle maledette, sproporzionae e senza nessun comodo al vivo uman, mode donnesche e femminili, che, viva Iddio, in tanti gran anni, per non dir secoli, che zé stada dall’almo e sublime intelletto francese prodotta sta piavola, non se pol contar una moda che se possi infatti dir congrua e uniforme, sia al vestir, sia al camminar, sia d’una giusta e 16 sensata invenzione e ritrovamento” (Zorzi Muazzo 2008, 18).

During the “Fiera della Sensa,” a fair held in piazza San Marco, there was an exhibition of “Pievole di Franza” dressed in the latest styles from Paris, for the benefit of the Venetian women who sought new inspiration. When the fair was over, the most eminent city tailors and dressmakers in Venice would buy the dolls to use as models for their wealthy patronesses. These display dolls thus doubled as tailor’s dummies: they had adult features and were commonly called “poupées de mode,” or “poupées mannequin.” Their rich and refined outfits were complete to the last detail and they were equipped with undergarments and vests, and precious silk or brocade dresses—their trade was a major international affair. The most renowned milliners, chief among whom was Rose Bertin, supplied the most illustrious ateliers, not just in Europe, but across the Atlantic, dispatching their poupées in elaborate trunks stuffed with expensive garments, lace trimmings, ribbons, cloaks, bonnets, bows, and hats.

granted, for the benefit of the two countries’ dames, a passport of immunity to the grande poupée, an alabaster figure three or four feet tall, clothed and coiffed according to the most recent fashion, serving as model for the ladies. Thus, in the midst of raging warfare among the two parties, this doll alone was kept safe from harm.’” 16 “The celebrated piavola de Franza, that each year was put on show at the time of the Sensa fair, like a new firework or flash in the sky; and everyone would gape at this marvel of nature, and onto this doll were cast all of those accursed womanly fashions, inordinate and unfit for living soul, which, God vouch, over all the years, or indeed centuries, since the immaculate and sublime French intellect came up with this doll, there has not been a single fashion that can be said congruous and conforming to the ends of wearing or ambling, or to the standards of a rightful and sensible invention and discovery.”

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As for the fortunes of poupées in the New World, an advertisement in the July 12, 1733 issue of the New England Weekly Journal reads: “At Mrs Hannah Teats, dressmaker at the top of Summer Street, Boston, is to be seen a mannequin in the latest fashion, with articles of dress, nightdresses and everything pertaining to woman’s attire. It has been brought from London by Captain White. Ladies who choose to see it may come or send for it. It is always ready to serve you. If you come, it will cost you two shillings, but if you send for it, seven shillings.”

We may thus conclude with a remark by Giuseppe Sergio, in his study Parole di moda: “a seguire gli spostamenti delle poupées de mode si viene a ricostruire una fitta e trafficata rete di comunicazione tra le corti, i centri commerciali e le vetrine delle marchandes de mode parigine. Una rete che arrivava a coprire tutto il Vecchio Mondo e che poteva persino estendersi oltreoceano, se è vero che a farsi inviare le preziose bamboline erano anche le dame residenti nelle colonie americane […]. La riuscita delle spedizioni—nel doppio senso, passivo, di ‘invii’, e, attivo, di ‘missioni offensive,’ non era ostacolata neanche dalla guerra: tale era l’importanza di cui erano investite, che potevano godere dell’immunità diplomatica, e persino essere scortate da armate di cavalleria” (Sergio 2010, 21–22).17

Bibliography Algarotti, Francesco. 1830. “Lettera a Fillide.” In Raccolta di prose e lettere scritte nel secolo XVIII, Volume 3, Lettere familiari, Tomo II, edited by Bartolommeo Gamba. Milan: Società tipografica de’classici italiani. Balestrieri, Domenico. 1774. Rime toscane, e milanesi. Milan: Giambattista Bianchi Regio Stampatore. Battaglioli, Annarita. 2010. Pupattole e abiti delle dame estensi. Ricerche di Luigi Alberto Gandini. Modena: Mucchi Editore. 17

“Tracing the movements of the poupées de mode we are able to reconstruct an intricate web of exchanges among courts, trade centres, and the Parisian marchandes de mode shop windows. This web covered the Old World and even reached across the ocean, with the women residing in the American colonies placing orders for these precious dolls […]. The success of these expeditions (in both senses of ‘supplying’ and of ‘offensive mission’) wasn’t even hindered by war: such was their importance, they enjoyed diplomatic immunity, and might even be escorted by cavalry divisions.”

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Boerio, Giuseppe. 1829. Dizionario del dialetto veneziano. Venice: Andrea Santini & son. Croizart, Yassana C. 2007. “Living Dolls.” Renaissance Quarterly 60 (1): 94–130. France, Anatole. 1893. La Rôtisserie de la Reine Pédauque. Paris: Calmann Lévy Éditeur. Fraser, Antonia. 1964. Bambole. Milan: Mursia. Furetière, Antoine. 1666. Le roman bourgeois: ouvrage comique. Paris: Guillaume De Luyne, Mrchand Libraire au Palais. Goldoni, Carlo. 1969. Memorie. Turin: Einaudi. —. 1969b. I Rusteghi. Turin: Einaudi. Levi Pisetzky, Rosita. 1995. Il costume e la moda nella società italiana. Turin: Einaudi. Levi Pisetzky, Rosita. 1964–1969. Storia del costume in Italia, in Enciclopedia della moda, 1a ed. 5 voll. Milan: Istituto Editoriale Italiano. Meano, Cesare. 1936. Commentario-Dizionario della moda. Turin: Ente nazionale della moda. Petraglia, Christina. 2009. “Donne alla moda nel teatro goldoniano.” Carta Italiane 5: 36–49. Rami Ceci, Lucilla. 2002. Porcellane, ninnoli e martingale ovvero l'elogio dell’effimero. Rome: Armando Editore. Savary des Brûlons, Jacques. 1795. Dictionnaire universel de commerce: d’histoire naturelle, & des arts & métiers, voll. II, Paris: S.E. Senza editore. Sergio, Giuseppe. 2010. Parole di moda. Il «Corriere delle dame» e il lessico della moda nell’Ottocento. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Settano, Quinto. 1833. Satire recate in versi italiani da Melchior Missirini. Florence: Leonardo Ciardetti in Borgo SS. Apostoli. Zola, Èmile. 1883. Au Bonheur des Dames. Paris: G. Charpentier Editeur. Zolli, Paolo. 1971. L’influsso francese sul veneziano del XVIII secolo. Venice: Istituto veneto di scienze, lettere ed arti. Zorzi, Muazzo, Francesco. 2008. Raccolta de’ proverbi, detti, sentenze, parole e frasi veneziane, arricchita d’alcuni esempi ed istorielle. Vicenza: Angelo Colla Editore.

FOREIGN TRAVELERS ON ROMANIAN CLOTHING IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY WALLACHIA AND MOLDAVIA MIHAELA GRANCEA

Broadly speaking, the “traveler” has resorted to denaturating the image of the “other” quite often in order to define his own identity.1 On the other hand, the qualities of the other have often been reduced, while the flaws have been generalized. The ways of pointing out difference are functional and efficient, especially in the case of the image of ethnicity. The world of the other is the world of his signs and the sign itself is an emblem of difference or even of an ethnic stigma. Language, clothing, and customs as forms of cultural expression all become hypostases of the identity of the other (Bejan 1997, 50). From this perspective, the world of the other becomes a reference system, as well as offering the possibility of a problematic dialogue; often enough the one who travels is determined by the cultural information of his own background, stereotypes and clichés, which he is unable to be overcome (Stanzel 1998).2 We have delineated a typology of journeys in similar studies (Grancea 2002) (the focus of some of them being on the finality of travelling): the 1 In history, identity “becomes the expression of a unifying, apparently stable majority, with a tendency to enlarge its area of common origin, in a given place and time, reaching the level of a national community, then the ecumenical universality of empire in order to get to the open world of today … basis of the solidarity of species” (Ahrweiler 1985, 60). 2 In Europe, after 1700, a significant role in ethno-cultural imagery (implicitly, religious) was played by the so-called “pictures of peoples” present in all the public houses on the big European roads. In these paintings, the “character” of the people was briefly presented through images and short descriptions that reduced their specificity to several moral or cultural-religious traits, taken over from Middle Age imaginariness of traditional types of human behavior (especially vices were considered specific “tempers”). Romanians were presented by the image of the Greek, as essentially sharing the same “Greek religion” (meaning the Orthodox confession).

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pragmatic journey (business trip, diplomatic travel, residence determined by work, scholarly travel, leisure voyage—the Danubian Principalities were part of a larger itinerary, called “The Grand Tour”); residence due to political (exile) or military (cantonment of some officers during regional conflicts) circumstances. In our present analysis we used those sources that sugest a longer stay in Romanian societies. While traversing the eastern European space, foreign travelers— Germans, French, English, Poles, Russians, and Swedes—were especially preoccupied by the geostrategic position of this land and by the politicaljudicial status of the Danubian Principalities in relationship to the Ottoman Porte. Political history and the characteristics and functionality of the institutions of society and state, as well as “national” phenotype, also constituted the object of observation and analysis of travelers of the second wave3 (travelers of the middle of the eighteenth century until the end of the century). We ascertained that their remarks testify to the analytical capacity of these “agents” of a different world. This process may also be regarded as one of gathering and confirming information from the first wave of travelers (1683–1756),4 and a reflection of their own Enlightenment background—for many of them, Dimitrie Cantemir’s work Descriptio Moldaviae was mandatory reading. Some travelers, such as Friedrich Wilhelm Bauer (1731–83) (Bawr or von Bauer 1778) and Alexandre d’Hauterive (1902) proposed solutions in their accounts regarding the recovery of Romanian society, which was in a general state of decay (this is a stereotypical description, present in these authors’ texts), due to Ottoman dominance. In their opinion, once these projects of recovery were applied, they would determined the future integration of the Principalities into the civilized world. Beyond all these finalities, interest in Romanian space was linked to the sensitive mechanisms of knowing the other from the perspective of an active identity, which has the tendency to enlarge/extend its area of affirmation. In order for their own identity to be valued and explored, the traveler would often resort to distorting the image of the other.

3

The most renowned were Francesco Griselini, Louis Carra, Stephan Ignaz Raicevich, Franz Josef Sulzer, Count Alexandre d’Hauterive, Friedrich Wilhelm Bauer (also known as Baur, Bawr, von Bauer), etc. 4 Among them, Anton Maria del Chiaro is well-known.

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Western travelers through Romanian communities in the nineteenth century. Representations of traditional costumes in building the imaginary of the ethno-type Giving up the ordered identity of the Middle Ages (Respublica Christiana, the system of states and forms of social and moral institutionalized control) led to some compensatory mechanisms that differentiated and negotiated the other (Grancea 2002). Two elements confer meaning onto an ethno-cultural community, which is the object of identity construction (Grancea 2002): affirmation of an ethno-genetic past and the existence of a new cultural code; these elements of ethno-historical and cultural specificity give society a consciousness of its unity, as well as the legitimacy of its arguments concerning the other (About 1981, 53 sq). From the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, the aesthetic dimension held an essential role among the elements that formed the ethnic image of a community. The “national” phenotype was imagined by choosing a figure, who seemed representative of his/her ethnic group. Travelers of a linguistically German background, who were much more interested in the rural masses and were not convinced by the particularities of Romanian urban life, considered the peasant’s traditional costume to be emblematic of the ethnic group. This ethnic image concentrates a corpus of clichés and stereotypes regarding the ethnically referential other; a corpus with “long term” unitary and static features. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and even during the next century, there was a conviction that ethnic specificity had a monolithic character due to the explicit character of images. In the case of the Romanian people, the ethnic image was reduced to that of the rural masses; concentrating this ethno-type on the peasantry effected a perpetuation of the analysis of traditional costume as the representative element of the ethnic Romanian image. The case of the Frenchman Alexandre d’Hauterive is significant in the evolution of images concerning the exterior/visible aspects of the identity of the other. First contacts with the Romanian world disappointed him, and he saw everywhere “barbaric figures, absurd costumes, hypocritical priests, poor language” (d’Hauterive 1902, 332). But after a longer stay at the royal castle (probably until 1788) and with a more profound knowledge of the other’s world, the same traveler praised the Romanian traditional costume, graciously worn by a peasant from Vaslui (Moldavian Principality):

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“She is 18 years old, her figure, eyes, face and vestment are similar to those of Genoveva of Baleschow; I’ve never seen a bigger resemblance than this! She doesn’t spin, but she always has a loom on her knees; our duchesses doesn’t embroider with a finer hand, with a more beautiful arm and a nobler artfulness. … What can I say more than look at her as if she were Correggio’s Madonna” (d’Hauterive 1902, 91).

Traditional clothing was considered a component of the social code, which was still “canonic” in the East, and a “sign of the race.” Le Hay’s anthology is typical of this approach—a corpus of engraved plates (Le Hay 1714–15). The author of the anthology considered each illustrated vestment to be representative of the ethno-psychological profile of a people. While the Hungarians have “gallant” clothes, referring to noble male clothes, the author is seduced by ornamental Romanian features: “a Wallachian princess,” “a young Wallachian gentlemen,” and “young Wallachian girls” are described wearing “gallant and magnificent clothes.” The author treats this appearance as evidence of the manner in which the “descendants of the Roman colonizers fell into slavery” (Le Hay 1714–15, 90) and of their acculturation. The anthology does not make discriminatory remarks between the clothes of the elite and those of the peasants while referring to the issue of identity. It seems that Le Hay took over existing images from other works and did not have information beond them. While establishing the correspondences between identity and alterity, foreign travelers engaged in a synchronic analysis through which they identified recurrent structures; this type of analysis operated at the level of the imaginary and concentrated on identity construction. The mental mechanisms used (clichés, stereotypes) resulted in a complex relationship between self-images and representations of alterity. Reporting was much more obvious in the eighteenth century due to the perspective on the exigency of self-definition and the necessity of ethno-cultural communication. This reality was materialized in monographs and memoirs that evaluated the direct experience of travelers who studied, in a profound manner, the features of Romanian communities. Many writings were the result of political commands and their priority was to highlight the economic and demographic potential of the region for Russian and Austrian monarchs. Foreign travelers, especially Western ones, may be considered “agents” of the modern nations as determined by the European political context of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. As a rule, the achievement of a self-image supposed a relationship with the other, different to the Self; the mechanisms of this process were based on visible differences—the color of skin, physiognomy (with a stress on somatic-biological representation),

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way of living, gastronomy, and traditional clothes, which were frequently related to lifestyle. Some of the elements of differentiation were taken over and processed in the writings of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in popular symbolic geography and anthropology so that clothing became an essential component in the systemic representation of ethno-types and ethno-history. Many apparently minor elements of differentiation were perceived as frustrating, inhibitive aspects in this fragile cultural dialogue. Thus, Catholic missionaries complained several times that they were despised by the Greeks, Romanians and Turks because they did not have beards, while “Greeks” (meaning clergymen of Orthodox confession) “who have beards … are respected and favoured” (Becich 1997, 326). Although such an explanation regarding failure of the apostolic missions was not convincing, it underlines the importance of the beard throughout the Balkans and the Danubian Principalities—the beard exposed the features of social status, age, civil status and confession due to its shape, length, etc. The interest of foreign travelers in aspects of local clothing was related to the fact that clothes were a manifestation of the degree of civilization, a sign of socio-economic and political-judicial evolution, and proof of the changes of mentality in the lives of the elites. The traditional costume was perceived as a mark of identity, less receptive to fashion and foreign clothing influences, so that it kept its original, ancient and representative character. Traditional clothes were relevant to the identity of the other, being seen as a dimension of the rurality, considered a defining characteristic of the “barbaric” peoples. The lack of an urbane, Western type in the Danubian Principalities caused increased interest in traditional costume. Westerners had a different vision of peasant clothing to their own ethno-cultural space. The peasantry’s clothes were practical, being determined by the need to offer protection from bad weather and the need to be comfortable in order to perform agricultural and domestic work. Travelers often stated that the traditional type of rural vestment had the effect of a “huge inertia of the poor” (Braudel 1984, 63). The interest in the “natural man” and his characteristics of material status (clothes, food habits, house) was specific to the Enlightenment milieu; these elements offered data and images about the studied society, especially about the moral norms of the community. Voltaire expressed this program of scientific and social-political priorities in his Essai sur le moeurs et l’esprit des nations (1756), a program that interested both the cultural and official milieus of the Enlightenment. The moral perspective was not ignored by foreign travelers who regarded vestments as a mirror of daily

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life, positive habits, and behaviors, in contrast to the excessive and parasitic life of the elites in the Principalities. Foreign travelers condemned, especially, the acculturated Orientalism of the boyars’ clothing in their wish to express their social status and obedience towards the Turkish. Elite clothing was also gradually “revolutionized” in the Western world of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, determined by the dynamics of fashion. The “frivolities of the French fashion,” expressed in the clothing of the wealthy classes, were quite often not only the subject of controversy, but also of socio-political apologia. In Europe, access to fashion was censored by social norms (see the sumptuary laws), and clothes were significant of social advancement (Braudel 1984, 58). The aesthetic dimension was also present in the evaluation of clothes; fashion evaluation was determined by the particular marks of the art of living. Garments were a component of the effort to create a social and domestic context, characterized by its specific dynamics (Chaunu 1986, 68). We wish to unveil some of the aspects of the evaluations of foreign travelers concerning rural clothing and boyar garments. While peasant clothes were appreciated due to their simplicity, practical character and uniformity of embellishment and lines (travelers did not distinguish regional differences), elite clothing in the Principalities was regarded not as beautiful, but hieratic, mimetic and ostentatious—proof of their cultural estrangement and the political-judicial alienation of their society. The Romanian traditional type, as a successor of a “noble and ancient race,” was firstly built in the Saxon imaginary (Opitz 1623, 4) in the seventeenth century. This ethno-type was “functional” in the German linguistic milieu influenced by its contacts with the Transylvanian world, as well as in the French space, which was preoccupied with the application of the thesis of the “noble savage.” The Western imaginary was fueled in the eighteenth century by foreign travelers, especially French speakers who reproduced a similar stereotypical image with few exceptions (see Tott 1784; de Feller 1820; Carra 1777, etc.). Some of the travelers stated explicitly that the traditional Romanian clothes of the Danubian Principalities were proof of Romanian ethnohistory. Thus, Francesco Griselini referred especially to the traditional costume of the Banat, describing it as “images represented on Roman antiquities” (Griselini 1984, 170–72), and testimony to the ethnic origin of the Romanians. This illustrative presentation is the most convincing of the several descriptions of clothing from the first decades of the eighteenth century. Anton Maria del Chiaro did not notice the specificity of the inhabitants’ costumes despite the fact that he spent several years at Constantin Brancoveanu’s court; the beard was, in his view, the sign of the

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national identity of men, while women wore a white headdress as a mark of their social status and necklace as a sign of youth and maidenhood (del Chiaro 1929, 19–20). Another traveler from the first wave—the Swede Weismantel—offered comparisons and identification between traditional clothes and the oriental-type garments of the elite, being particularly interested in the “provocative” clothes of rural women (Weismantel 1983, 356–57).

Fashion clothing and politics in the elite world of the Danubian Principalities Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, European society underwent a slow transformation from a society with ranks to a society with classes—a reflex of the dynamic socio-economic processes specific to modernity. Boyars remained the socio-political elite within traditional Romanian society. From the seventeenth century onwards, the basis of the institution of the nobility was dregatoria (governing functions), offering the criteria of hierarchy within the elite, while the title of dregator was equivalent to a noble rank. Foreign travelers described the boyars of the eighteenth century in dark tones, ascribing to them a negative moralpsychological profile. In order to point out the “decadent” Romanian phenomenon, according to the discourses of the Western world, the Phanariote elite, along with the prince and the Turkish administration, was considered venal and ignorant, and would lead to the destruction of society, economic ruin, the decay of communities and depopulation. Regarding the cultural level of the Romanian elite of the Romanian Principalities, foreign travelers offered a dichotomous vision—on one hand, wijt their Orientalized habits, leaning towards vainness, and on the other, several prominent personalities with competence (social virtues) and civilité. Interest in this second type of local elite was characteristic of the second wave of travelers; boyars seemed to them a parasitical mass, with a specifically Ottoman lifestyle that Western political men and public opinion felt compelled to condemn. The elites of the Principalities tried to express their exemplary status and legitimacy through daily pomp, and were themselves victims of a desire to recall Byzantine magnificence; they cosntructed a daily background that would absolve a world at the periphery of the High Porte from future frustrations and specific dangers. The elite’s loisir was contested by the travelers, seen as a succession of images, attitudes and sensitive moods specific to a contemplative and indolent life. The Orientalization of the elite in the Phanariote century

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(1714–1821) was much more evident for the foreign traveler in this “civilization of mores” (Elias 1991). In Western societies, the clothing developed alongside the social rhythm; in the noble and bourgeois milieus, fashion was relatively dynamic, while in the popular strata, it was even more rapid, especially after the end of the period of sober clothing imposed by the social and confessional status at the end of the seventeenth century. As for the Wallachian and Moldavian Principalities, the garment remained an expression of social position; moreover, the generalization of Oriental fashion (“fashion of a longer social duration”) strengthened the impression of stability of tradition and of the affirmation of sensuousness in the relationship between the sexes (in an exacerbated consciousness of the body). The garments of the Romanian elite were regarded by Western travelers as an argument in favor of the thesis of estrangement from a “national” identity due to Orientalization, especially due to the expense demanded by boyars’ daily luxury—this luxury was seen as both the cause and effect of corruption and irrational exploitation. This Phanariote luxury attracted certain taboos concerning clothes: Louis Carra tells of the corporal punishment of a “young man,” ordered by the prince, because he dared to wear a “bonnet” of the same color as the prince and his sons. Nevertheless, despite the interdictions on clothes referred to in travelers’ stories, the elite’s garments became more and more ostentatious as a result of the “Greek” influence5 on local mores (Raicevich 1822, 139 sq; Hacquet 1791, 59). The same opinion concerning the mimesis of the elite is expressed by Alexandre d’Hauterive in his statements that Polish fashion, visible in the noble costume, was a reflex of dependence, as, together with the Ottoman domination, the garment was Orientalized, and the boyars preferred clothes that “facilitate inactivity” and were suited to a life of luxury (d’Hauterive 1902, 242). The author considers that the elite’s women introduced the Greek fashion and imitated it with no discernment, and that rich, uncomfortable clothes determined this shift (d’Hauterive 1902, 246). At the beginning of this historical period, foreign travelers were not interested in the clothes of the elite; however, this aspect was addressed insistently by travelers of the second wave. Clothing heavily influenced by Turkish fashion was seen as a sign of socio-political obedience by the elites to the Ottoman Empire and its agents. Anton Maria del Chiaro 5

Greeks from the district of Phanar in Istanbul who held functions in the Turkish administration; princes of the Danubian Principalities were named among these Phanariotes.

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considered that “Wallachian clothes are the same as the Turkish” and made no distinction between the feminine clothes of the nobles and the peasants (del Chiaro 1929, 19–20). The Austrian traveler, Ignaz Raicevich, described several aspects of the background that determined the evolution of fashionable clothing. He pondered on the fact that the boyars retained the old garments of their Hungarian and Polish neighbors due to their historical relationships, but Oriental costume was imposed with the arrival of the Phanariotes. After the last Russian wars and several short periods of Tsarist occupation, Romanians “seem available to become excellent subjects through taking over some elements of the Western fashion” (French in particular) present in the Russian aristocratic milieu. Luxury among the two sexes appears to our author as excessive, leading to the financial ruin of the boyars’ houses ,especially due to their addiction to fine cloth, furs, jewels, lace and even calashes from Vienna (Raicevich 1822, 146–47). At the end of the eighteenth century, the travelers were attracted by Oriental clothes due to their splendor, exoticism and the sensuousness of female fashion. Lady Montagu, a tireless traveler, was fascinated by Oriental refinement (Montagu 1763, 86 sq). Even Alexandre d’Hauterive appreciated Oriental fashion despite considering it a wanton waste of money, a moral perversion, and an expression of obedience and passivity. The author contradicts his previous memoir, which had been addressed to Alexandru Ipsilanti in 1878, in seeming charmed by the women of the Moldavian court—by their “grace that is not inferior to the Ladies of Versailles” (d’Hauterive 1902, 321). He admired the transparency of their clothes, which suited young and slender women, but not those with a “heavy figure,” and at the same time despised the turban, which, in his opinion, affected women’s stateliness (d’Hauterive 1902, 347–48). Some foreign travelers—Anton Maria del Chiaro, Ignaz Raicevich, and Alexandre d’Hauterive—noticed Western aspects in elite clothing in the Principalities, although they saw tha harshness of Ottoman domination and the introduction of the Phanariote regime as leading to a gradual elimination of Western fashion. We have to point out that in Transylvania, the Westernization of clothes and of other aspects of life was an accelerated phenomenon, while in Wallachia and Moldova there was an Orientalization of garments, gastronomy and habits related to leisure and social time. Western and Oriental influences interfered at the court of Cantemir in Moldavia (Leszczyski 1700 in Holban 1983, 173–81)6 and of Brancoveanu, Cantacuzino in Wallachia.7 6

Rafael Leszczyski was impressed by the Polish fashion assumed by Dimitrie Cantemir in his manners, discourse and costume (see „Soli mari poloni în trecerea

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Once the Phanariote regime was introduced, Orientalization was facilitated not only by the obedience and mimesis of the elites, but also by the motives of the Turkish-Phanariote politicians. From this perspective, Westernization was equivalent to modernization, which would have structurally endangered the stability of Ottoman dominance in the Principalities. However, the tendencies of the Phanariote regime was perceived and condemned by foreign travelers: “Istanbul gives the lead in Iasi the way Paris gives the lead in the provinces; except here (in Iasi) the style reaches faster” (Ligne 1809, 189–90). For the Phanariotes, Istanbul remained Constantinople, an axis mundi from many perspectives, but the orientation towards the center of the Ottoman world closed once receptive channels to the dynamics of the Western world. Actually, Orientalism (visible in clothes and loisir) meant inertia in the system, suffocating any tendency towards emancipation. Westerners seemed to forget that the extravagance of the elite of the Principalities brought profit to the European luxury industry and that, despite the Orientalization of Romanian society, the female toilet was influenced by modern clothing (silk gloves, umbrellas, French shoes and stockings, even wigs and powder). Oriental fashion was not always analyzed in a hostile manner: apart from Oriental pieces of clothing introduced in the casual outfits of the elite, French people imported Turkish shawls and bonnets à la Turque, while Austrians, from the court of Joseph II on, admired the Oriental clothes of IenăchiĠă Văcărescu (Andea 1980, 99). Throughout the plates—images that presented the traditional costumes and garments of the Principalities, including those of Balthasar Hacquet (Hacquet 1790–91)8—the richness and beauty of elite clothing was evident. Nevertheless, foreign travelers regarded the boyars’ garments as signs of estrangement from their true identity, symbols of acculturation through Orientalism, and expression of their domination.

Conclusion The traditional costume of Romanian ethno-cultural spaces has to be considered in relation to social status and to the symbolism of the couple—costume and trousers were expressions of masculine authority,

spre Poartă. Solia lui R. Leszczyski (1700)” [“Great Polish Envoys in their Passing to the Ottoman Porte. R. Leszczyski’s Deputation (1700)”]. 7 Interior designs and crystals of Italian and central-European origin were preferred here, as well as laces Marie Stuart or Belz Cappe (see Anton Maria del Chiaro). 8 See tab. V (bojar aus der Moldau), tab. VI (bojarin aus der Moldau).

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while female clothes, especially the skirt, suggested femininity and domestic life (Segalen 1973, 25). Elite clothes, considered by the Western world to be an expression of the standard of living and an act of civilization, acquired other significances in the case of the boyars from the Danubian Principalities (Wallachia and Moldavia)—they were seen as a demonstration of Romanian decadence and estrangement through the traps of mimesis and Orientalization. Travelers treated the elite’s garments as non-representative of the Romanian ethno-type and as symbols of obedience towards the Ottoman Empire, symbolic of their parasitic existence.

Bibliography About, Selim. 1981. L’Identité? culturelle. Relations interéthniques et problems d'acculturation. Paris: Anthropos. Ahrweiler, Helene. 1985. L’Image de l’Autre et les mecanismes de l’Alterité, in XVIe Congres International des Sciences Historiques, Rapports, I. Stuttgard: Comité international des Sciences Historiques. Andea, Avram. 1980. “Everyday Life in Romanian Society in the Century of Enlightenment.” In Enlightenment and Romanian Society, edited by Pompiliu Teodor. Editura Dacia: Cluj-Napoca. Bauer, von, Friedrich Wilhelm. 1778. Memoires historiques et geographiques sur la Valachie: avec un prospectus d'un atlas géographique & militaire de la derniere guerre entre la Russie & la Porte Ottomanne, a Francfort et Leipsic, chez Henry-Louis Broenner. Becich, Antonio, 1997. Raport (1748) in: Călători străini despre Ġările române. vol. IX. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române. Bejan, Petru. 1997. “Felurite întâmplări ale diferenĠei.” Xenopoliana 1–4: 50. Blanc de Launette, Alexandre-Maurice, comte d’Hauterive. 1902. Journal inédit d’un voyage de Constantinople à Jassy, capitale de la Moldavie dans l’hiver de 1787, en Mémoire surl’état ancien et actuel de la Moldavie: Présenté à S.A.S. le prince Alexandre Ypsilanti, Hospodar régnant, en 1787, par le conte d’Hauterive. Memoriu asupra vechei úi actualei stări a Moldovei…. Bucharest: L’Institut d’Arts Graphiques Carol Göbl. Braudel, Fernand. 1984. Structurile cotidianului, vol. II. Buchurest: Editura Meridiane. Carra, Jean-Louis. 1777. Histoire de la Moldavie et de la Valachie avec une dissertation sur l’état ... Jassy.

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Chaunu, Pierre. 1986. CivilizaĠia Europei în Secolul Luminilor, vol. I. Buchatest: Ed. Meridiane. Chiaro del, Anton Maria. 1929. RevoluĠiile Valahiei, translated by S. CrisCristian. Iaúi. Elias, Norbert. 1991. La civilisation des moeurs. Paris: Calmann-Lévy. Feller, de, François-Xavier. 1820. Itinéraire, ou voyages de Mr. L’Abbé de Feller en diverses parties de l’Europe en Hongrie, en Transylvanie, en Esclavonie, en Bohême, en Pologne, en Italie, en Suisse, en Allemagne, en France, en Hollande, aux Pays-Bas, au Pays de Liège etc.: ouvrage posthume, a Paris, chez Auguste Delalain, et a Liege, chez Fr. Lemarie.... Grancea, Mihaela, 2002. Călători străini prin Principatele dunărene, Transilvania úi Banat (1683-1789). Identitate úi alteritate. Sibiu: Ed. Univ. „Lucian Blaga.” Griselini, Francesco. 1984. Încercare de istorie politică úi naturală a Banatului Timiúoarei, translated by C. Feneúan. Timiúoara: Editura Facla. Hacquet, Balthasar. 1790. Neueste physikalisch-politische Reisen, In den Jahren 1788 und 1789, Durch die Dacischen und Sarmatischen oder Nördlichen Karpathen, Erster und zweiter Theil, Nürenberg. Hay, Le, M., Recueil de cent estampes représentant différentes nations du Levant gravées sur les tableaux peints d’après Nature en 1707 & 1708. Par les ordres de M. de Ferriol ambassadeur du Roi à la Porte ; Et mis au jour an 1712 & 1713 Par les soins de M. Le Hay. Paris, Chez Basan Graveur, 1714-[1715]. Grand in-folio de 9 ff. de texte gravés (titre, XIV pp.ch. et une planche de musique) et 102 planches gravées (100 num. 1 à 100 et 2 non num.)gravées sur les tableaux peints d'après Nature en 1707 & 1708. Par les ordres de M. de Ferriol ambassadeur du Roi à la Porte ; Et mis au jour an 1712 & 1713 Par les soins de M. Le Hay. Paris, Chez Basan Graveur, 1714-[1715]. Grand in-folio de 9 ff. de texte gravés (titre, XIV pp.ch. et une planche de musique) et 102 planches gravées (100 num. 1 à 100 et 2 non num.) Holban, Maria, ed, 1983. Călători străini despre ğările Române, vol. VIII, Bucharest: Editura ùtiinĠifică úi Enciclopedică. Ligne, de, Charles. 1809. Lettres et pensées du Maréchal Prince de Ligne publié par Mad. La baronne de Staël Holstein, ed. II, Paris–Geneva. Montagu, Marie Wortley. Lettres de Miladi Marie Wortley Montagüe, ecrtites pendant ses voyages en Europe, en Asie et en Afrique, a plusieurs Personnes de Distinction, Gens de Lettres et en différens Pays; oú l’on trouve, entr’autres Relations intéressantes, des Anecdotes sur les Moeurs et le Gouvernement des Turcs, puisées

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dansdes sources inaccessibles jusqu’ici aux autres voyageurs traduit de l’Anglois, a Rotterdam, chez Henri Beman, MDCCLXIII, vol. II. Opitz. Martin. 1623. Zlatnaoder von Ruhe des Gemüts. Raicevich, Ignaz. 1822. Voyage en Valachie et en Moldavie, translated by Lejeune. Paris. Segalen, Martine. 1973. Mari et femme dans la France traditionnelle, Edition des Museés Nationaux. Paris. Stanzel, Franz K. 1998. Europäer. Ein imagologischer Essay, 2., aktualisierte Aufl., Winter, Heidelberg Tott, François (Báró Tóth Ferenc). 1784. Memoires du Baron de Tott Sur les Turcs et les Tartares. Amsterdam. Weismantel, Erasmus Heinrich Schneider. 1983. “Scurtă descriere a Ġinuturilor Moldovei, (1714).” In Călători străini prin Ġările române, vol. VIII. Bucharest: Ed. ‫܇‬tiin‫܊‬ifică ‫܈‬i Enciclopedică.

GLAMOUR AND STYLE IN MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY RUSSIA: FAMILY EDUCATION AND ITALIAN ALLURE IN THE CHARACTER OF A PRINCESS PAOLO DE LUCA

Fashion tells of the myths and characters of all times; it helps to understand the “signs” of politics, the ambitions of the ruling classes, and the heartbeat of society. This has been authoritatively stated over the course of the international conference on fashion studies at the University La Sapienza of Rome (Motta 2015). This contribution discusses the specific case of a unique historical character—Princess Leonilla SaynWittgenstein Barjatinskaja—an exponent of the most noble aristocracy of the Russian Empire in the first half of the nineteenth century and a cosmopolitan noblewoman and traveler. Historical documents concerning her show an emerging attitude towards fashion and a refined taste; indicative of her status and of the social esteem she enjoyed among her contemporaries. The princess belonged to one of the most important families in nineteenth-century Russia, descending from Rjurik—the legendary founder of the Kievan Rus.’ Throughout history, several members of this family occupied leading roles in the military and diplomatic fields of the Russian state and amassed fame, favor, authority and wealth (Polovcov 1900). Ivan Fëdoroviþ Barjatinskij was a comrade in arms of Peter the Great; his grandson, Ivan Sergeeviþ Barjatinskij (1738–1811), was ordinarec (bearer of orders) to the Empress Elizabeth (1709–62) and then adjutant and bodyguard for Emperor Peter III during the Seven Years War (1756– 63). Together with his brother, Fëdor Sergeeviþ, he favored the staging of a coup and the deposing of Peter in favor of his wife, the future Empress Catherine II. In recognition of his support and benefiting from his friendship with her son Paul, to whom he was tutor, Ivan Sergeeviþ improved his position and acquired the territory of Ivanovskoe in the

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Kursk region. He then spent twelve years in Paris as ambassador and privy councilor to the empress. After Catherine’s death in 1796, he retired and educated his son, Ivan Ivanoviþ Barjatinskij (1767–1825), in a Western fashion. The latter followed in his father’s footsteps, distinguishing himself under General Suvorov during Kosciuszko’s Polish uprising in 1794, and later serving as a diplomat in London from 1804 onwards. In 1812, Ivan Ivanoviþ inherited immense wealth in land and “souls” (serfs) in Russia. Taking advantage of his expertise obtained in England and Germany, Barjatinskij devoted himself to agronomy and to the management of his lands. A man with a strong artistic taste, in 1811 he decided to transform the rural area of Ivanovskoe into a usad’ba (estate).1 He took part in directing the building of the opulent mansion on the estate, which is shown in his correspondence with the architect Hoffmann and the administrator of his estate, the former Russian finance minister Golubcov (EsBE 2001). A symbol of the greatness and prosperity of the Barjatinskij’s ancient lineage, the property was called Mar’ino in honor of Mary, the prince’s wife, and for many years it presented an ideal example of the life of a Russian noble family running their own territory. Barjatinskij, a patron and bibliophile, accumulated a remarkable collection of works and an extensive library, creating a microcosm of pleasure, art and culture for himself and his family. His house was open to high society and politicians and they could enjoy theatre performances in various languages, as well as music played by the fifty members of the prince’s orchestra, composed of local serfs (Zisserman 1891). Ivan’s sons had brilliant military careers: best known among them is Aleksandr Ivanoviþ (1815–79), field marshal, conqueror and viceroy of the Caucasus, in whose honor a march was dedicated by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss (Strauss 1858). Ivan’s daughters were also exemplary ladies. Leonilla Barjatinskaja (1816–1918) was born in Moscow. She was daughter of the German Countess Maria Fëdorovna Keller (1793–1858), a woman of rare beauty, whom Prince Ivan Ivanoviþ Barjatinskij had married as his second wife. Leonilla grew up on the family estate at Mar’ino, receiving an excellent education, which included art and music. In addition to Russian, she spoke

1 Ivanovskoe was in the governorate of Kursk, a city 500 km south of Moscow. It was characterised by a mild climate and particularly fertile soil (called “þernozëm”). In this province, there were more than three thousand possessions of dvorjane, members of the landed nobility, with the right to own serfs. This privilege was abolished in 1861 by Tsar Alexander II.

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French—the diplomatic and colloquial language of the Russian nobility— together with German and English. Up until she was fifteen years old, she almost never strayed from Mar’ino, but in 1831, now bereft of her father, she moved with her family to St. Petersburg, where she was presented to the court and admitted to the frejlini (ladies in waiting) of Empress Aleksandra Fëdorovna (1798–1860), the wife of Tsar Nicholas I. By analyzing the documents related to Princess Leonilla, we can see that fashion is genuinely present among her interests; a strong element of exteriority that does not only relate to the way she dressed, but was also expressed in her gait, figure and physical characteristics, in tune with the taste of the time and its idea of beauty. The young woman payed great attention to the model and color of clothes, accessories and jewelry; a world that referred to the system of values of her own era. Starting with the great reforms enacted by Peter the Great, eighteenth-century Russia had taken on Western models, notably in architecture, as well as in clothing, opening up Russian culture to European influence in all areas of society, from politics to administration and from technology to business. A series of reforms imposed new types of clothing on the executive and aristocratic classes, who now entered the world of European fashion (Mercalova 2001). Clothes, wigs and adornments from beyond Russia’s borders became desired objects and status symbols. In the nineteenth century, St. Petersburg was the stage for Russian fashion, which took inspiration from France. The nobles, who travelled often, kept themselves up to date about lifestyles and trends in London and Paris, and brought them back home. There were two different tends followed in fashion: on the one hand, there was a need to conform to others, taking on the unifying features of a style; on the other hand, a desire to manifest differences as an expression of uniqueness. These two aspects, in the right combination, exalted the characteristics of the Grandes Dames, and their elegance became a model for other women as admirers and competitors. Russian fashion took possession of European manners, but also expressed peculiar traits—reaffirming its traditional roots and responding to the need for shelter from the cold winter temperatures of the Severnaja stolica2 (Kaminskaja 1977). Petersburg style in the twentieth century influenced European fashion in return being striking in its originality and inspiration from popular Slavic costumes. It became a characteristic element, acknowledged in turn by 2

Northern capital.

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Western designers, as happened in Paris thanks to the theatre costumes for Sergej Djagilev’s ballets (Motta 2016). This influence on European clothing continued to grow with the next wave of Russian emigration after the revolution of 1917; in the post-war period it permeated the work of the top European fashion houses (Vassiliev 2000). The ethnicity of style was also important at home during the Soviet era, especially from the thirties onwards with public efforts to impose a simple kind of fashion that was rationalist and popular (Žuravlëv 2013). As she made her entry into Petersburg society, Princess Leonilla Barjatinskaja aroused the interest of many, since she was a special beauty. She had long dark hair and black eyes, with bushy upturned eyebrows, that were not left unnoticed, even by, among others, the Emperor Nicholas I. At the beginning of 1834, Prince Pëtr Vjazemskij (1792–1878) wrote: “in the horizon of Petersburg burned a new star: Princess Leonilla Barjatinskaja, a star that didn’t inflame, a bit cold, but that embraced everything with its rays, being close to them was enough to get lost” (OakV 1899); “she was clean, dark, lively, and had the appearance of a charming Italian woman” (Insarskij 1894). The young Barjatinskaja, as noted by her contemporaries, was very attractive, being “deeply earthy” (Romanova 1963) and seeming like “a real Lebanon cedar: tall, slender, a bit restrained, very serious, but beautiful from head to toe, so enchantingly beautiful” (Ficquelmont 1968) and “her velvet eyes and sable eyebrows made a lot of noise in the beau monde” (Smirnova 1989). She had inherited, as had her sisters, her beauty from her mother, Maria Keller, a lady of northern European characteristics. The strongest expression of fashion is found in the comparison of her with an Italian beauty, which refers to her physical imagery, but also recalls the stereotypes of Italian landscape, wonderfully unspoilt and wild in the eyes of many Muscovite travelers, who used similar words to describe the Mediterranean experiences of the Grand Tour in their memoirs. In 1834, Prince Alexandr Trubeckoj (1813–89) courted her without success and it was Prince Lev Petroviþ Wittgenstein (1799–1866) instead who married her. He was a Russian nobleman of Germanic origins and son of a hero of the Napoleonic wars, Field Marshal Pëtr Christianoviþ Wittgenstein (1769–1843), and of the Polish Countess Antonia Cecilia Snarska (1778–1856). After the marriage, the Wittgensteins left St. Petersburg to get away from the court; the prince had been a supporter of the 1825 Decembrist Movement, which opposed the absolutism of the tsarist empire in an attempt to implement a liberal counter reform. While

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the revolt was quelled bloodily and most of the rebels were condemned to hard labor in Siberia (Tolstoy speaks of the terrible conditions of the deportees in his novel Resurrection), the noble Lev Wittgenstein was saved by the intervention of his father, but lost any chance of access to important positions in the army or administration. Prince Wittgenstein had inherited from a previous marriage vast holdings in Central Europe, which allowed him to travel and live with Leonilla in different countries, staying abroad or in his Russian lands, including Werki, on the Baltic Sea near Vilnius, where the princess, following the example of her mother, a famous benefactor, by founding a school for the children of farmers. The couple visited their other extensive properties—including Pavlino, near Petersburg, and Kamenka, south of Kiev—and thanks to their hereditary wealth had a luxurious standard of living. On the occasion of social gatherings organized by Leonilla, guests did not escape “the magnetic effect of her long oriental eyes, by which you could not help but be fascinated” (Smirnova 1989). The East, in fact, was another strong influence on the canons of Russian beauty, on clothes and the furnishings of the rooms, as witnessed in the first half of the nineteenth century in the literary works of Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov (Kirsanova 1989). The exotic charm of the Caucasus mountains hinted at the carpet patterns and ornamental curtains in the mansions of the aul (mountain villages) and in the blaze of fine silks and veils that covered the mysterious Tatar and Circassian women who bewitched Russian junior officers on their missions there. The Eastern taste was one of the most important elements of Russian fashion that influenced Europe in the twentieth century, as shown in the studies of the historian and designer Alexandre Vassiliev, with particular reference to the Ballets Russes, which employed clothes designed by Leon Bakst, Natalia Goncharova and Alexandr Benois (Motta 2016). Visiting Europe was a custom among the Russian nobility, whose members loved to rent sumptuous villas on the French Riviera or entire apartments in the best hotels of its shining metropolises. Princess Wittgenstein attended Paris throughout her life, inaugurating a famous salon there where the elites gathered. In winter, the family moved to the Hotel Meurice on Rue de Rivoli or the Hotel du Faubourg Saint Honoré. Until Lev’s death in 1866, the Wittgensteins also resided in Vienna, in their possessions in the Ukraine and in St. Petersburg. In Germany, they received, as a gift from the Prussian King Frederick William IV, the half-destroyed castle of Sayn in the region of Koblenz, which became the residence of their children, who became German

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subjects. With this investiture the full name of the family transformed into Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. The early years of the Wittgentsteins’ marriage was very happy, but later Leonilla moved away from her husband after her decision, taken in 1851 in Rome, to convert to Catholicism, which led her to present (at least initially) a more sober and measured composure. The importance of clothing and accessories in high society during the tsarist empire is highlighted in both literature and in memoirs where descriptions are given about the special clothing of the most famous characters. Alexandra Smirnova Rosset (1809–82), a contemporary of Leonilla, who did not admire the latter, tells, in her autobiography, of how at home the princess “was wearing a black dress, walked with her hair undone and a large cross on her back, from time to time falling into an imaginary exaltation” (Smirnova 1989). This description, like many others, shows how the overall image of the princess’ character, her mood, and her inclinations, are all read through the description of dress, whether fashionable or penitential. In 1872, now a widow, she moved to Ouchy on Lake Geneva and spent most of her time devoting herself to charity, until her hundredth birthday. Both Leonilla’s archive in Ariccia and the testimony of her contemporaries reveal the wide circle of contacts that the princess corresponded with continuously throughout the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth century. Among them were leading figures of Russian and European society, politics and culture. Even in the last years of her life she remained lucid and sharp, always aware of the events that took place in Russia. In her memoirs, published in 1907 in Paris, she writes how sadly she watched the fall of Nicholas II’s reign and the scandalous excesses of the 1905 revolution; a feeling that worsened when she heard of the events of 1917. She died the following year. The only daughter of Leonilla and Lev Wittgenstein, Antoinette, married Prince Mario Chigi Albani della Rovere in 1857. He belonged to the Papal State’s highest nobility and Leonilla spent long periods in Rome and in the Roman countryside with her daughter at the summer residence of the Chigis in Ariccia. A vast archive still exists here, which retains many documents that are being analyzed anew (Olejnikova 2010). Some words of Nikolai Gogol’, borrowed from his short story Rome effectively describe the ideal of beauty represented by Leonilla Barjatinskaja: “Everything about her recalls ancient times when the marble came alive and the chisels of sculptors made sparks. The thick pitch black hair ... melts on the neck. Wherever she turns, her pale and shining face, her image is

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imprinted in your heart. If she shows her profile, that profile emanates a divine nobility, and a perfection of lines never painted by brush lures you ... Everything about her is the crowning of creation, from the shoulders to the classic throbbing leg to the last finger of the foot. Wherever she goes, everything changes into a painting” (Gogol 1937).

This is the depiction of an Italian beauty, Annunziata, a young girl met at a location among the Roman Castles (historical villages of Rome’s countryside) by an unnamed prince, the protagonist of Gogol’s tale. It is evident how widespread the identification of this classic model of beauty with Italy was among Russians; this was also thanks to the influence in Russian literature of the love for the Bel Paese that the author of Dead Souls harbored. Comparing the princess to an exponent of the Italian people was equivalent to elevating her to the level of art, as embodying all the charm and mystery of the Italian peninsula in its Russian idealization. Another important aspect, related to the trends and fashions of the Russian nobility in the nineteenth century, was the widespread taste for commemoration and re-enactment—high-born people loved to step into the shoes of their equals of former times, remembering ancient family traditions. This was done by engaging this reverie of the heart and spirit through costumes, recreated according to historical and romantic perceptions of earlier eras, like the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, or even the Roman Empire. One of the famous portraits of Leonilla Sayn-Wittgenstein Barjatinskaja by Horace Vernet (1789–1863), who painted it in Paris in 1837, portrays her with her family. All are dressed in Renaissance clothing, ready for hunting, the couple on horseback, a falcon with its wings open sitting on the right hand of the princess and a greyhound on a leash held by the elder son Pëtr. This picture, undoubtedly loved by the Wittgensteins, is depicted in a watercolor interior painting of 1846 by V.S. Sadovnikov, which reproduces the great hall of the castle at Werki where the canvas by Vernet hung. The most famous portrait of Leonilla is in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, dated to 1843. The painting, by Wintherhalter, is both daring in conception and size, and more than any other expresses the Oriental charm of the princess reclining on a low Turkish couch under the shelter of a portico. Red brocade curtains frame the scene and in the background we can see the sea and lush tropical vegetation (this perhaps referred to the environment of the Wittgenstein palace in Crimea, although the portrait was painted in Paris). In short, an environment reminiscent of harem scenes and odalisques, probably inspired by Jacques-Louis David’s Portrait of Madame Recamier (1800) and the Grande Odalisque by Ingres (1819). The princess wears a luxurious ivory-colored moiré silk dress with

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a pink sash around her waist. Her large eyes, emphasized by her bushy eyebrows, attract the attention of the beholder. A purple cape envelops the back and falls into her arms, while she looks languidly at the viewer and plays with the large necklace of beads around her neck in an indolent gesture of sensuality. Winterhalter contrasts the sumptuous fabrics and bright colors of the surroundings with the princess’ alabaster skin, to bring out the sensuality of the model and the setting. Another oval portrait by the same artist (undated), inserted in a large gilded frame, was perhaps painted when Winterhalter met the princess in Rome (Ormond 1987). Leonilla Sayn-Wittgenstein is portrayed in the middle of a natural landscape with a background of sky and tall trees. She wears a blue silk dress that leaves her shoulders bare, and a loose bodice, lined with blue and gold with scarlet ribbons. A black lace scarf is draped over her shoulders, while pearl earrings and a necklace adorn her. As in the statue of Thorvaldsen depicting her mother, Leonilla has “a bent arm with an upturned hand holding a lace shawl and a finger that touches the chin. The hair is tied back and large black oriental shaped eyes stand on the oval of the face” (Persichini 2011). Paintings serve to enhance the concept of fashion, defined in its main features as the representation of the society of an epoch and a particular expression of its symbols, pointing out the affirmation, preservation or transformation of values, and the ideals of a group’s identity. To go back to another description of the witty, and perhaps envious, Aleksandra Smirnova, who confirms the attitude of the young Leonilla Barjatinskaja in displaying her beauty and her refined taste in clothing, the following passage refers to the period in which the Wittgensteins lived in Berlin at Charlottenstrasse, where Leonilla gave birth to her son Aleksandr: “Muchanov could not stand her, he said that Veron ... painted her portraits on foot, and as a châtelaine with a falcon on her hand, and lying, and sitting, in black and red, and in white as a vestal, and all for twenty thousand francs. When, he said, everyone drinks tea, her butler brings her an orange with refined sugar on a silver tray. On that tray ... they used to carry coffee to some kings” (Smirnova 1989).

References Polovcov, Aleksandr Aleksandroviþ. 1900. “Barjatinskie.” In Russkij biografiþeskij slovar’, T. 2. Saint Petersburg: tip. Glavnogo upr. udelov. N.e. 1992. Moscow: Aspekt-Press. Ficquelmont, Dar’ja Fëdorovna. 1968. Il diario di Dar’ja Fëdorovna Ficquelmont. Milan: Pubblicazioni Università del Sacro Cuore.

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EsBE 2001. “Golubcov F. A.” In Enciklopediþeskij Slovar’ Brokgaus i Efron. Moscow: Terra. Gogol’, Nikolaj Vasil’eviþ. 1937-1952. Polnoe sobranie soþinenij, 14 tt. Moscow: Akademija Nauk SSSR. Insarskij, Vasilij Antonoviþ. 1894. Zapiski Vasilija Antonoviþa Insarskogo, þ. 1. Saint Petersburg: Russkaja Starina. Kaminskaja, Nadežda Michajlovna. 1977. Istorija Kostjuma. Moscow: Lëgkaja Industrija. Kirsanova, Raisa Marduchovna. 1989. Kostjum–vešþ i obraz v russkoj literature XIX veka. Moscow: Kniga. Mercalova, Marija Nikolaevna. 2001. Kostjum raznych vremën i narodov. Moscow: Akademija mody. Motta, Giovanna. 2015. La moda contiene la storia e ce la racconta puntualmente. Rome: Nuova Cultura. —. 2016. La Moda si fa Storia. Borghesi, rivoluzionari, ruoli e identità nazionali. Florence. Olejnikova, Valentina Petrovna. 2010. “Ital’janskij sled semejstva Barjatinskich”. Nauþnye vedomosti BelGU. Serija: Istorija, Politologija, Ekonomika, Informatika 15: 146–51. Ormond, Richard, and Blackett-Ord Carol. 1987. Franz Xaver Winterhalter and the Courts of Europe, 1830-1870. London: National Portrait Gallery Publications. 185–89. OakV. 1899. Ostaf'evskij archiv knjazej Vjazemskich, T. 3, þ. 3. Saint Petersburg. 255. Persichini, Laura. 2011. Dalla corrispondenza della principessa Leonilla Barjatinskaja Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. In Archivio russo-italiano VII, Avellino. Salerno: Università di Salerno. Smirnova-Rosset, Aleksandra Osipovna. 1989. Dnevnik, Vospominanija. Moscow: Nauka. Strauss, Johann II. 1858. Fürst Bariatinsky-Marsch. Vassiliev Alexandre. 2000. Beauty in Exile: The Artists, Models, and Nobility who Fled the Russian Revolution and Influenced the World of Fashion. New York: Harry N. Abrams. Würtemberg Romanova, Ol’ga Nikolaevna. 1963. Son junosti. Vospominanija velikoj knjažni Ol’gi Nikolaevny. Paris: Voennaja Byl’. Zisserman, Arnol’d L’voviþ. 1891. Fel’dmaršal Aleksandr Ivanoviþ Barjatinskij 1815-1879. Moscow. Žuravlëv, Sergej Vladimiroviþ. 2013. Moda po planu: istorija mody i i modelirovanie odeždy v SSSR, 1917-1991. Moscow: IRI RAN.

CHAPTER TWO THE CENTURIES OF THE BOURGEOISIE

FASHION AND TRENDS AT THE TSAR’S COURT FROM PETER THE GREAT TO NICHOLAS II ELENA DUNDOVICH

The history of fashion in Russia can be divided into three different periods covering the centuries from the foundation of ancient Rus’, in the ninth century AD, to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The first period starts at the end of the ninth century AD with the conversion of the country to Christianity by Prince Vladimir I of Kiev (958–1015); the second covers the era from the start of the millennium to the reign of Peter the Great (1682–1725), including the period of Mongol domination, which began in 1240 and ended in 1480. Finally, the decrees issued by Peter on clothing, by which he required Russians to wear Western style fashion, opens up the third and final phase that ended with the end of the empire in 1917. A particular mention is given to the role taken in the final years of the tsardom by some well-known “avant-garde” Russian artists, whose models spread rapidly around Europe in the early twentieth century. Generally speaking, reconstructing dressing habits before the era of Peter the Great is not a simple task. This is because, aside from the preservation (a rarity) of examples of clothing from past periods, their representation is normally through the visual arts (paintings, mosaics, statues, engravings, prints) or via literary works (reports, notary documents or legal texts). However, the first examples of worldly painting in Russian history, in the form of portraits, date back to the end of the seventeenth century and only represent illustrious members of the court: the domination of the Church prevented the development of the more secular artistic forms from appearing in Muscovy, which had developed in Europe during the Renaissance. Sculptures appeared even later. Finally, literary sources never speak of clothes and jewels, apart from some travel diaries by ambassadors or Western merchants. In light of these considerations, it is even easier to imagine the lack of information available about attire worn at the time of the ancient Rus’ in the pre-Christian age. Founded, according to legend, by Prince Rjurik, it grew in the ninth century AD around Kiev, on the Dnepr River, spreading north as far as Novgorod, and was the first political organization of the

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Eastern Slavs and of a population called “Rhos” or “Rus,” whose origins have never completely been clear. As no full versions of their clothes have survived it has only been possible to establish from archaeological findings, written documents, small craft items and decorative arts that leather, furs, wool, linen and hemp were frequently used; the style appeared to be no different to that of other Slavic populations, with elements that largely depended on their similar ways of life and climatic conditions. Long smocks almost to the ankles and with sleeves to the wrists were frequently worn by women; only married women could wear a particular type of checked woolen skirt and cover their head with a rolled up scarf in the shape of a towel. Spinster women wore a narrow strip of fabric or metal on their foreheads, which then became a “koruna” for the young ladies of rich families who lived in the most important towns that were more refined and decorated. Men wore tight trousers and linen tunics halfway down their legs, or to their knees. Feet were covered by primitive shoes, made from textiles woven in the countryside or from natural leather in the towns. Only the wealthiest classes wore finely made boots. Heavy cloth cloaks were widely used in winter, to protect from the cold. It was only after conversion to Christianity in 988, prompted by Prince Vladimir I of Kiev after his marriage to Anna, the sister of the emperor of Constantinople, Basil II, that pomp and grandeur became more common at court, as well as the introduction of mandatory ceremonial attire. Noblemen stopped wearing short trousers—peasants continued to wear these for at least another two centuries—due to the influence of Byzantine fashion. Long dresses made with rich silks from the East and sumptuously adorned with embroidery and pearls and precious stones, known as “kaftans” for men and “sarafans” for women, became more common. This new type of clothing corresponded to a precise logic of power: the court was inspired by the costumes of a country and of a society full of grandeur and splendor, in the hope of having the same authority over its subjects and arousing similar obedience. The introduction of new clothes was aided by the geographical position of Kiev as a trade center along the route from Scandinavia to the Black Sea and on to “Rome,” joining the East to Central Europe. Coins were minted in Kiev and craftsmen also produced luxury products, such as filigree, enameled jewels, furs, wax, honey and hemp, which were traded for silk, silver and spices. The Mongols upset the structure of feudal Rus’ when they first appeared in the Western Steppes in 1223. A large army led by Batu Khan invaded the region, winning a battle on the River Kalka and then disappearing again. They took up the offensive in 1237, destroying everything they came across as far as Kiev, which fell to them in 1240. In

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reality, the downfall of the Rus’ in Kiev was already happening due to the continuous marauding of the nomadic populations located between the Principality and the Black Sea, the constant pressure from the Arabs and Turks, and the growth of Venetian and Genoese colonies in the Crimea, isolating the city from its great trade routes. Domination by the Mongols, which ended in 1480, brought them closer to the Turkish-speaking populations, but even if some of the models of their clothing temporarily became more popular, such as wide trousers for men, the high class Rus’ never abandoned their Byzantine costumes, but tried to reinterpret them in a more national style. This was aided by the fact that from the start of the fourteenth century, when the Principality of Moscow became more powerful, trade with Europe began to expand. Brocades, velvets and several types of silk and wool came to Moscow from London, Italy and France; at the same time, Moscow began to act as a broker for trade between Europe and the East. On the whole, apart from some changes due to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the spread of more Eastern models, Russian customs of dress stayed the same for several centuries until Peter the Great came to the throne. The reasons behind this lack of change lie in the lack of development of the Russian economy and the absence of a real urban fabric. In other words, what was missing was the creation of towns and municipalities and the associated enterprise of the new social class, the middle class, whose interest in growing rich and becoming more important socially was in contrast to that of the nobility and the clergy. All this had a deep effect on the history of attire and on the birth of a proper Russian fashion; this is a strictly urban fashion phenomenon that only concerned the wealthiest classes. Russian towns, apart from Novgorod and Moscow at different times, remained isolated for centuries from major trade routes, linked to the rural-court economy and to the political-military fortunes of their princes, who only used to their craftsmen for their own needs. Moscow was still like a large village in the middle of the ninth century; each house, even the aristocratic ones, was surrounded by orchards, pastures, and vegetable patches, without any real social meeting places. Self-sufficient farms were scattered around the towns, surrounded by high fences, with the windows looking inwards and only animals walked on the roads. In towns, the peasant was linked to his condition of serfdom in an economy that remained rural until the time of Nicholas II. Trade was mostly practiced by the nobles and monasteries—except in rare cases, citizens only traded in an insignificant manner. The only exception was the town of Novgorod, and it was no coincidence that the most important

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merchant families who lived there were exiled to Moscow in 1570 so that they could be more easily controlled. In addition to this lack of economic development and social mobility, there was also a condemnation of luxury, which was a constant target of anathemas from the religious authorities who opposed its importation from Western Europe: wearing foreign fashions meant damaging national prestige, authority and power. There is little and disjointed information about clothes between the thirteenth and sixteenth century, especially for women, given the low status of women in general, who were shut off in the “terem,” the high part of the house. Female members of the wealthy classes only appeared in public for marriage, the birth of their children and the death of their husbands and therefore not much attention was paid to how they dressed. The only information available talks of the “þuprun,” the etymology of which is uncertain, but probably referred to a kind of female kaftan and the habit of covering the head with a veil when married. The little information available about men’s attire in these centuries comes from the town of Novgorod, which was, up to the fifteenth century, the richest city in Russia. Differences between nobles and artisans and merchants were clearly marked in clothing: the former wore long kaftans, while the latter wore tunics. Some examples of woolen fabrics, mainly from Flanders, named in reports as “Ypres cloth,” have been found among the archaeological findings in the city. Silk came from the East, while linen was woven locally. The boots that have been found are of several styles; they were rare in the tenth and eleventh centuries, when shoes made of linden bark known as “lapty” were mostly used, but became more common starting in 1200 and were widespread by the following century, often having very high heels. Bracelets and earrings were frequently worn, the latter also by men who wore them only in one lobe; a tradition that survived among peasants until the nineteenth century. If the lack of pictures limits the reconstruction of men and women’s attire worn up until 1500, information becomes increasingly available from the sixteenth century onwards thanks to notes written by foreign travelers. In particular, the reports by J. Fletcher who went to Muscovy in 1588–89, published in St. Petersburg in 1908 under the title “O Russkom Gosudarstve (about the Russian State), were very important. Fletcher tells how, on the rare occasions they were seen, the noblewomen wore a band of red taffeta on their heads with a white “narusa” cap over it. In winter, a golden brocade hat was worn over the cap, with rich fur embellishment, and adorned with pearls and precious stones; in the summer, they wore a thin veil of white batiste cloth, richly embroidered with expensive pearls

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and tied under the chin with two long straps. The dresses, called “opašen,” were long, often red in color, and with rich, puffed sleeves down to the ground, fastened at the front with gold and gold-plated silver buttons. Another dress, called “letnik,” was worn underneath and was sewn up at the front, with no opening and with wide sleeves, the first part of which was made of gold brocade up to the elbow. Their undergarment was called “ferez,” which was a long tunic also worn by men, of Turkish origin, loose and buttoned to the feet. White, yellow or blue colored leather boots were worn on their feet, embroidered with pearls. The men always wore an embroidered shirt, with a “zipun” over it, a light silk knee-length tunic, buttoned at the front and with a tight ankle-length kaftan, usually made of gold brocade, and pulled in at the waist by a Persian style cummerbund. A loose silk garment lined with fur was usually worn over the kaftan, named a “ferjaz,” with a thin cloth or Chinese silk garment over the top. Men’s hats were very ornate: white with silver buttons, gold with pearls or precious stones, or black fox fur, of Tartar or Finno-Ugric origin. Court clothes, especially, became more elaborate over the centuries with textiles in bright colors, enriched with gold lace and precious stones. Ostentation was increasingly considered to be a tool of power, to the point that during the reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533–84), foreigners who wanted an audience at the Kremlin were forced to wear Russian clothes as a gesture of obedience and recognition of the magnificence of the Muscovite Court. This well-matched the traditions of the Orthodox Church, which were reconfirmed on several occasions: the Metropolitan of Moscow, Daniel, who held this position from 1522 to 1539 did not, for example, hesitate in vigorously condemning all foreign clothes and hairstyles, while in 1551, Macarius, Metropolitan from 1542 to 1563, forbade shaving, which was considered to be a “Latin,” i.e. Catholic, heresy—God had created man in his image and likeness and as God did not shave, then neither should men. Given these conditions, it is easy to understand how the arrival of Peter on the throne (tsar from 1682, emperor from 1721) signaled a radical change in the history of clothes. Convinced that Russia should become a great European power and that this could only happen through strict Westernization, he tried to introduce Western clothing, customs and uses, coming up against strong opposition. Everything had to become more “European” in the new capital: Peter told his nobles where to live, how to build their houses, where to sit in church, how much to eat at banquets, how many servants to have, how to hold a conversation in good society, etc. By a decree issued on August 26, 1698, he banned traditional Russian attire for everyone except peasants, monks, priests and sextons, and also

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the custom of men to wear moustaches and long beards. Reports state that he personally cut off the beard of the dignitaries closest to him. The boyars, high aristocrats, who wanted to keep their beards as a symbol of their status, had to pay a tax of one hundred rubles per year. Traditionalists raised objections, maintaining that shaving damaged the image of God in men and made Russians look like reprehensible human beings, such as Lutherans, Polish, Kalmyks, or Tatars, as well as cats, dogs and monkeys. The following year saw many reforms in the field of clothing: Peter gave proof of his aversion to traditional Russian dress, cutting the sleeves from the smocks of higher officials and ordering them to wear Western style attire. New uniforms and ceremonial dress were imposed. Anyone entering the city wearing Russian-style clothes had to pay a fine: forty kopeks per person if on foot and two rubles for anyone on horseback. Similar fines were imposed for dressmakers and tailors who continued to produce traditional clothing. In his new court in St. Petersburg, Peter order the ladies, at last admitted to worldly life, to wear German and Austrian style dresses, which arrived in Russia via Poland and Hungary. The most important innovation was the introduction of corsets, completely unknown up to that point in Russia and contradictory of the ideal of Russian beauty, which was large and curvy, and also the introduction of the “fontange.” This was a type of hairstyle, started in 1680 by Louis XIV’s lover, the Duchess of Fontanges, and was hugely fashionable in Franc. The hairstyle comprised an elaborate frame of curls, either real or in a wig, embellished with lace and ribbon and supported by a metal frame. Furniture and indoor decoration also had to change under the influence of European female fashion. Skirts worn on the cornices, for example, made it necessary to replace traditional benches with seats and fans; feather gloves and lace to decorate one’s hair also became popular. In 1722, Peter approved the “Table of Ranks,” a register of civil and military positions that organized the bureaucratic machinery of Russia in a European style. The ranks, from fourteenth to first, that could be achieved while serving in the military, civil and judicial fields, were listed in hierarchical order. The emperor allowed everyone to have a career; those who did not belong to the gentry, but who had reached the eighth rank of civil service and the twelfth rank of military service became hereditary members of the gentry. The table was used as the basis for imperial Russian bureaucracy in subsequent centuries and remained in force, with some amendments, until 1917. Specific clothing was identified in detail and the Russian Empire became a country of uniforms from that moment on. Everyone, from students in colleges to members of the government,

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had a uniform approved by Peter and the system remained in force during the reigns of his heirs. Charters with detailed descriptions of the cut, fabrics, colors, embellishments and even the measurements, were published in legislation and every tsar intervened personally to approve and even amend the designs. The change from white to black trousers, from a red ribbon to a blue one, and from a silver cord to a golden one, were very important events. For anyone who belonged to the lower classes, wearing European clothes could mean improving one’s social position and many did so without regret. It was a different matter for the boyars who had been proud of the luxury of their sables, long beards and the precious stones that had adorned their clothes since ancient times; they were not enthusiastic about the new rules. There were many disagreements and much disapproval in the court and within the emperor’s family itself, a sign of the real conflict between the old Muscovite regime and new imperial Russia. Beneath a surface of European fashion, ancient Russian traditions continued. Many nobles, forced by the tsar to build sumptuous palaces in the new capital, let all kinds of animals roam around in their elegant courtyards, just as they had always done in Moscow. They were, and continued to be, tormented by a dual identity: in their public life they acted out a part according to European customs; but in their private life, they retained their Russian sensibility and traditions. Peter the Great’s reforms did not affect the clothing of the common people, mostly serfs, who continued to wear traditional dress. During the nineteenth century a debate developed about Peter’s reforms, which were considered by many to be a disaster, as they caused a loss of that sense of national identity that had characterized Russian dress up to that point. From this point of view of the country’s development, the decrees on attire caused profound economic and social consequences and were closely linked to the development of capitalism in the country. Together with the decrees, which changed the national way of dressing, the tsar adopted measures to set up national production of fabrics, creating a real industry in this sector. Lace embroiderers were invited from Flanders to teach nuns how to embroider. In Moscow and St. Petersburg the reforms were carried out very rapidly, but the effort to create a national industry bore fruit only by the end of the next century in the rest of the country. Peter died on February 8, 1725, without having named an heir. The thirty-seven years that followed, before Catherine II came to the throne, have largely been ignored by history, characterized as a continuous struggle to gain the crown, involving unsuitable candidates with corrupt, inept followers who were always engaged in dark intrigues at court.

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Altogether, the process of Westernization continued and the process of following European fashion intensified, especially during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna (1709–61, empress from 1741), Peter’s daughter, and a lover of the Rococo style, which was then popular in France. During her reign, everything was conducted in Parisian fashion; Paris was now the source of inspiration for all European courts that wish to mimic the sophisticated elegance of Versailles. French style remained in force during Catherine the Great’s reign too (1729–96, empress from 1762), although with some significant variations that reflected particular political considerations. Catherine was a German princess from the small German state of Anhalt-Zerbst; she came to Russia in 1744, at the age of fifteen, to marry Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp, who later became Emperor Peter II, in 1762 (on the death of Elizabeth). He only reigned for six months, however: in the summer of that year, Catherine led a coup d’état which deposed and ultimately killed her husband. Once she was empress, she thought it necessary to emphasize the “national” character of her reign, also through fashion, and created her own personal style. French clothes were imposed at the Russian court for official occasions: wide dresses with hoops and high wigs (although lower than the ones used at the French court) became fashionable. However, within her inner circle, the Empress insisted on wearing French versions of traditional clothes, kaftans, sarafans and kokošniki (the traditional high headdress worn by Russian women) to emphasize the “Russian nature” of her court. It became a custom among nobles to spend a lot of money on their wardrobes. It is said that Prince Nikolaj Petroviþ Šeremetev, of one of the most important aristocratic families at court, had about thirty-seven different types of uniform for court in 1806: ten single-breasted tailed jackets and eighteen double-breasted ones; fifty-four redingotes; six brown furs; two white furs; seventeen woolen jackets; one hundred and nineteen pairs of trousers; fourteen silk nightshirts; two dominoes in pink taffeta for masked balls; two Venetian costumes in black taffeta; thirty-nine French silk kaftans; eight velvet kaftans; sixty-three waistcoats; forty-three scarves; eighty-two pairs of gloves; twenty-three tricorn hats; nine pairs of boots; and sixty pairs of shoes. The Russian idealization of Europe was deeply shaken by the French Revolution in 1789 and the obsession with Parisian fashion in Russia ended during the reign of Alexander I; a strong anti-French feeling rose in the country after victory over Napoleon in 1812. The aristocracy tried to make themselves more “Russian” in their dress and daily habits, renouncing haute cuisine for austere dinners and simplifying the opulent

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lifestyle that had been followed up to that point. Even the use of French in St. Petersburg salons was disapproved of and its use could be dangerous on the streets. On Alexander’s death, the new Tsar, Nicholas I (1796–1855, emperor from 1825) had strong desires, a sense of duty and an extraordinary capacity for work. At heart, he was much more interested in military matters than in political ones—he was devoted to the troops and loved military exercises and parades. His focus on detail was so great that, once on the throne, he found the time to change the number of buttons on his soldiers’ uniforms. At court, he set out new rules: men were forced to wear military clothes or court uniforms in all circumstances and women had to wear clothes reminiscent of Russian tradition. Nobility who were not part of the military or civil service had to wear uniforms and anyone who disobeyed was looked on suspiciously as an enemy of good order. As part of his enormous effort to codify state life, the tsar appointed Count Speranskij to carry out the first codification of Russian laws. In 1833, this led to the publication of fifty-six volumes, the Polnoe sobranie zakonov (Full collection of laws), containing 30,920 laws and “ukaz” (decrees) issued from 1649 to 1825, and fifteen volumes (Svod zakonov), in which the laws in force were systematically collected. These included an edict on court attire, which indicated that ladies had to wear ceremonial dress that was white (the choice later varied), embroidered in silk with wide, slightly puffed sleeves from the shoulders, and in the Muscovite style. Wide skirts had to be tied around the waist and corsets had to be rigid; trains, which varied in length according to rank and marriage status, were stiffened by the weight of gold and silver embroidery, which was also strictly pre-established depending on rank. The return of the kokošnik was also undertaken, in a form adapted to the glowing luxury of the tsar’s court. During Nicholas’ reign, these were made from velvet and decorated with precious jewels for the empress and grand duchesses and with pearls for their ladies. As the years went by, tastes changed and by the end of the nineteenth century, the custom was now established of wearing tiaras made entirely from precious stones, but which still maintained the shape of the ancient kokošnik. Famous jewelers, such as Peter Carl Fabergè and Wilhem Bolin, worked on these splendid items of headwear, which were true works of the Russian goldsmiths’ art, inspired by such extraordinary artists as Cartier, Boucheron and Chaumet in Paris. Although beautiful, these clothes—called “French-style sarafans by Nicholas I’s contemporaries” for their very intention of combining tradition with fashion—became rather cumbersome and the ladies of the court began to complain about them. In spite of this, the rules set out by

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Nicholas did not change much in the decades that followed him and this type of attire was still fashionable, with some changes, in 1917. Such luxurious clothes and headwear were extremely expensive. It is said that in 1885, a dress ordered by Princess Jussupova cost 1500 rubles, the equivalent of a Fabergè egg in 1888—a cost that must have been far below the cost of the clothes made for the imperial family. They took six to eight months of work and by the end of the century, the panels were made in advance for the embroidery on the sleeves, the trains and the corset. These were later assembled at the time when the model was chosen. The best-known tailor’s shops authorized to make court attire were the ones in St. Petersburg belonging to Olga Nikolaevna Bulbenkova, Izembard Chanceau and A.T. Ivanova. The latter, together with her main rival N. Lamanova, became designers for cinema and theatre costumes in the Soviet era. Many Russian embroiderers, known throughout Europe for their sophisticated work, left the country after the revolution and went to France where they found work with Jean Patou, Jeanne Lanvin and Coco Chanel. Strict court rules regulated court attire from the time of Nicholas I. Gold and silver cloth, for example, was only permitted for the empress and her daughters. When the empress wore gold dresses (usually only at the coronation), the grand duchesses could wear silver cloth. However, as most of the empresses preferred wearing silver cloth, being more attractive and less heavy, the grand duchesses wore dresses made in gold only for their own weddings, using velvet dresses for the other occasions when they could choose the color. A rigid, sophisticated hierarchy of patterns, fabrics, colors and jewels was also prescribed for the ladies at the Imperial Court. Over the years, Russian embroidery became so well known that it was exhibited at international textile exhibitions. From 1829 onwards the first industrial exhibitions were organized in Russia. The first show was held in St. Petersburg and underlined the success of Russian textiles, shawls and accessories, which soon became famous, leading to many factories opening to produce them. Lastly, a separate mention must be made about the contribution that Russian artists made at the start of the twentieth century to European fashion. The first decade of the twentieth century was an intense, extraordinary moment for Russian culture. These were the years when the dances of Vaclav Nižinskij, with the Ballets Russes of Sergej Djagjlev, the set designer Bakst, the mimic and dancer Ida Rubinstein, the creative choreographer Fokine, and the music of Debussy, were all triumphs in Paris. It was a golden era for Russian avant-garde artists who were looking

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for new ways to paint after meeting the Impressionists on their trips to France and mingling in Parisian salons: names such as Kandinsky, Maleviþ, Tatlin, Konþalovskij, Lentulov, Larionov and Gonþarova became famous in France and in other European countries. Other Russian painters, like M. Vrubel’ (1856–1910), Ivan Bilibin (1876–1942) and Lèon Bakst (1866–1924) created costumes for theatre and ballet, as well as sophisticated ladies’ dresses for famous fashion houses, such as the one belonging to Paul Poiret. Aleksander Benois, A. Golovin, and N. Gonþarova had great influence on Parisian fashion. The most famous name of this period in Paris was N. Lamanova, who began her career in 1885 before working with the Theatre of Art in Moscow in 1901. It was at her invitation that Poiret went to Moscow and St. Petersburg for the first time. After 1917, she became one of the founders of Soviet fashion, but that is another story.

Bibliography Alyošina, T.S. Efimova, Luisa Vladimirovna and Koršunova, Tamara. 1982. History of Russian Costume from the Eleventh to the Twentieth Century. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Carrère d’Encausse, Hélène. 2004. Caterina la Grande. Una donna sul trono di San Pietroburgo. Milan: Rizzoli. Ciofi degli Atti, Fabio. Efimova, Luisa Vadimirovna. 1984. Il costume russo dalla fine del ‘700 all’inizio del ‘900: abiti popolari, cittadini e di corte dal Museo storico di Mosca. Turin: Ministero della Cultura dell’URSS. Erikson, Carolly. 1999. La grande Caterina. Milan: Mondadori. Figes, Orlando. 2004. La danza di Nataša. Storia della cultura russa (XVIII-XX secolo). Turin: Einaudi. Fletcher, Giles. 1906. O russkom gosudarstve. Sankt Petersburg: A.S. Suvorin. Groh, Dieter. 1980. La Russia e l’autocoscienza d’Europa. Turin: Einaudi. Herberstein, Sigmund. 1988. Zapiski o Moskovii. Moskva: Izd-vo Moskovskogo universi teta. Hughes, Lindsey. 2012. Pietro il Grande. Turin: Einaudi. Korshunova, Tamara. 1983. Costume from 18th to Early 20th century Russia from the Collections of the Hermitage. Leningrad: Aurora Art. Matyjaszkiewicz, Krystyna. 1987. Russian Style 1700-1920. Court and Country Dress from the Hermitage. London: London Barbican Editions. Onassis, Jacqueline. 1976. In the Russian Style. New York: Viking Press.

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Riasanovsky, Nicholas V. 2001. Storia della Russia. Milan: Bompiani. Ruane, Christine. 2009. The Empire’s New Clothes. A History of the Russian Fashion Industry 1700-1917. New Have: Yale University Press.

UNIFORMS AND HATS: THE REALITY AND SYMBOLS ON AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN UNIFORMS ALESSANDRO VAGNINI

The political and cultural implications of military clothing has long been underestimated. The clothes of soldiers, insignia, headgear, and even the shape of the weapons, represent as many ways of expressing order and discipline—or the opposite in some cases—as they serve to highlight class affiliation, wealth and national identity, yielding only in the last century to a focus on the functionality and comfort of clothing and of equipment. In this regard, the case of Austria-Hungary is particularly interesting due to the many examples it has to offer and the leading role it played in the field of military uniforms. Austria-Hungary was a multinational state that, during the nineteenth century, had to contend with the emergence of various nationalisms, often in opposition to each other. Education and the military were, in this sense, the most obvious areas where conflicts occurred through a series of contrasts aimed at protecting or enhancing different national identities. Military apparel, in part, reflected this peculiarity. The importance of military clothing is undoubted. In the eighteenth century, it underwent a dramatic transformation with the transition from a model that was personal, often eccentric, and centered on the individual soldier, to a modern rational one with the adoption of the uniform and of well-coded military ranks (Levi Pisetzky 1978). The soldier began to take on a new role in social life, immediately identified with the uniform and the different ornaments that characterized it. Even its accessories played a major role, especially the hat, the form of which identified, until the end of the nineteenth century, the specificity of military skills and the glory of the traditions linked to it. Added to this was the use of trappings of different colors for the cavalry, which was also part of a more complex system designed to characterize and identify troops. Uniforms, hats and their insignia were, in turn, characterized by specific colors that recalled the royal insignia and only later came to identify the state itself. Of course, all

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this was before tactical requirements lead armies to choose easily camouflageable colors, abandoning, except on ceremonial occasions, garish colors that could put soldiers’ lives at risk. The image of the soldier was not, however, marked only by his clothing. Even his mustache and hairstyle took on a specific meaning, which often had the effect of influencing the prevailing fashion and becoming at certain times, during the French Revolution for example, the most visible symbol of a break with previous tradition. A more rational vision gradually emerged, which not only demanded homologation, but also concerned itself with questions of hygiene and discipline. Surviving the Napoleonic wars and the revolutionary events of the early nineteenth century, the Austrian Empire, although still considered one of the great powers, after war with Prussia in 1866 faced an epochal transition. Defeat by the Prussians at Sadowa manifested the difficulties of the imperial government and finally opened a dialogue with the Magyars in order to create an alliance that allowed the Hapsburgs to continue to rule the empire—albeit with many difficulties—until the outbreak of the Great War. Now ousted by Germany and Italy, Vienna had, at least, to find a formula for acceptable coexistence with the Hungarians, the second most important national group of the empire and traditionally reluctant to fully accept Austrian rule. To this end in 1867 the Austro-Hungarian Compromise (Ausgleich) was signed, from which two entities emerged, Austria— formally the set of the kingdoms and territories represented in the Reichsrat—and the Kingdom of Hungary, under one sovereign, but each with its own government and its own degree of autonomy (Macartney 1976; Bérenger 2003). However, from the late 1850s many Hungarians, who had previously supported the revolution of 1849, approached the imperial court arguing for the need for dialogue and proposing an agreement based on the recognition of the rights of the Habsburgs on significant matters, such as military and foreign issues, in return for great autonomy for Budapest in other matters. As a result of the negotiations with the Hungarian delegation, led by Ferenc Deák, Emperor Franz Joseph accepted the reorganization of the empire, the restoration of the parliament in Budapest, and was solemnly crowned king of Hungary. The Treasury, Foreign Affairs and Defense were the responsibility of the central government. The common budget, however, was now limited to the costs of the single Royal House, the diplomatic service and the armed forces, while all other areas were managed by the governments in Vienna and Budapest.

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The compromise introduced a dual structure in an effort to offset the negative consequences of Austrian defeats in the Italian peninsula and Germany, where Prussia had now assumed leadership of the German states. Another factor behind this important institutional change was the dissatisfaction of the Magyars and the growing demands made by other nationalities. The Imperial-Royal Army was thus one of the few common structures of the state, to which were added two reserve armed forces, one for each of the two parts of the empire.1 Formed with elements of the Austrian part of the monarchy and under the Ministry of Defense, the Austrian Landwehr was created in 1867, with the task of providing for the defense of Cisleithania; it soon became an armed force parallel to the common army, structured on the model of the Imperial-Royal Army. The Landwehr had several units including infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineers, health and transport, as well as its own General Staff; it also included the famous Tyrolean Landesschützen. The Landsturm, a territorial militia formed by reservists to be mobilized in case of war, depended on the Landwehr. The Honvédség, on which the territorial militia (Népfolkelés) depended, was organized in the same way under the Hungarian Ministry of Defense. The army, however, soon became a battleground between the Hungarians and the central government. The Magyars wanted to use the Honvédség as an instrument of Magyarization, for example, by asking for the use of Hungarian as the language of the service and of insignia with a clear national connotation, rather than those common to the rest of the Armed Forces. This issue also emerged from the debate over the acronym used by the Imperial-Royal Army and other joint institutions; the original formula K. K (Kaiserlich und Königlich), at the insistence of the Hungarians, became K.u.K in 1889, marking, with its use of the conjunction, the difference between Hungary and the rest of the monarchy. The Hungarians wished to rebuild an autonomous military force, and set about influencing its organization, uniforms and training, even at the risk of antagonizing the emperor who considered the army his own exclusive area of competence (Rothemberg 2004). Negotiations conducted on these issues in the summer of 1868 led to the adoption of a uniform similar to that of the rest of the army, but with specific markers, flags and national badges. Hungarian was the command language and, after specific negotiations, the Hungarians conceded to those units recruited in Croatia—tied to Hungary by the Nagodba, “the little compromise”—the right to wear their national colors on their uniforms, rather than the 1

Landwehr in Austria and Honvédség in the Kingdom of Hungary.

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Hungarian tricolor. Hungary conceded to the Croats limited autonomy and the right to special units—the Hrvatsko Domobranstvo (Babiü 1964). According to the Army Act of 1868 and various measures adopted in this regard in the following years, all male subjects of the monarchy, with the exception of theology students and disadvantaged persons, had to perform military service; in reality, until the world war, Austria-Hungary never used its full potential (Rothemberg 2004).2 Most of the troops were positioned in eighty line regiments and the Tyrolean Jäger Regiment. The military reform that followed the Ausgleich led to the use of new uniforms that were more practical and in line with the fashion of the time. In this sense, the first significant step was the adoption of a dark blue coat by the infantry regiments of the line, abandoning their classic white outfits, with shoulder pads, the purpose of which was not only aesthetic, but also to support the rifle belt during marches. There were some differences, especially between the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Honvédség and Landwehr. The new coat was closed with a single row of buttons, brass or pewter depending on the type of regiment, and with slight differences in the cuffs—straight for the Austrians; pointed for the Hungarians. The Austrian regiments used long light blue pants covering their boots, while the Hungarians wore pants of the same color, but tightfitting and tucked into their boots, with the sides in the color of the regiment. All departments had a blue kepi with raised ear flaps and a black leather chinstrap and a dark blue coat, generally rolled up, with a bandolier from left to right. Officers wore a uniform of the same color as the troops, while generals wore dark blue pants and a light blue-gray jacket with a double red strip and a kepi of black felt. Cuffs and lapels were red and trimmed with gold, while the members of the General Staff had a dark green jacket with cuffs and lapels in black velvet with amaranth pestañas.

Uniforms and insignia To distinguish infantry regiments, a combination of different colors on the lapels of jackets and a variety of reliefs on the buttons were adopted. In addition, the same color characterized the regimental insignia of four regiments, different from each other only in the color of the buttons— silver or gold. The ordinary uniform of the infantry, which was used by all departments in service from 1882, consisted of a dark blue jacket, singlebreasted, with a row of buttons, a straight collar and stars, with epaulettes in the color of the regiment. The hat was blue, with a metal cockade 2

Counting the period in the reserve, service was for a total of twelve years.

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bearing the imperial figures. In the 1880s, the Light Infantry adopted a new uniform, using the traditional blue-gray one, which was more comfortable and practical and had a small hunting horn on the insignia. The mountain infantry insignia was green and ornamented with an edelweiss; it was of metal for the troops and embroidered for officers and a tuft of black and white grouse feathers was placed on the left side of the hat. All soldiers wore a leather belt fastened by a rectangular metal buckle with the imperial eagle. All imperial and royal regiments were identified by a number and by an honorary “holder” (Inhaber), usually a general or a foreign sovereign. These units were added to those recruited in BosniaHerzegovina, which was occupied in 1878 and annexed in 1908, and which provided twenty-four infantry battalions and one of Feldjäger to the army. Their distinguishing feature was a fez of red cloth. The Gendarmerie, which also had the function of military police, had a dark green jacket and a spiked helmet, with the imperial eagle. The insignia for NCOs used six pointed stars on the collar, of celluloid or metal and bordered by a silver or gold wire. In the Austro-Hungarian army, the uniforms of officers followed the tradition common to other European armies. They were very elegant and woven with a blue-gray wool, instead of the simple fabrics used for the troops. The jackets, with six buttons of zinc or brass depending on the regiment, had a high collar, which reported the rank, and on the left shoulder bore a golden and black mottled lanyard braid. The hand guards were of the same color as the insignia and a border of silver braid was added for senior officers. There were some differences between the officers of the Feldjäger, the Tiroler Kaiserjäger and Landwehr, who wore a blue-gray coat similar to the color of the jackets of the generals, with trousers of the same color and double dark green stripes. The jackets of the Feldjäger and Tiroler Kaiserjäger had gold buttons, while the Landwehr regiments all had silver ones, including the Landesschützen. The officers of the mountain regiments wore ceremonial coats with silver or gold epaulettes for senior officers, lined with green velvet and with the crowned imperial figures, embroidered in gold thread and a button with the regimental number. Field jackets, with shoulder pads, were of green cloth and lined with green cloth and a silver braid with the imperial figures. The uniform was the same for all officers, including the rank of colonel. Generals had a blue-gray double-breasted coat and dark blue pants and their typical double scarlet bands. The collar was stiff and the cuffs were covered with scarlet velvet and trimmed with golden braid. The

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rank was indicated by little silver stars on the lapel or a wreath of laurel leaves for field marshals. The officer’s cap was of felt with a black visor and leather chin strap, on the summit it had a rosette in gold thread with the imperial signs.3 The generals wore the regular blue-gray jacket with a stand-up collar, cuffs in scarlet velvet laced with gold, and dark blue trousers with scarlet stripes, as well as a black felt kepi and gloves. The coats of the generals were similar to those of other officers, but with a black velvet collar and scarlet lining and flashes. Gala uniforms need to be mentioned separately. They were elegant and expensive, with white jackets, scarlet pants with golden stripes, and cocked hats of black velvet with plumes of green vulture feathers, all edged in gold braid. The officers were easily identifiable by the sabers and their golden yellow and black band (Feldbinde). The field officer’s uniform was of good quality wool and differed from that of the common soldiers in its leather belt with a simple buckle, instead of the rectangular plaque, while the cockade on the hat was in golden thread, instead of pressed metal. Moreover, instead of puttees, officers wore leather chaps or high-leg boots—typical for the cavalry. There were important differences in the parade uniform. For generals this consisted of a blue-gray coat, dark blue trousers with scarlet bands (Lampassen), and a cocked hat of black felt with green feathers. Officers carried a golden, black scarf, a saber and had gold braid on their shako—on special occasions, the soldiers wore a special seal. In 1882, along with blue pants, they wore a belt with pouches of leather and a shako and in 1891 a Feldzeichen (three oak leaves) was tucked into the cockade. The cavalry was still considered a noble element; cavalry officers saw themselves as an important part of the Habsburg elite and only the most fortunate of the younger officers could aspire to be assigned to an Imperial-Royal cavalry regiment—others had to contend with the Landwehr or Honvédség. The Austro-Hungarian cavalry was generally of good quality and well trained, with a competent staff and excellent horses. With the passage of time and the inevitable evolution of weaponry, the cavalry ended up losing its historical operational capacity, eventually becoming a light cavalry. Different segments of the Austro-Hungarian cavalry could only be identified by special uniforms, which consisted of a blue jacket with red pants. All cavalry regiments, including the Horse Artillery, wore a distinctive red-cloth side cap with a visor tucked under the strip and at the top a metal cockade bearing the monogram of the emperor. Recruits were 3

FJI (Franz Josef der Erste) for the Austrians and IFJ (Elsö Ferenc József) for the Hungarians.

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generally placed in Dragoon regiments and were distinguishable by their jackets. These were substantially similar to those of the infantry, but light blue in color and with a straight collar and cuffs in the color of the regiment, with yellow-black woolen epaulettes for the troops. Their crested helmet of black leather (Dragonenhelm) was also a particular feature. In winter, the Dragoons had a double-breasted jacket lined with black sheepskin, with buttonholes in two rows and a different colors for specific regiments. The jacket also had two pockets on the sides and a fur collar, blocked by a gold and black cordon. Trousers were red in color for all regiments. In Galicia, Bohemia, and Croatia, the Uhlan regiments were recruited; although abandoning their classic spear, they had maintained the traditional headgear and wore a blue jacket, with twelve buttons, similar to that of the Jägers. The light cavalry recruited in the Hungarian districts was assigned to the Hussars. These typically added elaborate froggingto the jacket; some units, instead of a blue jacket, wore one similar to that of the line infantry. Hussars also wore a hat with a tail of black horsehair of different shape and color depending on their regiment. It is worth mentioning that, for a long time, all officers, not only the Austro-Hungarians, had to provide for clothing at their own expense; this was a commitment of no small importance and highlighted, more than many other factors, their role and social standing. In the context of Austria-Hungary, characterized by the numerous contrasts between different nationalities, issues related to the army, understood as military policy, but also as an expression of daily life, were one of the areas in which the national question was most pressing. In this regard, uniforms, or so to say military fashion, were an ideological battleground in which all the differences and problems of the Austro-Hungarian Empire emerged. Clothing, with evident national characteristics, such as badges, insignia and typical colors, was an instrument through which the Magyars, as well as the Croats or the Poles, could express their national identity. This became a powerful tool, rightly perceived in all its complexity by political leaders who often attributed importance to it, even in comparison to far more profound issues and with the most incisive consequences. Military clothing became a decisive factor in the political struggle, as well as an instrument of affirmation of social status; something more than just a matter of habit, so much so that to a careful observer, a portrait or a photo of an Austro-Hungarian soldier can provide valuable information on the empire, almost as much as a history book.

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Bibliography Babiü, I. 1964. “Military History.” In Croatia: Land, People, Culture. edited by F.H. Eterovich and C. Spalatin. Toronto: University Press. Macarteny, C.A. 1968. The Habsburg Empire 1790-1818. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Levi Pisetztky R. 1978. Il costume e la moda nella società italiana. Turin: Einaudi. Offelli, R. 2001. Le armi e gli equipaggiamenti dell’esercito austroungarico dal 1914 al 1918. Uniformi-Distintivi–Buffetterie. Valdagno: Rossato. Bérenger, J. 2003. Storia dell’impero asburgico 1700-1918. Bologna: Il Mulino. Rothenberg, G. E. 1976. The Army of Francis Joseph. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press.

LEISURE AND FASHION IN TRANSYLVANIA AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: THE ROMANIAN CASE CORNEL SIGMIREAN AND MARIA TĂTAR-DAN

Any research on modern societies can be a challenge—modernity seems to be one of the most debated concepts in the social-humanistic field. It includes a wide variety of processes, and a wide variety of terms are used to explain and understand this stage in history, which is characterized by: industrialization, secularization, urbanization, individualism, democratization, and mass culture. However, what seems to be generally agreed upon is the fact that all these processes have profoundly transformed the way people live and perceive their existence. Obviously, the process of modernization has had different rhythms and each society has had its own experience according to its specific historical background and evolution. The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, with its amalgam of peoples and ethnicities is a fruitful field of investigation; each of these peoples in the process of their national awakening sooner or later developed their own strategies and modernization projects. This paper analyses the manner in which one of the nations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Romanians of Transylvania, experienced modernity from the perspective of their daily life. By the end of the nineteenth century, even the latecomers to modernization were enjoying its promises and benefits. Towns were being lit, cycling was fashionable, cars were beginning to appear on the streets, the first motion pictures were being shown, sports contests were welcoming spectators and people relished mass-culture. Europe was living “la belle époque”; the theatres, the coffee houses, the restaurants, the promenade, the clubs, the balls, the soirées and the concerts were shaping new ways of living

The research presented in this paper was supported by the European Social Fund under the responsibility of the Managing Authority for the Sectorial Operational Programme for Human Resources Development as part of the grant POSDRU/159/1.5/S/133652.

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(Winock 2002–2003, 10). As part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Romanian society of Transylvania, although still a traditional one—the Romanians being mostly peasants and living in the countryside—could not remain outside this process. Under the pressures of modernization and under the pressure of the diversity of models present in a multi-ethnic and multicultural area such as Transylvania, new behaviors and daily practices were displayed. How did Romanians respond? On the one hand, there was a powerful desire to embrace the Western model of society, but on the other, there was also a need to keep faith with the past, which was both the guardian and the repository of the community’s identity. Most of the Romanian elites envisaged their people as part of the family of modern European nations, but at the same time they argued for the preservation of their national identity. As a matter of fact, one could say that in the nineteenth century one lived according to Leibniz’s dictum: “better an original German than the copy of a Frenchman.” The Romanticism, and especially the post-romanticism, of the end of the nineteenth century were even more firm in this regard. German Romantics, who had greatly influenced Romanian culture, appreciated the superiority of “culture” (defined as a unique, organic expression of the spirit of the community or the spirit of the nation) over “civilization” (perceived mainly as material or technological progress) (Hitchins 1994, 321). In his work Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (1887), Ferdinand Tönnies praised “the community” based on tradition and “natural liaisons” between its members as a primary, organic form of social life and rejected “society” as something composed of individuals gathering in simple “extraneous” and instrumental relationships (Hitchins 1994, 321). National costume played an import part in securing national identity. In the multinational AustroHungarian Empire, where the desire for homogenization and the creation of a Hungarian political nation led to a violent assimilationist policy, to wear one’s national costume was almost a political act. The cultural elites strove to institute traditional customs that had previously been considered common, and also to enforce a more suggestive national costume that was able to compete with other national costumes (Thiesse 2000, 139–46). Therefore, in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, high society attended many social events, such as “the patriotic balls,” wearing national costumes. Even the peasants, at the suggestion of elites, manufactured more and more stately national costumes, considered to be “traditional”; and they wore them on holidays or at festive events, such as christening ceremonies, weddings, and balls—a modern social event, which, by the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, had even penetrated the traditional world of the villages.

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Modern social events, such as carnivals, balls, and the soirées and concerts organized by the cultural societies of Romanian students in Budapest (“Petru Maior” Society), Vienna (“România Jună” Society), Graz (“Carmen Sylva”), Cluj (Julia), or by the Romanian clubs, the socalled “casine,” spoke eloquently of the dilemmas of Romanian society at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. The carnival, the ball, the theatre—symbols of modernity—were adopted by Romanians under the influence of German and Hungarian culture. At the same time, to wear one’s national costume was a way of keeping a connection to the past, with tradition, and with one’s ancestors. Referring to the traditional costumes of the peasantry, Mircea Eliade, the great Romanian historian of religions, affirmed in regard to the Geto-Dacians, who were the ancestors of the Romanians, that: “Their physical traits, as their clothing—a long shirt reaching the knees, tightened at the waist with a girdle, a buckled cape—descended from images on Trajan’s Column in the Roman Forum. The same features can be seen today among the Romanian peasants, especially among those inhabiting the Carpathian regions of Transylvania” (Eliade 1992, 6–7).

The highlight of the Romanian social calendar was the carnival held between the two major Christian fasts: Advent and Lent. Although, traditionally this period was called câЮlegi, “between fasting,” by the end of the nineteenth century it had acquired a European name—“the carnival.” During this period, every society or cultural association organized a social event, soirée, concert or theatre performance, which was advertised in the periodicals of those times: Saturday, February 25th 1888, Romanian ball in Arad at “Crucea Albă”. Proceeds will go to the Romanian National Association and for the “Progresul” Romanian Craftsmen Society. … The 6th of February a Romanian ball for pauper pupils was held at Bran (Familia, January 10/22, 1888, 2). Romanian ball in Timisióra on February the 18th. Its takings are for the local Romanian school. A concert will take place before the ball. The organizers are kindly asking our readers to attend it. … The Romanian Women’s Society of Hunedoara asked the organizing committee to hold at the next carnival a party for the benefit of the Society. … The Romanian Women’s Society of Făgăra‫ ܈‬will hold on the First of February a dancing soirée (Familia, January 16/28, 1900, 36).

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The balls and soirées, the main attractions of the carnival, combined the cosmopolitism of modernity with tradition. The program for a soirée organized by the association of the Romanian students of Budapest (The “Petru Maior” Society) included musical recitals performed by the society chorus, piano recitals of classical and romantic pieces, and literary and historical dissertations. For example, a soirée held in 1895 at Vigadó in Budapest, attended by the Romanian pianist Alma of Dunca ‫܇‬chiau, included the following moments: 1. Opening speech held by Drand Florian Muntean, the president of the Society, 2. Choral performances: Iarna (Winter) by Ciprian Porumbescu and Vino lele (Come lass) by I. Vidu, 3. Carol IX by George Co‫܈‬buc, declaimed by Ioan Scurtu, philosophy student, 4. Fr. Lizst Balade H. Moll, played by Alma of Dunca ‫܇‬chiau, 5. The Role of Reading Societies, dissertation delivered by Ilarie Chendi, philosophy student, 6. P. Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana, a duet performed by Alma of Dunca ‫܇‬chiau and Ioan Bu‫܈‬i‫܊‬a, a belles arts student, 7. Jidanul călare (A Jew Riding), folk anecdote declaimed by Jordan Popovici, philosophy student, 8. a) Alexandru Mocioni, Pensée fugitive b) Schubert-Liszt, Aufdem Wasser-Zusingen. Both played by Alma of Dunca ‫܇‬chiau, 9. a) C. Porumbescu, Cântec sicilian (Sicilian Song) b) George Dima, Hora, both performed by the chorus of “Petru Maior” Society.

The event was attended by the majority of the Romanian families of Budapest and numerous good families from Banat and Transylvania. Almost all of the Romanian periodicals positively appreciated the soirée. The young pianist, Alma of Dunca ‫܇‬chiau, the patron of and entertainer at numerous concerts and literary soirées, died in London, not long after the soirée mentioned above (Raportul SocietăĠii “Petru Maior“ pe anul 1895/96 úi 1896/97, 10–11). Such literary soirées followed by a dance were organized each year. In 1898, Alexandru Mocioni of Foeni patronized such an event, attended by the singers Valeria Pop, Ecaterina Mezei, Clotilda Olteanu and Virginia Gall. The program included plays by I. Vidu, Carol R. Karas, Mendelsson Bartholdy, etc. “There were a lot of people from Budapest and all over the country,” stated the Annual Report of the Society (Raportul SocietăĠii “Petru Maior“ pe anul 1897/98, 15). The literary soirées and the balls

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organized by the “Petru Maior” Society were events of great interest among the Transylvanian students and intellectuals. Seldom would a good family miss such a social event. In 1912 the “Petru Maior” Society celebrated its jubilee. At first the celebration was scheduled for the winter, but due to bad weather it was postponed until the month of April. The prelates, Ion Me‫܊‬ianu, Victor Mihali de Ap‫܈‬a, Ioan Papp, Demetrie Radu, Vasile Hossu and Miron Cristea, patronized the event, which was attended by the main Romanian political leaders, by many students from Vienna, Cernău‫܊‬i and Cluj and by numerous guests from Transylvania. The Românul newspaper stated that almost all of the trains coming from Transylvania were packed with Romanians (Românul, April 9/22, 1912, 50). In Budapest, in the grand hall of the “Pester Lloyd” Hotel, a great banquet was given. Exquisite dishes were served: asparagus soup, sturgeon with tartar sauce, fillet of beef, vegetables, royal pudding, sweet cheese, coffee, beer and white wine. The opening speech was given by George Pop of Băse‫܈‬ti, the president of the National Romanian Party. The students in Vienna also organized such events under the patronage of their association, the “România Jună” Society. The first such ball took place on March 1872. Alexandru Vaida-Voevod (twice prime minister of interwar Romania), who had attended many of the events organized by this society, stated that the “Romanian ball” (Romänenball) had a reputation as the most glamorous ball of Vienna (Vaida Voevod 1998, 36). 7000 florins were raised by the 1880 ball and in 1884, the sum raised was 4484 florins, the event having been patronized by the Archduke Raines (Vaida Voevod 1998, 121). Sextil Pu‫܈‬cariu, a docent at Vienna University, recalled that the balls of “România Jună” Society were always attended by an archduke as a representative of the Imperial House (Sextil Puúcariu 1968, 295). There were also Viennese artists and representatives of the German, Slavic and Italian students attending these events. Eduard Strauss, the famous composer, even dedicated a polka to the “România Jună” Society, Fleurs roumaines (Grămadă 1912, 118). Ciprian Porumbescu did the same. He dedicated the Florile Dalbe waltz (later called Camelli) to Theresa Eduard Kanitz, one of the patronesses of the balls of the “România Jună” Society (Grămadă 1912, 76). The ball was not only an occasion for having a good time. On the contrary, its bright aura disguised a complex combination of social, material, cultural, artistic, moral and affective interests (Iacob 2007, 294). Moreover, due to the statute of the Romanian community in the AustroHungarian Empire, these social events also had a potent national character; they offered an opportunity for the Romanian community to be distinctive. In the circumstances, Romanians were always urged to wear their national

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costume: “the most beautiful clothing for young Romanian women is the national costume, therefore we strongly recommend them to attend the social gatherings, and especially the balls, wearing it and not some foreign garment” (Danciu 1887, 12, 138). If ladies accepted this recommendation their presence was highly appreciated in the accounts of the events: “our ladies all wore the national costume. Each of them strove to look her best. Even the foreigners were swept away by the beauty and the variety of our traditional folk garments” (Luceafărul, April 16, 1910, 9). As one of the main events of the Romanian social calendar, the ball generated excitement from Vienna and Budapest to the smallest, provincial Transylvanian town. The periodicals allocated significant space to these events; they ran articles dealing with their every detail, including how to prepare for them, what to wear, and dos and don’ts. In a 1900 article entitled “Carnival Intrigue,” the story of a carnival love affair is related. The protagonist, a young man named Georgescu, newly arrived in a town, has accepted the challenge to make a certain young lady, mademoiselle Leni‫܊‬i, fall in love with him. When she does so he is to leave her. This was envisaged as a punishment by the youths for her arrogance, as they accused this young lady, and her mother, of being “ambitious, pretentious, always making fun of boys, always complaining about everything and being offensive.” On the night of the ball, according to the plan, Georgescu approached mademoiselle Leni‫܊‬i, they danced and laughed and danced again and at the end left the party together. No one saw them for days. After a week, Georgescu’s friends received a letter that explained what had happened (Tătar-Dan 2014, 21). “I have taken your challenge, but as a true gentleman I had to be sure of your sayings before putting the plan in motion. The first look at Leni‫܊‬i confused me. Could such an Angelic being possibly be worthy of such a punishment? ... I was soon convinced that all you have said were only vicious words. I don’t admonish you ... without your initiative and without my hurrying to accept it I would have never known what true happiness is. But be reassured! You have been avenged! From now on you don’t have to fear her defamations any more. You have here the assurance against them” (Rix 1900, 3, 33–34).

A card had been placed next to the letter announcing the engagement of Mademoiselle Leni‫܊‬i and Mr. N. Georgescu. In the article “The Ball,” Iosif Vulcan tried to give a true account of the ball. But due to the fact that it was hard to find one accepted by everybody, he related different perspectives:

94

Leisure and Fashion in Transylvania at the End of the 19th Century “For a young girl, the ball is the greatest happiness, heaven on earth … A father of five marriageable girls: if only this damned carnival with its endless parties and balls would not exist! All day and all night you search for ways of making money to buy outfits! ... For a youngster it is poetry. It gives you the privilege to waltz with the one you love, the one you adore … A dowager: What boredom! To stay here all night and watch these silly jumps. In my days young people danced more beautifully; they were even more comely, not as today – dwarfish ... An officer: the ball is a battlefield where often the strongest ones are defeated. I would gladly surrender myself, if only I could find a suitable match … For a philosophe the ball is a madhouse. Who ever heard of such a thing? Two sane people jumping along the room … A doctor: the ball is the best medicine for girls. However sick, the invitation to attend a ball cures them instantly… A painter believes that at a ball one can find the most beautiful models of grace while for the fashion-conscious the ball is vivid advertising, a moving exhibition of outfits; and for a comedian the ball is a big fair where sellers and buyers gather, but often they do not dare to make arrangements as one cannot know what the future holds” (Vulcan 1895, 3, 33–34).

Numerous articles dealt with fashion and fashion trends. The Familia magazine occasionally published a fashion supplement with pictures of the outfits described in the pages of the main issue. The trends of each season were closely analyzed and suggestions for ball outfits were made. For example, in an article from 1876, women are advised how to suit their outfits to their hair color: “My dear fair-haired woman, you will be very elegant in a pale pink faille outfit, aslant in the front and with big folds and train in the back. On top you will wear a rose garland. You should also put roses in your hair. For the mother of the ball I can also recommend a very beautiful outfit: a cream-colored faille dress with Brussels lace. The young girl at her first ball should definitely wear a white dress. She can add to her outfit some flowers, roses, lilies or jasmine” (Familia, February 1/13, 1876, 5).

To be in fashion implied significant expenses, considered by some inappropriate for a people striving to catch up with the other European nations. Some considered that this interest in fashion and frivolous social events as threatening to the Romanians’ national existence: “One can understand fashion when it stimulates national industry and helps manufacturers employ workers in need of a job; one can understand the national and simple fashion of keeping one’s traditions and national garments; but one cannot understand why we should imitate others, why we should dress in German or French style, why we should endorse the Parisian industry or the one from Berlin, why we should feed the Germans

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or the Jews who have overwhelmed us? We work all day long to give our earnings to strangers who take from us a sack of wool and give back a rag of cloth and then mock us. How many have fallen into ruin? How many girls from good families went adrift; and one can see them in shameful places! These are the results of fashion: shame, disgrace, corruption and degradation and finally the nihilism of our national existence! Do not pursue the vagaries of fashion unless you want to ruin your Nation!” (Amiculu Familiei, January 1/13, 1883, 1).

Such attitudes mirror the dilemmas of modernity. As modern society took shape, there was a natural reaction of rejection—a desire to recover the previous order of things and keep the traditions and old ways of life alive. An article entitled “Natural beauty must be enhanced” pleaded for natural beauty, both physical and moral. The author argued that although Romanian woman were beautiful by birth, they were now striving to bury their natural beauty by using unnecessary paint and rouge. Therefore, instead of showing the delightful and expressive Romanian face, many women made you avert your gaze from their repellent painted faces. Women were warned that what truly counts is inner beauty and one should not waste one’s time on the vagaries of fashion, but use every occasion to show off one’s true beauty, morality and virtue (Biserica Юi Юcoala, June 12/24, 1887, 20). By the end of the nineteenth century, the Romanian society of Transylvania had embraced many modern European interests. The Romanian social calendar provides relevant evidence in this regard. The year started with the much expected carnival. In summer, the park, the garden and the promenade became the centre of social gatherings. Almost every town and village had a Romanian “summer party.” Summer party in Beiu‫܈‬. Mrs Ecaterina Cre‫ ܊‬and Mrs Irina Antal of Beiu‫܈‬ threw last Sunday at “Fântâna Popii” a very nice and friendly summer party … In Lugoj the Romanian youth will throw, on the 29th of July, a party in the garden of Concordia Hotel. … The summer party in Lăpu‫܈‬u Unguresc will take place at the Vursher Hotel. The proceeds will go to the local Greek-catholic school (Familia, January 10/22, 1888, 2). Romanian intellectuals of ‫܇‬intereagu together with the academic youth invite you to the annual summer party which will take place on the 22nd of July in ‫܇‬intereagu. The proceeds will be donated to the church. We gladly receive any contribution. (Minerva, July 1/13, 1894, 13).

Many of these social events had a philanthropic character, as charity was part of the “life strategy” of the elite of those times. Although charity

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had been a moral and religious obligation, in modern society it acquired a social dimension and became a generator of social prestige. Therefore, almost every party, ball, concert or other modern event was organized with the goal of raising money for a philanthropic cause: a school, a church, the poor, the widows, the orphans, etc. By the end of the nineteenth century, there was also a growing interest in outdoor activities. Outdoor and sporting activities constituted a way of purifying both the mind and the body (Griffin 2008, 63). It was usually the cultural associations who organized such events and it became a common practice for them to end their annual gatherings with a trip or a hike: “Tuesday the 11th of September the most interesting part of the social festivities followed: the trip on the Danube River, which, due to the good weather was a real success. 250 persons left for Or‫܈‬ova by a special train; there they visited the monument built in the place where the crown had been found hidden in 1849. They left then by a special boat up the Danube River, in the middle of the most romantic region, admiring the beauty of the mountains and of the rocks which offered at each minute a picturesque view. At 12 o’ clock the group had lunch to the sounds of music, leaving afterwards for Ada-Kaleh Island, which we visited with great interest as it was inhabited by Turkish people. We sat down, ate grapes, drank coffee and smoked cigars, offered by the Turks, in Romanian style. At 2 o’clock we embarked again on the boat; we passed “Por‫܊‬ile de Fer” to TurnuSeverin. At half past four, when we arrived, there a big crowd which had been waiting greeted us with flags and military music. Our musician sang the Romanian hymn and the military music answered with DeЮteaptă-te române! The air trembled with Hoorays! And we disembarked amidst an endless enthusiasm (Familia, September 3/16, 1900, 36).

Although one can argue that by the end of the nineteenth century the mundane calendar of the Romanians was still influenced by tradition, the diversification of leisure activities and interests proves that Romanian society had been transforming, leaving rural immobility behind and adapting to a modern rhythm. The quotidian atmosphere of the end of the nineteenth century was the result of modernization and most Romanians lived the dilemmas of the poet Octavian Goga. Born in Ră‫܈‬inari, a small town a few kilometers away from the German town of Sibiu, Goga graduated from high school at Bra‫܈‬ov and pursued his studies at the University of Budapest and then Berlin; he was a man who belonged to the modern world, but still regretted its transformations: “Why have you taken me away from you? Why have you taken me away from home? If only I could have kept my lad’s plough/ If only I could have kept my scythe…” Obviously, he never actually returned home to mow the grass as, during

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the interwar period, he was several times a cabinet minister and in 1937, for almost two months, the prime minister of Romania.

References Danciu, Florian. 1887. “Îmbrăcămintea femeilor.” Familia, March 22/April 3. Eliade, Mircea. 1992. Les Roumains, Précis historique. Bucharest: Rosa Vînturilor. Grămadă, I. 1912. Societatea Academică Social-Culturală „România Jună” din Viena (1871-1911). Arad. Griffin, Roger. 2008. “Modernitate, modernism ‫܈‬i fascism. O re-sintetizare a viziunii.” In Modernism Юi antimodernism: noi perspective interdisciplinare, edited by Sorin Antohi, 45-78. Bucure‫܈‬ti: Editura Cuvântul. Hitchins, Keith. 1994. România 1866-1947. Bucharest: Humanitas. Iacob, Dan Dumitru. 2007. “Balurile înaltei societăĠi din Principatele Române la mijlocul secolului al XIX-lea.” In Oraúul din spaĠiul românesc între Orient úi Occident. TranziĠia de la medievalitate la modernitate, edited by LaurenĠiu Rădvan, 263–324. Ia‫܈‬i: Editura UniversităĠii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza.” Raportul SocietăĠii “Petru Maior“. Budapest, 1897–1898. Rix. 1900. “Prins în cursă. Intrigă de carnaval.” Familia, January 16/28. Sextil, Puúcariu. 1968, Călare pe două veacuri. Amintiri din tinereĠe (1895-1906). Bucharest: Editura pentru Literatură. Tătar-Dan, Maria. 2014, “Modern Society and Every Day Life in Transylvania at the end of the 19th Century.” Studia Universitatis Petru Maior. Series Historia 2: 13–21. Thiesse, Anne-Marie. 2000. Crearea identităаilor naаionale în Europa secolelor XVIII-XX. Ia‫܈‬i: Polirom. Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru. 1998. Memorii. Cluj-Napoca: Dacia. Vulcan, Iosif. 1895. “Balul”. Familia, January 12/27. Winock, Michel. 2002–2003. La Belle Epoque. Paris: Ơditions Perrin.

BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNISM: ROMANIAN FASHION REVIEWS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY GIUSEPPE MOTTA

During the nineteenth century, Romanticism spread across Europe and opened up new and interesting perspectives, which would characterize the decades up until the twentieth century. This was the epoch of the “long century,” between 1789 and 1914, after which Hobsbawm’s “short century” began. Some of the most outstanding products of this age were the “national ideas” that developed, which generated meaningful political consequences, but also developed in their cultural dimensions with the rediscovery of history, research into people’s ancestral origins, the return to spirituality, and a rejection of enlightened rationalism. All these aspects are related to Romanticism and its impact on the European framework. The debut of new democratic options, proposing vast reform of institutions and society, was associated with the general process of the “invention of tradition” through the rediscovery of the historical roots of every European population with careful attention to the masses and their “primordial” nature. With different timelines and conditions, the idea of the “nation” was consolidated all over Europe, awakening the national consciousness and identity of European peoples and provoking wholesale political and social changes. Also, in the field of fashion, the combination of a new cultural approach and the rise of a new historical attitude marked the birth of something totally new: the re-evaluation of national history and its manifestation through the arts, literature, music (such as Wagner’s Ring Cycle), clothing and fashion. For example, great attention to clothes can be found in the habits of the eighteenth-century Russian reformists whose desire to live among the populace was not just a symptom of eccentricity—as with Tolstoy’s anarchic-Christian mysticism and vegetarianism—but a real rush of love

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for the common people, which was found in many other eastern European countries also. As a matter of fact, many travelers coming from this region used to wear traditional dress when staying abroad in order to “represent,” aesthetically, their people and their history, and to spread the image of a pure, uncontaminated nation. With regards to Romania, this was the way of Dinicu Golescu, who interpreted his travels as “patriotic expeditions,” and Smaranda Andronescu Gheorghiu, who combined the promotion of women’s rights with the use of traditional dress in order to support, in Europe, Romanian aspirations for independence. Romania consolidated her strong national identity and gained her seat among the European nations only in the eighteenth century when an emphasis on her Latin origins became associated with emancipation from Ottoman domination. The union of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia under Alexandru Ion Cuza in 1859 was followed by Carol Hohenzollern’s arrival in 1866. Carol became the first Romanian king and led his country towards independence, which was ratified by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. In this historical context, Romanian society was still anchored in a rural world that had been affected by many centuries of Ottoman rule and experienced a rapid rapprochement with European values and habits. France was chosen as the benchmark—the model to be followed both in political and cultural life. Travelers visiting Romanian territories in the last decades of the nineteenth century could not help but stress this real “mania” for everything that was foreign or came from France; this “Francophilia” was exclusively an expression of the rich aristocratic and urban classes while the countryside remained in a state of millenary immobilism. This image is captured in the writings of Bruto Amante and Baldassarre Orero, who visited Romania after independence and resided in Bucharest—excitingly renamed “Little Paris,” Mica Paris—as well as in the regions, such as Dobruja, where large empty spaces were only interrupted by the Danube, other small rivers, and poor villages with huts and muddy streets. When Romania opened her borders to new experiences, relationships with the Western world and its influences increased. Younger generations went to study in big cities, such as Paris, Vienna and Berlin, where they assimilated new ideas, the idea of the nation for instance, and after their return, they brought with them an ardent desire to change their mother country, to Europeanize it, and to make Romania “known” in Europe. The “architects” of what would become independent Romania tried to enhance the values of the Romanian people: their simplicity and love for

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their land, for Christendom and for the purest human feelings. The desire for modernity and loyalty to traditions coexisted within this small group of patriots who, on the one hand, looked to Europe as a model for the future, while on the other, they wished to consolidate their own national identity, their traditions and culture. They began with their clothes. It is no coincidence that Queen Elizabeth, King Carol’s wife and a poet with the literary pseudonym Carmen Sylva, loved to wear her traditional Romanian dress (as in George Healy’s portrait) and shared this love with her daughters, the princesses Maria and Ileana. Elizabeth of Wied had German origins, but she did not hesitate to embrace her new country and subjects. She specially addressed women in order to improve their conditions and improve their role within Romanian society. In the introduction to a volume of 1910, Carmen Sylva wondered if it was possible to find a more beautiful image than that of a female Romanian peasant wearing a traditional outfit, in a red or orange skirt, with a yellow foulard on her black shoulders, big, dark, bright eyes, hurrying back home with a green pot on her head. The queen thought that this image was only comparable to that of a Romanian woman sewing in her splendid clothes, with a white or yellow fancy tissue on her shoulders (Hoare 1910). The structure of the traditional Romanian dress did not vary over the centuries and its purity perfectly described the simple and natural character of the Romanians. This outfit included a weed or linen shirt or blouse (cămasă), tied around the waist by a tissue or a leather belt. The beauty of Romanian blouses, which are normally quite long and are combined with a scarf and an apron on the skirt, attracted the attention of the French painter Henri Matisse, who, in 1940, finished his work entitled The Romanian blouse. Male outfits, on the contrary, included a white shirt and trousers, a belt, a waistcoat, an overcoat, and the traditional leather sandals (opinci) and fur hat (caliciulă). Naturally, there are distinctions between different localities, particularly between Transylvania and the Balkan regions, where models, colors, shapes, and decorations change; but all accord to a similar structure. In the middle of the nineteenth century, during the years of the union of the principalities and Romanian independence, the clothes worn in Bucharest were still rather traditional. Only in those years, in fact, did the capital experience the first changes to the habits and customs of its inhabitants. If traditional dress survived in many Romanian regions, only being replaced in the following century—and never actually disappearing— in the cities, especially in Bucharest and Iaúi, the situation was very

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different. In the last decades of the eighteenth century, references to the European style and way of life became more frequent: theatres, cafes, restaurants and clubs reminded one of the life in the big cities at the heart of the belle époque. This atmosphere is described by Romanian historians, such as Ion Bulei, George Costescu, and Claudiu-Lucian Topor, who offer a detailed picture of the changes that renewed Bucharest in those years. In that period, a strong “esterofilia,” a passion for foreign things, arose and there was a marked tendency to favor French models, which seemed to pervade all aspects of social life. The well-known Romanian historian, Nicolae Iorga, a great interpreter of Romanian culture in its fullest dimension, underlined and explained how, during the modern age, the luxurious clothes of the richest Romanians were often imported from neighboring countries, such as Turkey and Poland, or from Central Europe by Saxon merchants. Beautiful Oriental silk was often sold by Venetian dealers and was purchased by the aristocracy and upper classes together with other clothes and accessories, following, most of all, foreign fashions. This had happened in the sixteenth century with the Romanian Lord Petru Cercel (cercel in Romanian means earring) who copied from the fashions of the French court where he had resided for a period. The love for foreign things remained a prerogative of noble families who succeeded in stocking up on every luxury object thanks to the mediation of foreign merchants and communities—Russian, Austrian and Jewish merchants, or those from Venice or Geneva. Relationships with foreign countries intensified in the eighteenth century, thanks to the arrival of a new leading class in Wallachia and Moldavia—the Greek princes from the district of Phanar in Constantinople. This oligarchy had close relationships with the sultan and the Ottoman authorities and were a powerful merchant elite with a wide network of contacts in the Mediterranean and Ottoman worlds. Iorga himself underlined the relevance of certain women, such as Alexandru Ypsilanti’s wife—one of the Phanariote lords—who was the brightest example of European fashion’s diffusion into Romania. It was in the following century that these changes extended from the highest classes to other social groups who had previously dressed in the Oriental, SlavicByzantine and Greek traditions. This link gradually vanished in the nineteenth century, when German fashion consolidated its influence before being increasingly replaced by French modes. The relationship between the Romanian principalities and Europe increased after the 1848 revolutions, when the first banks and financial

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institutes were created and the love for foreign things became stronger by the day. George Potra described the activity of some Bucharest dealers, who changed their names to make them sound foreign in order to attract costumers. For example, Nicolae Chiru gained fame as “Kirilof,” selling high quality textiles imported from Leipzig, Vienna and other principal European cities. Even the language became more modern and welcomed the use of foreign terms: the traditional han, used for inns, was replaced by the more international word hotel. Girls were the first to accept these changes and wore dresses after French models that were tightened around the waist, with long, large sleeves, rigid corsets, volant en forme, and gaiters. Adult women adopted the hairstyle à la belle femme, while the so-called Katogan spread among both men and women. This style was used to fix long hair and was invented by an English general. It was soon adopted by soldiers too and later became famous as a female hairstyle with a ponytail or a chignon. Compared to the past, the typologies of dress multiplied thanks to the seasonal styles that were created, imitating Napoleon III, Tsars Nicholas I, and Alexander III, and also politicians, poets, and authors—most of all French ones (François Guizot, Adolphe Thiers, Alfred de Musset). In these years, hairdressers for women followed French styles and gained an important role in the social context, including Madame Briol’s, Julie Vogt’s, and Sache Dumitrescu’s salon—called Ville de France. Bucharest hosted the first department stores, such as Mr. Hertz’s Aux quatre saisons, which was followed by the shop Old England, exclusively for men who followed French and English models. In this epoch of welfare, calmness and general progress, high society socialized in the public gardens of Cismigiu, Kiseleff, in the LibertăĠii park, on terraces, in pubs, theatres, clubs, at horse races and during theatre exhibitions that took place in parks or coffee shops. Coffee shops, like the Capúa cafeteria, were crowded and gradually replaced the traditional places of amusement. Evening shows were organized in the most exclusive clubs or for charitable purposes, and among the different dancing events, the most aristocratic and sought-after ball was the one at court, held at the beginning of the year: “The Western world was mixed with the Oriental one, richness with misery, tails and top hats with peasant-style trousers, serious starch with the comic clothes. The old worldly pleasures with the new ones. Only theatre succeeded in remaining sober, notwithstanding the concurrence of the lively cinemas” (Topor 2013).

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On all of these occasions, dress codes became increasingly more important for those who wished to present themselves in society and to excel in their displays of elegance and refinement. The years of the belle époque were characterized by technological, scientific and medical progress, and by many innovations such, as electric light, radio, and the discovery of vaccinations. This age became symbolized in the joyful social life of the big European cities. The latter were undoubtedly the “kingdoms” of these new artistic and cultural experiments. Romania saw a florid and rapid development of the press, with new and original publications, such as Rampa, a review of theatre, arts and literature, Fornica, a humorous review, and Gazeta ilustrata, which presented the daily life of those Bucharest citizens who used to walk up and down the sidewalks, especially in the morning and afternoon, when the streets were invaded by paper boys selling their sheets and by buyers who hurried up to get them and read the latest news. This context saw the debut of the first reviews devoted to this “new way of life” pervading all of Europe, as well as the Romanian capital. In 1899, the publication Moda pariziană. Teatru úi muzică1 was printed by the Universul typography, which was managed by the Italian editor, Luigi Cazzavillan. This review, self-appointed as the “messenger of fashion” (Curierul modei) and addressed almost exclusively at female readers, explained to them the dressing style to follow in order to be up-to-date with the fashion models that were expected to prevail in the upcoming season. Naturally, articles were accompanied by numerous images presenting the prototype of the “perfect woman”: tall and slender. The review also offered a sentimental column, some advice to mothers on the education of their sons, short articles about theatre, local and foreign recipes, such as the wine cup, and explanations of the best ways to use clothes and accessories, for example combining a cape (Pelerina) and a scarf (Gulerul). Sometimes space was given over to musical scores and, usually on the last pages, some advertisements publicized foreign products, such as the Italian ointment Ricciolina, the water of Genoa, which had gained prizes and medals at universal expos, or toothpaste water for oral hygiene. On January 4, 1899, the journal published Carol Scrob’s poem Ochii tei (your eyes) and an interesting historical report on the birth of fashion at back to the Renaissance and to Lucrezia Borgia and her clothing during Alfonso d’Este’s wedding. There was also an article on the art of dressing, 1

The reviews Moda pariziană. Teatru úi muzică; Moda; Moda nouă ilustrată; Moda úic ilustrată are available at www.dacoromanica.ro.

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Arta imbrăcămintei, which presented rich descriptions of suits. These were composed of waistcoats and skirts, which were further adorned, with great fantasy, by various strange and original Oriental accessories. The morning coat was to be large and brightly colored (deschis) with adequate decoration. A fundamental principle was to distinguish clothes for the interior of the house from those to be worn out on the streets or during social events. It was suggested that women should also pay attention to their clothes in the home as well—women who wished to be elegant should begin where they spent most of their time. Their appearance in domestic space, furthermore, was also important because of the possible arrival of visitors. Clothes were to be different if used before lunch or in the afternoon, and it was necessary to respect this simple rule. This advice was not just for rich women. It was reasonable to use less expensive textiles and women needed stronger and simpler materials when working in the home. Nevertheless, housewives had to always be good-looking and to avoid showing themselves up. The review stated that all women, with no exception, needed to be able to cook and provided good recipes, especially for desserts and for the mise-en-table of fruit and cakes. In the following years, a new publication used similar tones. It was called Moda (fashion), was owned by A. Heller and was printed throughout the yeas by different publishing houses in Bucharest and distributed once or twice a month. This review often changed its name. In1903, it was renamed Moda nouă; in 1905, Moda nouă ilustrată; and in 1914, Moda úic ilustrată, after some years of crisis (1912–13). The title of this review clearly indicated that its main focus was the world of fashion and clothes, especially female ones, alongside art and performances, which were inescapable topics to understand the latest tendencies. Theatres and public events were the most important contexts where modern women needed to appear well turnedout and up-to-date. On September 26, 1903, Moda nouă looked at the models of the most crowded street of Paris, Rue de la Paix, and explained the details of the fashion style in “Vogue” during that season: the line of the shoulders was low, sleeves were large, wider in the upper arm and narrow at the wrists, materials were innovative, but at the same time remained inspired by Louis XV’s models. In conclusion, the review stated that fashion consecrated a precise style for a particular moment: in that context consecrated styles had no concurrence. After a season, anyway, everything was destined to change. References from the past were not rare, and the models inspired by the

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Restoration and the Second French Empire could perfectly well be adapted to the traditional shapes of Romanian blouses. The continuity with the past was also evident in tissues and colors. Moda nouă also included sentimental stories (such as the relationship between professor Willbrand and his wife Hedda) and all sorts of suggestions: how to embroider a monogram how to refresh old clothes that had lost their bright colors; how to deal with insect stings or snake bites. The article, “Buna portare in societate,” focused on education and quoted the works of Jean La Bruéyre, the author of the outstanding book Les caractères ou les moeurs de ce siècle, which successfully reflected the spirit of the time of its writing—the seventeenth century. The text stressed the necessity of stimulating the qualities of children—their good feelings, gratitude, and sense of equality—thanks to which human beings could appear to others as splendid as they should be in their own hearts. These topics on good education could only easily be defined in theory: it was not so easy to talk about the “practical” aspects of education, which followed well-established habits and customs, and, for example, was not the same for men and women. It was difficult to establish general rules to be used in social situations: well-educated people had to be prepared for any eventuality. It was therefore necessary to act and “improvise” while always following two basic rules: better to be excessively polite, rather than behaving superficially; a well-educated man should maintain a friendly and discreet attitude. These suggestions were listed in the abovementioned article, which gave particular suggestions for the right kind of behavior in churches and religious buildings (Bucharest hosted Orthodox and Catholic churches, and synagogues): women, for example, when inside a church, had to dress simply and avoid fans, which were considered to be instruments of seduction. Occasional meetings on the streets were also taken into consideration. In this eventuality, the review stated that the youngest person should first greet the older one and when meeting a woman it was necessary to consider if she wished to be greeted and to remember that a woman could greet only with her eyes. A man, on the contrary, could address a woman just by raising his hat (palaria). If this man and woman stop and start to talk, the man should bend forward as a sign of respect and keep his behavior polite and discreet, while showing himself to be fascinated (farmec) by the woman. On May 15, 1907, Moda nouă ilustrată illustrated the “must-have” colors and textiles for that year: white for toilettes, and especially for the

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“soutane” (jupoane), and a particular silk (tafta) that was could multiply the possible combinations and was incredibly charming. The edition of May 25, 1910, reflected on the concept of fashion, but could not help describing the models prevailing in that season, such as the model Chanteclaire, which became a real “uniform” or the Directoire style called décolleté. The secret of clothing lies in its capacity for changing the most widespread models with personal embellishments. Fashion offers its customers the tools to adapt amazing clothes to their personal needs (the so-called “fashion victim”), but only if they can manage this task tactfully and tastefully. Although the review changed its name, once again, to Moda úic ilustrată, its content was not subject to radical innovations and followed the same editorial line, proposing a constant combination of classic and modern clothing and using illustrative tables in order to show the transformation of fashion. Advertisements became increasingly important—for corsets, beauty creams, and medications; these were no longer limited to the public of madames and madamoiselles, but dedicated also to children, creating shorter skirts, coats and garments for them, which differed to the models for adults. The review also contained short stories that were connected to the world and history of fashion. For example, on December 10, 1914, it published an article on the history of the garter. In that number, it was explained that during a ball organized by the English King, Edward III, the countess of Salisbury was dancing with the monarch when her garter slipped down her left leg. The courtiers began to snigger at the countess, who turned red with embarrassment. The king felt obliged to intervene, defending the countess, and stated: “Honi soit qui mal y pense.” Later on, it was thought that owing to this reason the king established the Order of the Garter and put it under the protection of Saint George. During the first years of the nineteenth century, this generally “frivolous” press was also interested in more serious matters, such as the rights of women, who were often fully aware of their restricted social status and did not wish to be simple observers of the world they were living in. Although they were still mocked and criticized, women increasingly claimed greater opportunities in education and culture. On February 25, 1915, the review reported the history of Marie Sommerville. Mary was born in 1780 and was the daughter of the English Admiral, Fairfax. Since childhood she had been fascinated by the study of maths. Once she was married, she had to renounce her passion. After her

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first husband had died, Marie returned to Scotland where she married Mr. Sommerville and tooke up her previous passion again, participating in the work of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; in 1869 she wrote the important scientific book Molecular and Microscopic Science. Quoting this example, the review aimed to discredit the prejudice according to which women were not capable of studying maths. On the contrary, women were able to learn all the things that were commonly studied exclusively by men. Obviously, these kinds of discussions were also extended to the topic of weddings, which began to be reinterpreted by modern women who were conscious of their place in society and of the opportunities they were free to take. Fashion, had a primary role in these publications and they fostered a debate on its influence in society. On February 25, 1915, Tanti Clara’s article replied to a letter from a female medical student in Bucharest and stated that fashion was substantially unfair. It obliged all women to wear the same clothes, without considering the effect that a dress could have on different individuals. In fact, women are not all the same: they have brown, blond or red hair, are slim or fat, tall or short, and the same clothes could appear splendid on one woman, but appear comical on another. If a woman looked good in a particular model, should she remain enslaved by that style for her lifetime? The response of the review was clearly negative: fashion could not be categorical, but had to maintain an artistic and cultural value. In 1880, nothing prevented people from dressing exactly as in 1840. Fashion was something natural, it was not compulsory to follow it every day, but it was not possible to ignore it completely because it had become an integral part of everyday life—not only in high society, but also for broader sections of the population. As a matter of fact, during those years common citizens began to become interested in political and economic affairs, as well as in those cultural expressions that increasingly characterized the habits of the urban middle class. This article, as many others in the same review, showed that in Romania, which was undoubtedly viewed as peripheral to civilized Europe, the belle èpoque presaged a whole range of radical changes at cultural, political and social levels. These innovations brought this “Oriental” and Byzantine country closer to European reality, transforming that which during previous decades had been under the Ottoman influence. At the turn of the twentieth century, western European fashion rapidly spread to Romania. At the same time, this geographical extension was accompanied by a social enlargement that “threw” fashion out of the

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restricted circles of the aristocracy and allowed it to be exported and imported along with new ideas of national independence, freedom and emancipation, as part of an intensive process of regeneration, renewal and democratization. This period of serenity was rich with new trends and suggestions coming from abroad and profoundly changed the reality of the big Romanian cities at the end of the “long nineteenth century.” The outbreak of the Balkan Wars and of the Great War, which Romania entered in 1913 and 1916 respectively, brought an end to this phase of expansion. Although social life was not completely abandoned by the citizens of Bucharest, during the conflict the atmosphere was very different. All families had at least one of their members fighting at the front; social events did not totally disappear, but were significantly reduced. When Bucharest was occupied by German forces (1916–18), life changed once and for all and the city was obliged to wake up after the long age of the belle èpoque and deal with the consequences of war. Although in a particular way, in relation to fashion and style, this turn had already been announced by Moda úic ilustrată, on December 10, 1914, with an article that recalled Franz von Jessen’s text and the Berlinske Tidende. On these pages, a strange but meaningful episode was reported. A journalist got into a wagon in the Paris metro and sat between a wounded officer and two ladies. The women were intently discussing their toilettes and one of them complained that she was wearing the same style of hat as the previous spring. Then, both started to talk about the colors, models and tendencies of the season to come. The officer was evidently disturbed by this discussion, he got up and announced to the ladies his realistic, but sad prophecy: black, the color of mourning, was to be the fashionable color of the forthcoming season.

Bibliography Bulei, Ion. 2005. ViaĠa în vremea lui Carol I. Bucharest: Editura Tritonic. Costescu, George. 1944. Bucureútii Vechiului Regat. Bucharest: Universul. Doaga, Aurelia. 1980. Ii úi Cămăúi Româneúti. Bucharest: Tehnica. Enachescu Cantemir, Alexandria. 1971. Portul Popular Românesc. Bucharest: Editura Meridane. Fulga, Ligia. 2003. The Textile Heritage. Brasov: Muzeul de Etnografie. Hobsbawm, Eric. 1995. Age of Extremes. The Short Twentieth Century. 1914–1991. London: Abacus. Hoare, Katharin L. 1910. The Art of Tatting. London: Longmans. Iorga, Nicolae. 1911. Femeile în viaĠa neamului nostru. Chipure, datine, fapte, marturii. Bucharest.

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Lup‫܈‬an, Elena. 2006. Portul popular. Bucharest: Editura Didactică ‫܈‬i Pedagogică. Motta,Giuseppe. 2004. Viaggiando nelle terre romene. Italiani ed europei nei principati (secc.XVI-XIX). Viterbo: Sette città. —. 2008. “La città eterna e gli intellettuali romeni tra Otto e Novecento.” In Intellettuali romeni a Roma, edited by C. Roman. Rome: Istituto nazionale di studi romani. Petrescu, Paul, and Elena Secoúan. 1985. Romanian Folk Costume. Bucharest: Editura Meridiane. Potra, George. 1981. Din Bucureútii de altădată. Bucharest: Editura ùtiinĠifică úi Enciclopedică. Tancred Banateanu, Elena Zlotea. 1977. Romania: From the Thesauras of the Traditional Popular Costume. Bucharest: Editure Sport-Turism. Topor, Claudiu-Lucian. “Mondanità bucarestine in tempo di guerra. Frammenti di vita sociale tra la campagna di Bulgaria (1913) e la Grande Guerra (1916).” In Le Guerre Balcaniche e la fine del “Secolo Lungo, edited by Giuseppe Motta, 195–208. Rome: Nuova Cultura.

THE DECLINE OF THE HABSBURG EMPIRE THROUGH ITS FASHION CESARE LA MANTIA

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Dual Monarchy was, more so than in the previous century, an “empire on alert.” The defeat it suffered in 1866 at the hands of the emerging power of Prussia confined it to the background of the Germanic world, exacerbating tensions with the Hungarian part of the empire and spurring Vienna towards signing the Ausgleich with Budapest from which the Austro-Hungarian Empire was born (Bérenger 1990, 640–54). Complicated relations with Hungary hampered imperial politics and added to the tensions stemming from the claims of many nationalities residing in the empire and from increasing numbers of ordinary people slowly, but steadily, entering the political scene. Many forces were facing each other and, in a simplified view, they could be divided into the Crown and those who identified with it, accepting the conservatism of Emperor Franz Joseph against a combination of forces, often generic and confused, who challenged the emperor with different levels of intensity depending on their nationality, social status, culture or historical relationship to the dynasty. These forces had their destabilizing potential increased by a favorable international context, until they oversaw the collapse of this world described by Magris as “a familiar ground, held together by prudence, conservative scepticism, the art of compromise, but also the art of living” (Magris 1986, 145). The signs of this change in direction, possible crisis, and of the need for change, can be identified by studying fashion—considering clothing not only as a way to cover the body, but also as a way to communicate with others. As means to indicate social background, it often became a distinctive sign of a person’s ideas and national identity. In this way, fashion takes on a broader meaning becoming an important part of a multifaceted “way of life,” of different lifestyles, and an instrument with which to understand a specific historical period. However, the information provided by fashion needs to be analyzed and interpreted; a task that should have been carried out, in our case, by the government and the

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emperor. The reference point of our brief analysis is the fashion of Viennese society; namely, that part that was economically able to choose their own clothing and, with their lifestyle, influence the rest of the empire. Vienna was the political and administrative capital of a multinational empire, its cultural center, where the main symbols of power were asserted and contested, and where love of the pleasures of life, often concealed by a shroud of hypocrisy, contrradicted a rigid and short-sighted conservatism. The ancient Roman Vindobona was the main city of a state that according to Karl Kraus was “an experimental laboratory for the end of the world” (Kraus 1914, 2). It constantly had moments of crisis and a strained relationship with minorities, which was accentuated by an ideological disorientation. Franz Joseph’s neo-absolutism was strengthened by economic growth that changed the balance of a mostly rural society through the development of new industrial areas (Budapest) and increased development in regions where industries were already in place (Bohemia, Lower Austria, Upper Silesia). At the beginning of the twentieth century, Vienna saw its population grow and by 1910 it had more than two million inhabitants. It was a very lively cultural center whose wealthy society enjoyed the final years of the belle époque, while in the suburbs of the city, immigrants streamed in from the countryside and from the poorer areas of the empire. The bohemian, Gustav Mahler, was leading the Opera and the Hungarian, Ferenc (Franz) Lehár, composed the operetta Die Iustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), which premiered on December 30, 1905, at the Theater an der Wien, creating a scandal with its Parisian cancan. The Viennese public, perhaps thanks to the cancan and the ambiguous plot, decided it was a great success, appreciating the joy in life shown by Danilo and the beautiful widow Anna. The renovated downtown was a pleasant setting for a stroll or for eating at the crowded restaurants after an evening at the opera. Electric trams were replacing horse drawn ones. Life was apparently uneventful in the Dual Monarchy and the emperor seemed to have absorbed the blow of the suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf and his lover. The period experienced before the First World War was defined by Zweig as “the golden age of security…” (Zweig 1994), in which everything seemed to be destined to last forever thanks to the state. The climate of stability and safety encouraged changes in Viennese fashion. Changes brought about, above all, by an economic expansion that was even able to overcome the negative effects of the Vienna stock exchange crash in 1873 and the end of the Gründerzeit, when the Central European bourgeoisie grew stronger and tried to establish themselves as a cultural and political force. Great industrial empires linked to the development of coal, steel and related industries were set up in this age. Cisleithania

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provided manufactured goods, while Hungary provided agricultural products; farming production and processing amounted to a potential market of 40 million inhabitants. The rich bourgeoisie of manufacturing and finance began to replace the old landed aristocracy, starting to upset the social and political balance of a state in which the neo-absolutist monarch did not know or did not want to interpret the signs of change. The difference between the old ruling class and the one who aspired to replace it was also manifested in the way they dressed. The contrast was visible and can be underlined by comparing their different modes of dress. The inspiration for the new social class was no longer the court. In men’s fashion, rich, colorful fabrics were replaced by more sober lines in dark tones. The colored stocking disappeared and the trousers became longer. Liveries were replaced by jackets. Uniformity was normalized: displaying elegance was used to communicate information on the status of those who were wearing the clothes and the focus moved onto accessories and details. The jacket did not cover everything, but under it, with a white and starched collar, the shirt was visible. The perfect cut of a dress was already a sign of elegance and indicative of social status, as well as the polished shoes, the cap and the stick. This non-ostentation of luxury became a manifestation of sobriety, indicating the wealth of the new social class. The European bourgeoisie, including the Hapsburg one, displayed a male elegance without exceptions. The model of a jacket and long pants had taken over. From that moment on, there would only be variations on this well-defined theme. Unlike men’s clothing, for those who could afford it, women’s clothing flaunted membership of the new aristocracy of wealth. Women were prepared to suffer, wearing corsets and crinolines, to have the hourglass shape that was so fashionable from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards. Women in the late nineteenth century and the first decade of the following century had the cumbersome and uncomfortable task of showing their husband’s social status through what they were wearing. Viennese women, aristocratic or bourgeois, and the Court itself were under the influence of Parisian taste—the haute couture of the English tailor of Empress Eugenia, wife of Napoleon III, Charles Frederick Worth (1825–95). He signed his unique clothing and imposed on his clientele models from which to choose without much autonomy. The relationship between tailor and customer had been changing and it was now the latter who had to adapt her ideas to those of her stylist. Paris was the ideal environment for artistic experiments. The pieces created by Leon Bakst (1866–1924) for the Scheherazade ballet influenced the work of Poiret who, full of admiration for some of the Viennese fashion trends, used them in his Parisian fashion-house. Following a long stay in the

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imperial capital, he decided, after visiting the section devoted to Viennese fashion at the world exposition in Rome in 1912, and after many visits to the Wiener Werkstätte, to take a personal interpretation of the Biedermeier Romantic style, typical of the Hapsburg and German small and medium bourgeoisie, to Paris. The French couturier drew inspiration from the ideas, suggestions, and new horizons of the Viennese “Secession” movement. The importance of the changes that were taking place in Hapsburg society and especially, in Viennese society, were barely perceived by the ever older and increasingly aloof monarch. The members of the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy who attended the Benda-D’Ora photo studio accepted Dora Kallmus’ innovative style, who was better known by the stage name Madame D’Ora; her clients were exposed to ideas that challenged the apparent immobility of the empire. The emperor had been committed to the improvement of the capital. With the imperial rescript of December 25, 1857, he ordered the destruction of the old fortifications so that the construction of the Ringstraße could begin. This future stage for promenading, which would become a meeting point for all in Vienna, put on display the private buildings of the rich bourgeoisie and those public ones built with part of the 220 million guldens subscribed by private individuals to the treasury for the purchase of the land immediately outside the city walls. In the renovated capital, the nouveaux riches and the old aristocracy found a physical location to meet and to do business together. The image of the belle époque given by the Viennese afternoon stroll in Ringstraße should be contrasted with the beginning of a change in the political mentality, which had generally been tolerant, in the emergence of the PanGermanism movement of Georg von Schönerer and the introduction of violence as a means of expression. Clothing could also lend itself to less optimistic interpretations. Officers wore uniforms equipped with an aristocratic arrogance at dances and other social occasions. This may have been useful in diverting attention away from their low wages, which lead them to try to marry well and get a fat dowry from the daughters of the despised bourgeois businessmen; the ladies were dressed in clothes incorporating whale-bone corsets and crinoline. An opulent appearance, false and devoid of functionality was seemingly mirrored in the structure of the city, whose public life appeared to be one of constant theatricality. The theatre provided the Viennese with models and inspiration for clothing. The actors of the Burgtheater were often regarded as the models for a style of life inspired by and then reinterpreted from the salons of an aristocracy that did not realize their time as dominant class was coming to an end. Centuries of power had rendered the leaders of the Royal House

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short-sighted and caused them to underestimate social phenomena such as child prostitution, rural to urban migration, and, especially, the set of cultural items and suggestions known as the Viennese Secession. The various forms of the cultural avant-garde clashed with the ideas of the conservatives in literary cafés, the Griensteidl for example; these same conservatives organized public petitions against Klimt’s paintings. The Viennese Secession was the movement that signaled a break from the past. It developed between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. In the same period, the Viennese enjoyed a substantial international reputation with regard to their good taste and elegance. The women of the middle and upper classes, who often bought their clothes in large department stores, such as Herzmansky and Gerngros, discussed their lack of rights and wished, without great success, to gain them. Many joined the feminist groups that were created and one of them, linked to the movement of Secession, began to demand fashion reform in Vienna towards the end of the nineteenth century. Within feminist movements of the second half of the twentieth century, the most disputed garment was the bra; at the end of the nineteenth century the terrible corset was contested, being considered the primary symbol of the subordinate role and submission of women to men. Not everyone felt the same way. The criminalization of the corset was condemned by those who accused the reformers of having forgotten that fashion was based on vanity and eroticism. It should be noted that the corset was also worn by men, in particular, by officers, who wished to appear more attractive. In the early years of the twentieth century this garment disappeared almost completely from men and women’s clothing and wearing it would have marked one out as provincial. The demand for reform of women’s clothing and the introduction of more comfortable garments, with vivid colors, that were more sympathetic to the true shape of the female body was perhaps the strongest indicator of the forces of change in the Hapsburg Empire. The women caught on camera by Kallmus, belonging to the aristocracy or the high bourgeoisie, wore elegant and refined clothing. Klimt himself, perhaps the leading figure of the Viennese Secession, was interested in everything connected to the reform of women’s clothing and was very much influenced by his partner, Emilie Floge, who owned, with her two sisters, a well-known fashion store and was a graduate of the School for Applied Arts. The context was that of the looming outbreak of World War I and problems of foreign politics were given greater weight in the imperial and royal government than the requests of a group of intellectuals and feminists. Demands to change women’s fashion were based on a request to recognize the new roles of women in the worlds of sport, work,

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and the arts. The architect, Adolf Loos, author of a manifesto on women’s fashion and Alfred Roller, a fashion and costume designer for the Vienna State Opera, also supported these ideas. Women were viewed through the twofold lens of homemaker and worker, and they sought to reverse their relationship with their clothing. No longer was clothing to be a function of fashion, but rather it should be appropriate to their needs in age, appearance, and work. The General Austrian Woman’s Association, which proposed equality of rights between men and women, supported this view. Attempts to change women’s fashion had positive results, but their political significance was belittled by the force of other movements the ideas of which were spreading and speaking to the fears and desires of a greater part of the population. The anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism of the Pan-Germanism party of Georg von Schönerer and the anti-Semitic populism of Karl Lueger sought to highlight a stark contrast with, often Jewish, bourgeois liberalism. Furthermore, the populist current attempted to offer a solution to the fears of the low and middle classes against the dangers they sought to portray in Jewish financial capitalism. Those who lived in the poor working class houses on the outskirts found their reference point in the political program of Victor Adler’s social democrats. Viennese society prior to the war was in turmoil and, perhaps, undergoing too many changes, confusing a ruling class unable to understand what that society really needed.

Bibliography Belfanti, Carlo M. 2008. Civiltà della moda. Bologna: Il Mulino Beller, Steven .2006. A concise History of Austria, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bérenger, Jean. 1999. Histoire de l’empire des Habsbourg (1273-1918). Paris: Fayard. Black, Anderson J. 1975. A history of fashion. London: Orbis. Boyer, John W. 1986. “The End of an Old Regime:Visions of Political Reform in Late Imperial Austria.” Journal of Modern History 58 (1): 159–93. Healy, Maureen. 2004. Vienna and the Fall of the Hapsburg Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Houze, Rebecca. 2001. “Fashionable Reform Dress and the Invention of “Style” in Fin-de-siècle Vienna.” Fashion Theory: The journal of Dress, Body & Culture 5 (1): 29–56. Johnson, Hannah E. 2012. “Stylists of the Beautiful Life: Secession Artists and Fashion in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna.” Constructing the Past 13(1):

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Article 3. Kraus, Karl. 1914. “Versuchsstation des Weltuntergangs, in Die Fackel.” Nr 400-403. Wien, 10.VII.1914, p.2. Kehlmann, Ursula. 1981. “The Wiener Werkstätte.” In The Imperial Style:Fashions of the Hapsburg Era. New York: Rizzoli. Lothar, Ernest. 2015. La Melodia di Vienna. Rome: Edizioni e/o. MacMillan, Margaret. 2013. The War That Ended Peace. London: Profile Book. Magris, Claudio.1985. Danubio. Milan: Garzanti. Morini, Enrica. 2006. Storia della moda (XVIII-XX). Milan: Skira. Riello, Giorgio. 2012. La moda:una storia dal Medioevo a oggi. RomeBari: Laterza. Seeling, Charlotte. 2000. Moda il secolo degli stilisti. Köln: Könemam. Schorske, Carl E. 2004. Vienna fin de siècle. La culla della cultura mitteleuropea. Milan: Bompiani. Wagener, Mary L. 1989–1990. “Fashion and Feminism in “Fin de Siècle” Vienna.” Woman’s Art Journal 10 (2): 29–33. Zweig, Stefan. 1994. Il mondo di ieri. Milan: Mondadori.

CHAPTER THREE SOVIET FASHION

LA MAISON MOSCOU: SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON FASHION IN THE SOVIET UNION ANDREA GIANNOTTI

Several generations of scholars have analyzed the history of the Soviet Union and almost every aspect has been taken into consideration. But there are still some themes, such as fashion, that offer an opportunity for further reflection and historical analysis. A true expression of the spirit of an era, fashion marks different phases in the political and social life of every country. In this sense the Soviet Union is no exception and specific insights can be provided by analyzing such things as the civilian uniforms worn by teachers, railway workers, and diplomats.

Fashion in the USSR Mirroring the history of the nation, the fashion and costumes of the USSR have followed its different stages, content and symbols. The first period came immediately after the revolution (1917–27); it was followed by the long Stalinist era; then the era of Khrushchov; then the one of “realized socialism” (known in the West as the “era of stagnation”); and finally Perestroika. The years of Stalin’s rule have left the deepest marks and, in some respects, its consequences are still perceptible. With the October Revolution, it would be improper to speak of a “revolutionary fashion” because the Bolsheviks in 1917–18 conceived fashion only as a material detail dictated by the need to cover oneself. They deplored any consideration of a stylistic or decorative nature, even more so since this would mark differences between citizens. It is clear that such a radical refusal of fashion hid an implicit recognition of its power. The utopian outbursts and the constructivist obsession of those years are also reflected in clothing; it was advocated that everyone should be judged on the basis of their achievements and not on their looks. Dress had to be basic, functional, simple and hygienic; cuts, fabrics and even colors were the subject of detailed studies by artists and

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designers, such as Varvara Fedorovna Stepanova and Lyubov Sergeevna Popova, who abolished the traditional Russian floral motifs. The result was a shapeless robe, known as prozodezhda or “production clothing,” which was not looked on with favor by the workers of textile factories, who judged it too difficult to realize, and by the public, who showed little appreciation for the cut and the modern geometric designs. The failure of this “sartorial constructivism” became even clearer with the New Economic Policy when the re-introduction of some elements of a market economy led to the emergence of a new middle class whose tastes turned towards Western models, especially French. Radical change, however, came with Stalin. With the abandonment of the prospect of an imminent world revolution, the Soviet government adopted the theory of “socialism in one country” focusing on what Lazar Moiseevich Kaganovich called the “struggle for the new man, and for a socialist society”; a society in which the best, due to their talents, working ability, political reliability and loyalty to Stalin would benefit from tangible material rewards. According to the Stalinist motto—“to live is to become more beautiful companions! Life has become merrier!”—a new course was inaugurated in which, refusing any constructivist idea, feminine elegance and good manners was marked as a must in order to show the world that the USSR did not have any reason to envy the West. The Rabotniza (Worker) and Krestyanka (Peasant) magazines began to publish editorials, accompanied by illustrations, that suggested the appropriate taste for every occasion, from afternoon tea to an evening at the theater. Featuring classical European fashion, openly inspired by Coco Chanel’s models, Stalinist style combined motifs of Russian tradition with elements of modern Hollywood glamour and was formally celebrated with the inauguration of the Moscow House of Fashion in 1934. To understand this new Soviet phase, we can quote the words of the great fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who attended the inaugural parade: “I thought that the clothes of the working class had to be simple and practical, instead I saw a galaxy of chiffon, folds and frills.” The direction of the House of Fashion was given to Nadezhda Sergeevna Makarova; Nadezhda Petrovna Lamanova, one of the greatest fashion designers at the time of the tsars and now committed to dressing the ladies of the nomenklatura, was called in as an artistic consultant. In addition to “mundane fashion,” the years of Stalin also saw a tendency towards the progressive militarization of the country, a phenomenon that peaked during and after the Second World War and which resulted in the introduction of uniforms for a variety of civil professions. In addition to the data relating to clothing, it should be noted that the military discipline

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imposed in 1941 was maintained after the conflict until Stalin’s death in 1953. The years of the thaw did not lead to any great change in clothing. The classics continued to be favored and Chanel remained the admired model of a sophisticated, simple and timeless elegance—considered compatible with socialist moral values. It must be said that economic conditions did not allow a wide diffusion of the finest clothes and, although there was an ever-deepening gap between the capital and the rest of the country, in the 1960s, the differences between Moscow and the major cities of the West had become much greater. The big breakthrough appeared in the late 1950s and continued unstoppably until 1991. It was the result of the growing circulation of information and the tendency to idolize Westernmade products, fashion and much more. Despite the official rhetoric, it became apparent that many Soviet products were nothing but an imitation of European or American goods, and often of lower quality, a fact that fostered a thriving black market of clothes, accessories and anything else from western European countries. Obviously, fashion did not cause the end of the USSR, however, it clearly symbolized its decline and highlighted the creeping cultural inferiority complex toward the West that began in the late 1950s and exploded with Perestroika, leading, in just a few years, to a crisis in the system.

The uniform of the Pioneers Among all the political organizations born in the shadow of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the Young Pioneers enjoyed the greatest international resonance. The movement, which was for children aged from 9–10 to 14–15, soon assumed such a reputation that it was systematically created, with the same name, by socialist parties in the German Democratic Republic, Bulgaria, Angola, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, North Korea, Yugoslavia, and Congo (Zaire). Throngs of children were preparing to achieve “the high and pure title of party members,” as Stalin said during his speech at the funeral of Lenin, emulating the Young Pioneer Trofimovich Pavlik Morozov. This child martyr, killed by his relatives for having denounced his father and accusing him of leniency towards the kulaks, had been celebrated by Maksim Gorky and the whole of the USSR. The original organization of the Young Pioneers was founded on May 19, 1922, and named firstly after Spartacus and then Lenin, after his death in 1924. Young people of between ten and fifteen years of age could join it. By 1970, the Vsesojuznaja Pionerskaja Organizazija (VPO) imeni V.I. Lenina had reached 25 million members. In

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addition to social, recreational and educational activities for the pioneers, the organization actively participated in political events, both of the party and of the Komsomol, the Union of Young Communists. There was no congress or conference without pioneer parades, choirs and lavish choreography and the members would present or recite some texts. Television pictures, newspapers and stamps helped, along with posters, to spread the images of these children raised under socialism and therefore deemed future pure communists. These young participants, with white shirts and red handkerchiefs around their necks, also became known to the Western public. On ordinary days, their uniform was the same as the one worn at school, but adorned with the VPO symbols of red tie and pin. On solemn occasions—events of the CPSU, ceremonies, and meetings with foreign delegations etc.—the uniform was embellished with a garrison cap, a white shirt with gold buttons and emblems on the sleeves, a belt with a gold buckle, blue trousers and dark shoes. For girls, in addition to the shirt, the uniform consisted of a blue skirt, a white sweater and white shoes. The wearing of shorts represented an exception, since, in the USSR, these remained reserved for sportsmen. Of all the symbols of the pioneers, the most famous one is the red neckerchief the three corners of which represented the indissoluble union of three generations: octoberists, komsomoltsy and pioneers. The color could vary between different shades of red, on occasion, almost tending towards orange. Initially the neckerchief was not knotted, but had a brooch decorated with the emblem of the VPO, the hammer and sickle against a background of flame and crowned by the motto “vsegda gotov!” i.e. “Always ready!” A similar motto was used by the pioneers of the GDR—“Sei bereit!” Under the flame, five wooden logs at the base of the three flames of fire symbolized the five continents and the Third International—the flame of revolution would spread throughout the world. Production difficulties with the clip led to it being replaced with two nodes, making the left-hand side longer. In addition to the neckerchief another emblem of the pioneers was the brooch. Over time, different metal variants were issued using the images of the sickle, hammer and flame, and later, the image of Lenin’s mausoleum was added. After 1942, because of the war, everyone was invited to personally provide the emblem, based on available materials, so long as the color was red—a red five-pointed star and the flame and motto were generally included. After the Organization of Pioneers was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1962, and until the end of the USSR, the badge had the shape of a red five-pointed star with the image of Lenin, the motto and a fire with three flames.

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The school uniform With the advent of the revolution, the tsarist school uniform was singled out as a symbol of the bourgeois social hierarchy—similar to the attitude of the Jacobins towards the powdered wigs of the Ancien Regime. This ideological basis led the new revolutionary government to abolish all dress codes in Soviet schools, but the situation changed with the consolidation of Stalin’s power. With collectivization and the building of socialism all experimentation was abandoned and a more staid style was imposed. In fashion, as in the visual arts, film and literature, the Soviet Union of the 1930s and 1940s was marked by a combination of austerity and classicism; the exaltation of revolutionary themes and a recovery of elements of the old order. In addition to satisfying the tastes of the Kremlin’s leaders, the Stalinist imperial style had an important propaganda function. It conveyed to the outside world—to the hostile countries besieging the socialist domain and those oppressed countries that awaited their inevitable revolutionary liberation—an image of a disciplined and victorious Soviet people who were capable of reaching the highest goals. This approach involved, of course, the school system and in a short time uniforms were reintroduced. They were brown in color: pants and jackets with folded collars for boys; dresses with aprons, which were black for everyday wear and white for solemn occasions, and white bows for girls. There were no exceptions and the provisions on women’s hairstyles were equally rigid: only braids with bows were allowed. This was in accordance with an extremely strict morality, which also led, between 1943 and 1954, to single sex classes. Both the colors and cut of the uniforms recalled, unequivocally, the tsarist period; this remained so until 1962. In September of that year, the male models were stripped of their most markedly military elements—introduced in 1948 at the peak of the nation’s militarization: caps with emblems, belts with buckles, and a military-style shirt. The new outfit was of mixed gray wool with pants, a jacket with three black plastic buttons, and a white shirt; the female version remained unchanged. During the 1970s, additional changes were made in regards to the cut of the jacket, which took a similar form to the jeans, then widespread in the West, and the color of the fabrics changed from brown to blue. The sun, with an open book, and the symbol of the atom were depicted on the sleeve. The pioneers and young communists continued to wear the signs of their respective organizations on their uniforms until this was banned in 1990–91. From the middle of the 1980s onwards, control over the rules for school clothing became progressively less severe and, given the very low price of school uniforms, in some regions the larger sizes ended up being

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bought by adults who could no longer afford regular clothes. The scholar dress code ended with the end of the USSR, but the practice of uniforms, or at least of a certain uniformity in clothing, remains in the Russian school system, especially in the early grades. This trend was maintained in the Russian Federation and has even started to increase in recent years.

The diplomatic uniform Fashion also had an important political and symbolic meaning in the new Soviet Russia. After a very early stage of iconoclasm and obsessive elimination of every element that recalled the tsarist regime—not just titles and noble powers, but all things connected to the hierarchy, including uniforms—the revolutionary thrill was replaced by a much more controlled approach. To build socialism required a colossal and unprecedented effort to industrialize (this was not done in the way thought of by Marx and Engels, that is, with the bourgeois governments falling in succession under the impetus of an unstoppable revolutionary domino effect; the Soviet Union was alone on its path to socialism). The Soviet Union saw itself as under attack from counter-revolutionary forces and capitalist powers; it now had to live with other nations by coming to terms with almost total isolation. Great sacrifice, planning, and the proper tools were needed in order to handle a difficult context in international relations, to implement an unprecedented domestic economic transformation, and to create officials who were able to realize the present and future purposes of the Soviet Union and the socialist cause. The climate of mobilization took on a quasimilitary character and this was manifested in the restoration of the hierarchy, the establishment of a wide range of knightly decorations and orders, and, in particular, in the recovery of the uniform. For almost all categories the introduction of uniforms took place under Stalinist leadership. This had already been discussed for the professional category of the diplomats. Those who represented the country abroad were particularly anxious to highlight their difference to bourgeois delegates, starting with their wardrobe. As witnessed by the diplomatic correspondence of the early 1920s, Soviet ambassadors would never wear a top hat and tails. The People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs had the problem of finding an alternative. In April 1924, Georgy Chicherin wrote a missive to the head of the General Staff of the Red Army, Pavel Pavlovich Lebedev, stating that according to the ceremonial in force, the head of Protocol, Dmitry Timofeevich Florinskij, should accompany foreign ambassadors at the Kremlin wearing a top hat. Considering such an option totally

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inappropriate for a Bolshevik, but also recognizing the need not to offend foreign representatives, Chicherin asked for Florinskij to be given a military function that allowed him to wear a military uniform and overcome this issue. In November of the same year, Florinskij was placed in the reserve of the Red Army General Staff. This problem was also taken into consideration in a message of January 1930 by the Soviet ambassador in London, Grigory Yakovlevich Sokolnikov, who stated that the adoption of a uniform for diplomats would well symbolize their status as combatants in the war for global revolution against the capitalist world and would induce every diplomat to keep that in mind. For the introduction of a diplomatic uniform, however, it was necessary to wait for the Second World War and, more precisely, for the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 28, 1943. This provision defined the diplomatic ranks as follows: ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary; envoy (Poslannik) extraordinary and plenipotentiary of I and II class; counselor of I and II class; first secretary of I and II class; second secretary of I and II class; third secretary and attaché. This decree was followed on the same day by a directive of the Council of the People’s Commissioners of the USSR that introduced for the officials of the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs and diplomats in office, uniforms in two styles: ordinary, black, or parade, gray. Both included: coat, jacket and trousers, shirt, tie, vest, shoes, gloves and hat or fur hat. Functions and degrees were indicated by epaulettes. Those of the officers of the Commissariat (who assumed the ministry designation in 1946) were in silver thread with a gold rim. On the epaulettes of the ambassadors there was one large golden star; on those of the envoys extraordinary and plenipotentiaries, three or four smaller stars; the counselors had one or two stars; the diplomats of lower ranks were provided with straps with strips of light-colored thread; and for the attaché one strip and two small stars were worn. As for the parade uniforms, they were in silk and other fine fabrics and the right to wear them was reserved for the executives of the ministry. According to the Directive of June 6, 1948, at the headquarters of Smolenskaya Square, some pieces had to be kept for unforeseen needs. There are interesting provisions urging officials and diplomats to keep their behavior particularly dignified when they wore the uniform on the streets, in public places and on city transportation, refraining from, among other things, attending markets and flea markets and from carrying bags or sacks. The ordinary uniform remained in force until 1954 and the parade uniform was maintained only for ambassadors and extraordinary and plenipotentiary envoys, but the straps with blue badges were replaced by the USSR emblem and star. Starting from 1955, ambassadors working in warm

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countries were allowed to substitute the parade uniform with one of lightweight fabric. From then on there were no changes until 1991. With the fall of the USSR, though never formally abolished, Russian ambassadors ceased to wear uniforms until a resolution of the Russian government dated November 17, 2001, formally restored them for the two highest diplomatic degrees on certain solemn occasions.

The railway uniform Another category of interesting uniforms are those of the zheleznodorozhniki, i.e. the employees of the railway. The introduction of the railway in Russia dates back to the 1830s and it immediately became one of the key elements of the political and economic history of the nation. The shape and dimensions of the country made the locomotive, more than in any other place, a fundamental means of communication, not only for the transport of goods and troops, but also to physically build a state structure that extended through nine time zones and stretched from the Hapsburg Empire to Japan. The great work of constructing the railroads towards the Caucasus and Central Asia and the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway underline the link between Russia and the railway—a relationship that did not disappear after the revolution. From the armored and heavily armed convoys of the Red Army during the Civil War, to the “culture trains” sent through the vast Russian countryside to teach literacy and politically educate the peasant masses, and the epic saga of the BAM (Baikalo-Amurskaya Magistral, built by hundreds of thousands of Komsomol volunteers between 1971 and 1984 to join Lake Baikal and the Amur River), the railroad held a special place in the Russian development and imaginary. Precisely because of the importance of rail transport for Russia, considerable attention was paid to the uniforms of its workers. Compared to the pre-revolutionary period, the first major change dates to May 28, 1932 and Directive 403/Z of the People’s Commissariat for Communications (NKPS). The text included the introduction of a uniform with a single-breasted jacket and a folded collar on which badges with degrees were pinned in military style, a cap, pants, a coat, a belt buckle and boots. Different tasks were indicated by the color of the edge of the collar patch and headgear: green for signals workers, blue for traction workers, yellow for telegraph operators, purple for general services. To indicate the degree, there were one to four stars on the collar patches, with diamond shapes or stripes and topped by a hammer and a wrench. This uniform remained in force until September 4, 1943, when, at the height of

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World War II, a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet ordered the modification of military uniforms and those of the ministry’s employees. Stylistic elements of the last tsarist period were reintroduced, partly to give a clear perception that the Soviet Union represented the successor to the Russian Empire. Rail workers, like the rest of the country, were militarized and the new uniform—introduced by Directive 711/ Z of the People’s Commissariat for Communications on September 13, 1943— was, among the civilian ones, the most similar to the Red Army uniform. Even the new hierarchy of the railway sector echoed the military, for example, in the titles of “administrative director general, third class,” “director lieutenant colonel of layout and construction,” “technical lieutenant for traction,” and “communication technician, second class.” The regular staff was classified simply as “employees of railway transportation.” The ranks were assigned for life and could be revoked only by a decision of the court and, in the case of leaders, a government decree was also necessary. The provision signed by the Stalinist administrator Kaganovich, in addition to the ranks, regulated in every detail career advancement, insignia and uniforms. Straps were introduced for which the law specified the length—between 13.5 and 15.5 cm—and width—6 cm for the highest officials, 5.5 cm for high and medium ranks—and great attention was dedicated to the materials, whether hard or soft, to the insignia of the uniforms and those of overcoats and, again, for those of workers with technical tasks. The symbols on the insignia revealed the function of the workers: the locomotive for those involved in traction; the railway wagon for those in transportation; the railway bridge for track and construction; and the hammer and sickle in a five-pointed ruby star with French key for administrative officials. For high and medium ranks, emblems and badges were made of metal, while for lower ranks they were of tin. The uniform also had two variants, parade and ordinary, for winter and summer seasons. Although Kaganovich had planned to issue the parade uniform to all employees, in practice they were guaranteed only for generals, employees of trains with sleeping cars and to some officials of the NKPS and other apparatchiki with ceremonial duties. The consequence was that the majority of workers, on the occasion of solemn events, wore their light summer uniform. The winter version was of a dark fabric, almost raven, with the exception of those involved in traction, for which a less refined black was used. The summer outfit was of light brown or beige, sometimes with grayish hues. For the accompanying staff and the passenger service, jackets could be white. For teams in charge of locomotives a double-breasted leather jacket was used, of “tank driver” or “commissioner” cut, and a leather coat for the foreman.

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The harsh conditions caused by the German invasion affected the supplies to the railway system and in several cases employees were given Red Army uniforms with the insignia of the railway service. In ordinary conditions, the complete outfit for high and medium ranks included: a dark blue hat with black band to wear with the coat; a parade uniform with a dark blue jacket; a light brown hat with black band to wear with the ordinary light brown summer coat; a bearskin black astrakhan (for high ranks); a double-breasted dark blue coat; a summer coat (for high ranks only); a uniform with a double-breasted dark blue jacket; classic cut dark blue trousers for the parade uniform; a dark blue winter jacket; a light brown summer coat; light brown classic cut pants for the summer uniform; a white summer jacket; shiny black shoes; a belt. For lower ranks and labourers, the outfit included: a dark blue hat with black band; a light brown hat with black band; a black lambswool fur hat; a dark blue double-breasted coat; a single-breasted dark blue parade uniform; dark blue pants; a jacket of gray cotton; pants of gray cotton; a black leather belt; leather boots. As for female staff, the uniform was very similar to the male one with the difference that jackets, overcoats and coats were buttoned on the left side, and, instead of trousers and hat, women wore skirts and a side cap, with a fur hat for winter. For footwear, female employees wore, like women in the Red Army, black shoes with low heels in the English style or even boots. Parade uniforms for high and medium ranks were of dark blue merino wool, while for low ranks and low-skilled employees they were of dark blue fabric. The lining of the uniforms of the generals of the railway was black silk, while for all others it was black satin. The uniform of generals had a double-breasted jacket with six buttons of 22 mm, not very different from that of naval admirals, while those of high and average ranks were similar in cut, but with two rows of five buttons of 20 mm decorated with the wrench and crossed hammer. This military style remained in use until 1955, when, with the goal of restoring a more civilian style, epaulettes were eliminated and the insignia of 1932 was re-adopted. Different sectors were identified by the color of the edges of the buttonholes. For the rest, the uniforms did not undergo major changes: the boots for the lower ranks were changed and the star was removed from the hat leaving only the technical symbols of the hammer and wrench. The overcoat of lower ranks was redesigned in black with two breast pockets and five metal buttons with the technical emblem. The final changes in the Soviet period were introduced on March 19, 1985, with Directive 13Z of the Ministry of Railways. The new rules provided a list for railway service employees’ outfits and new signs. The

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uniform included: a dark blue baize coat complete with jacket and pants; a waterproof; a shirt; a hat and a cap; black shoes; and a necktie. For the summer period, all employees could wear a jacket and pants—or skirts for women—of combed, mixed, dark blue wool. The railway emblem—the hammer and wrench—was included both on the headgear and on the sleeve of the jackets. The contemporary age has been celebrated as “the age of fashion” and while it is true that globalization has imposed trends on a global level, it is also true that the entire history of civilization has been marked by a strong tendency to standardize clothing, making it a clear expression of the Zeitgeist (spirit of the time). Even in countries where, as in the case of the Soviet Union, for ideological reasons attempts were made to cancel fashion as the manifestation of a corrupt society, it eventually prevailed over any revolutionary tendency and followed the story of the country. The “socialist style” proved to be the fruit of an original reworking of an antithetical model that translated political and ideological choices into fabrics, colors and symbols.

Bibliography Biagini, Antonello, and Francesco Guida. 1997. Mezzo secolo di socialismo reale. L’Europa centro-orientale dal secondo conflitto mondiale all’era postcomunista. Turin: Giappichelli. Bartlett, Djurdja. 2010. FashionEast: The Spectre that Haunted Socialism. Cambridge: the MIT Press. Heyman, Stephen. 2010. “Comrade, that suit is so Chanel.” New York Times Style Magazine, December 9. Khoroshevsky, Andrei. 2009. 100 znamenitykh simvolov sovetskoi epokhi. Moscow: Folio. Krivoruchenko, Vladimir. 1985. Istoriya Vsesoyuznoi pionerskoi organizatsii im. V.I. Lenina v khronike dat i sobytij. Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya. K istorii formennoi odezhdy MID Rossii. 2007. Moscow: MID RF. Leontyeva, Svetlana. 2009. “On ved s krasnym znamenem tsveta odnogo: materialy k istorii odnogo sheinogo platka.” Teoriya Mody XIII: 19– 23. Marcucci, Loris. 1997. Il commissario di ferro di Stalin. Turin: Einaudi. Piretto, Gian Piero. 2001. Il radioso avvenire. Turin: Einaudi. —. 2010. Gli occhi di Stalin. Milan: Cortina Raffaello. —. 2012. La vita privata degli oggetti sovietici. 25 storie da un altro mondo. Milan: Sironi.

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Rayfield, Donald. 2005. Stalin e i suoi boia. Milan: Garzanti. Stepanova, Valeriya. 2004. Zheleznodorzhnaya forma Rossii. Moscow: IzdNar.

DRESS OF A NEW MAN: A CONCEPT OF SOCIALIST FASHION IN THE POLISH PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF THE EARLY 1950S MAGDALENA PASEWICZ-RYBACKA

The seizure of power by the Communists in Poland after the Second World War led to a close connection to the Stalinist Soviet Union. This saw both a change in political matters and also the insertion of a new social and cultural order. As in other countries behind the Iron Curtain, this was based on Marxist ideology and followed its values, such as classlessness, common equality and the rejection of prewar traditions. According to this, the new authorities, among other things, had to determine their attitude towards various areas of daily life—including fashion. Henceforth regarded as a part of an old, bourgeois culture, fashion, in its traditional modes, was unacceptable. Therefore it was essential for the Communists to create their own concept of fashion in accordance with proletarian taste. This paper examines the problem of socialist fashion in the Polish People’s Republic during the Stalinist period, its definition and features, as well as the desired external appearance of a New Man. It seemed that during the time of post-war reconstruction the new authorities would not be interested in such an ordinary phenomenon as fashion and that people’s attire would depend on their earning level and follow universal fashion trends. In the first years of peace this was indeed the case, although the condition of the fashion industry and the people themselves were very poor. Because of the lack of domestic goods and the impoverishment of society, a concept of fashion was created with clothes from the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration or from army surplus stores (Pelka 2013, 11–12). Nonetheless, private boutiques and tailors’ workshops were slowly rebuilt and in a few years they became very popular in fashionable quarters. Even though the fashion capital was still in Paris and French chic was the most desirable look, a fascination

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with American style was also visible. In Poland, a few woman’s magazines came out, which touched upon fashion, e.g. Przyjacióáka, Moda i ĩycie, Mody mĊskie i damskie. In these journals stylish models, reports from foreign fashion shows, and translated articles from Vogue or Elle appeared. In this way Poland remained closely connected to European fashion trends. This situation changed completely in 1948. The main faction in the Polish People’s Reublic—the Polish United Workers’ Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza)—took all political power and imposed a totalitarian regime. Since Soviet ideology rejected capitalist values, every element of the new system was built in opposition to the West. The basic elements included: the dictatorship of the proletariat; the industrialization and nationalization of industry; the collectivization of agriculture; and central planning. In the field of social and cultural matters, the first aim of the Communists was to destroy the prewar traditions connected to the bourgeois order. They were to be replaced by a new model of society, based on the Soviet one, and disseminated through propaganda. A fundamental part of this was the concept of a New Man—the perfect representative of an ideal socialist society. He was totally devoted to the new system; a builder and enthusiastic intercessor. He was also a modern, progressive, well-organized citizen who put subordination to the collective above family relationships. The most significant part of the New Man’s life was his labor, which gave real meaning to his existence. He was an enemy of class exploitation, capitalism and “the old order,” which he tried to fight against every day. His whole life, also in the private sphere, was subordinated to the state. The Communists tried to form not only the behavior and moral attitude of the New Man, but also his personal appearance. His look was intended to be an explicit demonstration of his subordination to socialist norms (Dowgiaááo and Burska 2010, 232). A perfect body was well-built and robust, in accordance with the conviction that only a strong man could create a strong state. His attire was also to correspond with his new role as a part of a proletarian classless society. In every aspect of his life, including dress, he followed the rules promoted by the system—moderation and decency (Gronow 2001, 65). As fashion began to be a part of the regime’s policy it became necessary to found a special institution to control it. The Department of Manufacturing (Wydziaá WytwórczoĞci) in the Ministry of Culture and Art, which had been functioning since 1945, was transformed into the Manufacturing Aesthetics Supervision Office (Biuro Nadzoru Estetyki Produkcji) in 1947 and subordinated to the Ministry of Light Industry. It laid down models and guidelines for light industry. Due to the growing

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role of domestic industry and its connections to state policy, the authorities established the Institute of Industrial Design (Instytut Wzornictwa Przemysáowego, IWP) in 1950. Its main task was to lead domestic industrial production, including fashion. The institute worked out specific patterns that were acceptable to the regime and intended for mass production. A very important part of its work was to counteract “damaging,” foreign (Western) influences (Górz 1951, 1). All of these patterns and precise guidelines, which created a “proper” fashion, were presented in the Institute of Industrial Design Bulletins (Biuletyn Instytutu Wzornictwa Przemysáowego), a supplement to such specialist magazines as OdzieĪ or Przemysá Wáókienniczy. These propositions were subsequently transposed into fashion magazines. Along with rejecting prewar and Western patterns, the regime had to determine their own attitude towards fashion and specify its new definition. The first person who tried to do this was Wanda Telakowska, one of the founders of the Institute of Industrial Design and its first director (until 1968). She defined fashion as a process of continuous replacement of existing patterns (Telakowska 1952, 15). She also tried to prove that fashion in the West and East developed and functioned in different ways because of the divergent situations of the capitalist and socialist markets. In Western countries, fashion was first of all the result of a battle between manufacturers. Trying to acquire as many consumers as possible; to maximize their profits they initiated frequent and usually extreme exchanges of binding patterns. This resulted in unplanned, unreasonable production, not suited to the economic conditions. In Telakowska’s opinion, the blatant example of this situation was the introduction of long dresses in the late 1940s (Dior’s New Look trend), which caused an unreasonable growth of textile consumption during a period of postwar shortages. This kind of fashion development, characteristic for the West, was unacceptable under the centralized socialist economy. Therefore, Telakowska suggested replacing these fluctuating trends with a planned production process, which would be regulated from above according to precise guidelines. Only then could fashion develop in a proper, rational way, without the damaging influence of individual manufacturers. The main point of Teakowska’s conception was the question of subordinating fashion development to the Six-Year Plan (1950–55). Any artistic aspect of fashion was completely marginalized and the most important thing was rationalization and an increase of the production index. This tendency was typical of the early 1950s. The plan included not only design, but also many other aspects of daily life, such as education

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and art. Often, the Six-Year Plan lead to overproduction, so that it seemed like production only existed to serve this plan (Mazur 2009, 207). A gradual shift away from absolute subordination to the plan allowed a rethink of this issue. A new concept of fashion was proposed in 1953 by Tadeusz Reindl, co-founder and assistant manager of IWP. First of all, he criticized the current view on fashion as an industrial process, created in isolation from consumers’ real needs. Reindl tried to find a new definition for “fashion.” His starting point was Telakowska’s opinion on the different ways of design development in the West and East. He stated that fashion is related to “elitist preferences.” As such, it took on a negative association with capitalist features; this fashion was incompatible with the tastes of the majority of the society (by implication—the working class). Thus, he considered fashion as an invention of the bourgeoisie, who in endeavoring to satisfy their own aesthetic needs actually imposed their patterns on the lower classes. Reindl, as well as Telakowska, regarded changeability as a fundamental feature of fashion: “its extreme variability, even excesses, are consciously made and managed by kings of fashion who set down the mode and regulate consumer demand in this way” (Reindl 1953, 17). A constant search for new patterns and cuts was seen as an expression of the vanity of the bourgeoisie, who demanded continuous change. It was also the source of profit for capitalist entrepreneurs, constantly creating a desire for new products in the market. In opposition to this capitalist fashion, Reindl proposed “social preferences” (Reindl 1953, 17). This phenomenon was more general in nature than fashion, concerned the whole of society (not only the bourgeoisie), and was not so variable. “Social preferences” were to reflect the taste of the masses and were shaped on the basis of the conditions in which a particular society lived, e.g. its climate or economic situation. Changes occurred very slowly, always in a natural way, and also had their justification in wider phenomena (such as climate change), thus they were not inspired by individuals. The fashion style shaped in this way was supposed to be compatible with the “spirit of the nation” and corresponded to the actual needs of the working class. A close link between fashion, capitalism and the West, as well as the “invention” of “social preferences” in Reindl’s concept meant that the word “fashion” was to be excluded from socialist terminology. It was too tightly connected to the textile industry and too strongly embedded in social consciousness. As such, Reindl tried to find another meaning for this phenomenon that would be suitable for the socialist nomenclature. He claimed that fashion was the further detailing of “social preferences,” the features of which were specified according to a short timeframe, e. g.

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during a season. In this way, fashion could be seen as a temporary request for specific models or colors (Reindl 1954a, 19). Interestingly, in some cases “fashion” had a second negative meaning, defining elements of style that were unacceptable to the regime, were incompatible with official guidelines, or replicated Western patterns (Reindl 1953, 17). A leading example in the early 1950s was the derided attire of the Bikini Boy (bikniarz). He was a member of the first Polish subculture to be fascinated by the American way of life. His clothes—a wide, checked suit, ankle-length/drainpipe trousers, colorful striped socks and a tie, and partnered with a girl dressed in a bikini—contradicted the socialist concept of fashion. A clarification of the definition of and attitude towards fashion allowed the regime to set out features and values that were to characterize socialist design in opposition to the West. They appeared in Bulletins in the form of strong hints concerning three main areas: correlation with the national economy, dress functionality and aesthetic features. First of all, socialistic fashion was to be “rational and economically justified” (Reindl 1953, 18) and thus was supposed to be a natural regulator of manufacturingg. In this process it was necessary to recognize “social preferences” and their laws, and then to specify economic plans accordingly. A choice of specific models intended for manufacture should be clarified—it was important to adjust fashion projects to socialist economic conditions. Sophisticated and problematic examples, which could not be replicated in the production process, were unacceptable. In this way, dress was not created according to current trends, but depended on the technical capability of the domestic industry. Moreover, fashion designers had to know about current textile or leather production to design models using available or stored fabrics. General changes in fashion had to be adjusted to the workflow, and in line with normal wear-and-tear, which meant they should be made to last, on average, three years. It was emphasized that only mutual care and cooperation between designers and industry would “provide an opportunity to carry out or even to exceed an economic plan for a worker” (Pieczywko 1953, 24). Secondly, creating socialist fashion was a collective process. Contrary to the West, where only capitalists decided styles, in socialism both manufacturers and the working class were engaged in fashion design, due to the abolition of social divisions. Reindl claimed: “from the moment when capital goods were moved into the hands of working masses, manufacturing, trade and consumers are equally interested in output aesthetics, because they constitute a unity” (Reindl 1954b, 39). The whole process of creating fashion, from recognizing “social preferences,”

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through the stages of design and production, and on to the time of sale, was totally dependent on state planning. This helped to exclude the influence of unforeseeable factors such as the impact of an individual manufacturer on customer taste. Additionally, the functioning of the central design institution (IWP) and healthy competition between clothing factories were supposed to guarantee the high quality of clothing output. Besides connections between fashion and the economy, the dress of a New Man was to be characterized by particular features. The main criteria were functionality, rationality and comfort: “only a combination of these two elements: comprehensive utility and aesthetics results in really good and desired goods” (Truszkowski 1958, 17). These feature were expecteed of models designed for light industry generally. Clothing, as with other everyday objects, was supposed to fulfil specific tasks (such as covering the body or protecting from cold) and to require as little effort as possible in its everyday care. Functional clothes fully corresponded to the consumer’s basic needs, depending on external circumstances and one’s physical characteristics. In the context of functionality, the most “perfect” form of dress was a work uniform or overalls, which was not only comfortable, but also emphasized the new role of the New Man. Rationality and comfort also determined the appearance of clothing. Socialist clothing had to be moderate in cut, colors and patterns. The most appropriate cut was fitted (but not too tightly) to one’s body and as natural as possible. A figure shaped in this way perfectly captured the character of a socialist man, whose modest, simple and comfortable attire helped in the maximization of his daily duties. For a woman, her body should forfeit its former slenderness and curves; a New Woman was supposed to be robust and asexual, so that she could properly fulfill her social and economic role. Her new attire contradicted the pre-war style focused on femininity and sensuality. Therefore, most desirable were “clothes that matched the grim reality of their industrial surroundings and harsh rural settings” (Bartlett 2010, 103). Regarding this, all artificial ways to improve one’s figure through dress were considered inappropriate. Sleeves or trouser-legs that were too tight, wide elastic bands, tight fastenings, big shoulder pads—all of these things were criticized and perceived as dangerous to health. It is also not insignificant that these elements of dress were popular in the West at this time and were regarded as “hostile samples.” Socialist designers warned: “using inappropriate colors, patterns and adornments could lead to unwelcome, pretentious or extravagant dress form. It could offer an opportunity to mould bad aesthetic taste and even to warp the youth’s character” (Palmirska 1954, 18).

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To avoid such consequences, it was necessary to comply with the determinants of socialist aesthetics. Not only the cut, but also the colors and adornment had to be simple and moderate; big, original ornaments or daring colors were undesirable. The most appropriate were plain, alternatively striped, spotted or checked fabrics. Colors should be nice, subtle and well-matched to the eyes, hair and complexion. Socialist fashion should also draw on appropriate patterns. After the Second World War, haut couture was still the domain of Parisian designers while the style of American teenagers was popular among the youth. Obviously, these examples were not worthy of replication for tailors behind the Iron Curtain. Western models were not only incompatible with the socialist “spirit of nation,” because of their “class character,” but they also clashed with socialist aesthetics. Socialist designers were obliged to make clothes that were “better, more durable, more comfortable, original and beautiful than any foreign patterns” (Temerin 1954, 20). In this way, fashion became another field of rivalry between East and West. One of the ways of dismissing Western patterns was to encourage socialist designers to search for inspiration on home soil. Natural sources for inventiveness in design were folklore and folk art. Although handmade garments with lace or embroidery were not suitable for mass production, the Institute of Industrial Design, from the very beginning, cooperated with folk artists in manufacturing new fabrics with folk ornaments. This collaboration led to collections of clothes with ethnic motifs, including headscarves, blouses, dresses and handbags. The prohibition of foreign trends did not necessarilyconcern other countries of the Soviet Bloc. The best example was of course the USSR. Soviet models, thanks to the proper engagement of designers and “the most innovative technology in the world” entirely fulfilled all of the requirements for socialist fashion: they had a simple cut, modest ornaments, conformity with the body line, a suitable combination of colors and drew on folk traditions. Besides this, Soviet design assertively dissociated itself from capitalist aesthetics: “ungrounded, excessive adornments and chintzy products are totally unfamiliar to soviet fashion. We are against originality pro forma, but we fervently support everything that is new, really interesting and that is a result of a deep creative process“ (Temerin 1954, 20). The emphasis on modesty and simplicity in fashion, and especially the criticism of original models, had an elementary purpose—to give citizens a sense of equality. A desire to stand out by using clothes was treated as a relic of capitalism. A person whose dress differed from accepted standards caught the public’s attention and they could even be accused of

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popularizing “imperialist values.” However, the whole life of the New Man was to be a sign of social egalitarianism. The standardization of dress (and in a broader perspective—apartments and objects of everyday use) was supposed to be a visual symbol of equality between citizens. The concept of socialist fashion was part of the regime’s broader policy aimed at subordinating and controlling every aspect of public and private life, as well as to create a specific model of society. The authorities, drawing on the example of the Soviet Union and through the agency of the Institute of Industrial Design, gave new meaning to fashion. Western fashion was depicted as an industrial process managed by great capitalists who exploited people for their own profits. This image was supposed to discourage people from following French or American trends. A counterproposition to this was socialist fashion, based on “social preferences,” fully corresponding to actual social needs, reflecting the natural values of a working man and devoid of the artificiality of bourgeois extravagance. Creating precise and rigorous guidelines for socialist fashion had several purposes. First of all, it facilitated state control and emphasized the leading role of the authorities in directing national design development. Since the regime was afraid of uncontrolled change in all fields, including fashion, it was necessary to determine its limits. By imposing one binding model the authorities preserved and demanded a moderate, conservative aesthetics. Secondly, fashion patterns worked out in opposition to those of the West, stressed the differences between Eastern and Western society and culture. This was very important because interwar Poland had looked to the West. Thus, the criticism of Western design and efforts to redefine the meaning of fashion were actually part of the regime’s fight against the capitalist way of life and pre-war Polish traditions. Radically imposing socialist ideals of dress was supposed to eliminate all previous sartorial references (Bartlett 2010, 100). Most important for the regime was the creation of a New Man. His new attire—and, more broadly, his image in official propaganda—was a visual sign of the changes taking place in the socialist world. Modesty, simplicity and standardization were perceived as the most desirable features of a New Man and these were expressed not only in his behavior, but also in his clothing. Ultimately, the attempt to create a new concept of fashion did more harm than good to Polish design in the early 1950s. Central planning was inefficient in such a changeable field. A set of imposed guidelines (only theoretically based upon “social preferences”) with inefficient manufacturing and distribution caused dissatisfaction and a lack of interest

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in domestic design among Polish consumers and, consequently, lots of unfashionable clothes ended up being stored in warehouses. The gradual relaxation of the regime after the death of the two socialist leaders—Stalin (1953) and Bolesáaw Bierut, Polish Secretary General of the Polish United Workers’ Party (1956)—brought about a change in socialist policy. The authorities drew back from their dogmatic course and many political and social questions were reviewed. The regime resigned from its attempts to create a New Man as well. The Institute of Industry Design also changed its attitude towards fashion and industrial design. Attention was drawn in particular to the inadequate organization and coordination of design, manufacturing and distribution, as well as to the incomprehension of the real needs of society. Some critical opinions about the previous dogmatic fashion policy appeared in Bulletins. The authors bitterly pointed out: “a few years ago no Varsovian woman ever came up with the idea of buying a prêt-à-porter gown or blouse—that left a lot to be desired in colour, cut and workmanship. Who designed it, for whom and why—it will probably remain a mystery forever” (WaĔkowicz 1957, 21). This criticism was the first step towards improving Polish design. First of all, it was necessary to reconsider the concept of fashion as a centrally planned process with strictly defined determinants. Fashion was no longer to be part of the regime’s policy, but was supposed to respond to the real needs of society and demand for fashionable clothes. The authorities also gave up on their fierce attacks of Western design. Compelling evidence of this was the appearance in Polish fashion magazines (also in Bulletins) of Western models and reports from the French catwalks. However, at the end of the 1950s, Communist policy behind the Iron Curtain began to tighten again and Socialist countries distanced themselves from capitalist influences once more. Although some small concessions, consisting of the introduction of certain elements of Western culture into the socialist systems were visible, they acted as a safety valve and were used as a means of social control by offseting social tensions (Pelka 2007, 251). Such a policy was also perceptible in fashion. And even though the socialist concept of fashion in its first, over-ideologized and over-politicized Stalinist period belonged to the past, the authorities undertook attempts to subordinate citizens’ whole lives—including what they wore—until the end of the Polish People’s Republic.

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Bibliography Bartlett, Djurdja. 2010. Fashion East. The Spectre that Haunted Socialism. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Dowgiaááo, Bogna, and Agnieszka Burska. 2010. “Polish Urban Dress in Transition from Socialism to Post-Socialism.” In East Europe, Russia, and the Caucasus, edited by Djurdja Bartlett. Vol. 9 of Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, edited by Joanne B. Eicher, 232–35. New York: Berg. Górz, Tadeusz. 1951. “Zadania i cele Instytutu.” Biuletyn Instytutu Wzornictwa Przemysáowego 1: 1–2. Gronow, Jukka. 2001. The Sociology of Taste. London and New York: Routledge. Available at: http://m.friendfeed-media.com/de3a60a9bd5 a0cd4d950621f5b7028eafed553a1/ Mazur, Mariusz. 2009. O czáowieku tendencyjnym… Obraz nowego czáowieka w propagandzie komunistycznej w okresie Polski Ludowej i PRL 1944-1956. Lublin: Wydawnictwo UMCS. Palmirska, Janina. 1954. “Przesáanki ksztaátujące formĊ odzieĪy máodzieĪowej.” Biuletyn Instytutu Wzornictwa Przemysáowego 9:17– 18. Pelka, Anna. 2007. Teksas-land. Moda máodzieĪowa w PRL. Warszawa: Trio. —. 2013. Z [politycznym] fasonem. Moda máodzieĪowa w PRL i NRD. Warszawa: Sáowo/Obraz Terytoria. Pieczywko, Zofia. 1953. “Cykl produkcyjny a projektowanie wzorów odzieĪowych.” Biuletyn Instytutu Wzornictwa Przemysáowego 1:24. Reindl, Tadeusz. 1953. “W sprawie mody.” Biuletyn Instytutu Wzornictwa Przemysáowego 9:17–18. —. 1954a. “O powstawaniu mody.” Biuletyn Instytutu Wzornictwa Przemysáowego 1:19–20. —. 1954b. “O selekcji wzorów.” Biuletyn Instytutu Wzornictwa Przemysáowego 2:39–40. Telakowska, Wanda. 1952. “Uwagi na marginesie zagadnieĔ mody.” OdzieĪ 11:15–17. Temerin, S. M. 1954. “O piĊkne, uĪyteczne przedmioty powszechnego uĪytku i modele odzieĪy.” Biuletyn Instytutu Wzornictwa Przemysáowego 10:19–20. Truszkowski, Stanisáaw. 1958. “Projektowanie wzorów przemysáowych.” Biuletyn Instytutu Wzornictwa Przemysáowego 10:17–18. WaĔkowicz, Helena. 1957. “Zagadnienie konfekcji.” Biuletyn Instytutu Wzornictwa Przemysáowego 11:21–22.

FROM SWEATPANTS TO MINI-SKIRT: FASHION IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA FROM 1945 –1968 ZUZANA ŠIDLÍKOVÁ

The postwar clothing industry The end of World War II represented a new starting point for Czechoslovakia. The war-weakened country, with a devastated economy, entered a new phase of political, economic and cultural life, in which clothing played an important role. After 1948, clothing lost its individualistic character; it was no longer an expression of personal style or status, but became a means of expressing new collective values. It became a widely discussed topic and an important part of cultural policy. Fashion of the early 1950s can even be considered to be an instrument of political propaganda.1 The change in the form of ownership—the nationalization of the industry—became an important tool in promoting new values through clothing. Scholars often associate nationalization with the ascent of the Communist Party to power. It is, however, important to note that an extensive nationalization process was first agreed upon by the democratic government, making Czechoslovakia the second country after the Soviet Union to formulate such a policy (Kuklík 2010, 144). The nationalization policy had already been conceived of during the Second World War when the exiled Czechoslovak government in London was preparing for postwar economic reform. Its decree, issued on January 1, 1945, was concerned with restitutions and securing the private and public property of its enemies; ideas about nationalization already played an important role in the conceptualization of this decree (Kuklík 2010, 129). A couple of months after the end of the war, a decree defining the rules of national governance in enterprises and limited property rights was issued. The first nationalization of large clothing enterprises with more than 500 employees 1

For more examples see Hlaváþková (2010) and Bartlett (2010).

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took place in 1945. After the accession of the Communist Party to power in 1948, the second phase of nationalization began. Enterprises with more than fifty employees became the property of the state. In 1949, the state began cancelling private business licenses, which gave the state complete control over production and services (not only) in the clothing industry.

Figure 1. Fashion Advertisement for Makyta, 1961. Repro: PiešĢany vþera a dnes. 1961. Bratislava: Osveta.

In the period before World War II, the Slovak clothing industry was mainly centered on companies in the area around ProstČjov (in Moravia)— Nehera, Rolný, Prvodev, Sbor—which had shops throughout the Czechoslovak Republic. The effort to establish their own factories in the territory of Slovakia was legislatively implemented just before the split of the first Czechoslovak Republic, in 1939, into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic. The post-war nationalization of industry affected the largest clothing companies first —such as Nehera and Rolný—which were nationalized at the beginning of 1946. They were incorporated into the public enterprise of Slovena, which, together with other smaller companies, was renamed Odeva in 1948. A year later, the three largest enterprises of socialist Czechoslovakia—Odevné závody Trenþín, Odevné závody v Prešove and Makyta Púchov—were created2; they were focused on satisfying the needs of a large part of the domestic population through mass production.

2

According to Encyklopédia Slovenska (1980, 169, 170) and register of Nehera, Rolný, State Archives in Bratislava.

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Tailors and small dressmakers’ salons Initially, the Communist Party declared that nationalization would only affect major strategic enterprises. The party had widespread influence among tradesmen and this group of citizens had great potential for the domestic economy. The turning point in the policy towards the clothing industry was the meeting of the Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in November 1948, which decided not just that the private sector would cease to be part of the economic sphere, but that it would gradually be liquidated. Tradesmen were to be replaced by new forms of state businesses—national and utility companies and cooperatives (Zelenák 2007, 36). It was assumed that national enterprises would ensure mass production whereas cooperative and utility companies would be responsible for unit production. The tradition of sartorial production was an important feature of the pre-war Czech lands. Important Prague salons—Podolská, Rosenbaum and others—underwent a massive transformation after the war. Significantly, they were renamed to reflect the proletarian traditions of the socialist regime: salon Podolská was renamed Eva; Rosenbaum became Styl; Bárta turned into Diplomat; and salon Kníže became Adam. The tradition of high-quality production remained, however, and continued to draw in customers.

Figure 2. Ball gown made from tulle. Módne závody (Fashion Clothing Service) STYL, Prague, 1957. From the fashion collection of the Slovak Design Museum, Bratislava. Photo: Jana Hojstriþová.

There had not been a similar fashion tradition in Slovakia; there were no salons and domestic brands had followed German trends. However, we there was a tradition of high-quality craft production. Among the more

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interesting tailors, whose businesses were situated in Bratislava after World War II, there were names such as Bohuslav KuĜe, Jaroslav Kalvoda, Michal Hantabal (1910–1993), Jan Husár (1912–1986) and Juraj Skubínþan (1911–1989). The post-1949 nationalization affected all businesses with some of the tailors getting good jobs in the newly created enterprises. In my interviews, however, some of them remembered nationalization with bitterness. Not only were they deprived of their business licenses, but very often whole families were moved away from their original place of residence.

Figure 3. Drawing from designer Alica Buchová Budovská for the enterprise VKUS, 1958–1964. Private archive.

The largest enterprises created from the nationalization of dressmaking enterprises were Vzorodev and Vkus. These companies produced smaller series of ready-made clothes, focused on custom-made production, and offered ancillary services to citizens. They strove to satisfy the needs of the higher levels of the domestic population, which preferred more expensive clothing. Creating individual designs or small production series, these enterprises also had more space to react to contemporary fashion trends.

Development centers in Czechoslovakia Prague, the capital of Socialist Czechoslovakia, took a central position in the organization of the fashion industry. Fashion designers were to be trained in the fashion studio at the Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Prague, established in 1949. The national enterprise Textilná

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tvorba (Textile Production), also established in 1949, was given the task of quality control in the textile and clothing industries. Its headquarters were in Prague and it had branches in Brno, ProstČjov, and Bratislava. It was responsible for completing fashion collections for the domestic market, as well as for export by cooperating with other enterprises. Textilná tvorba was also involved in training new fashion experts and in creating new publications; it also organized fashion shows for professionals in factories, as well as for the general public. Textilná tvorba was later reorganized and its competencies expanded to include the education of designers of consumer goods; its name was changed to Ústav bytovej a odevnej kultúry—ÚBOK (Institute of Housing and Clothing Culture). The ÚBOK staff participated in professional training and fashion shows abroad and therefore represented an important channel for the transmission of contemporary fashion trends to production enterprises across Czechoslovakia.

Fashion magazines: how fashion relates to politics In January 1949, the first Slovak fashion magazine, Mariena, was created. It was published under this name for only one year and in 1950 it was replaced by the magazine Móda—textil (Fashion—Textile). In 1961 it was renamed Naša móda (Our Fashion), and from 1968 it was simply Móda (Fashion). The main task of the magazine was to educate the public about what the regime considered to be practical and tasteful clothing for the broad mass of working women. The magazine appealed to the “high taste” of the wearer, and “national character” and “Socialist content” of the clothing culture. What was considered stylish was mainly clothing deprived of any “eccentric” details. Even though “moral values and a person’s uniqueness” were praised, the costliness or decorativeness of clothes were understood to be characteristic of Western capitalist society. In 1952, the art theorist Josef Raban wrote for the magazine on the tasks of design in a new society: “It is socialism, which will destroy class warfare and class differences, and which leads to the creation of classless communist society. It is only socialism that can eliminate the dictatorship of fashion once and for all, and imbue clothing with a completely new function. It will eliminate the former fashion slavery, which had been very intricately presented by the capitalist system, and will create simple, practical, yet cheerful clothing, appropriate for the new man and new society” (Raban 1952, 41).

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If socialism was to erase all class differences, clothing had to change too, suppressing eccentricity, decorativeness and luxury. Fashion was no longer meant only for the select few, it belonged to all women. According to the instructions on the pages of this fashion magazine in 1951: “There can be no greater error, and it is one’s own creative deficiency, if people and their imagination cannot live without all the decadent Vogues, Ambassadors, Femins etc. ... By using eccentricity and effect, cosmopolitan fashion nourishes class exclusiveness. It is impractical and uneconomical in its realization, and does not correspond to the cultural needs of working people” (Švec 1951, 13).

After 1948, the new system of garment production was separated from the previous one by a radical break. Fashion became a vehicle for the new ideological tasks and at least formally dissociated itself from everything that resembled the previous era. Consequently, the primary concerns in designing a new fashion collection included: the economic aspect—the lack of materials and slow production changes; the ideological aspect—a strong preference was given to folk inspiration and working people’s needs.

Figure 4. Magazine Móda—textile, 1951. Private archive.

Efforts to create individual clothing production, independent of Western fashion centres, led to a search for fashion’s “national character.” JindĜich Švec, painter, textile designer and regular contributor to various fashion and design magazines, argued in the early 1950s: “Cosmopolitan fashion uses various means of penetrating our creative work in order to subvert our efforts and the beautiful perspective of

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From Sweatpants to Mini-Skirt creating a socialist clothing culture. In order to be able to deal with it, we have to improve the ideological part of our work, and draw on the life and work of our people. This way—if we understand this as a serious part of our cultural politics—we will be able to raise the standard of living and culture of the working masses” (Švec 1951, 13).

Fashion designs began to contain various folk elements—the cuts followed folk costumes, materials included fabrics with traditional “blueprint,” and clothing was decorated using folk textile technologies and natural materials (in particular, using the domestic traditions of processing wool and flax). Lace or embroidery was considered to provide an acceptable amount of romanticism for the clothes of the new Socialist person. Overall, the tradition of folk production engaged with the new requests for clothing designs, especially the desire for simple and functional forms. Fashion shows lost their importance in terms of promoting new collections, increasing the sales, or presenting seasonal trends. They became first and foremost, a tool of political propaganda. They represented an opportunity for policy-makers to present themselves and demonstrate their care of citizen wellbeing. After such shows, consumers often voiced their distrust of the party’s ability to supply them with the models. Although the models presented at such fashion shows were approved for production, they would often not be available on the market in sufficient amounts, nor in the necessary assortment of color and size.

Figure 5. Folk inspiration for evening dress, from magazine Móda—textile, 1954. Private archive.

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Most importantly, however, the domestic clothing industry focused on work clothes. Magazines offered images of clothes appropriate for various professions—clothes for female workers; uniforms for women in health care; transport; agriculture, etc. Fashion columns discussed the ideal design of such garments as sweatpants, aprons and dungarees. The regular opinion poll rubric Nosíte tepláky? (Do you wear sweatpants?) in the magazine Žena a móda (Woman and Fashion) was meant to contribute to improving the form of this “most desirable and most popular” garment. Stalin’s death in 1953, and the death of the Czechoslovak president Klement Gottwald soon afterwards contributed to a significant loosening of the political regime. Western fashion models, which had previously been perceived as an expression of unacceptable cosmopolitanism and bourgeois anachronism, gradually began to be accepted in the second part of the fifties. As the fashion historian Konstantina Hlaváþková states: “In 1957, an important ideological shift in the relationship to global fashion occurred. The regime admitted that the search for and development of a Czechoslovak fashion style was not without its errors. It again became possible to turn to the previously condemned global fashion as the main source of inspiration” (Hlaváþková 2000, 71).

This shift ended a decade-long search for clothing created in the spirit of Socialist Realism. Magazine articles, too, began to admit that clothing worn in distant world metropolises was only slightly different. Even though efforts to apply folk textile technologies to clothes continued to appear, magazines proclaimed that the era of national costume-inspired clothing was inevitably fading away. Clothing silhouettes remained rather stable, the wearer was, however, given a chance to express her “individual taste,” since she had a better opportunity to combine different clothing parts, patterns, and colours. The desire for the new became accepted in the fashion magazine Móda 1958 as something “natural, to which the working woman has a full right.” Together with the development of consumer society from the 1960s on, consumers increasingly demanded quality, functionality and smartness of fashion products. They also began to criticize the insufficient supply of stores, lack of specific types of clothing, and deficiencies in the quality of products. With the end of the 1950s, and particularly during the 1960s, the door to foreign fashion became wide open (in 1966 a Christian Dior Show took place in Prague). Inspirational collections (though to a limited extent) and interviews with Western fashion designers made it onto the front pages of

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fashion magazines.3 Through the national foreign trade company Centrotex, domestic fashion design was also exhibited at international exhibitions and fairs. One of the most interesting examples was that of Czechoslovak participation at the Expo Exhibition in Brussels in 1958. The awards received in Brussels were presented to the public as proof that domestic production was able to compete with Western design centres. The occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops in 1968 brought about changes to domestic fashion. The development of the clothing industry and designs was significantly affected by the stagnation of the economy and renewed restrictions on international trade, now limited to countries within the Comecon. The following twenty years were marred by design problems not, significantly, related to ideological constrains, but caused by lagging industry and its limited production possibilities.

Bibliography Bartlett, Djurdja. 2010. Fashion East, The Spectre that Haunted Socialism. Cambridge: MIT Press. Encyklopédia Slovenska, IV. 1980. Bratislava. Hlaváþková, Konstantína. 2000. ýeská móda, zrcadlo doby. Prague: UMP. Kuklík, Jan. 2010. Znárodnené ýeskoslovensko. Prague: Auditorium. PrĤcha, Václav, et al. 2009. HospodáĜské a sociální dČjiny ýeskoslovenska 1918–1992, part. 2. Brno: Nakladatelství DoplnČk. Raban, Josef. 1952. “Móda jako výraz tĜídní moci, jako doklad stavu výroby.” Tvar 2: 34–41. Šidlíková, Zuzana. 2011. Móda na Slovensku v medzivojnovom období (1918–1939). Bratislava: VŠVU and Slovart. Švec, JindĜich. 1951. “Kozmopolitizmus v odevnej a textilnej tvorbe.“ Móda—textil 10: 12–13. Zelenák, Peter. 2007. “Likvidácia súkromného podnikania.” História 3: 34–37.

3

For example, André Courreges in Naša móda 3/1966, interview with Mary Quant in Naša móda 1/1968 and Ives Saint-Laurent in Móda 10/1968.

CHAPTER FOUR TRADITIONAL COSTUME

IMAGERY OF CATHAY: CHINESE COSTUMES IN THE EYES OF EARLY EUROPEAN MISSIONARIES SILVANO MO CHENG

Although the history of Sino-European communication and exchange may date back to the age of the Roman Empire and its eastern counterpart, the Han Empire—a few written records show evidence of the silk trade between China and Europe—it was not until the age of Marco Polo and the Great Khan that Europeans began to come into close contact with this ancient empire of the East. It is extremely difficult to elaborate on the various aspects of traditional Chinese costume throughout the millennia and different dynasties, and here in this short article, I would like to concentrate on the period in which early European missionaries arrived. This was when the word Cathay was introduced to Europe through the writings of early missionaries in the thirteenth century and through Marco Polo. The rise of the Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century posed a great threat to Europe, but it also provided a safe passage for merchants and travelers from Europe to Asia. Missionaries, like Giovanni da Pian del Carpine (1180–1252, with the mandate of Pope Innocent IV), or William of Rubruck (c.a. 1220–93, with the mandate of the King of France, Louis IX) journeyed to the east with the hope of converting the Great Khan to Christianity, or at least to secure an ally for the Christian world. Such missions yielded little fruit from a diplomatic point of view, but they succeeded in bringing back useful information about this empire and the other nations along the Silk Road. Here are the descriptions of Rubruck about the costumes of the Mongols: “Of their clothing and customs you must know, that from Cataia, and other regions of the east, and from Persia and other regions of the south, are brought to them silken and golden stuffs and cloth of cotton, which they wear in summer. From Ruscia, Moxcel, and from greater Bulgaria and Pascatir, which is greater Hungary, and Kerkis, all of which are countries

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to the north and full of forests, and which obey them, are brought to them costly furs of many kinds, which I never saw in our parts, and which they wear in winter. And they always make in winter at least two fur gowns, one with the fur against the body, the other with the fur outside exposed to the wind and snow; these latter are usually of the skins of wolves or foxes or papions; and while they sit in the dwelling they have another lighter one. The poor make their outside (gowns) of dog and kid(skins)” (Rockhill 1900, 70).

Through this description we can see the dominant power of the Mongol Empire over other states affiliated to or conquered by the Mongols. These fur-based costumes were highly appropriate for the masters of the steppe and very different to the refined Chinese clothes of the past. China fell to the Mongols in 1271, who ruled for almost a century as the Yuan Dynasty. The refined traditional Chinese court costume was interrupted, and silk and other craft works became tribute to the mighty Mongol Empire. Rubruck’s mission to convert the Great Khan to Christianity was unsuccessful. The Great Khan’s court was filled with Buddhist monks, Nestorian priests, Saracens, and preachers of other religions. Everyone was fighting for the favor of the Great Khan and nobody but Rubruck realized that they were merely being manipulated by the Khan as a way of balancing their power. In one passage from his account, he says that when close to Epiphany, or during other holy days for the idolaters or Nestorian priests, the Khan would hold a feast and the Nestorian priest would come and pray for him, giving him benedictions. Then Saracen priests would come, doing the same thing. After that the Khan would also receive benedictions from the idolaters. The Nestorian priest told Rubruck that even though the Khan received all the priests in the same way, he believed only in Christianity. Rubruck rebuked him, revealing that the Khan did not believe in anyone, and the priests were merely like flies surrounding honey, believing foolishly that their religion was the Khan’s favorite (Rockhill 1900, 182). Rubruck did not have the chance to reach the southern parts of China, although he had heard of Cathay, and in his accounts he associates Cathay with Seres, a more ancient name for China. Would this mysterious land— sometimes associated with the legends of the great Christian kingdom ruled by Prester John—be a new ally for Western Christianity? “There is also great Cathay, whose people were anciently, as I believe, called Seres. From among them come the best silk stuffs (which are called seric by that people), and the people get the name of Seres from one of

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Imagery of Cathay their cities. I was given to understand that in that region there is a city with walls of silver and towers of gold” (Rockhill 1900, 155).

Boasting, heresay and accounts of the incredible were not uncommon in the writings of that period and one of the greatest storytellers in Western history brought back details of the marvels of this kingdom for curious European readers: “It is the custom that the great Kaan with all his subjects dress themselves all in white robes, so that on that day both men and women, small and great, when they have the power to do it, are all dressed in new and white clothes. And they do it because white dress seems to them lucky and good, and therefore they wear it at the beginning of their year so that they may take their good and have joy and comfort all the year” (Moule and Pelliot 1938, 222).

Marco Polo was close to the Chinese (Mongol) emperor of the Yuan Dynasty and spends much time describing the feasts, hunts, and celebrations at the Khan’s court. He also gives descriptions of the great cities of the mangi—a derogative term for the southern Chinese people— but about every town he visited, he says merely that the money was of notes and that they make cloth and silk in great quantity. Little is told of the costume of the southern Chinese; this perhaps shows the suppressed state of Chinese tradition under Mongol rule: “Now you may know that he (Kublai Khan) keeps the feast of his nativity in this way. For on the day of his birth the great Kaan is dressed in the most noble cloth of the purest beaten gold that he has. And quite twelve thousand barons and knights who are called the faithful companions of the lord are dressed afterwards with him in a colour and in a fashion like that of the robe of the great lord; not that they are so dear robes as those of the king, but they are of one colour and all are cloth of silk and of gold, and all those who are robed have great girdles of great value, of leather worked with thread of gold and silver very cunningly, given them, and a pair of shoes of leather worked with silver thread very skillfully. And the great lord gives them all these robes which are of very great value” (Moule and Pelliot 1938, 221).

What Europe heard was the conqueror’s version of the story. Marco Polo gained the favor of the Great Khan also because he was a foreigner. In the four race hierarchy proposed by the Chinese Yuan emperors, the Chinese of the south—the non-Cathay part—was of the fourth and the lowest grade, and Marco Polo, a Westerner, the second grade, immediately below the Mongols (Yu Shixiong 1995, 345).

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With the fall of the Mongol Empire and the Chinese Yuan Dynasty (the Mongol Yuan was succeeded by Emperor Zhu’s Ming Dynasty in 1368), the ethnic majority Han regained power and China returned to its Confucian philosophy, ritual practice and agricultural traditions. The country was governed again by scholars, who dedicated years of study to the wisdom of the ancients; the hierarchy of the upper structure was restored, as was the hierarchy of clothes. The Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci, who arrived in the Portuguese colony of Macao in southern China in 1583, made his way and all the way up to Nanjing, Nanchang and finally to the capital of the Chinese Ming Empire, the city of Beijing. He stayed in China for twenty-eight years, dying in 1610 in Beijing. Through his observations and accounts of China—Della entrata della Compagnia di Giesù e Christianità nella Cina—Europe had a detailed, precise and credible description of Chinese culture, philosophy, politics, religion and costume: “Everybody is dressed in the same way: the magistrates however are dressed differently; the major difference is the color: all clothes are serious and long enough until the tibia, with large sleeves like those of the Venetians, not even in their homes could they be dressed in shorts, there is no worker who does not have a good garment for the use of visiting magistrates or their own friends, or for receiving them. When they don’t have proper clothes, they prefer to hide themselves rather than to present themselves in front of the magistrates or their friends in inappropriate clothes. On the head and on their hats one can notice the difference of social status: the magistrate wears his hat in one certain way, the graduate another, the literati another, the scribes another, and the commoners, the sons of the nobles and sons of the peasants. In whichever way it is, they are all beautiful to look at, with a lot of embroidery on their hats, like those of Spanish women, holding them long, except for those of the religious” (D’Arelli 2001, 70. Translation into English by the author of the article).

Our journey starts with the first contact between Europe and Mongol China and ends two centuries later, with the restoration of Chinese tradition. Europe now had the chance to get to know “traditional” China: seres, not Cathay. The subtlety of the Chinese ritual tradition, Confucian philosophy and its impact on governance were carefully observed by Matteo Ricci, the Jesuit missionary. The cultural differences posed a great challenge to him until he grasped the very essence of it and used his knowledge to his advantage by changing his “dress code.” From this point on, he was not only an observer, but also a participant in Chinese society. His strategy to win the favor of his Chinese audience—contrary to the Franciscan way—was through putting on lavish clothes:

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Imagery of Cathay “During this trip I decided to abandon the base name of Bonzi (Buddhist Monk) in China, which is a way like we call our friars, but this religion here is vile and a discredit to us and sometimes the gentlemen didn’t show us much respect. So here, I pose as a literate preacher, a rule that they also have: and for this purpose I made a dress of purple silk, but trimmed at the lower end and on the sleeves and collar with a line of half palm sized turquoise silk, and a belt of the same size attached to the dress, with two stripes hanging to the ground, like those of the widows in Italy. Long beard, which is rare in China, I also dressed my servants in long dress, and I bought a chair in which I go around the city, covered by cloth and carried by men” (D’Arelli 2001, 279).

Matteo Ricci’s change of dress is considered one of the most important events in the history of European evangelization in China. His “dresscode” changing strategy—the Riccian way, recognized by later Chinese emperors as respect for Chinese culture—was extremely successful and won him respect, enabling access to the elite society of the literati in China. The failed mission of Rubruck was carried on by Ricci, who then conquered the hearts of many of the literati, including high ranking officers of the empire. Accepted also by the emperor, by the time of his death, he was the only foreigner who had the privilege of being buried in the capital city. Although he did not succeed in converting the emperor himself, the success of his efforts in introducing Christianity to China had prolonged impact in the following centuries. Ricci in the dress of a scholar represents a dialogue between host and guest on truth and beauty. The imagery of Cathay was thoroughly unveiled to the European reader, a new page was turned, and an era of intercultural dialogue between West and East came about, before new conquerors arrived in steam battleships in the centuries that followed.

Bibliography Del Gatto, Maddalena. 2000. Matteo Ricci, Della entrata della Compagnia di Giesù e Christianità nella Cina. Macerata: Quodlibet. D’Arelli, Francesco. 2001. Matteo Ricci, Lettere (1580–1609). Macerata: Quodlibet. Moule, A.C., and Paul Pelliot. 1938. Marco Polo The Description of the World. London: George Routledge & Sons Limited. Rockhill, William Woodville. 1900. The Journey of William Rubruck to the eastern parts of the world, 1253–55. London: Hakluyt Society. Yule, Henry. 1866. Cathay and the Way Thither. Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China. London: Hakluyt Society.

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Yu, Shixiong. 1995. “On Several Main Problems in Studying Marco Polo.” In Zhongxi wenhua jiaoliu xianqu, edited by Lu Guojun, Hao Mingwei, and Sun Chengmu, 337–61. Shanghai: Shangwu Yinshuguan Publishing House.

THE NATIONAL DIMENSION OF FASHION: WOMEN’S TRADITIONAL GARMENTS AS A NATIONAL SYMBOL IN ROMANIAN SOCIETY GEORGETA FODOR

National identity is forged from a complex mixture of myths and symbols, including the feminine allegories of nations. Many European nations have a feminine personification enriched by a set of symbols: the national colors, the flag, and traditional garments. From the beginning of the modern age up to today, these symbols have proved their effectiveness: one who sees the country’s flag or traditional garment, even though he does not know its local origin, can recognize that they are part of the nation’s representation. Considering these facts, this paper aims to reveal the context and manners in which a feminine vestimentary element, such as folk costume, originally having only a regional or local identity, has been turned into a national symbol or used as a means of reinforcing national identity. It is also our intention to analyze the context in which women choose to wear or have been represented as wearing traditional costumes in order to express a sense of national belonging. This study has two research questions: to what extent can we attach a national dimension to fashion? Is it legitimate to perceive traditional costume as a means to proving or reinforcing national identity? In fact, this study centers on three key aspects: gender, national identity and fashion. The background of the study is Romanian society from the second half of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. The chronological span is chosen due to the fact that we consider this to be the period when gender and national identities were formed and expressed through vestimentary codes. Such an analysis requires, first of all, a consideration of the key terms we are working with: gender, nation, and fashion. We hope to uncover the extent to which they influenced each other or used each other in order to stress a certain identity that was national or gender-based. We do not pretend to be able to reach a final conclusion, rather the aim is to set out a basis for further discussion as this

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subject has not yet been analyzed in terms of Romanian society—as Nira Yuval-Davis has argued, explicitly including women in the analytical discourse around nations and nationalisms has been a very recent and partial endeavor (Yuval-Davis 1997, 3). This epistemological effort is not an easy one due to the fact that gender, nation, and fashion, like identity, do not lend themselves to a single theoretical perspective (Alazemi 2008, 3). Regarding the “nation,” there is not a suitable, generally accepted definition, despite the voluminous literature on the subject. From all definitions at our disposal, the one that best fits our approach deals with a symbolic understanding of it. The nation is a mental projection; a mental construct disseminated through education. It is, as Benedict Anderson argued, an imagined political community—imagined both as inherently limited and sovereign (Anderson 2006, 6)—which becomes real through its use of a set of symbols. Thus, we understand the nation as a socially constructed element. It is a mental construct that is also enforced through a visual language. It could not be otherwise: how else can you turn into real, palpable realities such abstract notions as nation and patriotism? How can intellectuals construct a nation for the masses if not by appealing through and using a visual language that is the most accessible for the greatest number of people? Peter Burke argues that nationalism is relatively easy to express in images, whether they caricature foreigners, celebrate the major events of a nation’s history, evoke the folk art style of a region, or depict the characteristic landscape of a region (Burke 2001, 64). Nations are constructed, imagined and disseminated. They also tend to be given feminine expression. This is not only due to the fact that “nation” is often a feminine noun, but because “women” are included in national ideologies. Women have been a major part of national projects, both as passive and as active subjects. They also gain an imagined, idealized profile. This idealized representation of women gained, in the era of nationalism, a national dimension as well. This leads us to the discussion concerning gender, understood as a social construct, which must be contextualized as the product of a certain age. Nation and national ideologies also have discourses on gender identities within them. Nira Yuval-Davis argues that the construction of nationhood usually involves specific notions of both “manhood” and “womanhood” (Yuval-Davis 1997, 1). Gender and nation influence each other and this is seen in a multitude of ways, including through fashion. The reason for this is that fashion is also a form of social life (Simmel 1927, 629). In consequence, it undergoes and reflects all the transformations that, primarily, social élites go through. We understand fashion as a form of expressing an identity

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even at the national level. Scholars agree that in this respect, fashion has constituted and constructed identity, and that a sense of national identity has been effected within dress through fashion (Buckley and Fawcett 2002, 4). Fashion acts as a form of visual language and can have political, social, religious and national dimensions (Cassagnes-Brouquet and Dousset-Seiden 2012, 7). It is a way of expressing identity and a sense of belonging to a social group or a class. It is: “the imitation of a given example and satisfies the demand for social adaptation; it leads the individual upon the road which all travel; it furnishes a general condition, which resolves the conduct of every individual into a mere example. At the same time it satisfies in no less degree the need of differentiation, the tendency towards dissimilarity, the desire for change and contrast” (Simmel 1927, 296).

Fashion deals with identity. Clothes have always been an indicator of subtle differences in social class (Steel 2005, 22). For instance, in nineteenth century Europe a middle-class woman could not adopt the high fashion of the aristocracy without eyebrows being raised (Steel 2005, 22). It also gained a national dimension in the context of national movements. In fact, costumes and the clothes worn cannot be dissociated from the socio-cultural context in which they have emerged (Cassagnes-Brouquet and Dousset-Seiden 2012, 7). Can traditional dress be included in “fashion”? We consider that the answer is a positive one considering that the élites deliberately chose to wear a costume, which was formally identified with peasants and rural life. One might argue that this did not respect fashion’s logic as: “fashion differs in different classes—the fashions of the upper stratum of society are never identical to those of the lower, in fact they are abandoned by the former as soon as the latter prepares to appropriate them” (Simmel, 1927, 296). We consider that national ideology was what influenced the vestimentary choice of Romanian élites. As the documents analyzed so far show, we can conclude that in Romanian society in the second half of the nineteenth century, nation and fashion coincided. The binding element of these was the traditional costume. As it evolved—as the definitions in the dictionaries attest—from a regional, local costume to a national one, it lost none of its local features. Traditional garments kept their multiple significances: they were or could have been—depending on the context— at the same time, local, regional and national symbols! This happened likewise with national identity. We all have a multiple identities defined along axes that are local, gendered, national, etc. All these identities can be

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and were expressed through fashion, understood here as a vestimentary code—a deliberate choice of wearing certain clothes in order to prove national loyalty. How can a traditional costume become an indicator of national identity? First, it is a matter of historical context—that of the Romantic movements, which drove significant changes in the language of vestimentary codes. They transformed the traditional costume into a national symbol and so it has remained up to the present day. It was the very essence of this movement—Romantic and national—which explains this transformation. In theory at least, the Romantics derived their inspiration from the rural peasantry (Bernard 2006, 41). Each nationality, in its effort to find and present a self image, used as an element of identity “its peasants dressed in their traditional garments” (Bernard 2006, 41). It is no wonder that this century, of romanticism and nationalism was also “a great century for ethnographical museums” (Bernard 2006, 41). Even in Transylvania appeals were made to found such an ethnographical museum in Bucharest. The museum was supposed to display traditional garments, under the generic term of Romanian costume. It was women who were asked to participate in the first place (Marinescu 1891, 349–51) and it was a role given to women in the national project to protect and preserve the cultural identity of a nation. This tendency seems to have been even more obvious in the nations that were under foreign rule: “Theorists of nationalism and the sociology of knowledge, such as Gellner (1983) and Smith (1986) have stressed the particular importance intellectuals have had in the creation and reproduction of nationalist ideologies, especially those of oppressed collectivities. Being excluded from the hegemonic intelligentsia and from open access to the state apparatus, these intellectuals ‘rediscover’ ‘collective memories’, transform popular oral traditions and languages into written ones, and portray a ‘national golden age’ in the distant mythical or historical past, whose reconstruction becomes the basis for nationalist aspiration” (Yuval-Davis 1997, 2).

We consider that Romanian society underwent a similar process. The national characteristic of traditional dress seems to have followed a parallel path—until the end of the Great War, Romanians lived under different rulers. For this paper, we only analyze the case of the Romanian nation-state: the Romanian principalities, united in 1859, and the Romanians of Transylvania who were under the rule of the AustroHungarian Empire. In our analysis we noted a difference between the way the traditional costume was seen and the way it functioned in society.

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Among the Romanians of the Romanian Kingdom, traditional garments seemed to have had a more fashionable aspect, at least at the beginning, whereas the national features of traditional dress tended to be more accentuated at specific historical moments, including: the 1848 revolutions; the union of the two principalities; the restoration of the monarchy; and the Great War. These were all key moments, requiring national solidarity. For the Romanians living in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, however, the national dimension of traditional costume appears to have been a permanent feature during this period. In what follows, we focus on the Romanian state as the first merger of gender, national identity and fashion appeared. The national dimension of women’s traditional dress can be chronologically delineated as follows: at one end we have the creation of the first abstract personification of the Romanian nation, painted by C. D. Rosenthal, and on the other, Marie, Queen of Romania. Due to her public activities, Queen Marie was perceived as a symbol of the Romanian nation. She was also the member of the Romanian royal family who was most often represented on post cards in traditional Romanian dress.

Figure 1. Marie, Queen of Romania dressed in traditional garments, postcard, 1914? Source: Biblioteca Digitală a Bucureútenilor.

There is almost half of a century between these two iconic representations of Romanian national identity and it is between these two iconic representations that the traditional costume gained its national dimension. This can be argued by analyzing the historical context of their emergence. Constantin Daniel Rosenthal painted Revolutionary Romania

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at the time of the 1848 revolution. The circumstances are enough to explain this visual allegory (Fodor 2013, 73–82). The model was Maria Ghica (Mary Grant), the wife of one of the most prominent revolutionaries of Wallachia. Mary, painted as Romania, is dressed in a traditional costume as a “perfect representation” of the Romantic notion of nation. In this case, the national dimension of the traditional costume is more than obvious. It may have started as a fashion, but after 1848 these traditional garments became a national symbol. From around half-way through the nineteenth century onwards, Romanticism influenced a growing tendency among the middle and upper classes to consider these costumes as “quaint” and “pittoresque,” or as romantic symbols of nationalism (Steel 2005, 22). This process can be seen in Romanian society as well. Al. Alexianu discusses a powerful trend, oriented to the past and expressed at the vestimentary level by the interest of the middle and upper classes in the traditional customs and costumes of the Romanians (Alexianu 1971, 321). Women from these social classes let themselves be portrayed or asked artists to portray them, wearing traditional Romanian garments—a fashion indeed! In the absence of personal records it is difficult to be certain that there was a “national” sentiment lying behind their vestimentary choice. We know that such a national dimension was attached to these visual representations. We consider this to be something more than the artist’s choice of representations; it was the choice of representing a national sense of belonging to the community. There are other historical records useful for identifying peoples’ attitudes to such vestimentary choices and confirming, to a certain extent, that these feminine representations of the folk costume carried a sense of national identity. See for instance the notes written by Iacob Negruzzi in 1914: “at the beginning of 1848, in Iasi a play was staged by the playwright Vasile Alecsandri, Nunta taraneasca (A peasant’s wedding). During the play, the wedding guests appeared wearing national costumes. The author says that the moment was welcomed with very positive appreciation: indeed, the audience was carried away in true delirium” (Negruzzi 1987, 324).

It must have been more than fashion! The ideals and hopes of the 1848 revolution are the explanation for this rediscovery and transformation of the folk costume into a national one. The national dimension of the traditional costume steadily evolved, becoming more powerful after the Romanian states become a monarchy. The reason for this transformation lies in the visual propaganda the royal

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family used in order to gain support among the Romanians. See for instance the numerous post cards issued at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century representing members of the royal family dressed in traditional Romanian garments.

Figure 2. Members of the Romanian royal family dressed in traditional garments, 1897/1898? Source: Biblioteca Digitală a Bucureútenilor.

With the representations of members of the Romanian royal family dressed in the traditional garment, the national dimension was definitively established. Their choice is perfectly understandable: the sense of belonging to the same community—local or national—is never easy to prove, especially in modern times; these visual refrences strengthened this sense. How could a foreign family prove its fidelity and adherence to the Romanian people? It was not the élites who were a cause for concern, but the masses, the ordinary common people—they needed real, palpable things. After all, according to Ian Buchanan, “national allegory tends to be focused on the lives of ordinary people.” (Buchanan 2010, 333). This explains why allegories are simple in language—they use symbols that are easily understood by common people, folk costume being among them. Like other national symbols, it takes on a different meaning in the modern context from that which it originally had; it becomes an emblem of distinctiveness in relation to other nations (Eriksen 2010, 129). Why might it not function in reverse so that the folk costume became a means of proving belonging to a nation? This was probably the case with the Romanian royal family, who were of German origin. Folk costume assumed this challenge, proving the loyalty and gaining the support of the

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people. They had to find a means of proving and affirming their Romanian identity and the traditional costume came to their aid. How else can we explain the numerous images representing royal family members wearing Romanian traditional garments? Some of these images were turned into postcards ensuring that this national identity spread. According to contemporary records it seems that Queen Elisabeth played with and revitalized the traditional costume, turning it into a national symbol. In a weekly illustrated journal, Cimpoiul, this idea is clearly stated. Reference is made to an article signed by Louis Ulbach. The author describes the queen as always wearing the national costume. He suggests that it was the queen who initiated the trend of wearing it and made it fashionable. But it was not fashion that had underlain her vestimentary choice. Louis Ulbach states that the queen’s choice was due to her royal duties, as well as to the need to encourage national industry (Ulbach 1882, 34). Queen Elisabeth’s example was followed by her subjects and the traditional costume became a national symbol. How else to explain the proliferation of post cards representing young Romanians (including those of the royal family dressed in these costumes) wearing traditional garments? This royal initiative was correctly interpreted even by Romanians in Transylvania. They also used their journals and magazines to analyze the vestimentary choices of the Romanian royal family. Iosif Vulcan, a prominent leader of the Romanians in Transylvania, appreciated Queen Elisabeth’s outfit as a testament to her national identity: “By giving ... an example to the upper stratum of society in order to cultivate the ancestors’ language, she opened the doors of the royal salons to the traditional costume, which was despised until then ... she herself wore the costume of the Romanian peasant woman and by doing so the traditional costume was introduced at all the social events organized by the élites” (Vulcan 1881, 313).

The queen’s choice of dress was understood by the intelligentsia of Transylvania to be a national declaration. The journal articles also attest to the authors’ understanding of the traditional costume as being a national symbol (Dulfu 1883, 525). The national dimension of the traditional costume was much more evident among Romanians from Transylvania. This is not surprising and the explanation resides in the status the Romanians had in the political structure of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Within this space, the folk costume was used as a “means of asserting their cultural identity and desire for nationhood” (Steel 2005, 30). The best protectors and saviors of this national-cultural heritage were seen as being

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Figure 3. Social life and customs. Romanian peasants dressed in traditional garments, 1899? Source: Biblioteca Digitală a Bucureútenilor.

Figure 4. Young Romanians dressed in traditional garments, 1899? Source: Biblioteca Digitală a Bucureútenilor.

women. Women themselves assumed this social role and acted in consequence. Through their associations and in the media, Romanian women tried to help integrate the nation. They played their role in the Romanian fight for independence by using the means at their disposal, such as organizing charitable events. On such occasions, and as a form of declarative statement that they were “half of the nation,” women of the bourgeoisie chose to wear traditional costume. Their choice of dress was noted and analyzed in consequence. The press, from the second half of the nineteenth century, was generous in its coverage of women who attended

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such events in traditional costume. These events always had a national dimension and the presence of national symbols, such as traditional garments, was always noted and appreciated (Tătar-Dan 2015, 5). In addition, the press registered and criticized the reverse: journalists complained if Romanian women chose to wear “modern” clothes instead of traditional ones. A certain level of criticism against the fashion tended to appear in the first decades of the twentieth century. This was a parallel process: on the one hand we can witness the growing fashion of the traditional costume and, on the other, the growing criticism of those who gave up traditional clothes in favor of new, fashionable ones. This point of view was shared both by Romanians from the kingdom and from Transylvania. See for instance an article that was published in the journal Romania liberă in the Romanian Kingdom. Interestingly, this article was republished in a Transylvanian journal. It discusses the decadence of the national costume. This decadence is also explained through the attraction to new clothes of Western origin (Zama-Petrescu 1885, 308). A virulent criticism of the modern influence as threatening tradition was offered by the Romanian historian Nicolae Iorga. From his point of view, fashion shone whereas tradition did not; fashion seduced, but it was ephemeral— tradition is what lasted (Iorga 1911, 5). Iorga appeals for the protection of national values, including the traditional costume, and women are seen as the protectors of these traditions. It should be kept in mind that Iorga’s discourse was given to the Society of Romanian Orthodox women. Considering all this, we can conclude that, as far as Romanian society is concerned, national identity was expressed through several symbols. In fact, the very nature of nationhood needs symbols for its existence. As Gabriela Elgenius stated, paraphrasing Waltzer: “a nation must be personified before becoming visible, symbolized before being loved” (Elgenius 2011, 7). The traditional costume can be listed among these symbols. Indeed, it may not be as powerful as a flag or an anthem, but it is as easily understandable by everyone. It says something about the nation and was, and still is, a basic element of national identity. We consider the traditional garment to have been turned into a national symbol in the second half of the nineteenth century. It may have started as a fashionable trend among the middle and upper classes, but it ended up as a national symbol under the influence of Romantic ideology and thanks to the example set by the Romanian royal family, especially the women. The national connotation tended also to be more accentuated in moments and contexts that required national solidarity, such as unification, independence, and the Great War. Since then, traditional garments, despite their local origin, have maintained a national dimension. They are present

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at all the national events whatever the political ideology of the ruling state. Furthermore, artists expressing Romanian origins tended also to use traditional costume for this purpose. See for instance the Henri Matisse painting La blouse roumaine. He was inspired by the great feminine personalities—Elvira Popescu, Elena Văcărescu, Anna de Noilles, and Marta Bibescu. It seems, too, that traditional garments inspire fashion designers, as the Romantic movements did, who incorporate elements of tradition and folklore into their work.

References Alazemi, Einas. 2013. “The Role of Fashion Design in the Construct of National Identity of Kuwaiti Women in the 21st century.” PhD diss., University of Southampton. Alexianu, Alexandru. 1971. Mode si vesminte din trecut, 2 volumes. Bucharest: Meridiane Publishing House. Anderson, Benedict. 2006. Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London, New York: Verso Publishing House. Auslander, Leora, and Zancarini-Fournel, Michelle. 2000. “Le genre de la nation et le genre de l’Etat.” Clio. Histoire, femmes et sociétés, 12: 1-7. Accessed February 23. doi:10.4000/clio.161. Bernard, Michel. 2006. L’Empire Austro-Hongrois. Splendeur et modernité. Paris: France Loisirs Publishing House. Buckley Cheryl, and Fawcett Hilary. 2002. Fashioning the Feminine. Representation and Women’s Fashion from the Fin de Siecle to the Present. London, New York: I.B. Tauris Publishers. Buchanan, Ian. 2010. A Dictionary of Critical Theory. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. Burke, Peter. 2001. Eyewitnessing. The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence. London: Reaktion Books Ltd. Cassagnes-Brouquet Sophie, and Dousset-Seiden Christine. 2012. “Genre, normes et langages du costume.” Clio Histoire, femmes et sociétés, 36: 7-18. Accessed February 23. URL: www.cairn.info/revue-clio-2012-2page-7.htm. Dulfu, Petru. 1883. “O poetă pe tron.” Familia, 44: 526-527. Elgenius, Gabriela. 2011. Symbols of Nation and Nationalism: Celebrating Nationhood. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Publishing House. Eriksen, Th. Hylland. 2010. Ethnicity and Nationalism. Anthropological perspectives. London: Pluto Books.

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Fodor, Georgeta. 2014. “Woman as a Nation’s Symbol: the Romanian Case.” Brukenthalia. The Romanian Cultural History Review Supplement of Brukenthal. Acta Musei, 4: 101-109. Iorga, Nicolae. 1911. Rolul tradiĠiei în creúterea femeii. Vălenii de Munte: “Neamul Romănesc” Publishing House. Marinescu, At. M. 1891. “Museu pentru îmbrăcămintele româneúci.” Familia, 30: 349-351. Negruzzi, Iacob. 1914. “Din copilărie.” Convorbiri literare, 1:617. In Alexianu, Alexandru. 1971. Mode si vesminte din trecut, 2 volumes. Bucharest: Meridiane Publishing House. Simmel, Georg. 1971. On Individuality and Social Forms, edited by Levine, D. N., Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. —. 2009. Sociology: Inquiries into the Construction of Social Forms, 2 volumes. Leiden: Brill. Steel, Philip. 2005. A History of Fashion and Costume. The Nineteenth Century, 8 volumes. New York: Facts On File, Inc. Tătar-Dan, Maria. 2015. “Intelectualii úi ideologia modernităĠii. SecvenĠe cotidiene din viaĠa românilor din Austro-Ungaria.” In Intelectualii. Ideologii úi destin politic, edited by Cornel Sigmirean, 69-90, Tîrgu Mureú: Arhipelag Publishing House. Ulbach, Louis. 1882. “Regina Elisabeta.”, Cimpoiul, 3: 34-35. Vulcan, Iosif. 1881. “Elisabeta regina României.” Familia, 49: 313-314. —. 1893.“Principesa Maria a Românie.” Familia, 43: 514. Yuval-Davis, Nira. 1997. Gender and Nation. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Zama-Petrescu, M. 1885. “DecadenĠa costumului naĠional.” Familia, 26: 308.

GREECE: THE TRADITIONAL COSTUME THAT MADE HISTORY ELENA DUMITRU

The phenomenon of fashion has a strong tradition in Greece; it has its roots in the fashion and customs of Ancient Greece. Analysis of the origins of this phenomenon and its expression in the customs of the ancient world is necessary in order to understand the evolution of Greek society and its identity. The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years—from the Paleolithic era (11,000–3,000 BC); the birth of the great stone and bronze age civilizations—Minoan (2600–1500 BC), Mycenaean (1500– 1150 BC) and Cycladic; through the famous Classical Period (sixth to fourth centuries BC)—the Golden Age, where high levels of prosperity encouraged the development of architecture, drama, science and philosophy, which were nurtured in the democratic environment of Athens; through the sequence of invasion and domination—Roman Greece, the Byzantine Period and the 400 years of Ottoman rule, starting in 1453 when the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and gradually the rest of Greece; right up until the revolution of 1821. The culture of Ancient Greece underlined simplicity and functionality. Ancient Greek clothing was typically made by women and female slaves, and from Greek vase paintings and sculptures we can see that the fabrics were richly colored and usually decorated (Wayland Barber 1995). As regards the variety of colors, those most in use were: white, yellow, turquoise, and red, the last of which was very valuable and less used. The clothes, for men and women, often consisted of a simple rectangle of cloth without seams and draped on the body in soft folds. The quality of the fabric, on the other hand, provided an element of social distinction. The fabrics used for clothing, shoes, belts and caps included cotton, linen, felt, leather and a kind of silken fabric called byssus—made from the filaments secreted by certain species of bivalve. In addition, women also wore a garment called a peplos. The peplos was a large rectangle of heavy fabric, usually linen or wool, wrapped around the body and fastened at the

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shoulders with a pin or brooch. A peplos was worn as a full-length garment because a proper Greek woman kept herself fully covered. Although women’s clothing in Ancient Greece showed little variation, aristocratic women wore an ankle-length tunic with a gap on one side, often embellished by a train. The breast was supported by a band and a kind of sleeveless jacket was used in order to complete the outfit. The specifically female garment was the peplos, often fixed at the side by a belt forming its folds and at the shoulder by buckles. It was so important that Spartan women used it as a unique dress, while in ancient Athens offering to Athena a rich embroidered peplos was the most solemn act of the Panathenaic Festivals. As for men, they had their own distinctive form of dress: a long tunic called a chiton, sewn up on one side and fixed with buttons or a seam at the shoulders. Over the years, the chiton became a dress for formal occasions and solemn ceremonies, being replaced from the fifth century onwards by the more practical chitoniskos—a short chiton fixed at the waist by a belt. The slaves used to wear their dress on one shoulder, free men on both, while children and soldiers did not wear a belt for greater freedom of movement. On top of the tunic, both men and women wore a cloak called a himation, worn casually on one or both shoulders; soldiers used shorter cloaks called chlamys, usually bordered and often pinned with a fibula. Military clothing was an important part of Greek fashion from ancient times. Coming up to the present day, the most famous traditional military uniform is that of the Evzoni, which evolved from the clothes worn by the kleftes and many of the famous fighters in the Greek War of Independence who resisted the Turks during the long Ottoman occupation of Greece (ȂȣȜȦȞȐȢ 1998). The name kleftes, signifying robbers or brigands, indicates warlike mountain-folk who lived in the countryside when Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire; their profession was considered honorable. The kleftes became mythologized in the popular imagination as a representation of freedom and disobedience. The image of the Greek kleftes as heroes of the 1821 revolution was immortalized by numerous painters, as for example Carl Haag with his famous representation of a Greek Warrior. Theodoros Vryzakis (1818–78), a Greek painter who grew up during the years of the Greek War of Independence, dedicated a painting to a famous kleftis in his work The Camp of Georgios Karaiskakis. A hero of the war, Karaiskakis is presented in the middle of his army as the quintessence of the struggle for independence and the desire for freedom. A symbolic element of this representation is the foustanela, the military outfit of these Greek chieftains. A suggestive

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painting by Gottlieb Bodmer (1804–37) is the portrait of King Otto of Greece wearing a fustanella, which this first modern king of Greece adopted for his personal guard and is still used by the Evzoni—the soldiers of the Presidential Guard. The character of the kleftes was also the inspiration for legends and songs that commemorate their heroism. Their obstinate bravery is cited in the so-called kleftic ballads, describing the tumultuous and dangerous life of these fighters, their actions and their sacrifice. In the mid-eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, a new genre of folk songs appeared in mainland Greece; these songs are called “kleftica” and constitute a major contribution to the Greek cultural tradition. These historical folk songs aim to preserve Greek national identity after the revolution and they transmit useful details regarding the way of dressing, as for example in a very popular patriotic song entitled Fast little Evzone: I am the fast little Evzone Honored by the entire world Which gentleman, or any other guy can get out in front of me One-two, one-two, foustanella clogs pompon fez admiration gallantry pride correctly folded velvet

Especially popular in Epirus and the Peloponnesus, these songs and their protagonists constituted a source of inspiration for the Czech composer Antonín Leopold DvoĜák who wrote a song-cycle entitled Three Modern Greek Poems. The first of these is a “Kleftis Song” and reveals the story of Koljas, presented as the kleftis who killed the famous Ali Pasha of Ioannina, known as Aslan, “the Lion” or the “Lion of Yannina.” Such historical and traditional symbols have become, since 1867, an inspiration for the ceremonial uniform worn by the Evzoni, which is the name of the historical mountain infantry units that currently serve as the Presidential Guard and are responsible for the supervision of the monument of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Greek Parliament Building in Syntagma Square in Athens. From an etymological point of view, the use of the word evzǀnos (İ‫އ‬ȗȦȞȠȢ) was used for the first time in Homer’s Iliad and comes from İ੣ + ȗȫȞȘ, that is “well-belted” men, expressing an élite status. This word was used for centuries by ancient writers to describe a type of light infantry with unspecified equipment; it was probably used as a general term for light infantry.

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The history of the Evzoni is fascinating and begins in 1867 with the establishment of four battalions, each of which had four companies organized to guard the border. In 1868, the four companies were enlarged to five. Initially, these units were composed of volunteers, noncommissioned officers or soldiers, who usually came from mountainous areas. The glorious actions of the Evzoni battalions during the Balkan Wars were so impressive that the Evzoni were brought into the national consciousness of the Greek people as heros. The Evzoni battalions were particularly important during other armed conflicts of the twentieth century, such as the Asia Minor Campaign, the Great War and World War II. Since 1914, a special unit formed of Evzoni constitutes the Palatial Guard. Their name has been transformed several times and the current name is “Presidential Guard,” given in 1974 after the collapse of the Papadopoulos dictatorship. The 5/42 Evzone Regiment occupies a special place in the history of Evzoni, which is mainly due to their actions during the Asia Minor Campaign. Being very efficient during the first military operations, the regiment acquired fame for its actions after the collapse of the Greek front and the disintegration of the Greek army in August 1922. In particular, under the leadership of Commander Nikolaos Plastiras, the 5/42 Evzone Regiment became famous among the Turks who used to call them ùeytan Asker (Satan’s Army). When we look at the contemporary Evzoni, the element that draws most attention is the way they are dressed in traditional shirts with vests, the fustanella, i.e. a kind of traditional skirt, a fez and special leather clogs with black pompons. What is the history of these soldiers? Originating from Epirus, the Evzoni took part in the Greek War of Independence, the Greek–Turkish War of 1897, the Balkan Wars (Biagini 2012), the GreekTurkish War of 1919–22 and the Second World War. After World War II, only one department of the royal guard survived and this later became the presidential guard. During the German invasion of 1941, there was a rather well-known episode involving one of these guards: on April 27, when the German army was entering Athens, the Germans ascended to the Acropolis and ordered the young Evzone who was guarding the Greek flag to take it off and replace it with the swastika. The young soldier carried out the order of the invaders, but nevertheless refused to give the Greek flag to the Germans, wrapping himself in it and throwing himself from the Acropolis. After the occupation of the country, in 1943, the collaborationist government organized a series of “Security Battalions,” who used the

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uniform of the Evzoni and participated in operations against the Partisans. They were called, ironically, “German Evzoni” and were dissolved after liberation in 1944. After the war, the tradition of the Evzoni was maintained through a special ceremonial unit that served under different names: the Palace Guard, Flag Guard, Guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Royal Guard and after 1974, with the abolition of the monarchy, the Presidential Guard. As a result, their presence today is particularly symbolic. Their tasks are: to guard the Monument of the Unknown Soldier and the Presidential Palace on a twenty-four hour basis; to participate in the official raising and lowering of the flag on the Acropolis in Athens every Sunday; to escort the Greek president on foreign visits; and to offer honors to foreign heads of state and their representatives. To these tasks, we can add another special one—the annual parade along 5th Avenue in New York City in celebration of the National Day of Greece on March 25. This is all done while wearing their characteristic uniform, which is known worldwide. Nevertheless, the Evzoni wear the regular khaki uniform of the Greek army when they are not on guard duty. The only distinction from other army units are an azure beret and blue embroidered patches on the shoulders with white letters that form, in Greek, the expression: Presidential Guard. The main attraction of these tall, well-trained soldiers is the current ceremonial uniform. It consists of numerous elements, each one having its own function and significance. The most curious are probably the tsarouchia, traditional red leather clogs with big, black pompons. Each tsarouchi weighs 1.5 kilograms and has at least sixty nails under the sole so that the Evzones do not slip. It also causes the characteristic sound during their march. The typical element of the tsarouchia is the black pompoms on the top. It is believed that the primary use of this kind of shoe was to hide small, sharp objects that could injure or at least surprise the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. Another important aspect is that the pompoms offered real protection for the toes in case of snow or freezing weather. The red color is found again in the case of the Farion, a scarlet hat with a long tassel in black silk, with the national emblem on the front. Its shape is designed to symbolize the tears of Christ during the Crucifixion. The doulamas is a long tunic that is actually the everyday uniform, with summer and winter versions. The winter doulamas is navy blue and is somewhat reminiscent of the uniform worn until 1910, while the summer version is khaki, similar to the field uniform adopted by the Evzoni after that date.

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The foustanela is perhaps the most complex and symbolic element of the uniform. It is a skirt made from a 30 meter long strip of white cotton, with 400 pleats representing the 400 years of Ottoman occupation (ȂȣȜȦȞȐȢ 1998). This piece comes from the traditional uniform of Central Greece. The outfit also contains the ypoditis, a white traditional shirt with very wide sleeves and the fermeli, the vest with various traditional designs embroidered in white or gold thread, which is the most difficult to make since it takes up to one month to sew. Yellow stripes on the epaulettes indicate military rank: sergeants have two and corporals one. The krossia is the fringe in blue and white—the colors of the flag of Greece. Then there are the periskelides, white woolen stockings—there are two on each leg, which are fastened at the top; the epiknemides, black silk garters for the soldiers and blue for the officers; the anaspastos are the internal suspenders that keep the socks stretched tight. The Evzoni are also equipped with a black leather cartridge belt and a bayonet belt holder case. Nowadays, young people recruited to serve in the Presidential Guard must meet certain characteristics. They should have a minimum height of 1.87 meters, moral behavior, good health, a good general appearance and, mostly, stamina. Anyone who enters this unit must complete the basic military training of five and a half months and then receive one month of specific training as presidential guards. The specific training is notoriously difficult and involves developing the ability to stand still for an hour and to perform the special synchronized steps during the ceremony of the changing of the guard, which requires one to lift the foot to the level of the waist. During the day, tourists and locals can see the changing of the guard in front of the Greek Parliament. There are always two guards in service, with the change taking place every hour—the guards stand literally motionless for an hour, that is for over 100 hours a month—just in front of the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, in a rather complex ritual. The everyday uniform is less impressive and consists of farion, doulamas, stockings, garters and tsarouchia, while the ceremonial uniform worn on Sundays and special occasions, is formed of farion, ypodetes, foustanela, fermeli, krossia, stockings, garters and tsarouchia. But in any case, the uniforms are completely handmade in specific departments of the presidential guard training camp. In addition to the cotton summer uniform, which is actually used for special ceremonies, we should mention other variations also. These include: the traditional black uniform of Pontos in recognition of the contribution of these areas to the nation’s history; the blue Macedonian uniform in wool, for winter; the modernized mainland uniform; and the Cretan uniform, which is an adaptation of typical Cretan garments

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symbolizing, at the same time, all Greek islands. The Cretan variant consists of a farion, a Cretan-style blue jacket with a red vest and white shirt, characteristic blue Cretan breeches, a Cretan-style belt with a Cretan style knife, and white leather boots. Crete has long been a protagonist in Greek history, not only as the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, but also as one of the bravest during the era of resistance against the Ottoman Empire. It is an island full of contrasts and the homeland of the writer Nikos Kazantzakis whose work is inspired and characterized by Greek and, above all, Cretan identity (Luciani 2006). It frequently appears as a setting in literary texts, like for instance Captain Michalis, also known as Freedom and Death, a 1953 novel by Nikos Kazantzakis that describes the revolt of the Cretans against the Ottoman Empire in 1889. Being Cretan is both a source of pride and torment, as Captain Michalis emphasizes. The novel’s title was translated into Freedom or Death, which is an expression from the Greek national motto Eleftheria i thanatos from the Greek War of Independence (Clogg 1998). This is an important moment in the history of modern Greece and is also remembered through the symbolism of the national flag—it is believed that the nine lines reflect the number of syllables of the phrase. The Cretan rebels used it to express their commitment and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for their island and their community. It is a community that defines itself through belonging to a specific territory, as a sign of identity—such as language and religion—is the landscape (Motta 2013). It is a community that constantly lived in opposition to its Turkish rulers, but also to the Western powers. In a dramatic scene in Captain Michalis, the traditional Cretan clothes, the symbol of Cretan identity and of Crete’s resistance against any conqueror, take the place of “Western clothes” in a manner that resembles the evocation of a curse; the teacher arrives, dressed as a Cretan, while bringing the Western clothes to be burned by an old man: “Come, my boy … Burn them to hell! The West burned us, so we burn it too! Fire for fire and wind for wind! … And after the fire went out, the old man, with a handful of ashes, opened the gate, stopped in the middle of the road, raised his hand and spread the ashes in the air. —You, Western people, and his voice was full of pain and anger, you, Western people, I wish one day my children’s eyes and my children’s eyes will see as well burning and flying like ashes in the air your houses and your factories and the palaces of your kings! As you burned us, Western people, so you will burn!” (Kazantzakis 2014).

It is a strong image that corresponds to the heroic and tragic Cretan attitude during the time of Ottoman domination. We also find this image in

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the trilogy The Cretan by Pandelis Prevelakis. This famous author born in Rethymno, in Crete, offers a masterful presentation of the Cretan identity myth, with its peculiar Cretan ethos characterized by austerity, severity and, sometimes, wild courage. The Cretan is also the story of Crete and its people struggling for national liberation from Turkish domination, a story that brings to light the two main characters: a fictive one, named Konstandis, and a historical one, Eleftherios Venizelos, a fervent proponent of the union with Greece during the Cretan revolt of 1897. He was the leader of the Theriso revolt in Crete in 1905 and this revolt established Venizelos not only as a leading local politician, but also brought him to the attention of the rest of the Greek world, which elected him several times as prime minister. History and national tradition enclose, as we can see, an important set of symbols. Greek culture and tradition are very rich and varied, and undoubtedly reflect Greece’s geographical location at the crossing point of East and West, as well as the country’s long and turbulent history. The way of dressing and traditional costumes belong to that history, as the history of fashion, which is strongly connected to the social, political, religious, and anthropological history of every era and every country and influences its transformation and its progress (Motta 2015).

Bibliography Biagini, Antonello Folco. 2012. L’Italia e le guerre balcaniche. Rome: Edizioni Nuova Cultura. Biagini, Antonello and Giovanna Motta, eds. 2014. Empires and Nations from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century, Volume I. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Clogg, Richard. 1998. Storia della Grecia moderna. Milan: Bompiani. Garland, Robert. 2009. Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. Kazantzakis, Nikos. 2014. Căpitanul Michalis. Libertate sau Moarte, Translated by Ion Diaconescu. Bucharest: Humanitas Fiction. Llewellyn-Smith, Michael. 1998. Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor, 1919-1922. London: Hurst & Co. Luciani, Cristiano. 2006. Voci dalla Grecia moderna. Rome: Edizioni Nuova Cultura. Motta, Giovanna. 2013. Nell’Europa dell’età moderna. Memoria collettiva e ricerca storica. Florence: Passigli Editori. —, ed. 2015. La moda contiene la storia e ce la racconta puntualmente. 2015. Rome: Nuova Cultura.

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ȂȣȜȦȞȐȢ, īȚȐȞȞȘȢ. 1998. OȚ ǼȣȗȦȞȠȚ, ǹșȒȞĮ: ȈIJȡĮIJȘȖȚțȑȢ ǼțįȩıİȚȢ. ğuroiu, Liliana. 2009. Estetica vestimentaаiei feminine în perioada postmodernă. Bucharest, PhD diss., Universitatea Na‫܈‬ională de Arte. The Greek Folk Tradition (collective volume). 2014. Athens: Alexander. The Greek Painters, vol. 1. 1974. Athens: Melissa editions. Wayland Barber, Elizabeth. 1995. Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years : Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

DRESS AND IDENTITY: A GEORGIAN CASE STUDY MARIAM CHKHARTISHVILI, SOPIO KADAGISHVILI AND ZURAB TARGAMADZE

Introduction Many types of identities (if not all of them) are socially constructed. The constructed nature of human identities is especially evident in the case of national identities. In the process of identity forging, nationalists often refer to an ethnic heritage. Traditional costumes, which are important elements of ethnic culture, are viewed as an expression of the authentic self. The extant research on Georgian attire provides important factual data (Melikishvili et al. 2013; Machabeli 2013; Bezarashvili 2000; Bezarashvili 2003; Kvantidze 2014; Topchishvili 2015), but they do not give much about the costume’s conceptualization in the Georgian national narrative. Through this study, we aim to, at least partially, fill this gap. This contribution is in two parts. In the first part we introduce some facts on pre-modern, modern and postmodern Georgian history to show how traditional dress functioned in different times and social environments; in the second part, we provide a close-up view of nineteenth-century Georgia. In particular, we focus on Ilia Chavchavadze’s (1837–1907) views on Georgian dress. In our previous work on Georgian identity (Chkhartishvili 2013), (Chkhartishvili et al. 2014), (Chkhartishvili et al. 2015), we have already discussed Ilia Chavchavadze’s profound contribution in making the Georgian identity narrative and considered some important topics characterizing his idea of the Georgian nation. One of the topics Chavchavadze elaborated is the following: Georgian traditions and culture vs. modernized European culture. In this context he dealt with the issue of national dress.

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Background Nowadays, on Georgian social media, like Facebook, one can find an appeal to establish a Day of National Dress. Over a few months this page was liked by 58,831 people. Among all the age groups of the national Georgian community, traditional dress, especially the dress for men— chokha—has become increasingly popular. It is worn by individuals of all professions on special occasions: when they meet respectable guests or guests from abroad, and when they attend international events. Not always, but often, Georgian grooms dress in chokha. During Michael Saakasvili’s presidency, official representatives of Georgia were instructed to present themselves in national costume at official meetings. Today, the members of the conservative party of the political coalition Georgian Dream have initiated a bill aimed at allowing members of parliament to attend sittings in national dresses. The initiators argue that the parliament members’ physical appearance is an issue of national importance and that wearing national costumes will ensure respect for ethical norms. In 2009, a special company aimed at the study and popularization of the costumes of the Caucasian peoples was established. A little later, the company opened a boutique in the center of Tbilisi, which offers customers many variations of Georgian traditional dress, for both men and women, with relevant accessories. Georgian scholarship has also reacted promptly to the increased interest of Georgians in the history of their traditional dress: in 2011, a research project was launched by the Shota Rustaveli Scientific Foundation with funding for grant proposals dedicated to the study of Georgian national dress. In recent years, numerous doctoral dissertations and monographs dedicated to Georgian national dress have been published. The Georgian Apostolic Church stands at the head of these developments: in 2007, in the Christmas Epistle, His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II mentioned national dress and emphasised the necessity of its preservation as an expression of tradition and authenticity (Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, 2007). In this context, it is worth mentioning that since 2006 he has been the president of the All Georgia Society of Chokosans (i.e. those who wear chokha). Thus, during the last decade, Georgian traditional dress has become not only fashionable, but, to a certain degree, sacralized. It occupies a high position in the hierarchy of national values and is viewed as a strong identity marker, which enables the visualization of the Georgian authentic self and the attributes of physical beauty and spirituality. To gain insight into this development, we should take a deeper look into the past. At first let us take the 1990s, the period of the dissolution of

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the Soviet Union. This was a turbulent period in Georgia, characterized by the intensification of dissident activities and anti-Soviet mass demonstrations. Some participants of these demonstrations wore chokha. (Okropiridze and Djibashvili 2013, 14, 15, 17, 18, 42, 56). They carried a photo of Kakutsa Cholokhashvili, the leader of an unsuccessful anti-Soviet rebellion in 1924. Despite the fact that a photo of him wearing European dress (a very good photo capturing Kakutsa’s handsomeness and smart look) was available, the participants of the demonstrations used one in which the national hero was wearing a black chokha. During this period (and still enjoying wide popularity) the folk song Savlego, dedicated to a mediaeval martyr who was dressed in a black chokha, was very popular. The symbolism of the black chokha for Georgian national imagery is very potent. It goes back to the 1920s and even further if one takes into account the karachokheli—those individuals who wore black chokha. Karachokheli constituted a socially distinct group in nineteenth-century Tbilisi (according to some scholars, this group already existed in premodern times) who had a specific manner of behavior. The declared rules of their unwritten ethics code included: personal freedom (not to be subordinate to anybody and not to oppress others), bravery, devotion to the establishment of justice, and respect for honesty. In the 1920s, when the First Georgian Republic collapsed as a result of Soviet Russia’s intervention, representatives of the younger generation of the Georgian cultural elite, literary critic Vakhusti Kotetishvili, writer Constantine Gamsakhurdia (the father of the first Georgian President Zviad Gansakhurdia), historian Pavle Ingorokva, and poet Aleksandre Abasheli expressed their dissent to Soviet rule by dressing in black chokha. In his popular poem For Merrymaking, dedicated to the heroic deeds of the Georgians, poet Lado Asatiani (1917–1943) wrote: “the black chokha will suit us well as we are swarthy.” This image is prevalent even today—the modern Georgian writer Rostom Chkhaidze entitled his novel Black Chokha and it was dedicated to the representation of Kakutsa’s life. In Soviet Georgia this form of protest (wearing chokha) remained. In the 1970s and 1990s, two societies of Chokhosans were established. The first one was a partially illegal organization: in 1972 students decided to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the Georgian King, David the Builder (1089–1125). The Soviet authorities refused to allow them to organize this event. To protest against this decision students wore chokhas in public. However, in Soviet Georgia national dress did not solely have the meaning of anti-Soviet protest. In the middle of the century, the process of associating national dress with ethnic heritage began. Despite internationalist propaganda, Soviet authorities did not prevent the development of

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representations of ethnic cultures. The promotion of ethnic culture was in harmony with the well-known Soviet motto “national in form, socialist in content.” As such, the authorities were against the fostering of civic solidarity in Soviet republics, but not against ethnic consolidation—ethnic consolidation made obstacles for political self-determination and the secession of the republics. This policy was especially effective in multiethnic Georgia. Georgians (as well as ethnic minorities living in Georgia) were allowed to develop their traditional cultures; these were called “national” cultures as, in the Soviet Empire, the phenomenon of the nation was understood exclusively in ethnic terms. The Georgian folk dance troupe, the Georgian National Ballet of Sukhishvilis (established in 1945), contributed significantly to the popularization of national dress. This troupe gave performances not only in the most respectable Soviet theatres, but also worldwide, presenting Georgian dress to an international audience. The costumes were designed by the famous Georgian artist Soliko Virsaladze, who created1 the current design of the Georgian folk dress, which was presented as the national one: “the artist should dress the dance and not the individual dancer” was the motto of the artist. Ovations used to begin as the troupe appeared on the stage. At the end of the eighteenth century, Georgia became part of Russia. Despite the negative consequentces this had there were some positive results as well. The first of these was an intensification of the modernization/Europeanization process (Jones 2005). The upper stratum of Georgian society in the main Georgian cities assumed the habits of Western European salons—expressed in their manners, hairstyles and clothes. The Georgian aristocracy and bourgeoisie attended public events in fashionable clothes and accessories. A little later, European costumes reached Georgian villages too. The process developed so rapidly that the Georgian cultural elite expressed anxiety about the disappearance of their national costume: in the 1880s the eminent Georgian poet, and Russian General, Grigol Orbeliani (1804–1883) regretted the fact, in one of his private letters, that it was almost impossible to find women’s Georgian traditional dress to help a foreign painter who was looking for a prototype for his work (Grishashvili 1927, 21–22). For a time, both traditional and European clothes were in use. Very often in the photos of this period, one can see people in Georgian and European clothes side by side: a wife in a European dress, the husband in the Georgian one; the elder brother in the European costume, the younger 1

The process of the making of national culture we understand in an ethnosymbolist way: “as not so much one of construction, let alone deliberate ‘invention,’ as of reinterpretation of pre-existing cultural motifs” (Smith 2003, 83).

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one in the Georgian chokha, etc. The tastes of the Georgian cultural elite also differed: if Ilia Chavchavadze exclusively wore European costume, the distinguished Georgian poet Vazha Pshavela was only ever seen in the Georgian chokha. In particular cases the type of dress was an expression of individual style, however, in broader context this might be considered an indication of the general mood of a community in transition: a strong desire for change competed with a no less fervent wish to remain unchangeable and retain the signs of the authentic self. From the beginning of the nineteenth century, the conceptualization of this transition had begun. The first articles dedicated to traditional dress appeared in Iveria (Kvantidze 2014, 73). In the eighteenth century, the first signs of the Georgian community’s modernization appeared. This new stage in Georgian identity development was accompanied by a new conceptualization of the past, as expressed in a fundamental historiographical work, The Description of the Georgian Kingdom, by the Georgian historian and geographer Vakhushti Bagrationi (1696–1757). This contribution was greatly indebted to earlier Georgian historical writings, but carried an essential novelty as well: alongside the presentation of political history, it provided data on Georgian ethnocultural reality and descriptions of Georgian costumes from all the Georgian regions were presented in detail (Bargationi 1973, 45). This set a precedent by making Georgian historiography of the costume an important topic of the historical discipline. Clothes as an identity marker have very special meaning in the case of royal dress (Andronikashvili 2011). Royal garments expressed most vividly an in-group’s ethno-political identity. Georgian kings changed their dress according to political shifts. The changing of clothes was equated with the changing of ethno-cultural identity. The touch of clothes with the human body, especially when this body belonged to a king, was perceived almost mystically. The garment not only expressed identity, but was able to alter it as well. To illustrate this we can look at the Georgian history of the seventeenth-century. By this time, Georgia was in the political sphere of Iran and Georgian kings had to accept the special robes of honor sent by the shahs. Vakhushti Bagrationi describes a case where the Georgian King, George X, received the robe of honor from the shah. He put it on above his Georgian dress. When his frightened retinue warned him that this gesture might offend the shah, he answered that if he would put the robe directly on the body, the shah would become more and more demanding (Bagrationi

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1973, 420). It is clear that according to a widespread view, the traditional dress even though not visible, was able to protect the king from full subordination. With this example, we would like to close the first part of the paper. Judging by the abovementioned facts, drawn from a great number of available resources, one can conclude that Georgians perceived and perceive clothes as ethno-political identity markers.

A close-up view In this part we deal with Ilia Chavchavadze’s statements on national dress. For this analysis we consider three texts. The first is a story, Traveler’s Notes (dated 1861, final version, 1871) (Chavchavadze 1985a), which is not only a significant moment in modern Georgian literature, but also a valuable source for understanding Georgian nationalism. As such, it is frequently used and referred to in the academic literature. The story presents many of the principal topics of identity in the narrative, including traditional Georgian dress. The author touches sketchily on this topic; however, this passage is a very informative and through this discourse on dress one can grasp a general view of the Georgian national narrative. Traveler’s Notes is a brief story with a very simple plot: the young man (presented as the author of the story) returns from Russia to Georgia after four years of absence. During his trip, he meets various people: a Russian coachman, a Russian officer, a French traveler and a Georgian peasant, Lelt Ghunia. The description of the interactions and conversations with them, accompanied by the author’s notes, is the kernel of the story. Traveler’s Notes was inspired by the biographical facts of the author’s life. Chavchavadze lived for four years in Russia, completing his education as a student of the faculty of law at St. Petersburg University. Thus, the description of the trip contains many real facts. At the same time, it is clear that this is not a documentary, but a fictional representation; the characters, who are depicted so vividly and eloquently, may have had actual prototypes, but they are also symbolic images. They represent Georgia, Russia and Europe. Georgia is represented by two characters: one of them, the author himself, who is a Western educated Georgian and of the new generation (the generation of the 1860s) of the Georgian cultural elite, the so-called tergdaleuli.2 The other is a 2

I.e. who had drank water from the Terek River; who had visited Russia for education. The Georgian cultural elite evaluated Russian intellectuals and the

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representative of the Georgian peasantry named Lelt Ghunia. The peasantry was conceptualized by Georgian nationalists (like nationalists in many countries) as an expression of the authentic national self. In addition, one should keep in mind that Lelt Ghunia was from the Georgian highlands. The mountainous regions of Georgia were conceptualized as a bastion of the authentic Georgian self. Thus, the choice of the place of origin for Lelt Ghunia is not accidental: the peasant from mountainous Georgia is a symbol of Georgian tradition, while the author himself symbolizes the spirit of the new (educated) Georgia. Russia is also represented by two people: these are an ignorant, indifferent coachman and a petty tyrant army officer of the Russian garrison in the Caucasus. The coachman is an image of the common people of Russia, while the officer is a representation of the Russian state. Europe/the West is represented by a French traveler. He speaks with irony about Russia and expresses his compassion towards the author because he has to “enjoy” the roads of the Russian state, an old coach and the driving of the ignorant Russian coachman. The author presents the conversations with all these persons. These descriptions offer important clues to a student of Georgian nationalism. The most interesting passage is a conversation with Lelt Ghunia—a dialogue between two “I”-s of the Georgian self: Lelt Ghunia, the traditional (authentic) Georgian “I”, asks the author, the modern (Europeanized) Georgian “I”, why, if he is Georgian, he is not wearing Georgian dress. The author justifies his decision to wear European clothes (Lelt Ghunia calls it Russian) in the fact that he speaks Georgian, so it is not difficult to identify his nationality. However, Lelt Ghunia does not agree. According to him, to speak Georgian is not enough for national identification as many people, and not only Georgians, speak Georgian. He does not like a Georgian in Russian/European dress. Thus, according to him, dress is a more powerful marker of national identity than language. The author does not agree with this point of view: for him, the dress or look in general is not decisive, what matters is the spirit (Chavchavadze 1985a, 23). This discourse can be read in the following way: the Georgian essence might be well-suited to the European shape and, as such, the authentic Georgian self in the garments of modern European culture is an acceptable development for a Georgian nationalist.

Russian state differently. The attitude towards intellectuals was positive. Hence, education received in Russia was a subject of pride. It was viewed as fully equivalent to a European one.

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Another story that we wish to mention is the masterpiece, Otar’s Family Widow (dated 1887) (Chavchavadze 1985b). This story is much longer than the previous one and its plot is far more complicated. It covers the period after the abolition of serfdom. The main character of the story is Otar’s family widow. She belongs to the social stratum of the peasantry. She is an image of good Georgian traditions. Her only son, George, is also a representation of the authentic Georgian self as a legacy that should be retained and perpetuated. The author does not mention the widow’s name. But the name of her son is no accident. Saint George is the most popular saint of the Georgian Church and George is the most popular name in Georgia. These two characters personify Georgian authenticity. Tradition is visualized in the following way: the widow is dressed in black and even her vest is dark blue (Chavchavadze 1985b, 237), however, her son’s costume is described in detail, not once, but twice (Chavchavadze 1985b, 238, 260). George wears the traditional Georgian dress for peasants as elegantly as a nobleman. The author makes a special note about the beauty of the Georgian dress of the peasantry. The brother and sister, Archil and Keco, are the other important characters in the story. They belong to the stratum of the nobility and are rather rich. Archil has just returned from Russia (after the completion of his education) to his estate and is occupied with the modernization of farming in his paternal lands. They show acquaintance with European literature, sometimes speak to each other in Russian, have tea and wear European clothes. Thus, they represent non-traditional Georgia. They themselves are well aware of this. The brother recognizes that the real essence and power of the nation dwells not in the educated nobility, but in the peasants and their inherited wisdom. The sister is against idealizing the peasants. She tries to show the dark sides of the peasants’ nature to her brother. Otar’s Family Widow is designed as a love story. The main intrigue happens between the two “I”-s of the Georgian self; between traditional and non-traditional Georgia—George falls in love with Keco. However, Keco does not even notice his strong feelings, let alone sharing them, despite the fact that the young man is very handsome and full of virtue. After his tragic accidental death, the brother and sister consider this sad fact in detail. Archil comes to the conclusion that the only reason Keco was not able to see George’s great love for her was his social position. Keco does not agree with this, however, the reader realizes that her prejudice was the reason. This story was conceived by Chavhavadze in the context of the interrelations between the two main social classes participating in the

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process of Georgian national consolidation: the peasantry and the nobility. According to Chavhavadze, the broken bridge between them should be repaired. However, it may also be considered in the context of the interrelation of traditional versus non-traditional and authentic Georgia versus European/educated/modern Georgia. According to this story, educated Georgia should take note of its authentic part and these two parts should be merged. This second text reveals the same cultural program as the first one, but represented differently. Tradition is embodied in the peasants and visualized in the traditional dress of the people. The third text we wish to look at is a paper in memoriam of a noble woman, Nino Bagrationi, and published in Iveria in 1886. Chavchavadze was a proponent of women’s education and supported the movement for women’s rights, however, in this paper he admires the patriarchal image of a woman who, without receiving modern education, serves her nation through her work in the home and cares for her husband and children. In opposition to this image is a new generation that is, according to Chavchavadze, completely careless. The only concern of this generation is to assume a fashionable look, wearing the highest possible hat and in a dress with the widest possible tournure. Thus, a fundamental view of Georgian nationalism is expressed through the image of dress with the idea that modernity and fashion should not override tradition and not everything that is new is acceptable.

Conclusion As has been seen, it can be clearly shown that over the centuries traditional Georgian dress has expressed and influenced Georgian ethnocultural and political identity. Each epoch has its particular characteristics with regard to symbols and representations. Traditional dress as an identity marker was, particularly, conceptualized in the nineteenth century. By this time, Georgian intellectuals were trying to complete two principal tasks: to “rediscover” an authentic past for their native community and “to marry” it with the main trends of modernity. The concept of modernity was equated with the concept of Europeanism and in the context of Europeanization, the national costume assumed a special meaning. In the principal texts of Georgian nationalism one can find discourses on Georgian dress vs. European dress. For Chavchavadze, as for many of his

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fellow countrymen, the achievements of European culture3 were attractive; however, it seemed to them that Georgian culture faced the danger of being dissolved in the ocean of Western civilization. Chavchavadze wanted to refresh the native community and their unchanging, traditional core values. This ambivalence in his attitude to Europe and modernity found expression in his discourse on national dress vs. modern fashion: national dress was valuable, while his attitude to modern fashion was less than positive—it could be tolerated so long as it did not change the authentic self. Georgian nationalists faced the dilemma of keeping a balance between continuity and change. The history of Georgian dress is very rich. One can distinguish many types of clothes in pre-modern Georgia. The Georgian nobility, merchants, craftsmen, peasantry, and clergymen all wore clothes of different styles. Even the lower social strata had special clothes for work, festive days and important occasions. The dress for men and women; ethnic and confessional minorities was also different in design. The styles varied according to seasons, regions, and types of dwelling too. The focus of this study, rather than presenting detailed visual and literary descriptions of these types of dress, has been on showing how Georgians thought in the past and think today about clothes, which they consider to be inherited, exclusive and national. We hope that this approach and the results of the study will help scholars look at Georgian history from an underexplored point and add to the literature on the links between dress and identity.

Bibliography Andronicashvili, Zaal. 2011. “The Vestment of the Body Politic (From the King Vestment to the National Dress).” Journal of Studies of Humanities 3: 7–30. (In Georgian). Bagrationi, Vakhushti. 1973. The Description of the Georgian Kingdom. The text established according to all main manuscripts by Simon Kaukhchishvili. Tbilisi: Sabchota Sakartvelo. (In Georgian). Bezarashvili, Tsiala. 2000. “Tradtional Clothes for Women in the Georgian Highland.” Ethnological Researches 1: 60–75. (In Georgian). —. 2003. “Tradtional Clothes for Women in the Georgian Plane.” Ethnological Researches 2: 27–49. (In Georgian).

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We mean western European culture after modernization. Georgian civilization was European in the ancient period as well as the Middle Ages.

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Catholicos, Patriarch Ilia II. 2007 “Christmas Epistle.” News of The Patriarchate 1(401). Available at: http://orthodoxy.wanex.net/patriarqi/epistoleebi/sashobao2007.htm (In Georgian). Chavchavadze, Ilia.1985a. “Traveler’s Notes.” In Selected Works in five volumes 2: 5–26. (In Georgian). —. 1985b. “Otar’s Family Widow.” In Selected Works in five volumes 2: 228–96. (In Georgian). —. 1985c. “Nino Bagrationi (obituary).” In Selected Works in five volumes 2: 499–504. (In Georgian). Chkhartishvili, Mariam. 2013. “Georgian Nationalism and the Idea of Georgian Nation.” Codrul Cosminului: 19, # 2, December: 189–206. Available at: http://atlas.usv.ro/www/codru_net/page19_2e.html —. 2014. “Conceptualizing the Georgian Nation within the Romanov Empire: Georgian Intellectuals in Search of a Matrix.” In Empires and Nations from the Eighteenth Century to the Twentieth Century 1, edited by Antonello Biagini and Giovanna Motta, 202–13. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Chkhartishvili, Mariam, Zurab Targamadze, and Sopio Kadagishvili. 2015. “Impulse of the Great War on Georgian Identity Development.” In The First World War. Analysis and Interpretations 2, edited by Antonello Biagini and Giovanna Motta, 75–86. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Grishashvili, Ioseb. 1927. Literary Bohème of old Tbilisi. Sakhelgam (In Georgian). Jones, Stephen. 2005. Socialism in Georgian Colors: The European Road to Social Democracy, 1883–1917. Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press. Kvantidze, Gulnara. 2014. “Ethnographic Pictures from the 17th–18th Centuries Georgian History.” PhD diss., Ilia State University (In Georgian). Machabeli, Kiti. 2013. Georgian Historical Costume (5th - 10th Centuries). Tbilisi: The Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia. Melikishvili, Izolda, Eldar Nadiradze, and Luarsab Togonidze. 2013. Traditional Georgian Attire, 18th-20th Centuries. Tbilisi: Catalogue. Smith, Anthony D. 2003. Nationalism. Theory, Ideology, History. Cambridge: Polity Press. Topchishvili, Roland. 2015. “From the History of Georgian Clothing: Chokha-Akhalukhi.” Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of

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Humanities, Institute of Georgian History. Proceedings XI: 193–22. (In Georgian). Okropiridze, Ucha, and Oleg Djibashvili. 2013. Photo Album: Adjara in National-Liberation Movement (1988–1993). Batumi: Shota Rustaveli State University. (In Georgian). Ugrekhelidze, Irina. 2011. Costume in Medieval Georgia. Kutaisi: Kutaisi Akaki Tsereteli State University Press. (In Georgian).

THE CIRCASSIANS (ADYGHE): THE SYMBOLIC MEANING OF THE CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS EMILIA SHEUDZHEN AND RUSLAN TLEPTSOK

A lot of concern has been expressed in the course of development of modern historical Caucasiology by members of the scientific community as to the limited nature of existing conceptual approaches, the traditional character of research topics, a lack of diversity in terms of sources used, as well as the techniques and methods of analysis being applied. The need to shift the focus to new areas of historical knowledge has lately been increasingly realized. Historical anthropology has become, in a sense, a new research area of the historical sciences, allowing for a comprehension of the unique structures in which people “clothe their daily life experience” and the formulae by which they try to explain what is happening to them (Yates 1966, 2–26). Symbols, representing phenomena and concepts, are the oldest condensed forms expressing cultural values and the concrete embodiment of the ideas and concepts that people use to live with. Russian historiography has accumulated a significant body of experience in approaching the history and theory of symbols. However, as far as we know, a holistic analysis of Circassian symbolism as a sign system has yet to be carried out. This is despite the fact that, lacking a writing system even as late as the end of the twentieth century, symbols, in their pictorial form, reflected the people’s mentality and interpretation of the world. The Caucasus Mountains are a general symbolic sign for the peoples of the region. According to Frances Yates, the famous English researcher of historical and cultural processes, the arrangement and sorting of attentionworthy locations and images take place in the traditions of people. Locations that have been deeply imprinted in the minds of people obtain stable symbolic meanings. The geographic attribute “Caucasus” has deeply rooted itself in historical memory and has served as a sort of memory placeholder, uniting the various ethnic groups of the region (“Caucasians,” “highlanders,” “Caucasian highlanders”). The Caucasus

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Mountains has played a sacred role, veiling everything in grandeur and mystery. Early acquaintance with the Caucasus Mountains gave rise to many legends and fantasies in the cosmogonical views of our ancient predecessors. The peaks of the Caucasus Mountains, visibly perceptible, but inaccessible, were alluring to peoples’ imagination and were regarded as the “thrones” of fearsome deities from where heavenly forces threw down their punishing lightning, invigorating the light and warmth of the sun’s rays. Mountain names are deeply rooted in Circassian legends, such as “The blessed mountain,” “The Lord of the Universe,” and “The Throne of the King of Spirits.” These testify to a sacred attitude towards the mountains (The collection of materials describing places and tribes of the Caucasus 1908, 38, 2). Thanks to existing legends, a romanticized image of the snowy peaks of the mountains formed in the minds of people, as “abutting against the sky” with their blizzards and unmelting ice “covering rocks and clearings as if with a shroud.” At sunrise the “mountain of mountains,” Elbrus, begins glimmering with different hues of pink and “with the sunset of the day it fades with violet hues, blending with the eternal azure sky” (The collection of materials describing places and tribes of the Caucasus 1891, 12, 38–40). Likewise, the perception of mysterious beauty and grandeur of the “world of the Caucasus” has stirred the imagination of romantic poets and found reflection in popular consciousness. The mountain was a place to resolve the issues of life and death and to carry out contests of strength/agility/eloquence. It was here that mythical heroes had their dwellings. Evidence of this can be found in the close resemblance that the storylines of Circassian epics bear to ancient Greek myths. Vivid examples of this are the similarity in imagery of the Greek Prometheus and of Nasrenzhake of the Nart Epics. The myth of Prometheus is widely known. The plot of this myth was taken as a baseline for the Nart legend “How Bataraz set Nasr free, who was chained down to the top of the mountain” for the analogous misdeed of giving the stolen fire to the Narts: You, disobedient, will be punished as soon as today— And to the top of the mountain you will be chained. And on the high mountain you will stay on your own Up to your death, as my prisoner, alone. (The Narts: The heroic epos 1951, 283)

In this respect, the grandeur of the mountains was perceived as a sign of the world’s stability and past commonality transmitted through oral tradition. Khan-Girey, one of the first Adyghean historians, when reflecting

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on the difficulties of reconstructing ancient history, raised the question of adopting, as a scientific hypothesis, a point of view about the interconnection of the ancient traditions of the Circassians with the “fabulous events of the classic land” (Khan Giray 1989, 54–55) during the heroic age of Greece. The Caucasus Mountains were perceived as a dominant sign of the area, noted by Strabo as “the most remote” mountains that were known to people at that time (The Caucasus and the Don in the works of ancient authors 1990, 192), a huge wall running from one sea to another. The Caucasus Mountains could not escape the attention of the peoples of the vast expanses of the Eurasian steppes. From ancient times, there was an idea of the Caucasus as a unity of space, as a mysterious “Land of Mountains,” which occupied a vast area and included many “kingdoms and nations” and “many different tribes populate the Caucasus,” wrote Herodotus in the fifth century BC (The Caucasus and the Don in the works of ancient authors, 1990, 20). The Caucasus Mountains are linked with the earliest descriptions of the geographical features of the territory. The mountains were perceived as the main “center,” well-established in human minds when describing the locations of populated territories or directions of migration, for example: “the people living by the Caucasus”; “at the foot of the Caucasus”; “it borders on the Caucasus Mountains”; “the regions to north of the Caucasus”; “The Caucasus Mountains are to the right”; “to the left of the Caucasus” (The Caucasus and the Don in the works of ancient authors 1990, 14–20, 22, 27, 88). The Caucasus was a huge natural barrier yet never stopped tribal migrations from Asia to Europe—from east to west and from north to south. The anthropological approach, though widely applicable to a range of historical problems, is primarily focused on the study of the anthropological aspect of the people in terms of their ethnic background. In the nineteenth century, the works of the German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach on the comparative anatomy and natural history of man became widely known. Based on craniometric research, he subdivided the human species into five races, the first being termed the Caucasian race— the white race. Beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century, anthropologists of various countries, while researching the problems of the scientific classification of people used the term the “Caucasian race“ or “Caucasians.” At the same time, the Circassians and Georgians, supposedly being the archaic bearers of this race, attracted the attention of researchers and became integral to a number of philosophical meditations.

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Georg Hegel, referring to the problem of anthropogenesis, claimed that “progress is made by the Caucasian race only” (Hegel 1956, 71–73). This extract was often cited in studies on the history of the Caucasian peoples and is interpreted as verification of their special significance. It does not take into account the fact that further attempts by scientists to prove that physical characteristics (skin color, cranial profile, etc.) are correlated to certain mental abilities failed to be supported by any scientific evidence. Despite these extravagant and often dangerous ideas, modern anthropology features a significant number of options for the racial classification of people, traditionally identified with the notion of the Caucasian peoples. Even as late as the nineteenth century, all the indigenous peoples of the North-West Caucasus were referred to as “Circassians” not only in everyday life, but in official documents as well. In this regard, M. J. Olshevsky posed a question that is still pertinent today: “why have we, Russians, believed the entire population of the Caucasus Mountains to be one nation?” (Olszewsky 2003, 152, 478). The anthropological type and physical appearance of the Circassians attracted the interest of travelers, ethnographers and anthropologists. In its most general form, this issue was presented in the work of the famous German philosopher and anthropologist Johann Gottfried Herder. In particular, he drew attention to the area populated by the “peoples with gracefully moulded complexion”; “this is Cherkessia, the home of beauty.” Moreover, he was convinced that the Circassians “ennobled the blood” of the peoples that resided “in close proximity to the perfectly moulded” Circassians, thanks to which “there has gradually formed a type that combined both dignity and beauty” (Herder 1971, 150). Almost every work gave a description of the anthropological type of the Circassians as beautiful people, with delicate features, expressive and intelligent eyes, and slim, agile and vigorous bodies. The surviving primary historical sources provide us with multiple descriptions of the outward appearance of the Circassians, made at different times by people belonging to different peoples and cultures. The Swiss traveler, archaeologist and historian, Frederic Dubois de Montpéreux (1830s), falling almost into a state of religious ecstasy, wrote: “If I had more courage to judge the ways of providence, I would have thought that His intention was to recreate, refresh other degenerating races by mixing them with a beautiful Circassian nation. But we are not the ones to measure the full depth of the supreme intelligence” (de Montpéreux 1937, 48).

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One of the lengthiest anthropological descriptions of the Circassians has been preserved in the records of Edmund Spenser, who made two trips to Circassia (in the 1830s), in the course of which he visited many regions, such as Natuhaj, Shapsugia, Ubykhiya, Abadzekhiya, and Temirgoj. Under the influence of the comparative anatomy of the time, he noted that the Circassians “have had the honour” of giving their name (Caucasian race), with the exception of Finns and Laplanders, to the whole of the people of Europe: “... and, in truth, when contemplating the inhabitants of the Caucasus, though we must confess the superiority of their personal appearance to the great mass of Europeans, the conviction is forced upon us, that we are their descendants, sprung from one common stock ...” (Spencer 1994, 120)

Describing the appearance of the Circassians, he noted that: “The beauty of figure and symmetry of form, for which this people are celebrated, are no chimera; and some of the finest statues of the ancients do not display, in their proportions, greater perfection.” “The general outline of the countenance of a Nottakhaitzi is perfectly classical, exhibiting, in the profile, that exquisitely gently curving line, considered by connoisseurs to be the ideal of beauty. Their large dark eyes, generally of a deep blue, shaded with long lashes, would be the finest I ever beheld, were it not for an expression of wild ferocity, which strongly impressed me on my first arrival in Circassia ...” (Spencer 1994, 35, 66)

Acquaintance with the Circassian community became, in many ways, a revelation for the Europeans—in fact, a new world was discovered. It inspired wonder not only for its fabulously beautiful nature, but also for the smooth way of life of the people in this unique environment. This issue, if approached scientifically, can no doubt provide impetus for an epistemological breakthrough in Caucasiology. Clifford Geertz draws attention to the fundamental discoveries made in the twentieth century in evolutionary anthropology and still not entirely comprehended. He stresses the importance of “the discarding of a sequential view of the relationships between physical evolution and cultural development” in favor of an “overlap or interactive view”(Geertz 2004). Developing new factual information on the gene pool of the Caucasus population, integrating the data, and subjecting it to a comprehensive analysis, as a complex population system, will add to our existing knowledge. This may lead to a significant updating of the extant principles in the historical studies about the origins of these peoples, about their

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genetic similarities and dissimilarities, and about the direction of migration flows in ancient times. Moreover, genetic study of the North-West Caucasus my help bring to light the historical layers that interconnect the gene pools of the Caucasus, Europe, and Southwest Asia. The issue of ethnogenesis is naturally linked to the Caucasus Mountains—it is believed that ethnic groups start developing in those areas where two or more types of landscape overlap. The North Caucasus is one of those areas of the world where almost all of its territory is a combination of steppes, forest steppes, forest foothills, vast mountain valleys, highland plateaus, subalpine and alpine meadows, and rocky mountains covered with snow and glaciers. In terms of favorability of settlement conditions, the area can be subdivided into mountainous, middle and lower areas. Here in the mountains, traditional “mountain life” was shaped for centuries. The North Caucasus belongs to a relatively rich mountainous area, which was developed in the course of history due to the availability of natural resources: water, fertile soil, plants, animals and other natural ingredients. The experience, accumulated by the Circassians, represented a unique model of life and spatial development. As part of a single economic complex they developed not only significant amounts of forest steppe and steppe areas, but also valleys, foothills, forests and alpine meadows. No matter that arable farming had come to play an important role in the traditional system of agriculture, the Circassians managed also to make rational use of natural pastures at various altitudinal belts, which allowed them to successfully generate enough food and to confront such phenomena as natural disasters, droughts, and epidemics. Moreover, despite the fact that a great number of invaders had devastated this territory over previous centuries, undermining the farming culture of the local population, the peopl not only repeatedlyrestored it, but also managed to improve their expertise. The Caucasus is naturally divided into three characteristic territorial domains: the Fore-Caucasus, the Caucasus and the Transcaucasus. It was over this “split” territory that a peculiar system of social relations was shaped and a collective wisdom related to economic development of rich land surroended by austere environmental conditions started to take its final form. However, the inherent environmental conditions and various kinds of “threatening” phenomena continued to have an impact on the historical development of people here. Residing in a mountainous area is more hazardous and precarious than in the plains, where, on the whole, its residents can rely on internal resources and the assistance of relatives.

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Moreover, due to the peculiarities of the environment, mountaineers “view the world from the top downwards” (Fernandez-Armesto 2009, 336). Despite the fact that the territory domesticated by the Circassians was of a “mountainous” nature, it was still not that far away from the rest of the world not only because of its geographical position, but largely due to the mobility of its male population, which was always prepared for arduous, prolonged marches beyond their “homeland” boundaries. As shown in an Adyghe heroic epic, the Narts aspired to “widen” the boundaries of their habitat by undertaking campaigns with the sole aim of reaching terra incognita. It is not only the environment that the Caucasus Mountains have had influence upon, but also the outer appearance of the Circassians in their clothes and their ability to negotiate the mountainous terrain. The mountains are known for their abrupt fluctuations in temperature, which explains the functional significance of the felt cloak, called a “shaggy coat” by some Europeans. The felt cloak was indispensable in military field conditions; while being extremely warm and waterproof, it allowed one to spend the night outdoors even in the snow and when thrown over the lower branches of a tree or with stakes driven into the ground, it could readily be turned into a tent. No less purposeful was the renowned Circassian footwear. It was handcrafted, tightly fitted to the foot and without hard soles, allowing one to move noiselessly and to successfully negotiate the most impenetrable mountainous passages. The colors of the Circassian costume inherited the features of the mountain landscape as well. The traditional set of the Circassian men’s folk costume features fabrics of monotonous colors and a combination of more than three colors was very rarely seen. The Circassians did not tolerate anything bright, multicolored or extravagant in their outfits. Moreover, the style of their military outfit was gray-brown to fit seamlessly with the surrounding mountainous landscape. This clothing, which had been established over centuries, was not only practical, but also served as a source of pride: the skill of wearing Circassian clothes meant the ability to behave in a certain way. The fact that officers and Cossacks had a passion for Circassian clothes speaks volumes about their qualities in relation to military operations in the Caucasus. During the Caucasian War, an inherent feature, peculiar to the mountain peoples, manifested itself in an unshakable confidence in the saving power of their native mountains, which could act as a reliable barrier to any invader. In many respects this mood is characteristic of other peoples of mountain regions, i.e. the theory of refúgium. The history of the Caucasian highlanders testifies that the peopleswere not so much striving

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to “survive” the adverse location, but resorting to a “safe haven” in the mountains, “having worked out,” in the course of historical development and under complex natural and geographic conditions, particular forms of economic life, social structure, public relations and culture. The bitter experience of the Caucasian War, given the enemy’s technical capabilities, proved the conditional nature of such concepts. The disruption of the drowsy valleys and the mysterious silence of the mountains with massive artillery shelling, which “interrupted this tranquility so speedily and so fearfully,”27 made itself felt all the more keenly. At the same time, it should be noted that the mountains were perceived by the Russians, accustomed to the endless steppes, as the territory of a hostile civilization that inspired panic and fear. Even the melodious concert of nightingales, marred by frogs and jackals, whose incessant croaking and screaming rose from the forest on every side, was sufficiently clamorous to raise the fear of a general assault (Longworth 2002, 56). While in the early years, many officers used to “dream” of being assigned to duty in the Caucasus as a way of getting away with a boring uneventful life—“to breathe a lot of fresh air in the open, to go beyond the St. Petersburg areas, and, in particular, to get to know the realities of military service”—very soon there came an awakening to the fact that the realities of war had nothing in common with these romantic ideas. The Caucasus turned into “another world, a region of horror,” “a region of oblivion” (The process of incorporation of the Caucasus in the Russian Empire 2010, 33), where someone would occasionally be sent as a punishment. From time to time, the troops would be sent to that “unfamiliar and rough terrain,” without accomplishing any significant achievements. Moreover, these “moderate efforts” would never scare those people who came to believe in the invincibility of their mountains. For decades, the resistance of the mountain people would continue, not only due to military and strategic factors, but also in the aspects of life that were rooted in their traditional beliefs and defined the frame of their collective mind. This collective ideal included: a “heroization” of the past; a recognition of the supreme value of liberty; the concept of a man’s duty; the scorn of death; and finally the self-confidence that everyone who died in battle was in for a worthy funeral feast while his military deeds would be remembered by generations to come. Serious attention should be paid to the ever changing state of the body of concepts and categories used to reflect change in the history of the peoples of the North Caucasus, as well as in the popular awareness of

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Russian society. Thus, in particular, even such seemingly neutral definitions as “mountaineer” and “Caucasian,” which used to be interpreted differently in the past, continue to be applied by modern writers. Even more challenging is how to determine the meaning of such overloaded connotations as “wild peoples,” “backward peoples,” “predators” and the like (Tleptsok 2010, 75, 82). In nineteenth century works, which are the foundation of Russian historical study of the Caucasus, the term “predatory” and its derivatives are used on a regular basis: “according to their fanatical religion, pattern of life, habits, and the very nature of the place that they inhabit, the Caucasian mountaineers are natural predators and robbers, who never leave and are incapable of leaving their neighbors alone,” wrote N. Danilevsky, a Russian historian, who was one of those who studied in Europe in the nineteenth century (Danilevsky 1995, 31). This conclusion contains a few key points. First of all, it has to do with the historical origins of this “custom,” i.e. with the desire to cross borders in order to attack neighbors: “to rob their lands, to steal their herds and to lead away into slavery all those who would come to befall their hands” (Marigny 2002, 21). For various reasons many nations were going through periods of active wars and expansion. At the same time there were peoples for whom a belligerent attitude had become an integral part of their lifestyle and, what is more, part of their culture. The Circassians can be considered one of these peoples: they dwelled in harsh conditions, devoted a lot of time to physical training from a young age, were distinguished for bravery in combat, had great physical strength and a high pain threshold. Moreover, they regarded war as a noble and respectable trade. For many centuries, historians praised the courage of warlike peoples like the Spartans or the Vikings; as far as the Circassians were concerned similar behavior was persistently viewed as a sign of “predation.” It is against this background that terminology that was dismissive of many peoples came to establish itself. However, the “looseness” of conceptual definitions is not particularly infrequent. As a rule, this phenomenon arises at the early stages of newly researched areas when neither the essence of the subject nor the exact area covered by it have been sufficiently comprehended, inevitably manifesting itself in a dynamic body of terms and concepts entering scientific circulation. The need for a scientific approach to the interpretation of the terminology established in historiography has increasingly been recognized. It is clear that in order to achieve these objectives it is necessary: to frame a logical scientific concept and improve the research methodology. A holistic comprehension of the development of perspectives should be

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encouraged not only from the point of view of professional historiography, but also from the point of view of overall historical awareness on behalf of the peoples of Russia. It appears that some historians are in need of a deeper realization of the fact that the body of concepts and terminology is not an epitaph, but rather a developing phenomenon worthy of being properly correlated in terms of the time and space of its usage. Nevertheless, it should always be remembered that a modern historian is in a favorable position as far as his previous counterparts are concerned who described the events of the past, as he is aware of the would-be events and has the opportunity to supply a more knowledgeable interpretation. In this respect, he is able to single out the components that actually occurred in the past or, for different reasons, were “attributed” to the studied phenomena, which later go on to acquire a humiliating flavor.

Bibliography The Caucasus and the Don in the works of ancient authors. 1990. Rostov on Don: Russian encyclopedia. Danilevsky Nikolay. 1995. Russia and Europe. St. Petersburg: Glagol. Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. 2009. Civilization. Moscow: ACT. Geertz, Clifford. 2004. Interpretation of Cultures. Moscow: ROSSPEN. Hegel, Georg. 1956. The philosophy of the spirit. Moscow: Gospolitizdat. Herder, Johann. 1977. Philosophy of humanity. Moscow:Nayka. Khan, Giray. 1989. Circassian traditions. Nalchik: El-Fa. Longworth, John. 2002. A year among the Circassians. Nalchik: El-Fa. Spencer, Edmund. 1994. Travel to Circassia. Maikop: RIPO «Adygeia». Marigny de, Taitbout. 2002. A journey through Cherkessia. Nalchik: ElFa. Montpéreux de, Frédéric Dubois. 1937. “Travel around the Caucasus.” In Works of the Institute of the Abkhazian Culture, 180. Sukhum. Olszewsky, Mikhail. 2003. Caucasus from 1841 to 1866. St. Petersburg: Publishing house of the magazine “Star”. The collection of materials describing places and tribes of the Caucasus. 1891. Vol. 12. Tbilisi. The collection of materials describing places and tribes of the Caucasus. 1908. Vol. 38. Tbilisi. The Narts. The heroic epics. 1951. Moscow: Art literature. The process of incorporation of the Caucasus in the Russian Empire. Excerpts from “The Bulletin of Europe” (1802-1918)/Comp. Ruslan Tleptsok, eds. Emilia Sheudzhen. 2010. Moscow: The sociohumanitarian knowledge.

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Tleptsok, Ruslan. 2010. “The problem of ‘imperial expansion’ of Russia in the concepts and terms.” Bulletin of the Maikop State Technological University. Vol. 3. Maykop State Technological University: 75–82. Yates, Frances.1966. The Art of Memory. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

CULTURAL IDENTITY AND FASHION: WE ARE WHAT WE DRESS AND VICE VERSA EMMA GAGO SÁNCHEZ

Luis Buñuel said: “fashion is a herd. The interesting thing is to do what one feels like.” Educated people, rough people, people with or without artistic sensitivity, adopt a similar position—with a strong sexist connotation—expressing their views on this topic with either impetuosity or contempt; associating the concept to superficiality or a lack of personal judgment, personality or imagination when choosing how to spend their money. Fortunately, as in everything, there are different points of view and this aspect of reality should be described and interpreted in a different way if we admit the necessity of considering it relevant within the system of elements that shapes the social realm and personal relationships. How individuals and communities dress is a sign system determined by context. It is a system that transmits an enormous amount of information: personality, taste, socioeconomic and cultural status, profession, origin, religion, and mood. This is information that the interlocutor receives and processes, to a large extent unwittingly, but it also establishes the grounds for relationships and exchange between parties. It has always been like this in all cultures: the way people dress has been used for identifying oneself and shaping one’s identity against the group, so as to recognize others, identify a threat, or impose a hierarchy, etc. Our own style is defined in a conscious and unconscious way and the result of this desire to identify with the group and, at the same time, be different (Simmel 1988, 28) is determined by a vast number of contextual factors that change over time as the individual changes and relates differently to his/her surroundings.1 This is, precisely, the topic I will explore in depth in this article—the way in which a community understands and experiences fashion, evolves with it and becomes the focus of it, representing one more aspect in the continuous process of shaping one’s own cultural identity. It is the way in 1

For further information on the role and relevance of the way people dress in the context of social relationships, see Lurie (1994).

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which each period is accompanied by a distinct aesthetics that identifies itself, as well as a certain idea of fashion and how they are both determined by social, political and cultural circumstances. The Spanish case is particularly interesting and serves to illustrate the suggested hypothesis. The last century, from the political, as well as the social and economic points of view, was characterized by big changes that contributed to modifying Spanish society and its external image. The concept of fashion, as we know it today, was created during these years, concurrently with the arrival of democracy and freedom, creating one of the most important textile enterprises in the world. One might say that the twentieth century in Spain was marked by the following three events: the birth of a modern concept of fashion, the democratization process, and the creation of the Inditex group. Women and men who are now in their seventies and eighties were the witnesses and protagonists of such radical changes that it is difficult for youner generations to be truly aware of how complicated it is for them to recognize the Spain of their youth in contemporary society. We will start our journey in the 1940s when the majority of the Spanish population lived in rural areas. After three years of Civil War, the dictatorship started in Spain; this was a period of repression and political, economic and intellectual isolation that stagnated society. Almost all of the rights recognized by the republic were abolished—neither freedom of expression nor political association existed, censorship was imposed and detentions and disappearances were part of everyday life. The role played by women—wife, mother, housewife and even day laborer—was particularly hard, located essentially in the domestic and family domain, subordinated to traditions, the Church and the masculine figure, and lacking the social and political dimensions of a life of one’s own. The concept of morality imposed by a strong Catholic traditionalism was in contrast to the permissiveness in regards to prostitution, which was legal in Spain until 1956. Society and to a large extent women themselves were guarantors of an antifeminist morality. Organizations such as Sección Femenina, which existed until two years after Franco’s death, were born to indoctrinate women and transmit the ideal of the submissive daughter, mother and wife. As an example, all single women or widows under thirtyfive years old and with no children were obliged to attend a six-month Social Services course, organized by this Sección Femenina, where they were taught how to be a good spouse and housewife according to the precepts of the dictatorship and the Church.2 On the other hand, thanks to 2

For further information on women’s position under Franco’s Dictatorship, see Ortiz Heras 2006.

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the improvement of communications and the emerging activation of the economy, it became easier to get fabrics, more modern sewing machines, and Spanish and foreign pattern magazines. Fabric shops were numerous and the owners were considered the most prosperous traders in every town or city. The majority of people, male and female, turned to dressmakers for their clothes. Especially in villages, housewives, who had previously made clothes for the whole family found a way of earning an extraordinary salary sewing in their own kitchen or living room, and teaching youngsters who wanted to learn a profession for which there was huge demand. In the cities, this activity began to grow more organized as workshops and dressmaking schools multiplied; they existed in every neighborhood until the 1980s. Dressmakers constituted a well-considered collective of new workers; they offered an image of financial independence and modernity that brought fresh air to a society in which women still had very few professional opportunities. The emergence of department stores heralded the first great revolution in the fashion world in Spain; it brought a new mentality and opened up a different way of understanding life, needs, priorities, leisure and recreation. This novelty, together with the appearance of prêt-à-porter, represents the first step in the process of fashion democratization. Stores, such as Galerías Preciados and El Corte Inglés (as we know it today; it opened its doors in 1904 as a tailor shop), arrived to convince Spaniards that they had the right to aspire to a better and more beautiful life, in which pleasure was an important part; in the 1950s, and especially the 1960s, having a television set at home, going out, going on holiday, and buying a car (a seiscientos) were all new sources of daily enjoyment. Department stores opened their doors to the public who could look, smell, and touch, and then decide whether to buy or not; this was something strange and original—an exciting experience that quickly became routine.3 Spain was quietly re-emerging from the darkness of the civil war and the dictatorship. Spaniards suffered and worked to rebuild a country despite the repression imposed by the Franco regime until the very last moment, although it softened in some of its later aspects. As the middle class grew stronger, the time came to start living a better life and enjoy trivial things. After years of oppressive censorship, the films and music of the 1960s helped transform everything. To begin with, youngsters opted out of the open air dance parties for the guateque, teenage parties without parental supervision that were always celebrated at 3

For further information on the emergence of department stores in Spain, see Toboso 2000.

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home around a portable record player. The youth took advantage of an emerging permissiveness and the absence of their parents. The decade of the 1960s was characterized by the yeyé fashion, which influenced the image, as well as the music, and exemplified the spirit of the moment. The definition given by the Royal Spanish Language Academy suggests that this term comes from the French ye-ye, which came from the English yeah, yeah, a common chorus in the songs of that time. This shows the extent of the influence that more liberal and advanced European countries were having on Spanish society. The right to express oneself, live and evolve free of the impositions of a society that was repressed by the Catholic precepts of the Church and condemned by the Franco regime, were reclaimed through an apparently harmless music and fashion. Rock and pop were born in Spain; The Beatles and the Spanish version, Los Bravos, who achieved great success in England and the United States, provoked an uncontrollable euphoria and excess within the young population. However, we should not forget that, in contrast to these events, the context was still that of a country in which the “Law of the lazy and the criminals” applied (it was promulgated in 1933, and made stricter in 1954 to include homosexuals as well); this was replaced in 1970 by the “Law on danger and social rehabilitation.” Both these laws saw the detention of anybody who committed a public order or moral offense and their being restrained or confined to rehabilitation centers. Spanish emigration to other European countries, such as Germany, Switzerland and France, also affected this opening up process; people communicated what was happening outside the country and how people lived in other countries. Tourism also played an important role in this. For example, many Swedish tourists fell in love with Spain, considering it a primitive and intense country; Spanish people also came into contact with different mentalities and other ways of living and customs, with different views, especially on attitudes to women. The changes that took place were reflected in fashion. While in the 1940s and 1950s, gray, brown and pastel colors prevailed, in the 1970s, fabrics became full of intense colored patterns: turbans and head scarves were fashionable; skirts became shorter, showing a more explicit and casual femininity; and trousers became the norm among women who started to wear high boots and platform shoes as well. Male fashion was full of colors and became more flashy and imaginative, resembling the changes in female fashion. The spontaneity of French fashion was noticeable, and with an air of bohemianism: long loose hair, mini-shorts

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that showed off legs, roll neck jumpers and the “little black dress” for a more sophisticated casual style. Everybody found a way to express their enthusiasm for the period of transition that was on the horizon. Opposition to the Francoist dictatorship became more obvious, especially among students and trade unions. The change was foreseen and the possibility of the country becoming democratic after the dictator’s death was voiced. This prospect intensified a desire to make up for lost time so as to catch up with the rest of Europe. The message that Spaniards wanted to transmit to the government and abroad was that they had decided to take advantage of every opportunity and this spirit of breakdown created an uncontrollable movement; the transition was over and Spanish inclusion in modernity, was imminent. The 1980s had special meaning in Spain. While the 1960s and the 1970s were years of change in the Western world, the 1980s meant liberation in Spain. The movida, closely related to punk, was a characteristic movement of the time—a movement of breakdown and cultural revolution in a wide sense. Its main resources were music, cinema, fashion and ultra-modernist bars. Punk style prevailed with ripped garments, leather, backcombed hair, excessive make-up and fluorescent colors so, at last, the bad boys of the 1980s found a style to identify with. Youngsters found inspiration in bands such as Alaska y los Pegamoides, Almodóvar y McNamara, Radio Futura, and Loquillo y los Trogloditas.4 These were the last years of protest, rebellion and liberation. From that moment on, it seems that Spanish society had reached a place where it wanted to be and it could start living its history from scratch. This feeling of being at peace—in the sense of having put an end to the past—was reflected in culture, society and fashion; the 1990s were years of growth, but were also marked by conformism, relaxation and indifference. This was the context in which Zara was established and became one of the most valuable brands in the world. Zara’s case is representative because it encapsulates the evolution of modern Spanish society. Amancio Ortega, its founder, started to work as a shop assistant in 1948 when he was fourteen; later he worked in the manufacture of bath robes. In 1975, he opened his first Zara store in La Coruña and from that moment on, he continued to open stores all around Spain eventually having 6700 in eighty-eight countries. The Inditex phenomenon is considered extraordinary from both a commercial and business management point of view. 4

For further information on Pedro Almodovar’s influence on the Spanish culture of the 80’s and 90’s, see Lindo 2015.

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It could be said that Zara’s birth and its new model of fashion and sales may be considered the second fundamental step in the process of fashion democratization. The client was now the one who dictated fashion: when purchasing clothes they indicated their preferences, desires, and needs and the continuous renewal of the collections guaranteed that there was always something new to responds to today’s immediate and specific fashions. Zara offers the latest trends at affordable prices; it has succeeded in convincing us that fashion is relevant to each of us and within everyone’s reach, This is the same philosophy that was behind the first department stores. In view of the events that create history, the question is: is fashion imposed or does society determine fashion? Does what is fashionable draw attention for the sake of itself or because it is a specific answer to people’s needs? How far can we answer this question with certainty? Reality is becoming more and more complex; the more elements that come into play, the more complex the relation between them is. There is no doubt that fashion represents a way of communicating and relating to the world—we talk about ourselves through it, show what we are like or how we like to pretend to be. Whether we recognize or not that our image is determined when defining our role in society, we are obliged to choose, adopt an attitude and decide the importance that we give to this aspect of our lives; each nation identifies itself against others and recognizes itself by the way it dresses and its relationship to fashion. Fashion is a language through which people communicate and relate to reality. The choices we make in regard to fashion, the way we dress, and our image are an answer, a reaction, and a choice resulting from what is happening around us. For this reason, creating fashion means creating channels of expression and connection between people. As such, it is impossible to comprehend it as a phenomenon on the margins of the moment and outside its historical, social, political and economic circumstances. We are how we dress and, at the same time, we dress how we are— depending on the day, our mood, how good or bad, secure or insecure, obedient or aggressive we feel in each moment, hypothesizing how other people will perceive us.

Bibliography Lindo, Elvira. 2015 “Ser chica Almodóvar.” El País October 31, 2015. Accessed November, 10, 2015. http://elpais.com/elpais/2015/10/29/estilo/1446137180_147171.html

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Lurie, Alison. 1994. El lenguaje de la moda. Una interpretación de las formas de vestir. Barcelona: Paidós Iberia. Ortiz Heras, Manuel. 2006. “Mujer y dictadura franquista.” Aposta. Revista de Ciencias Sociales 28:1–26. Accessed November 10, 2015. http://www.apostadigital.com/revistav3/hemeroteca/ortizheras.pdf. Simmel, George. 1988. Sobre la aventura. Ensayos filosóficos. Barcelona: Península. Toboso, Pilar. 2000. Pepín Fernández 1891-1982. Galerías Preciados, el pionero de los grandes almacenes. Madrid: Lid.

COSTUMES AND CUSTOMS AS MODES OF IDENTIFICATION IN THE BALKAN PENINSULA VOLODIA CLEMENTE

The goal of this essay is to show how the Balkans is more than just a region characterized by the dramatic events of the war in the 1990s; it is, above all, a region of nationalities and peoples with ancient heritages, music, traditional costumes and recent artistic creativity. The Balkan Peninsula is a land bridge that has been traversed and settled by many people over a long period. The mountainous geography of the Balkans has always been a source of protection from foreign invaders. This has contributed to the preservation of the ethnic diversity that resulted from waves of invasion occurring over time. Isolation encouraged linguistic and cultural differences, as well as variations in dress, and blends and borrowings between conquerors, subjects, and neighbors (Jirousek 2013, 143). The study of fashion history in the Balkans is still marginal, though some resources are available. Through the analysis of prints, iconographic sources and costume books it is possible to conclude that “many of the questions relating to the history of the Balkans could find an answer in the analysis of the gestures, manners, and customs linked to garments” (Vintilă-GhiĠulescu 2011, 2). In this region, historical and cultural influences have created some remarkable folk costumes and customs. Among the creative aspects of the culture of the Balkans traditional costumes occupy one of the most important places because of their role in everyday life, their significance in ethnic identity, and their artistic and aesthetic value. This great variety and richness is present in both men’s and women’s costumes. Each region has its own special form of dress. Historically, according to the way a person was dressed, one could distinguish not only where they were from, but also to which nationality they belonged. Various national costumes with manifold significance among the people were exposed to a wide range of influences in the history of their development. As such, they have

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incorporated a variety of elements from preceding periods, combined with the features of the period in which they were made and worn. The Balkans covers a large geographical area. The name originally came from the Balkan Mountains that stood at the crossroads between two significant cultural forces: Western Europe and Ottoman Turkey. Unified by freezing winters, very hot summers and poor quality land, the Balkan people traditionally led harsh lives. Some of the most interesting textiles still bear the stains of daily labor from working in the house, yard and field, and tell us much about the lives of the women and men who wore them (Waller, 2010, 6–8). Clothing production was an essential part of women’s work. When one sees the elaborate embroidery and garments worn by a bride, it must be appreciated that the majority of the materials were grown and then processed at home by the same women who manufactured the clothes and then decorated them. These activities took place while they were raising their children, cooking, cleaning, helping in the fields and planning and providing clothing for their children and husbands (Sumberg 2011, 19). In the traditional and patriarchal life of a village community everything was based on specific rules, customs and traditions. Skill in needlework was expected of all the female members of a family and great emphasis was placed on teaching and learning these skills from childhood. The learning process took place among groups of young girls of different ages, starting with those who were seven or eight years old. Girls gathered together from early morning until sunset and were introduced to the secrets of embroidery techniques and decoration. They started with small embroidery decorations and then, gradually, learned more complex needlework. The final product of the learning process was the bridal chemise. During this period girls also learned how to knit and make jewelry. Thanks to this sort of learning method, “characterized by distinct gender segregation” (Nazim and al. 2011), girls entered the world of adult women through the acquisition of basic female skills: “The mastery of this skill was a confirmation of the girl’s maturity, skillfulness, and readiness to assume her responsibilities as a future housewife. … [But] this did not represent the end of female handiwork. Throughout her life, the woman would be responsible for providing her family with clothing” (Nazim and al. 2011).

Although women were the most important weavers in the Balkans, weaving never developed into a professional craft like other male crafts. A woman wove everything needed for the family by herself. Moreover, poorer women made clothes for their neighbors or sold them at markets

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and fairs. The choice of a fiancée often depended largely on the number of dresses, their artistic qualities and embroidery techniques produced by her. So one can say that “clothes may make the man, but women made everyone’s clothes” (Wayland Barber 2013, 21). Fashion development in this region depended very much on social and political changes brought about by the various foreign powers. The most important influence on Balkan dress came from Ottoman clothing. In fact, the Balkan Peninsula was part of the Ottoman Empire for almost five hundred years, so it is not surprising that there are significant Ottoman and Islamic influences. The Ottoman presence in this area is long and complex and for this reason it is difficult to trace specific features; throughout the years elements of these different clothing systems were borrowed. It is possible to see trousers worn under closed tunics or dresses with vests or jackets worn over them. In spite of this, certain forms of dress retain dominant features that reflect their origins. Jackets, vests, and longer coats were all common characteristics of Ottoman Turkish clothing. The layering of these garments could be done for warmth but was also a sign of formality in dress. The long coat represented a person of elevated social status and highly formal dress would include jackets, vests, and a long coat (Jirousek 2013, 147). Headdresses were very important among Turkic peoples and various kinds of hat were worn. The hat called the fez was associated with Turkish dress and spread among the Turks during the nineteen century and from them to their Balkan subjects. Originating in Morocco, it was also adopted in Egypt as part of the army uniform. It was employed by Sultan Mahmud II as part of military and official outfits. Since Ottoman soldiers across the empire wore this new hat, it was also adopted by non-Turks throughout the Ottoman lands during the nineteenth century. Another important legacy of the Ottoman presence was the use of gold-thread embroidery as an embellishment on garments of wool, velvet, or silk; specific craftsmen’s guilds were authorized to practice this art. One of the most noticeable features about clothing introduced by the Turks was the use of long, roomy pants, not only for men but also for women, which were worn with or without an overskirt. In fact, for women these trousers, know by the Turkish name úal؆ar, are often barely seen and are sometimes considered to be underwear (Jirousek 2005). In some cases they are extremely wide with a crotch that is as low as the leg openings, while in other types there is a separate structure for each leg, which may be gathered at the bottom or may be narrow (Jirousek 2013, 160). Carefully analyzing the diversity of women’s costumes, one can perceive many details that had a particular meaning in specific social and

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cultural contexts. First of all the chemise, which forms the undergarments for most costumes. It was made from flax, which was washed, beaten and hung or laid out in the sun to bleach. The chemise, and in general also the dress, was heavily embroidered around the openings—the neck, sleeve and hem—to protect against the entry of evil spirits (Waller 2010, 11). Over the chemise, women wore a variety of different jackets or overdresses made of wool, linen or padded cotton. The jackets were usually decorated and embroidered with gold or silver thread and with fur or velvet around the cuffs. Surely one the most significant elements of female attire in the Balkan Peninsula was the apron. Women wore one apron, wrapped round the lower half of the body, or two aprons, one often pleated at the back and the other straight at the front. Aprons were believed to protect the body from evil spirits, which explains why they were worn at the back as well as the front. For instance, Serbian women wore two aprons: a black velvet front apron covered with three horizontal rows of multicolored flowers and trimmed with black lace and a multicolored striped, pleated back apron with a row of embroidered flowers along the bottom and trimmed with blue crocheted lace. Black wool stockings also feature elaborate display of flowers. As Barbara Sloan wrote in one of her papers: “Serbs sometimes say that the red tones in the embroidered flowers symbolized the blood shed by Serbian soldiers in battle and that the dark colors represent the nation’s sorrow at having lost its freedom” (Sloan 2013, 250). Aprons in many cases had medium or long fringes. The message of the fringes was significant. When women wore an apron with fringes they were eligible for marriage and indicated their transition to adult life. In this way they announced that they could bear children. Jewelry was also important throughout the Balkans, demonstrating the wearer’s position in society. It constituted an integral part of the costume. This type of jewelry was made by girls and young wives. Jewelry was made by urban silversmiths from silver, gold, copper, and various alloys by applying different techniques. Some parts of the jewelry had coral, enamel, dyed glass, and mother-of-pearl added. Female jewelry was numerous and diverse. It was heavy, often of silver buckles, chunky bracelets, necklaces, headbands and chains hung with coins, and silver coin-covered caps with streamers with more coins hanging down the back. The bride was required to wear as much jewelry as possible and in some areas tradition demanded that she stood throughout her wedding day and the following night (during which the bridegroom slept) weighed down by the heavy costume and jewelry that formed part of her dowry. Jewelry and other decoration had a protective effect, particularly during youth. Since

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female jewelry was known to offer the most efficient protection from fairies that could cause death, it was sometimes also worn by young men. Throughout the region men’s clothing was much simpler than women’s usually consisting of a shirt that was embroidered at the neck, down the front and on the cuffs, baggy woolen trousers, a woven sash, and a jacket and woolen socks. In northern Bulgaria, men wore boots or clogs rather than leather shoes. In parts of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece, men wore a long white linen knee-length chemise over white linen or wool trousers, with a tightly wrapped sash over the chemise giving the impression of a skirt. In the mountainous regions a pleated apron-skirt was worn over thick woolen trousers and richly patterned socks. As fringes for women represent the transition to adulthood, so the boys were given a red sash to mark puberty (Wayland Barber 2013, 49). In a region where people of different ethnic origins coexisted, folk dress also functioned as an ethnic marker and it distinguished shepherds and peasants from fashionfollowing townspeople and landowners (Welters 2015). In fact, men’s town clothes were more elaborate, especially those of rich merchants who imitated the dominant powers. In the countryside, during the winter season, men wore heavy sheepskin coats or woolen cloaks and fur or sheepskin hats. An important phase in the costumes and customs of the people of the Balkans is the christening and the time of early childhood. The duty of the godfather was to provide the baby’s first clothes and wrappings, together with a povoi.1 The godmother made both of them. Clothes were very important markers of every stage of a child’s life. When a baby began to crawl, a kind of kilt made of a piece of woolen material, with a cord on its upper edge to tie it around the waist, and a little coat were added. This is the usual form of dress for both boys and girls until the age of three, and sometimes even until six or seven. The first time a girl put on a full folk dress was a very important moment in her life because it meant she had reached puberty. Since she had spun, woven, cut, sewn and decorated every item herself, the costume served as a visual testament to her skills and maturity. It would be examined and discussed by all women of the village, including those looking for a daughter-in-law. A girl’s first appearance in her adult dress was usually during the major spring festivals or at Easter. On these occasions the girl was allowed to join the village dance for the first time and in this way she stopped being a little girl and was officially a woman ready for the engagement. Likewise a boy became a man when for the first time he wore an embroidered shirt, braided 1

A povoi is a long cord of plaited red and white threads, with a gold or silver coin and a blue bead on the ends, to bind the child’s swaddling clothes.

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trousers and a long woolen sash. He too could now join local dances and start looking for a wife.2 In regard to marriage, there were complex rituals to elaborate not only the bridal dress, but also the wedding festivities, which could last up to a week. There were traditional songs, music and dances for every part of the wedding: the bride welcoming the guest, the man departing from his home, his return with the bride, her first step over the threshold of her new home and her meeting with the bridegroom’s family. In parts of former Yugoslavia, the bridal attire was worn every Sunday until the birth of the first child and some were even buried with it. Thus, folk dress signified a special day or a festivity; it indicated the occupation of the weaver; it distinguished wealth and social status; it communicated age and marital status; and above all, especially in a multiethnic area like the Balkans, signified regional, national and religious affiliation (Welters 2015). For example, in rural Macedonia, until World War II, dress communicated identity on several different levels. Ethnicity—whether Macedonian, Vlach, Albanian, or Roma,3 could be discerned through dress. Religious affiliation, whether Orthodox Christian or Muslim, could also be discerned through dress. For instance, only Christians are said to have had small cross forms embroidered onto the chemise or head scarf. Macedonian Muslims, who lived on the Albanian border, dressed differently to neighboring Albanian Muslims and Christian Orthodox Macedonians (Zdravev 2015). Moreover, there were distinctions based on “tribal” identities. From the end of the nineteenth century onwards, when the traditional means of dress gave up their place to the urban attire of western Europe, traditional costumes became things of cultural-historical value. Thereafter, 2

Speaking about the customs of Balkan people, we should also mention the sedyanka, a gathering, at a time when boys and girls lived strictly divided, where young people could meet their future partners. This meeting was considered a safe place in a society where marriage was seen as essential. In many villages in the Balkans aspects of sedyanka are still followed. It took place in autumn or winter. Although the young people’s wishes were generally taken into account, the parents arranged the marriage with the initiative coming from the boy’s family. Parents were more interested in the girl’s willingness and ability to work rather than in her looks. Good health, industriousness, a good character and unblemished reputation were essential qualifications, together with excellence in domestic skills. The boy had to finish military service and the most important qualification for him was that he should not be a drunkard. 3 In Macedonia, as in many other parts of the Balkans, ethnic identity is heavily influenced by and related to religion, a survival of the Ottoman Empire’s emphasis on rule by religion.

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they were worn in daily life only on special occasions, in certain closed milieus or on festive occasions. Today, the village women no longer wear local dress and only the oldest wear an apron and a head scarf on a daily basis. Cultural and religious celebrations and rituals are still found in remote villages and small towns, but they are slowly being forgotten. In the cities, the old ways have been abandoned and modern fashion has prevailed over whatever remnants of local dress styles the new inhabitants brought with them. Many factors have contributed to changes in the production and uses of clothing in the villages during the twentieth century. Firstly, in these small households women were often too busy to devote as much time to making clothes. Moreover, industrialization and urbanization during the period of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1943–1991) considerably changed the percentage of people involved in agriculture: “development of infrastructure and industrial capacity led to a more modern lifestyle, one that did not emphasize the craft traditions over formal education. Thus the switch from village to cosmopolitan dress happened in different places at different times for different reasons“ (Sumberg 2013, 23). Although over the centuries they were worn less and less, folk outfits represent a truly amazing example of creativity and evidence of the cultural complexity of the Balkans and a bygone age that has been destroyed by the traumatic events of the twentieth century through war and industrialization. These folk outfits allow us to appreciate the history, culture and everyday life of the people who made them. In conclusion, a person’s clothes functioned not only as protection or a form of beautification, but also as an active element indicating an individual’s social status and group membership.

References Jirousek, Charlotte. 2005. “Ottoman Influences in Balkan Dress.” In Ottoman Dress. From Textile to Identity, edited by Suraiya Faroqhi and Christoph K. Neumann, 219–51. Istanbul: Eren. —. 2013. “Ottoman Influence in Balkan Dress.” In Resplendent Dress from Southeastern Europe, edited by Elizabeth Wayland Barber and Barbara B. Sloan, 143–75. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum Textile Series n. 11. Nazim, Jasemin, Sanja Dimovska, Tatjana Gjogjiovska, and Slavica Hristova. 2011. “Techniques and Materials of Production.” In Young Brides, Old Treasure: Macedonian Embroidered Dress, edited by

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Bobbie Sumberg, 27–39. Museum of International Folk Art and the Macedonian Arts Council. Sloan, Barbara Belle. 2013. “The stories behind the clothes.” In Resplendent Dress from Southeastern Europe, edited by Elizabeth Wayland Barber, and Barbara B. Sloan, 217–53. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum Textile Series n. 11. Sumberg, Bobbie. 2011. “Introduction.” In Young Brides, Old Treasure: Macedonian Embroidered Dress, edited by Bobbie Sumberg, 17–25. Museum of International Folk Art and the Macedonian Arts Council. Todorova, Maria. 1997. Imagining the Balkans. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Vintilă-GhiĠulescu, ConstanĠa. 2011. From Traditional Attire to Modern Dress. Modes of Identification, Modes of Recognition in the Balkans (XVIth-XXth Centuries). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Waller, Diane. 2010. Textiles from the Balkans. London: The British Museum Press. Wayland Barber, Elizabeth. 2013. “From string skirt to thirty pounds of walking history. A twenty-thousand-year-old tradition of dress.” In Resplendent Dress from Southeastern Europe. A History in Layers, edited by Elizabeth Wayland Barber, and Barbara B. Sloan, 21–141. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum Textile Series n. 11. Welters, Linda M. “Eastern Europe Folk Dress.” Last accessed 29 December 2015. URL: file:///F:/moda%20balcanica/Eastern%20Europe%20Folk%20Dress.html. Zdravev, ۩or۪i. 2005. Macedonian Folk Costumes. Skopje: Matica Makendoska.

THE ROMANIAN TRADITIONAL BLOUSE, IA: A CULTURAL IDENTITY PASSPORT LILIANA ğUROIU

The traditional Romanian costume has its roots in the ancestral costumes of the tribes of the Thracians, Getae and Dacians. The similarity between this traditional costume and the Dacian costume represented on Trajan’s Column in Rome is notable: a long sleeved shirt, tight at the waist and the hem, cut on both sides, with tight pants and traditional shoes called opinci. Dacian women’s veils that exist today in many Romanian traditional costumes (marama in Romanian) are made from a very thin, raw silk. But the most important piece of the Romanian traditional costume is the shirt named ia, also known as the “Carpathian blouse.” This blouse is worn by men and women at work, but also on special occasions. This extraordinary piece of clothing has existed since ancient times, mainly in southeastern Europe. The word ia originates from the Latin tunicae lineae and can also be seen in the Painted Chronicle of Vienna (1330). The ia and fota (a kind of peasant skirt richly embroidered) also appear, in stone, in the Adamclisi Monument (Tropaeum Traiani) in ConstanĠa, Romania. Cucuteni culture or Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, one of the oldest civilizations in Europe, was named after the village near the town of Iaúi in Romania where the last vestiges of it were found in 1884. Cucuteni culture preceded the settlements of Sumer and Ancient Egypt by several hundreds of years. The oldest iconographic testimony of the way of dressing dates from the Neolithic period and is represented by ceramic figurines whose ornaments reproduce pieces and decorations of traditional Romanian costume. Folk costume is one of the most important expressions of a people’s culture—numerous studies have focused on this. The first “designer” of the ia was an unnamed woman of the Neolithic period—from the Cucuteni culture—who applied different signs on her clothes in order to bring good luck and also elicit appreciative glances from her husband and people around her. The female costume is composed

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of a shirt, hem, and an item of clothing that covers the body from the waist down, which differs from one region to another. It has different names depending on its shape and region. Over these pieces, mostly during the winter period, a kind of vest with richly embroidered buttons named ilicul is worn. Men’s traditional costume consists of a long shirt and tight pants made of homespun fabrics. Over the shirt, men would put a leather belt, depending on the region and on their occupation. The main element in the Romanian costume’s ornamentation is the manner of decoration, such as the placement and composition of symbolic motifs. According to traditional custom, before her wedding, the girl weaved and decorated the shirt of her future husband and a beautiful thin handkerchief. The groom’s shirt would later be used as the baby’s first shirt. The handkerchief was the connection between a man and a woman in front of God. The shirt of a woman who became a mother was embroidered with the sign of the cross and a nursing woman had a shirt embroidered with red crosses on her chest to protect her milk. The Drăgaica shirt, worn during an agrarian rite called Sânzienele, was the most beautiful dowry shirt of the most hardworking girl—she was chosen to be Drăgaica. For these shirts, several woman working over some months covered the blouse with thousands of beads so that the final ia weighed almost 10 kg. The Sânziene night (June 23 to June 24) is considered a mystical moment when nature is at its peak and displays its most vital forces. It is traditionally believed that miracles can happen during the Sânziene night, when the skies open and people can connect with nature.

Figure 1. Ceramics from Cucuteni Culture: the Romanian traditional blouse ia.

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Figure 2. The Romanian blouse with ram horn motifs from Vădastra culture: Bust, Vădastra Culture, 4300 BC. .

The Romanian writer and philosopher, Mircea Eliade, described this tradition in his novel Noaptea de Sânziene (The Sânziene Night). The novel includes references to folk beliefs about skies opening at night, as well as to paranormal events happening in the Băneasa Forest in Bucharest. By wearing these popular clothes, a man was considered to wear the entire universe: “I live in the world, and the world is in me.” Carpathian people, who lived in the first Stone Age, built a unique system of communication with the divine. They descended from the mountains, migrated to the plains, began to practice agriculture, and adopted a sedentary lifestyle. Cucuteni, GumelniĠa, Hamangia, and Vădastra were early cultures that flourished in Romania; they developed alongside each other and their unity could not be destroyed. The Vădastra culture was a Neolithic civilization in the current territory of Romania (Oltenia and West Muntenia) and also Bulgaria (North Zone). Vădastra culture left some examples of ceramics that show a high expression of forms and decoration. Ceramics in black-gray color prevailed, as well as those in red and white. It could be said that people were happy at that time; they lived in balance and expressed gratitude for everything that they received from heaven and earth. The relationship between heaven and earth; ancestor worship; the practice of making offerings; water and sun cults; and weaving and embroidering rituals were maintained and practiced. The motif of the round spiral, with multiple volutes, has been adapted by

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women from ancient times, sewn on clothes, and became a square, angular spiral.

Figure 3. The Romanian traditional blouse ia: Ceramics from Cucuteni culture.

The circle represents the solar cult, being the symbol of the sun. The solar disc is an ancestral symbol that represents divinity, the cycle of life, and regeneration without beginning or end. The round and spiral is derived from the circle. The column represents the connection between heaven and earth. Two zigzag patterns mean two ladders: one that ascends to heaven and another that descends to earth. The zigzag pattern also represents lightning through which the heavens gave people fire. The rhomb, angle, segments, and clepsydra are all derived from the column. The rhomb is the sacred sign of soil fertility and also the sign of wealth. Wolf teeth are placed on textiles to defend them against destruction. The shepherd’s hook consists of two linked spirals and represents infinite balance: the connection going-return and beginningend. Every part of the ia, from the fabric to the intricate embroideries on the chest and sleeves, is hand-made, and the design has not changed for hundreds of years. Floral motifs show that the ia in Figure 5 comes from an agricultural village. The gold thread embroidered ia is worn during celebrations and special occasions. The huge variety of patterns are inspired by the geographic area and spiritual traditions—nature and beliefs—experts attribute this to the pride of every woman in her own creation, which is distinctive and hard to imitate.

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Figure 4. Solar disc motifs on a traditional blouse—Traditional Romanian wood sculpture.

Figure 5. Sleeve with floral motifs, Romanian traditional blouse ia.

Floral and vegetal symbols are common motifs found on the traditional Romanian blouse. The tree and its branches symbolize durability, wisdom and life. Vine leaves and bunches of grapes represent people’s occupations and abundance. Colorful flowers and green leaves are symbols of femininity, prosperity and freshness. The Romanian blouse is great in both its decoration and pattern. The pattern is very simple: the ia is made up of simple geometric shapes (rectangular and square shapes). It is woven on a canvas consisting of simple geometric figures, squares, rectangles, and triangles. Without being cut with scissors, they are decorated, assembled with specific embroideries, and then wrinkled at the neck and sleeves. The cut is similar around the country, but embroidery motifs differ from one area to another. Decoration can be added with lace, beads and sequins. This means that unique pieces can multiply leading to the creation

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of many different and surprising pieces that reflect individual technical and artistic innovation. Many personalities from Romania and abroad have recognized the traditional Romanian blouse’s outstanding beauty and worn it. Princess Ileana, Princess Helen, Queen Marie of Romania, and Queen Elisabeth (Carmen Silva) have all proudly worn the Romanian ia. The one who turned the ia into a personal style of dress was Queen Marie of Romania, Princess of Edinburgh, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England and wife of King Ferdinand Hohenzollern of Romania. Queen Marie remains in the memory of the Romanian people as an artist, soldier, diplomat, and lover of folk art. She left her mark on the entire royal wardrobe, bringing to life and ennobling the traditional Romanian costume. In her travels around the country, she dressed in traditional costumes. In many photos, Queen Marie and the princesses appear wearing traditional costumes, sometimes woven in gold and silver threads. She also adopted majestic traditional costumes at the court, giving them social prestige and a royal attitude. Today there is a strong movement for the affirmation of national identity through fashion. It is not a nostalgic feeling, but more like a strategy of communication or marketing. These returns in fashion are dictated by the need to give a touch of novelty through enriching clothing with items of older styles, eliminating cultural boundaries. By mixing elements in opposition, postmodernism has given unprecedented freedom to artists. The Romanian traditional blouse, ia, has been an inspiration for fashion designers and famous artists, such as Yves Saint Laurent, Jean Paul Gaultier, Tom Ford, Kenzo, Oscar de la Renta, and Anna Sui, who have interpreted, in their own way, the patterns of the Romanian blouse. The Romanian ia is a national treasure and a real passport of identity for the Romanian people—it talks about our country, our traditions and the history of our culture. Starting in 2015, I designed “The Dowry,” a collection inspired by traditional Romanian costumes. I was interested in tradition, art and elegance. I sought beauty all around me and I was concerned not only with novelty, but also with the relevance and significance of each piece of clothing I designed for this collection. The traditional Romanian costume is a monument in the full sense of the word. It has this quality because it reached the point of maturity of a strong civilization. It is one of the most visible and tangible testimonies of the village civilization of our country. The modern fabrics used in “The Dowry” collection are in strong contrast to traditional ones and in tune with the trends of this season; at the

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same time, they act as a “binder” between the primary documentary information and current aesthetic or comfort needs. This is a subjective, assumed approach in which ancient, reconditioned fragments are inserted into a contemporary context with an austere geometry. The photo shoot for “The Dowry” collection took place at Bran Castle in Romania. The mysterious hand of destiny carried me towards this castle located on top of a steep cliff between Măgura and Dealul Cetă‫܊‬ii. In its history of more than six centuries, mysterious legends and fascinating characters entwine. This castle appears blessed by Marie, Queen of Romania, a true “Queen of Hearts.”

Figure 6. “The Dowry” collection by Liliana ğuroiu, 2015. Source: Liliana ğuroiu, 2015. “The Dowry”—Art and Costume Album, Bucharest: Ed. Monitorul Oficial R.A., 28–29.

I came back to Bran Castle with my “Dowry,” roaming with ardent ebullience along the hallways and rooms of this fascinating architectural labyrinth, just to render the images of my latest collection, which faces the past and future with unsuspected energy. All these come out of the confessed wish to rediscover and enhance authentic Romanian values, to pay homage to traditions, and to the “woman who created the dowry”—a truly spiritual being that succeeded in transposing history into a costume. In “The Dowry” collection, I have included subtle geometries like a modern, yet romantic armor. I associated delicate silk with rhythmic metallic accessories and I juxtaposed flowers and braids with ecological leather, silk and velvet. Traditional fabrics and recent technologies were brought together to shape a powerful, but elegant and feminine woman. I searched for the contrast starting from the notion and fabrics and pursued it through the cut

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and texture. I looked for seams and fine and complicated details to fit perfectly with simple, coherent, symmetric designs. Women dressed like this are not necessarily more beautiful, but more confident in their inner strength. Their stories have encouraged me to pursue this path and to create, right from the beginning of my career as a designer, a slogan that has guided me ever since: “Dress your personality!” Certainly it is more important today to shape a woman’s mentality through the design of clothes rather than her body. The meaning of this return to the past should well be understood. It raises some stylistic reversals that are theoretical rather than practical: “through clothing, the body ‘feels’ the surrounding world… Today, fashion is a system of signs that fully manifests itself as a form of mass communication” (Calefato 2004). I believe that, for the viewer, the most important asset of “The Dowry” collection is a spiritual one, with various meaningful attributes: a visual one, in which the original elements are recomposed in modern geometries; a documentary one, asserted by the story behind each brâu (wide belt made of wool, leather or silk worn by peasants) or fotă (a kind of peasant skirt or a kind of apron, richly embroidered, for the traditional costume), as sources of inspiration; and an emotional one, expressed by the women that wear these outfits.

Bibliography Boucher, Francois. 1965. Histoire du costume en Occident, de l’Antiquite a nos jours. Paris: Ed. Flammarion. Butazzi, Grazietta. 1981. La Mode Art Histoire & Societe. Milan: Hachette. Calefato, Patrizia. 2004. The Clothed Body. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Descamps, Marc-Alain. 1979. Psychosociologie de la mode. Paris: Ed. PUF. Ghinoiu, Ion. 2008. Holidays. Habits. Beliefs. Mythology. Little Encyclopedia of Romanian Traditions. Bucharest: Ed. Agora. Harvey, David. 2002. Postmodernity Condition. Timiúoara: Ed. Amarcord. Motta, Giovanna. 2015. La Moda contiene la Storia e ce la racconta puntualmente. Rome: Edizioni Nuova Cultura. Romanian Academy. “Constantin Brăiloiu” Institute of Ethnography and Folklore. 2011. Romanian Ethnographic Atlas, volume 4, Folk Art and Port. Bucharest: Ed. Academiei Române. Steven, Connor.1999. Postmodern culture. Bucharest: Editura Meridiane.

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ğuroiu, Liliana. 2011. “Interferences” Art and Costume Album. Bucharest: Ed. Imprimeria Arta Grafică. —. 2015. “The Dowry” Art and Costume Album. Bucharest: Ed. Monitorul Oficial R.A.

CHAPTER FIVE DRESSING YOUR FAITH

THE COLOR BLUE IN THE LITURGICAL VESTMENTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES: FACT OR FICTION? AN ICONOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS RAFAà OJRZYēSKI 1. Colors and their significance 1.1. Color as a subject of historical analysis The subject of color is one of the most often discussed issues in recent years for historians and art historians. That is no coincidence. Various fields of science, such as the history of science (pigments, recipes of colors), economic history (dye works, textile industry), social history (the use and the meaning of colors in the life of medieval society), and the history of the Church, particularly the liturgy (the meaning of colors and their use in the liturgical context), focus on this issue. Of particular interest in this issue is the entirely different perspective with which medieval man perceived colors in comparison to ourselves, which has been heavily influenced by the results of scientific research starting with Isaac Newton. In my article I intend to deal with the use of only one color—blue— and exclusively within the liturgy of the Latin Church (i.e. the Church that used Latin as the official one, especially as the language of the liturgy).

2. Liturgical colors in the Middle Ages Let me begin with a short introduction of the color of the liturgical vestments in the Latin Church. Due to the extreme poverty of sources from the first millennium (written and iconographic) and in the absence of the original vestments of that time, our description of the practice of the Christian Church remains rather vague. We can say that ancient Christian priests used robes belonging to everyday life. This situation changed rather slowly in the first centuries of the Middle Ages and we know that in the Carolingian era there was a difference between the use and meaning of the white robes (with their strong Easter context) and those of other colors.

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How many of these existed and when they were introduced into liturgical use we cannot answer. At this point it should be indicated that throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern period (until the Council of Trent) there is no singular law in the Latin Church that covers the liturgy in its all aspects. Every particular church, and often every monastery, applied different rules drawn from their ancient customs. Some evidence of this variety of liturgical traditions can still be noted when visiting cathedrals or monastic treasures in Europe. Many garments, unfortunately, do not survive to this day. However, they can be reconstructed thanks to the monastic and cathedral catalogs of the treasures and other written sources of that time.

3. Medieval treatises on liturgical colors 3.1. De sacro altaris Mysterio of Lothar of Segni The first medieval liturgical treatise that devotes space to this issue and tries to describe and/or to order it is a particularly important work of the late Middle Ages known as the Treatise of Lothar of Segni (the future Pope Innocent III) written around the year 1190 and entitled De sacro altaris Mysterio. Lothar addresses the issue of liturgical colors twice: first, in the context of the Old Testament, then in the current use of the Church of Rome. It should be emphasized, however, that it is not the proposal of the future pope to regulate the use of liturgical colors, but rather to describe the practice of the Church of Rome. Lothar wrote that the Roman Church distinguished vestments according to the particularities of the day: white, red, black and green. Green vestments were used on common days since this color remained a shade between white, black and red. Each of these four colors could be reflected in others (e.g. purple in black).1 As can be noticed, there seems to be no space for the color blue in the Church of Rome. The future pope did not even mention it. 1.1.

1

3.2. Ratinale divinorum officiorum of Guillaume Durand

Quatuor sunt principales colores, quibus secundum proprietates dierum sacras vestes Ecclesia Romana distinguit, albus, rubeus, niger et viridis. Nam et in legalibus indumentis quatuor, colores fuisse leguntur (Exod. XXVIII) […] Restat ergo, quod in diebus ferialibus et communibus, viridibus sit indumentis utendum, quia viridis color medius est inter albedinem et nigredinem et ruborem. Hic color exprimitur, ubi dicitur: Cypri cum nardo, nardus et crocus (Cant. IV) (Innocenzo III 2002, 102–109).

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A similar description may be found in another and even more important liturgical treatise (perhaps the most famous as it was the most widespread in the late Middle Ages)—Cardinal Guillaume Durand’s Rationale divinorum officiorum. The text written, around the year 1290, mentions, or perhaps uses, the work of Lothar of Segni.2 In this way Rationale is a direct continuation of the thought of Pope Innocent III and promoted the practices of the Church of Rome throughout Europe. Similarly to his predecessor, Durand never mentions the color blue in his piece.

3.3. The significance of the treatises of Lothar of Segni and Guillame Durand At the end of this brief encounter with the medieval liturgical literature it has to be understood that both texts, and particularly the second one, constituted the reference point for the entire Latin Church in the late Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period. Such an approach persisted until the Council of Trent. It was only then that the liturgical precepts were determined concerning the use of colors among other things; open reference was made to the work of Durand and promoting his thoughts to the level of law for the whole Catholic Church.

4. Summary of the first part Summing up the first part of my paper, in the Middle Ages one uniformed liturgy for the whole Latin Church, or, what is more, one defined and unified system of liturgical colors did not exist. The most popular liturgical treatises at the time, though they describe and promote the practices of the Church of Rome, do not recognize the color blue. Nevertheless, the practices of particular churches suggests a different reality: color existed on the edge of the liturgy of the Latin Church, as is attested to by some sources (mainly from the British and German territory) (Braun 1907, 728–60).

2

Quatuor sunt principales colores quibus secundum proprietates dierum sacras vestes Ecclesia distinguit: albus, rubeus, niger et viridis. […] Ecclesia etiam romana uiolaceo et croceo colore utitur, ut infra dicetur. […] Ad hos quatuor colores ceteri referuntur, scilicet ad rubeum colorem coccineus, ad nigrum uiolaceus qui aliter coccus uocatur, ad album byssinus, ad uiridem croceus; quamquam nonnulli rosas ad martures, crocum ad confessores, et lilium ad uirgines referant; Rationale divinorum officiorum...

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5. Blue in the Middle Ages 5.1. General remarks Now I want to dedicate a few general words to the existence of the blue color in the Middle Ages. We must realize that both in Antiquity and in the Middle Ages (at least until the twelfth century) the existence of blue was rather discreet, according to one of the greatest connoisseurs of the history of colors, professor Michel Pastoureau (2000, 13).3 The main ancient languages are not familiar with the name of the color. Even Medieval Latin is unable to find a unique word to indicate this color. The term “blue” owes its existence to the Germans and the Arabs. The situation started to change in the twelfth century with the beginning of some trends that would make it the most prestigious color of that time. Among these trends, it is paticularly worth noting that, in the twelfth century, blue became the color of Mary (particularly of her clothes). The other trend was the birth of heraldry, which used this color from its beginnings (with the special influence of the coat of arms of the French royal family, for example).4 Yet another trend was the growing popularity of blue as a fashionable color thanks to the rapid development of dye works in the thirteenth century (compare Thorndike 1959, 1–24; Thorndike 1960, 53–70). Finally, we should mention that in the period under analysis, more and more frequently particular colors began to be associated with distinctive meanings, mainly thanks to literary texts. As such, various virtues and ideas began to be linked to the color blue (e.g. joy, love, loyalty, peace and comfort). Last but not least, paradoxical as it may seem, only at this time did the sky begin to be blue for the men of the Middle Ages.

5.2. Blue liturgical vestments: an analysis 5.2.1. An original piece At the beginning of the second part of my article we are going to examine one of the very few preserved examples of a blue medieval liturgical vestment. This is the chasuble from the church of St. Martin in 3 The author wrote many other books and articles in which he addressed the issue of colors in the Middle Ages (cf. Gage 1999). 4 According to statistics, 5 percent of the coats of arms were blue around the year 1200, but this had increased to 30 percent after 200 years (Pastoureau 1993, 113– 21).

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Braunschweig in Germany, held at the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum.5 This chasuble was made in the early fifteenth century of blue wool with a yellow cross of embroidered silk.

6. Image analysis The imagery of the medieval Latin liturgy (especially late medieval) shows us some examples of the art of this period, especially the art of miniatures, which is an inexhaustible source for almost all aspects of life in the Middle Ages.

6.1. The Rule of Saint Benedict, 1170-1180 One image comes from a commentary on the Rule of Saint Benedict attributed to Smaragdus, the abbot of Saint-Mihiel, in the period 1170–80. In the miniature we see Dunstan, abbot of the monastery of Glastonbury, who was the main figure of English monastic reform in the tenth century. In this particular case, the color of the chasuble of Dunstan can be explained in two ways: first, it is the reflection of a true English custom (not necessarily of the monastery of Glastonbury—no direct evidence has been found—but the English Church in general); second, to make us understand that the person depicted is a happy inhabitant of heaven.

Figure 1. Miniature of Dunstan as a bishop, writing a commentary on the Rule of Saint Benedict, with an inscription S[an]c[tu]s Dunstanus. British Library. British Library, Royal 10 A XIII, f. 2v. 5

Inv. N. MA3; (Stolleis 2001, 69) [description], fig. 7.

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6.2. Chronicle of Burgos, 1400-1405 In the Chronicle of Burgos,6 written in the years 1400 to 1405, a popular and widespread representation of the baptism of the first Frankish King, Clovis I,7 can be found. There is an angel coming directly from heaven to deliver an ampoule of holy oil during the ceremony celebrated by Saint Remigius. In this case, the cope of the holy bishop is blue. However, the liturgical color traditionally attributed to the sacrament of baptism is white (because of the legation of baptism at Easter). This tradition was not observed here despite the fact that, in my opinion, it must have been well-known. The reason seems clear: Clovis receives, straight from heaven, not only the oil that was used, among other things, for the coronation of the king in general, but this exact oil, which, according to legend, was used for all of the other kings of the Franks, and latterly the French, at their coronations. The prospect of the divine and heavenly is the only reason for the use of an unusual blue color for the cope.

6.3. Chronicle of the Council of Constance, 1420s Another example worth discussing is a miniature that reproduces, very closely, the events and the people of its title, but not at the level of colors. I am speaking of the famous chronicle written and decorated in the 1520s by a citizen of Constance, Ulrich Richental (2013, f. 51r.). Based on this extraordinary, informative and richly illustrated text, historians have for centuries analyzed one of the most important ecumenical councils of the Middle Ages (carried out between the years 1414–18). Unfortunately, the issue of color puts a limit on the interpretation of Richental’s miniatures. Every reader will immediately notice that the author is a true artist with his own well-defined style. From this point of view, the choice of colors would not have been random. Richental only uses a few colors (red, green, blue, brown, pink and gray). We also see that the way in which he covers spaces with colors is very personalized—it does not reflect reality. As such, the blue color of the chasubles in the chronicle of Richental may not be interpreted literally.

6

The French translation of the Spanish opera Cronice ab origine mundi of Gonzalo de Hinojosa. 7 Besançon, Bibliothèques municipales, ms. 1150, f. 85v. See the foto in the article “St Remigius of Reims” of the blog “Once I Was A Clever Boy”, accessed April 3, 2016. http://onceiwasacleverboy.blogspot.it/2015/10/st-remigius-of-reims.html.

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Figure 2. Bishops debating with the pope at the Council of Constance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Constance#/media/File:Richental_Konzil ssitzung_Muenster.jpg

6.4. Treatise on the prayer Our Father, after 1457 The next imagine shows a miniature from the treatise on the prayer Our Father of Jean Miélot, decorated by Jean Le Tavernier (after 1457).8 We see the moment during the mass when the prayer Our Father is recited by the kneeling Prince Philip the Good of Burgundy. Apart from the blue chasuble of the celebrant (with floral motifs) we can also see a room separated by fabric with blue stars and a monogram. What is more, the vault of the church, where the mass is held, is painted in blue and decorated with stars. At the foot of the altar there is also the coat of arms of the Principality of Burgundy. Thus, we have two symbols that can be referred to the chasuble of the celebrant: the heaven and the monarchy. Of course, let us not forget that it is possible to attribute the color of the chasuble to a liturgical Burgundian custom.

7. Conclusions To conclude, medieval liturgy was not uniform, but was built like a mosaic and composed of various autonomous liturgical traditions that existed in parallel. Yet, since the beginning of the thirteenth century the centralization and standardization of the liturgy occurred in all its aspects 8

Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale, ms 9092, f. 9r. Available at: http://expositions.bnf.fr/flamands/grand/fla_143.htm.

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on the basis of the practices of the Church of Rome (the fundamental role of the treatises of Pope Innocent III and Cardinal Guillaume Durand). In the Roman liturgy, however, the color blue was not recognized even after 1570 when the Missal of Pius V determined the model for the entire Catholic Church. As a consequence, all the regional traditions that included different colors of the liturgical vestments (among them blue) had to disappear. Simultaneously, in the late Middle Ages, the color blue became the most prestigious and noble thanks to the process of association of this color with particular virtues and important ideas. Medieval art, and especially the art of the miniature, reflect this trend, presenting it more and more often starting from the twelfth century. The presence of blue as the liturgical color can thus be explained thanks to the actual presence of blue vestments in some ecclesiastical centers.

Bibliography Braum, Joseph 1907. Die liturgische Gewandung in Occident und Orient, nach Ursprung und Entwicklung, Verwendung und Symbolik. Freiburg im Breisgau: Härder. Gage, John 1999. Colour and Meaning. Art. Science and Symbolism. London: Thames and Hudson. Hamburger, Jeffrey F., and Anne S. Korteweg, eds. 2006. Tributes in Honor of James H. Marrow. Studies in Painting and Manuscript Illumination of the Late Middle Ages and Northern Renaissance. Turnhout: Harvey Miller Publishers. Innocenzo III. 2002. Il sacrosanto mistero dell’altare (De sacro Altaris Mysterio) (Monumenta studia instrumenta liturgica 14). First Italian edition, edited by Stanislao Fioramonti. The Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Morrison, Elizabeth, Hedeman Anne D. 2010. Imagining the Past in France. History in Manuscripts Painting 1250-1500. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum. Rationale divinorum officiorum Guillelmi Duranti. Liber I et II, (Monumenta studia instrumenta liturgica 14). 2001. Scientific Direction Stefano Della Torre, and Massimo Marinelli, translated and edited by Gian Franco Freguglia, with the collaboration Nicola Riva, presentation by Manlio Sodi. Libreria Editrice Vaticana: The Vatican City. Pastoureau, Michel. 1993. Traité d’héraldique. Paris: Picard. —. 2000. Bleu: histoire d’une couleur. Paris: Seuil. Recht, Roland 2010. L’image Médiévale. Le livre enluminé. Paris: RMN.

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Richental, Urlich 2013. Chronik del Konzils zu Konstanz, 1414-1418 [facsimile]. Darmstadt: Theiss. Stolleis, Karen 2001. Messgewänder aus deutchen Kirchenschätzen von Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Geschichte, Form und Material. Regensburg: Schnell&Steiner. Thorndike, Lynn 1959. “Some Mediaeval Texts on Colours.” Ambix 7: 1– 24. —. 1960. “Other texts on colors.” Ambix 8: 53–7

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLOTHING AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY FOR MONKS AND HERMITS IN THE MIDDLE AGES UMBERTO LONGO

Dress is a subject of great importance in monastic literature. It is presented as: a metaphor; a connection to one’s origin; a spectrum; a prosecution witness; an invocation of distress; a call to order; the maker of coherence; a model of comparison and scandal; the center of fiery discussions. Think of that contrast in dress in the twelfth century between the Cistercians and Cluniacs—between the “white” monks and “black”; This was also a contrast between the “new” that advanced beyond an idea of the purity of the original and the “old” in colors that were somber and grim. Dress is the projection of the body in the world; it identifies a person in their membership and status. The dispute about the correct model of vestments has been a part of monastic history since the early Middle Ages. Debates surrounded the correct cut, the ideal measures of the sleeves and hood, and the types and colors of the fabrics. The Rule of St. Benedict was careful in its specifications and gave only general instructions. We can read in chapter LV, dedicated to the robes and shoes of the monks: “Bisogna dare ai monaci degli abiti adatti alle condizioni e al clima della località in cui abitano, perché nelle zone fredde si ha maggiore necessità di coprirsi e in quelle calde di meno: il giudizio al riguardo è di competenza dell’abate.” Together with the usual moderation and discretio, the foundational criterion of the Benedictine text is humilitas—the cardinal virtue that remains a milestone in the monastic universe. This founding text of Western monasticism did not give—nor could give—clear indications on an argument, which was perceived as a sacred issue and around which a number of factors circulated. In addition to those mentioned by Benedict about the different latitudes and climatic needs, i.e. external factors, monastic dress also involved religious choices and spoke to the ideological and spiritual assumptions of various communities.

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In the Middle Ages, the great variety of experiences, choices and meanings related to dress in the monastic universe were expressed in a passage by bishop Otto of Freising, the Cistercian abbot of Morimondo and uncle to Emperor Frederick Barabarossa, who wrote in his Cronica: “Così come dentro di loro [monks] sono rutilanti dei vari fulgori delle virtù, del pari all’esterno usano vesti di diversi colori […] Alcuni che conducono vita apostolica, volendo esprimere la purezza dell’innocenza anche nell’abito, usano una toga chiara e di lino, altri dello stesso ordine per mortificare la carne si vestono più rudemente di una tunica di lana, altri, liberi da ogni occupazione esterna, esibendo la vita angelica nella veste raffigurano simbolicamente la sua soavità nella forma stessa.”

The clothes of the monastic world symbolized the highest spiritual assumptions and mysteries of faith; the saintliness of monastic life was summarized and represented in the style of the robes and this is clearly affirmed in the text by Otto, who continues his discussion on monks’ robes, signaling another element of fundamental importance—the color: “differiscono comunque in questo, che gli uni per esprimere il disprezzo verso il mondo si limitano ad avere nera la loro veste, gli altri, senza preoccuparsi del colore e dello spessore, usano portarla bianca o grigia o di altro colore, purché sia abbietta ed aspra.” The universe of colors introduces us to a problematic landscape of particular significance with respect to our subject (there are only a few studies, starting with those of Pastoureau 2005, and also Hallinger). Traditionally the color of Benedictine dress was supposed to be that of raw wool, dark and carded in an unrefined manner. It did not have a defined color, but could vary and the hue of the fabric was essentially dark; it was enough that it was not artificially colored. These were general indications to be followed, but the Rules did not offer unequivocal and binding directions. By the eleventh century, Cluny had reached peaks of splendor at all levels; magnificence was not limited to liturgical furnishings and architectural structures, but also included the shapes and shades of the robes of the monks, who were engaged in the arduous task of praying unceasingly for the redemption of Christian society. The vestments of Saint Maiolo, the fourth abbot of Cluny who died in 994, were, according to testimony from the eighteenth century, more reddish brown than black. By the first half of the twelfth century, with the vestments of the Cistercian, Bernard, they were no longer so. The imperial power of the Burgundian abbey was reflected in the sumptuousness of the robes of its monks. Abbot Hugh of Semur, who

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between 1049 and 1109 led the Cluniac congregation at the height of its splendor, received the gift of a high priest’s cloak from the Norman, William the Conqueror: “tutto ricoperto e sfavillante d’oro, di elettro e di perle, ornato di una grande varietà di gemme, alla cui estremità pendeva una serie di campanelli d’oro, artisticamente inseriti in reticelle, che dilettavano la vista con il loro splendore e l’udito con il loro meraviglioso suono»; e per la pianeta inviatagli dalla moglie del Conquistatore, «così rigida per il metallo prezioso di cui era intessuta da non poterla piegare”1 (Gilonis 1978, 65).

This was not just about monastic vestments, but about the context of complex strategic and symbolic dynamics related to the practice of giftgiving; the cloak was a reference to the sacred, priestly role in physical form, recalling the symbolic universality of the Catholic world.2 Through the cloak, William the Conquerer intended to celebrate his own sacred power as the second priestly power of Western Christianity, without entering into competition with the pontifical one. The cloak had a profound symbolic value linked to the hermit and the ascetic tradition. Clothing is a system of signs and the clothing of the men of God did not escape this trend, but rather exemplified it. Think of the hermits and fathers of the desert that in their nakedness and wildness, provided an immediate and recognizable element of otherness compared to society. Clothing is a marker of immediate distinction. Even without the examples of extreme radicalization of the system of signs put into play by the clothing of ascetic saints in the early monasticism system, in sainthood the semiotic system of clothing is often used for affirmation. Think of the action of Francis of Assisi renouncing his patrimony through the rejection of his clothes or of the gesture of St. Martin of Tours who took his sword and cut his cloak in two so that he 1

“Illi nondum uiso misit cappam cuius tota superficies refulget auro, electro, et margaritis, gemmarum uarietate distincta; ad cuius extremitatem aurea tintinnabula seriatim dependent, retiaculis artifificose inserta, uisum splendore auditum sonoritate oblectantia. Misit et regalis uxor emulatione mariti planetam, mittente dignam et accipiente, metallo sic rigidam ut plicari non possit.” We have used the accurate translation of D. Tuniz (1983, 67–68). On the cloak cfr. Sagulo (2003, 82– 83) and Schramm (1963, 25–26). 2 Here were refer to the imperial coronation of Otto in 962 in the cloak worn by him with the whole world shown on top of it and with tintinnabula hanging from the dress and the belt. The profound symbolic value attached to clothing has been masterfully discussed in the studies of Percy Schramm (1995, 149–99).

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could share it with a poor man from Amiens (cfr. Giorda, Marini and Sbardella 2007). The gesture of taking off one’s own cloak to give it to another person symbolically sanctions with Martin, and Sulpicius Severus, the institutionalization of a new model of Christian behavior (cfr. Bureau 1989, 35). It has been rightly noted in this regard that the dress became a means of signifying charity, a new Christian concept. There is also a distinguished—and very suggestive—precedent to the act of dividing one’s own clothes: that of the Prophet Elijah. In the Book of Kings, Elisha, Elijah’s disciple “took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him” (2 Kings, 2, 13–14). Elisha received the cloak from his master Elijah. Elijah’s cloak opens up a universe full of consonance, metaphors and symbolic references, which, during the Middle Ages, connected holiness and clothing. This is the archetype and model by which generations of anchorites, ascetics, hermits, monks were inspired—men of God who conformed to scriptural patterns in clothing and in diet. The wild, naked, and raw are in clear opposition to the dressed, the urban, and the cooked. They are antinomian categories that accompany the history of Christian spirituality. The dichotomous categories of raw/cooked in Levi-Strauss (nature/culture) also applied to the fathers of the desert and the hermits who in choices antithetical to society and its codes—the choice of nature as opposed to culture—sanctioned this caesura; this change of clothing and habitus that involved the abandonmnet of clothes and the use of animal skins or the effrayante choice of nudity. The examples of this are many. In contrast to the complex symbolism of the robes of monks, the only garment of the hermit’s outift was the kitòn, a tunic, which was such a distinctive piece of clothing that the hermit is sometimes presented in sources exclusively through this garment (Morini 2004, 22). Compared to the standard cenobitic tunic, the kitòn was smaller— returning to the condition of cherished nudity—and was cut off at the elbows and knees. It was an animal skin tunic, contrary to the monkish one of fabric. The choice of skin instead of fabric relates to the biblical model and is a clear reference to the condition of Elijah and John the Baptist. It is also a reference to the archetypal fragment of the hermitic life of the Letter to the Hebrews, which tells of those that “andarono in giro coperti di pelli di pecora e di capra […] andarono vagando per i deserti, sui monti, tra le caverne e le spelonche della terra” (Ebrei, 11, 37–38). Elijah, in particular, remains an archetype for anyone wishing to live a spiritual life and his cloak is a fundamental reference point, both symbolic and practical, in its reflection of ascetic and contemplative thought.

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On Elijah, the Bible narrates how the prophet on Mount Horeb was faced with: “a strong wind,” “but the Lord was not in the wind”; then “an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake,”; then, “a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire” (1, King, 19, 11–12). At the end he faced “a gentle breeze” (1, King, 19, 12). Elijah “covered his face with the coat” (1, King, 19,13) and found the Lord. In the subtlety of silence, Elijah discovered how God was light; it is only when he faces the whisper of the breeze that Elijah covers his face with his cloak and understands. This is a metaphor related to clothing, even dressing, where to cover reveals a deep symbolic meaning. The cloak of Elijah became a part of the Christian heritage. A heritage that, in the Middle Ages, influenced generations of ascetics, saints and religious men who were willing to share their cloak with someone. The cowl, chlamys, tunic, analabos, tribonion, amictus, and mandyas were all received from those who had preceded them.

Bibliography Bureau, Pierre. 1989. “Le symbolisme vestimentaire du dépouillement de sain Martin a travers l’image et l’imaginaire médiévaux.” In Le vêtement. Histoire, archeologie et symbolique du vestimentaires au moyen age, edited by Michel Pastoureau, 35–71. Paris: Cahiers du léopard d or. Cantarella, Glauco, and Dorino Tuniz, eds. 1983. Cluny e il suo abate Ugo. Splendore e crisi di un grande ornastico. Milan-Novara: Jaca Book. Gilonis, Vita sancti Hugonis abbatis, ed. H.E.J Cowdrey. 1978. “Two Studies on on Cluniac History, 1049-1109.” Studi Gregoriani XI: 17– 175. Giorda, Mariachiara, Alfonso Marini, and Francesca Sbardella. 2007. Prospettive cristiane/2. Abiti monastici. Rome: Edizioni Nuova Cultura. Pastoureau, Michel. 2005. Medioevo simbolico. Rome-Bari: Laterza. Sagulo, Saverio. 2003. Ideologia imperiale e analisi politica in Benzone, vescovo d'Alba. Bologna: Clueb. Schramm, P.E. 1963. “Gli imperatori della casa di Sassonia alla luce della simbolistica dello stato.” In Renovatio Imperii, Atti della giornata internazionale di studio per il millenario (Ravenna 4-5 novembre 1961), 15-40. Faenza: Lega.

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—. 1995. “Lo stato post-carolingio e i suoi simboli del potere, in I problemi comuni dell’Europa post-carolingi.” In Problemi comuni del Europa post-carolinga .Spoleto. Morini, Enrico. 2004. “Il fuoco dell’esichia.Il monachesimo greco in Calabria fra tensione eremitica e massimalismo cenobitico.” In San Bruno di Colonia:un eremita tra Oriente e Occidente, edited by Pietro De Leo, Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino.

CHASUBLES AND CASSOCKS: BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION ANTONELLO BATTAGLIA

Ecclesiastical clothes have great symbolic importance and particular items often have ancestral origins that make reference to specific signs of Christian tradition. The allure of measures, embroideries, fabrics and colors derives from references to the specific meanings of passages in the Old Testament, the Gospel and the Christian-Catholic hagiographic tradition. Among these garments, liturgical vestments deserve special attention because the celebration of the Eucharist is the most important event in priestly ministry. The liturgy is celebrated in persona Christi and therefore the protagonist of the rite is not the individual, but Jesus Christ. The wide sacred robes allow for a “de-personalization” of a man and his transformation into a minister of God. Human individuality fades into the background and drapery conceals, symbolically and visually, the human form and confers solemnity onto this event, which connects this world to the divine dimension. To put on each vestment, a specific prayer is expected—made optional by the Missal of Pope Paul VI—but recommended and included in the Compendium Eucharisticum of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (Congregazione per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti 2009, 385). Prayers in the sacristy encourage reflection and “metamorphosis” in the approach to the liturgical celebration of the mystery of Eucharist. Dressing starts with the washing of the hands. This act is clearly symbolic because the priest prays to the Lord to erase all the marks from his soul and body, and make virtuous the hands that will celebrate the Mass. The dressing is preceded by the introductory prayer, which gives sacredness to the moment. The first vestment is the amice, a white linen cloth with two little rectangular stripes. It rests on the shoulders and it is tied around the waist.

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Its role is to cover, symbolically and practically, the daily dress of the priest. If the surplice totally covers the neck, hiding the collar, the priest can dismiss the amice (Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani 2008, 336). The symbolic meaning is twofold: to “hide” the visible signs of human life and—as evident in the prayer of the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians (6, 17)—to protect the minister from diabolical temptations, just like a helmet of salvation. The dressing continues with the surplice, a long white dress, the color of which references the purity sought by each believer and the candor of the heart necessary to obtain eternal joy. The cord, which is knotted at the waist, symbolizes the virtues of continence, chastity and self-control— gifts of the Holy Spirit according to St. Paul in his Letter to the Galatians (5, 22). The maniple follows. This is a long strip of cloth of about one meter and worn on the left forearm during the Mass. It refers to a handkerchief that wipes away the sweat of one’s labor and refreshes. The penultimate vestment is the stole, an emblem of priestly authority. Its color changes according to the liturgical season and the prayer of this dressing is: “Redde mihi, Domine, stolam immortalitatis, quam perdidi in praevaricatione primi parentis; et, quamvis indignus accedo ad tuum sacrum mysterium, merear tamen gaudium sempiternum.” Unlike the priest, who wears it circling around the back of the neck, the deacon wears it diagonally from the left shoulder to the right hip. Finally, over the stole, there is the chasuble, a visible, typical and ample piece of clothing the color of which also depends on the liturgical season. Instead of the chasuble, the minister can wear the pianeta, which is smaller in size. In English, the word pianeta is often translated as chasuble, but the pianeta and chasuble are two different vestments. Their function and use are the same, but their fabric and sizes are different. The colors of the liturgical seasons of the Roman Rite are: white, red, purple, green, pink, black and gold. White is used during solemn occasions and the main festivities (Easter, Christmas, feasts of saints, not martyrs, the Chrism Mass, Coena Domini, baptism, marriage, ordination, first communion, anointing of the sick) and symbolizes the mystery of the resurrection, the glory of Christ, purity, faith and joy. Red is the color of the Holy Spirit, the blood of Christ and the martyrs, and it is used, among other occasions, for the papal funeral, the feast of the martyrs, Holy Friday, Palm Sunday, and Pentecost. Purple is the color of waiting and penance. Its liturgical time is four weeks, Lent and Advent are the main moments in which it is adopted and in Italy it can be also worn at funerals and memorial services. Green, the color of hope, indicates ordinary time.

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Pink, after the reform of 1969, is optional. It is halfway between the purple of penance and the white of festivity and it can be worn on special occasions like Domenica Gaudete (third Sunday of Advent), and Domenica Laetare (fourth Sunday of Lent). Like pink, black is also optional after the reformation of the Roman Missal and it is usually replaced with purple as the color of mourning. Gold is the color of regality, splendor and glory and it is worn on the most solemn occasions instead of white. Finally, there is the color blue, which is not officially a liturgical color. It is traditionally the color of the Virgin Mary and can be worn for festivities in honor of the “mother of God”; it is more prevalent on the ornaments of white chasubles. Blue is an accessory of white, although blue chasubles are increasing in number—this color is not official, but it is part of the tradition. Another liturgical vestment that should not be confused with the chasuble is the cope. It is not worn during mass, but on other occasions, such as: processions; Eucharistic blessing and adoration; vespers; and solemn lauds. It is a long coat open at the front and fixed to the chest with a clip (razionale). This sacred piece of clothing is combined with a humeral veil—a strip of cloth about fifty centimeters wide and two meters long; it is used as a sign of respect and covers the hands to avoid direct contact between the priest and the sacred monstrance on the occasion of the Eucharistic adoration and processions of the relics. In priestly clothes, the symbolism and constant references to the holy scriptures are fundamental elements. The use of each vestment, liturgical or not, is regulated by a detailed discipline that allows, among other things, the preservation of ancient traditions. The simplicity and use of precious textures characterize this sphere whose clothes may slowly be subject to change. In recent years, some famous fashion houses, like Armani, Biagiotti, and Fendi, have been influenced by ecclesiastical vestments and have produced chasubles and copes with different techniques. An important event that should be mentioned is Koinè, the international exhibition of liturgical furniture and objects. In 1990, 2005 and 2011 it opened its doors to young textile artists, designers, stylists and fashion schools to investigate how, fifty years after the Vatican II Council, liturgical vestments can be interpreted. The Koinè Ricerca’s scientific committee selected chasubles from different countries, made according to various interpretations, and searching for a new compromise between tradition and innovation. Schmitt presented chasubles with geometric signs, while Schreibmayr adorned them with soft and creative brush strokes.

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In the context of Koinè, a new liturgical color was proposed: gray to replace black or purple at funerals. According to Christian symbolism, death is a prelude to resurrection and, chromatically, gray represents the synthesis between black (death) and white (resurrection), representing the key of the Christian message. Other liturgical colors were proposed in various shades: pink; green; purple. On some models—especially by the Slabbinck Art Studio—all the liturgical colors fade into white (hope and purity). Giorgio Armani created an aquamarine green chasuble for the bishop of Pantelleria, Monsignor Domenico Mogavero, for the inauguration of the parvis of the mother church of the island. The Italian stylist chose green because it was a color for ordinary times, but gave it a new shade and decorated it with embroideries and designs of seashells, starfishes, and corals. Tradition and innovation; fidelity to the original colors or the revival of shades and tints—the sacred sphere is not exempt from the influence of fashion. There are, however, also criticisms and dissent: in the opinion of the purists, these exaggerations distort the tradition of chasubles. The other garment that attracts the interest of the fashion world is the priest’s cassock. It is a typical piece clothing worn outside religious services. It originated from the long robe of Jewish priests and from the fourth or fifth century A.D. onwards it became a famous item of clothing for Christian priests too. There are different kinds of cassocks: Romana, Ambrosiana, Bresciana, Mantovana and Piemontese. They are similar, but different in detail. The most famous is the Roman model: it has long sleeves, is tight-fitting to the waist like a jacket, goes down to the ground and is fully closed with a strip of buttons at the front. For priests the cassock is totally black; for bishops it is black with violet eyelets, buttons, borders and lining; for cardinals it is black with purple eyelets, buttons, borders and lining; it is totally white for the pope. The cassock is usually paired with a band at the waist corresponding to the rank (black, violet or purple). Bishops, cardinals and the pope have a cape called pellegrina, very similar to the mozzetta, but open at the front and not closed by buttons. The circular of October 15, 2012, signed by the secretary of state, Cardinal Bertone, on behalf of Benedict XVI—which incorporated the provisions of John Paul II in a letter of September 8, 1982—obliged cardinals and bishops to wear cassocks during office hours. The new Directory for the Ministry and Life of Priests, published in February 2013, asserts that in a secularized and materialistic society, where the external signs of sacred and supernatural realities tend to

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disappear, there is a need for the priest to be recognizable in the eyes of the community and in his clothing as an unequivocal sign of his identity. The priest should be identifiable primarily through his conduct, but also through his garments, which make visible to the faithful and others his identity and his membership of the Church. The cassock was reshaped by stylists from the second half of the last century, but unlike the chasuble, which was redefined for the clergy, the new proposals of the cassock are for the secular sphere only. For example, in 1955, Sorelle Fontana, authorized by the Holy See, made the pretino for Ava Gardner. It was a redingote in back wool-silk with red buttons and borders. This invention also aroused criticism and some reviewers considered this cassock to be outrageous. A few years later, this vestment was part of the fantasy world of Federico Fellini, who used it for Anita Ekberg in the movie La dolce vita (1962). In 1997, Dolce & Gabbana showed the cassock on the catwalk. The model was not a monsignor, but a “mon-lady,” “rigorous as a priest and more lavish than a cardinal” (G. Lo Vetro). In recent years, many other filmmakers have used this kind of clothing—Lana and Andy Wachowski, in The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003), chose for the protagonist, Neo, a black cassock that made the movements in the combat scenes more sinuous and captivating. Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, David Yates—directors for the Harry Potter series—chose a black redingote, explicitly inspired by the priest’s cassock, for the disquieting and mysterious characters Voldemort and Severus Snape. Priests can replace the cassock with the “clergyman.” This is an innovation introduced, not without criticism, by the Second Vatican Council. The clergyman consists of a shirt, jacket and trousers that are black, gray, or occasionally brown in color. The the best known feature is the white collar—a symbol of purity and innocence. Elia Francinella, designer at the emerging brand Mavranyma, was inspired by the clergyman in realizing one of her latest collections. She reinvented the priest’s classic garment, playing with the concepts of sacred and profane— tight shirts, black with a Roman collar, unisex, trendy, and unconventional. Even Donatella Versace’s models have worn the elegant clergyman on the catwalk, inspired by Monsignor Georg Gänswein, secretary to Pope Ratzinger. Besides priestly clothing, that of the many monastic orders, in its diversity and strong symbolism, deserves a brief discussion. The famous habit (cowl)—bag-shaped with wide sleeves, a hood and with a cord around the waist—has the meaning of penance. The simple workmanship,

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rough material and absence of any embroidery or decoration refer to simplicity, poverty and the humility of monastic life. It is a tangible sign of the consecration and a symbol of brotherhood, unity and belonging to the chosen monastic order. The habit has the characteristic of a uniform in that it marks each order. In the past, there was no official codification of the monastic habit—the first attempts to regularize it appeared in the tenth century during the controversy between the “black” and “white” Benedictines. Each of them wished to impose its own color as the only official color of the order founded by Benedict of Nursia. Slowly, each order chose its own dye, but only in 1917 was it officially ruled that the habit was a mark of the various religious institutions. Long, large, and simple, it envelops the body from head to foot transfiguring the physical form and expressing spirituality. One of the first to wear the habit was St. Francis, who in 1221 decided to dismiss, materially and spiritually, the luxuries of life represented by his sumptuous clothes. He chose to wear sacking, originally without a cord and cap. The color was gray, with shimmering shades, and gray became the color of the Franciscan habit. In France, between the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, during the revolutionary period and the Napoleonic era, several measures were introduced against monastic congregations. Their possessions were confiscated and many orders were suppressed. As such, the Conventual Franciscans resorted to dyeing their habits black so that they would be confused with priests, who were still tolerated in the French legislation. After the Restoration, in France and in all her former sister republics, the color of the habit remained black, while in other countries that did not experience the Napoleonic nomination, it continued to be gray. Among the Franciscans, the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin adopted the brown habit in 1897 when Pope Leo XIII with the bull Felicitate quandam gathered together autonomous groups of Franciscans who aspired to a more contemplative life and to the rejection of the possession of community goods. The regulation established that the habit, with a woolen hood and cloak, was brown and the pendant cord on the right side, with three nodes representing the three vows (poverty, chastity and obedience) and the rosary beads of the seven joys as a sign of devotion to Mary, was white. The Franciscan Order is made up of three families—the Friars Minor Conventual, Friars Minor, and the Friars Minor Capuchin—and three different colors. The Conventual habit in Europe is black, in the rest of the world, it is gray, while the choice of the other two families is brown. The habit of the Dominican Order is white because the founder, St. Dominic,

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was the canon of Osma and as such wore white as a symbol of participation in the Christian resurrection. Originally the cowl consisted of a cassock, a hood, and a cord with rosary beads, while the scapular was introduced a few years later as the protection of the Virgin as Madonna who appeared to Reginald of Orleans. White represents new life, purity and the union with God, while black represents penance. In the case of the Benedictines, black was chosen to distinguish the order from the Cistercians and symbolically this color was adopted as a reminder of the worldly death of the monk. The members of the Discalced Carmelites wear a brown-gray scapular with a white coat and a white short, tight cap. They wear leather sandals on their feet. As with the Dominicans, the use of the coat is limited to a few occasions. This kind of habit was chosen by St. Teresa of Avila in 1568 and did not provide for sandals, so the first order went barefoot. Later, alpargatas were introduced, which were replaced in 1605 by classic leather sandals. The characteristic habit of the Passionists is a black tunic and cloak and a black leather belt with rosary beads. On the left side of the chest is a heart with a white cross, the inscription Jesu XPI Passio (The Passion of the Christ) and the three nails of the crucifixion as a synthesis of Passionist spirituality, which is based on the mystery of the passion and death of Jesus as the supreme manifestation of divine love. The heart is supported by two branches, one of olive symbolizing peace and the other of laurel symbolizing immortality. Among the most recent are the Missionaries of Charity’s habits. This famous order was founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta on October 7, 1950, and approved by Pope Paul VI on February 1, 1965. Sisters wear the typical tunic of Indian women, the sari. The cloth was the least expensive of those sold in the bazaar and the chosen color was white, which represents mourning and suffering in India; Mother Teresa opted for this shade because, according to Indian tradition, women dressed in white have nothing. They are widows and in losing their their husbands they have lost their only source of livelihood. Absolute poverty, humility, and penance are directly connected to the white sari, which had four blue stripes symbolizing the Madonna. Mother Teresa attributed these four stripes to the four vows of the order: poverty, chastity, obedience and a special vow, to live in poverty alongside the poor. Later she added a small cross at the left shoulder as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice and the gift of oneself to others. Another recent order is the Franciscan Fraternity of Bethany, founded by the Capuchin Father, Pancrazio—the spiritual son of St. Pio of Pietrelcina—in the mid-1980s. The habit, with a cord and cap—the same

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for monks and sisters—has a blue-gray color in order to show the essence of the order: the Marian (blue) and the Franciscan (gray). The habit is not the only dress of monastic orders, there are some congregations that, in order to promote greater penetration and integration into the social order, have chosen not to wear distinctive vestments and opt for the clergy’s regular clothing. Famous examples are the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the Barnabites and the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God. Also the Camillians, who wear the clothing of the secular clergy, but with a large dark brown cross on the left side of the habit. Interestingly, the Italian manufacturer Mario Bianchetti introduced a mobile phone pocket in the habit of Franciscan friars and was the first to offer them online shopping. The world of religious vestments is a fascinating field that links symbols to clothes; the ancient to the modern; and tradition to innovation. It has attracted the interest of designers, the curious and the faithful, on the occasion of major events—such as the pontifical election—who, in approaching this unusual aspect of the ecclesiastical world, discover surprising, unexpected shades and ancestral references, colors, shades and forms of clothes that will never be out of style: the habit—the “dress of the soul” as San Francis of Assisi affectionately called it.

Bibliography 2010. Annuario Pontificio per l’anno 2010. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Battaglia, Antonello. 2015. “L’abito dell’anima. Materiali e simboli delle vesti religiose”. In La moda contiene la storia e ce la racconta puntualmente edited by Giovanna Motta, 177–200. Rome: Nuova Cultura. Benedetto XVI. 2010. Summorum Pontificum. Vatican. Braun, Joshep. 1914. Parametri sacri. loro uso, storia e simbolismo. Turin: Marietti. Caraffa Filippo, Morelli Giuseppe. 1969. Bibliotheca Sanctorum. Rome: 12 Istituto Giovanni XXIII nella Pontificia Università Lateranense. Cataldi, Gallo Marzia. 2013. Vestire il pontefice. Dall’Antico Testamento a Papa Francesco. Genoa: SAGEP. Congregazione per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti. March, 25. 2004. Redemptionis Sacramentum. Congregazione per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti. 2009. Compendium eucharisticum. Vatican: LEV. Escobar, Mario. 1953. Ordini e congregazioni religiose. Turin: SEI.

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Giorgini, Fabiano. 2000. Storia dei Passionisti. Rome: CIPI. Giovanni XIII. 1962. Missale Romanum. Vatican. Miller, Mauren. 2014. Vestire la Chiesa. Gli abiti del clero nella Roma medieval. Rome: Viella. Montevacchi, Benedetta, et al. 1988. Suppellettile ecclesiastica. Florence: Centro Di Editore. Moroni, Gaetano. 1847. Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica. Venice: Tipografia Emiliana. Pelliccia, Guerrino, and Giancarlo Rocca. 1974–2003. Dizionario degli Istituti di Perfezione. Milan: Edizioni paoline. Rocca, Giancarlo. 2000. La sostanza dell’effimero. Gli abiti degli ordini religiosi in Occidente. Rome: Edizioni paoline. Sacra Congregazione Ceremoniale. 1943. Norme ceremoniali per gli Eminentissimi Signori Cardinali. Vatican. Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana. Sanchirico, Stefano. 2010. “I Pontefici in bianco e rosso.” L’Osservatore Romano, July 14, 2010. Schwaiger, George. 1997. La vita religiosa dalle origini ai nostri giorni. Milan: San Paolo. Trimeloni, Ludovico. 2007. Compendio di liturgia pratica. Genoa: Marietti. Valli, Aldo Maria. 2012. Piccolo mondo vaticano. La vita quotidiana nella città del Roma. Rome: Laterza. Varano, Maliu, and Valerio Moretti. 1981. Le Auto Dei Papi: Settant’anni Di Automobilismo Vaticano. Rome: Edizioni di autocritica

THE REFORM OF ECCLESIASTICAL CLOTHING AND THE VATICAN II COUNCIL MARCO IERVESE

The transformation of ecclesiastical clothing during the years of the Second Vatican Council was the direct result of a complex and critical maturation. Even though the attention of the general public was mainly captured by its commentary on attire (with the introduction of the clergyman), this followed at least a decade of discussion (Melloni 2000; Pesch 2005; O’Malley 2010; Alberigo-Melloni 2012; Chenaux 2012), taking into account not only the functional and symbolic aspects of this change, but also its justification on sociological (Guzzetti et al. 1953; Mazzoli 1965; AA. VV. 1967)1 and pastoral (Penco 1986, Brambilla 1943)2 grounds. 1 During the 1950s, this increased attention on sociological issues, was especially present in reflection on the role of parishes, see G. B. Guzzetti et al. 1953. La parrocchia. Studio storico e sociologico in «La Scuola cattolica», novemberdecember, Milan: La scuola cattolica; Mazzoli, Aleardo. 1965. La pastorale nella parrocchia moderna, Brescia: Queriniana; AA. VV. 1967. La parrocchia nella diocesi oggi, Rome. 2 “Il nuovo rapporto che la Chiesa doveva stabilire con una società in via di trasformazione è quasi simboleggiato -a livello conoscitivo- dalla nascita e dallo sviluppo di una nuova disciplina, la sociologia religiosa. In forza di essa sarebbe stato possibile, innanzi tutto sul piano pastorale, acquisire una conoscenza molto più realistica ed esatta dell'effetiva incidenza del fatto religioso sulla società, quanto a frequenza ai sacramenti, ad età e provenienza sociale dei fedeli, al rapporto fra praticanti e aderenti, sul piano politico ed elettorale, al partito dei cattolici. Si trattava indubbiamente di uno strumento prezioso, anche se i dati statistici che ne risultavano avrebbero richiesto un intelligente sforzo di lettura per una valutazione complessiva dei fenomeni” in Penco, Gregorio. 1986. Storia della Chiesa in Italia nell’età contemporanea. Verso il Concilio Vaticano II 1945-1965, vol. II, Milan: Jaca Book, p. 114. Concerning the early studies regarding this subject during the 1940s see Brambilla, Franca. 1943. “Realtà di anime e metodi di apostolato.” La Civiltà cattolica 94–3: 99–100. For a broader perspective on the relationship between sociological studies and applications in the religious field see Canaletti Gaudenti, Alberto. 1942. Sulla mortalità degli addetti al culto in Italia

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Often, studies that address stylistic changes of dress consider these changes to be expressions of modeled self-representation; aesthetic sensibility; mentality; and culture, considering these as additional conditions to a form of aesthetic variation. In the case of ecclesiastical clothing, the need to understand the reasons for the change in symbolism associated with custom is even more evident. Ecclesiastical clothing, by its very nature, repesents not just an individual, a role, a social condition, or for some, a profession (Poulat 1999; Margotti 2000; Barra 1960), but is, essentially, the symbol of a priestly and spiritual mission, which is higher and transcendent of, but not exclusively (John XXIII 1963),3 any social immanence. In this way, the symbol, being both the bearer of a series of psychological forces linked to its reception and the possibility of producing an affective involvement, determines how religiosity is a privileged context for its use and the language forms based on it. For all these reasons, the reform of clothing should be considered in relation to the phenomenology of this symbolic change. This consideration should involve deep reflection on the context that created it. The context of the 1950s and 1960s saw the erosion of dominant cultural models and was a critical moment for those solutions, which until that time, had proven unsuitable for the changing social relations (Verucci 1988). The strongly libertarian, egalitarian, anti-institutional, antiauthoritarian, and secularist cultural shifts of the 1960s (Salvemini 1953), included religion and the Church (Brucculeri 1953, 1954), and contested its traditional structures and social mandate.4 nel periodo 1928-1938, Spoleto: Panetto & Petrelli; D’Agata, Carmelo. 1943. Statistica religiosa, Milan: Giuffrè. 3 Missionary activity was the spiritual animator of parish life, as stated by John XXIII. 1963. Discorsi, Messaggi, Colloqui del Santo Padre Giovanni XXIII, I, Città del Vaticano: Libera editrice vaticana, pp. 274–77; see also Capovilla, Loris F. 1970. L’ideale missionario di Papa Giovanni. Rome: Abete. 4 The fear of ecclesiastical intervention in the political and cultural life of Italy, seen as dangerous offshoots of the projects of the temporal Church, is evident in that period, see Salvemini, Gaetano. “I diritti di Dio e della Chiesa.” Il Mondo, 11 April 1953, Brucculeri, Angelo. 1953. “Chiesa e partiti.” La Civiltà Cattolica, 104–2, pp. 357–66. The alleged interference by some prelates during the 1951 elections, was discussed in Parliament, see La Civiltà cattolica, 102–2 (1951), pp. 559–61. Another example was the letter of the Italian episcopate in 1954 interpreted not so much as a complaint over social inequalities, but as a failure to stand against capitalism, see Avanti!, 3 February 1954. A. Brucculeri, “L’episcopato italiano e i problemi sociali dell’ora.” La Civiltà cattolica, 105–1 (1954), pp. 517–27. Also in the public eye was the controversy stemming from

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The filter for these demands for change was the Vatican II Council.5 Commissioned by Pope John XXIII, just three months after his election6 this was the largest and most debated moment of critical reflection of the Church in the twentieth century.7 The Church’s internal cohesion faced the contemporary dialectic (Capovilla 1970, 1977, 1982; Lercaro 1965; Battaglia 1973): a theme that many recognized in the words of Pope John XXIII in his opening speech.8 “Update,” as it was defined, had no overtones of inquiry or condemnation, but was to prepare the Church to face the thorny issue of renewal.9 Pius XII’s speech aimed at parish priests on the occasion of Lent in 1957. The accusation of the secularist press of the use of spiritual Magisterium to convey a proposal which interfered with Italian political life, thus violating the Concordat. A major theme of this dispute was that of education, see “Scuola e religione.” Critica sociale, October 20, 1956, p. 335. 5 The conditions discussed during the Council, although not always appropriately, were then put into operational form during the pontificate of Paul VI. For a further discussion of his pontificate and the issues addressed see Paul VI et la modernité dans l’Église, Actes du Colloque organisée par l’École Française de Rome (Rome, 2-4 juin 1983), Rome: ÉFR; Chenaux, Philippe. 1994. Paul VI ET Maritain. Les rapports du «montinianisme» et du «maritainisme», Rome: Studium. For a biographical description see Toscani, Xenio. 2014. Paolo VI. Una biografia, Brescia-Rome: Istituto Paolo VI-Studium; De Giorgi, Fulvio. 2015. Paolo VI. Il papa del moderno, Brescia: Morcelliana. 6 This was published on January 25, 1959. With commentary, ed. Alberigo, Giuseppe and Melloni, Alberto. 1984. “L’allocuzione Gaudet mater Ecclesia di Giovanni XXIII [11 ottobre 1962].” In Fede Tradizione Profezia. Studi su Giovanni XXIII e sul Vaticano II, Brescia: Paideia, pp. 185–283. 7 It was defined, by no less than cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, as: “un avvenimento storico di prima grandezza ... il maggiore che la Chiesa abbia mai celebrato nei suoi venti secoli di storia, per la confluenza spirituale e numerica, nell’unità totale e pacifica della sua gerarchia; sarà il maggiore della cattolicità delle sue dimensioni, veramente interessanti tutto il mondo geografico e civile in Rivista diocesana milanese,” February 1959, 101–102; Montini, Giovanni Battista. 1983. Discorsi e scritti sul Concilio, Rome: Istituto Paolo VI-Studium. 8 Along with this interpretation there were others more distant from the Catholic world. Parts of the laic press talked about the purely economic or propaganda purposes of the Council, others underlined the contrasts with the authoritarian approach of Pius XII and yet others expressed an interpretation of a totally political Council, which was searching for cultural hegemony, see Caprile, Giovanni. 1952. “Primi commenti all’annuncio del futuro Concilio.” In La Civiltà cattolica 110–2, pp. 283–95. 9 This was a crisis that brought the Church to talk of “a new era of human history” in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes. On February 10, 1952, the pope addressed believers proposing an action for change: “È tutto un mondo che occorre

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Some of the members of the council took an inclusive position, making the reception of the new proposals a condition of this, and others pushed for a more conservative view and the preservation of the doctrinal corpus from external influences (Vian 2015).10 This dichotomy has often led to talk of progressives and conservatives: two conceptual categories, perhaps, but somewhat misleading if not clarified, because they all arose in a common language from the same legacy. The discussion on the transformation of ecclesiastical garments, although being part of the debate focused on the social and historical role of the Church, was also part of a larger discussion of its theological and pastoral character (Ferrario 2014). This took formal shape in May 1959 inside the new Commission͆ante preparatoria,” which acquired, through the secretary of state (led by Mgr Tardini11) the results of over 2500 requests sent to the local bishops of dioceses around the world, in order to have an idea of the topics that should be considered a priority.12 From the replies, the Commission, rifare dalle fondamenta, che bisogna trasformare da selvatico in umano, da umano in divino, vale a dire secondo il cuore di Dio.” See also Chierici, Araldo. 1984. Una speranza per la Chiesa. Padre Lombardi ed il Movimento mondo migliore: il progetto apostolico del gruppo promotore del Movimento per un mondo migliore nella sua evoluzione. Rome: Rogate; R. Sani. 1985. “Roma cattolica: un’idea per un rinnovamento su scala mondiale. La mobilitazione di padre Lombardi.” Humanitas 40, pp. 59–87. 10 With regard to the documents of the Second Vatican Council, Vian points out that: “presentino, spesso all’interno di uno stesso testo, posizioni a volte poco compatibili tra loro, chiaro esito delle spinte innovatrici della maggioranza e le resistenze della minoranza, sui cui inoltre si sovrapposero le decisioni di Paolo VI” in Vian, Giovanni. 2015. Storia del cristianesimo. L’età contemporanea. Rome: Carocci, p. 361. 11 On February 6, 1959, a commission was formed through the papal act of Pentecoste AD I/1 22-23, comprising 10 members and led by Mgr Tardini. Established a few days after the announcement of John XXIII, it was made up of delegates from all the congregations of the Roman Curia. Nearly all Italian, it had the task of collecting material for the start of the “preparazione prossima” of the council, outlining the topics that needed to be debated and proposing solutions for the authorities that would run the actual preparatory session, see Alberigo, Giuseppe. 2005. Breve storia del Concilio Vaticano II, Bologna: Il Mulino, pp. 26– 27. 12 A symbol of this evangelizing fervor was the institution on February 18, 1959, of the Preparatory Commission of the Diocesan Synod, held between 24 and 27 January 1960. The Commission was divided into eight subcommissions (people, teaching, divine worship and the sacraments, the sacraments, Apostolic action,

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formed mostly of Clergy of the Curia, drafted the “proposita et monita” to be used during the Council.13 On June 5, 1960, John XXIII, with the “motu proprio” Superno Dei Natu, began the preparatory phase by establishing 10 commissions concerning various issues,14 accompanied by Christian education of youth, the things, assistance and charity) and developed over 700 articles from which were extracted summary propositions to be examined in the colleges. It was an early test in finding a synthesis between traditional and contemporary needs, see Penco, Gregorio. 1986. Storia della Chiesa in Italia nell’età contemporanea. Verso il Concilio Vaticano II 1945-1965, vol. II, Milan: Jaca Book, pp. 171–72. 13 The problem was that the ten commissions essentially reflected the Vatican congregations, with a predominance of the conservative curial component. It was no coincidence that their preparatory work was largely contested by the majority of the clergy, which was in favor of greater openness. Moreover, it was no coincidence that, of the 69 “schemata” elaborated in the preparatory phase, only three were used during the work of the council, while all the others were rejected or completely reworked: “Quanto all’episcopato, nella fase antepreparatoria del Concilio furono interpellati, insieme con quelli di tutto il mondo, 260 vescovi residenziali italiani, di cui risposero 244 (94%), una delle medie se non più alte, almeno abbastanza sostenute; 94 vescovi titolari, di cui risposero 60 (64%), una delle medie più basse. Nelle varie commissione preparatorie del Concilio v’erano 221 membri italiani su di un totale di 652 europei ed un totale complessivo di 833, quindi più di un quarto. Quanto ai religiosi italiani membri di tali commissioni, erano 63 su 255 europei e 191 in tutto il mondo, con una percentuale, pertanto, inferiore a quella precedente. Le riunioni delle varie commissioni preparatorie si tennero per lo più a Roma, eccetto qualche occasionale riunione in altra sede, come avvenne per la commissione degli studi e dei seminari che si riunì, in forma ridotta, il 12-14 luglio 1961 a Siena e il 15-16 February 1962 a Verona” in Penco, Gregorio. 1986. Storia della Chiesa in Italia nell'età contemporanea. Verso il Concilio Vaticano II 1945-1965, vol. II, Milan: Jaca Book, p. 183. The Italian component while very strong in the ante preparatoria Commission (as representative of the members of the Curia) decreased in proportion in various commissions (853 in total, 652 Europeans, 221 Italians) and even more if we consider the total numbers of the Council (1041 European bishops being less than half of the participants, 956 American, 379 African and 300 Asian, the largest national group being Italian with 379 members) accounting for less than one-fifth of the assembly, which was much more limited than in previous councils, see Alberigo, Giuseppe. 2005. Breve storia del Concilio Vaticano II, Bologna: Il Mulino, p. 43. See also Riccardi, Preparare il Concilio. Papa e curia alla vigilia del Vaticano II, Actes du colloque organisé par l’École française de Rome (Rome 28-30 May 1986), p. 193. 14 The pope closed the antepreparatory period and initiated the preparatory period of Vatican II. There was the “Central Coordinating Commission,” which was meant to coordinate the work of the ten commissions. These groups, made up mostly of members of the Roman Curia, produced 73 proposed constitutions and

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the Secretary for Christian Unity, Cardinal Bea and coordinated by Cardinal Felici, future Secretary General of the Council. After the official convocation (Constitution Humanae Salutis of December 25, 1961) and the publishing of the work schedule (motu proprio Concilum Diu of February 2, 1962), the first council session was opened on October 11, 1962, with the attendance of over 2,500 Fathers (1041 Europeans, 956 Americans, 379 Africans, 300 Asians). The discussion about ecclesiastical clothing, in the work of the Preparatory Commission “De Religiosis,” however, was not independent of an ex ante preparation path. In 1958, the requests received by the secretariat of state to obtain the exemption from the cassock were numerous and urged the Holy See to seek broad consultation on the topic. Religious ordinaries (bishops) were granted some powers of dispensation, subject to the rule of using the cassock in a manner appropriate to their order and jurisdiction. A problematic framework, wide and complex, became apparent, which ranged from questions related to new theological trends to the integral projects of a new theological anthropology and from ecclesiological trends to liturgical reform. Historical reflection and potential solutions to some of these concerns centered on the issue of the new priestly apostolate in secularized society, considered to be a decisive tool against any danger of secularism and “closed clericalism” (Bevilacqua 1956; La Nosegno 1953; Messineo 1951–52; Lener 1951; Guzzetti 1952; Goffi 1950; Esposito 1954; Brucculeri 1957; Olgiati 1955–58; Baragli 1956). The problem of ecclesiastical clothing, with the urgent need to visibly express this renovated and upgraded spirit of evangelization, required rethinking. The Preparatory Commission, then, was tasked to declare on a specific questionem demandatam: “habitum religiosus sive virorum, sive mulierum sit decens simplex acmodestus; at temporum, ac locorum adiunctis. Necnon necessitatibus ministerii accomodatus.”15 The discussion was not to be followed in the Council, but was expressed only in the decree “Paerfectae caritatis.”16 This was because it decrees (known as schemas) intended for consideration by the council. The remits of the 10 commissions were: (1) theology, (2) bishops and the government of dioceses, (3) discipline of clergy and laity, (4) religious, (5) discipline of sacraments, (6) sacred liturgy, (7) studies and seminaries, (8) Eastern Churches, (9) missions, and (10) apostolates of the laity. 15 ASV, Con. Vat. II, De habitu religioso, b. 1232, f. 1, Questionem demandatam n° 9. 16 The question of clothing was incidental to the reform proposal drafted by the Group of the “Church of the poor.” Paul VI asked Lercaro on October 10, 1963, to

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was clear that the intention was to apply it post-Council: the Episcopal Conferences, in fact, had to pronounce on the matter in legislative terms, but there was the intention to clarify in which direction the Council wished to steer this reform. The Preparatory Commission “De Religiosis,” in the discussion concerning the “de habitu” wished to apply a historical and ecclesiological litmus test to the matter. There were two starting points: a definition of ecclesiastical clothing that put it in contrast to secular clothing, and its mandatory nature. Although ecclesiastical clothing has some elements stemming from monastic tradition, the clothes identifying a status of poverty and simplicity, such as the veil, the cingulum, or the hood, its uniqueness in consecration to divine service17 and its otherness from any dress of “hominum consueto”18 was clarified in all reports on the subject. Regarding the obligations of dress, the references were different to those mentioned in the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, which spoke of the need to ensure the ecclesiastical state in 1889,19 and later, in 1901, which returned to the subject, clarifying how the teaching itself should be transmitted into the “exteriority” of garments: “habitus materia, forma, dispositio, color tales sint, ut tum religiosae dignitati, gravitati et modestiae, tum etiam virtuti paupertatis conveninat. Absint omnino examine the results with the prospect of its possible use. The request was renewed in September 1964 and led to the submission of a report to the pope that, among the various reflections on poverty, also recalled the need for reform of the titles, clothing and lifestyles of the bishops. Tisserant, Chairman of the “Commissione per la revsione degli abiti e degli ornamenti prelatizi” not having any consequence, in Alberigo, Giuseppe. 2005. Breve storia del Concilio Vaticano II, Bologna: Il Mulino, p. 117. 17 “Habitus religiosus intelligitur vestis indumento hominum consueto impar, utentem servitio divino sacratum significans, omnibusque membris communitatis religiosae cuiusdam uniformis. Quod probatur: Haud dubium est, quin hodie habitus religiosus a saecularium veste simpliciter diversus sit. Nam habitus religiosus, licet ex vestibus saecularibus pauperibus temporum antiquorum, ut videtur, sit evolutus eiusque partes singulae, ex. gr. Velum aut cingulum aut caputium, etiam hodie ab hominibus in saeculo constitutis interdum adhibeantur, tamen in toto consideratus habitui hominum consueto impar facile ab omnibus intelligitur” ASV, Con. Vat. II, De habitu religioso, b. 1232, f. 1, P. Adolarius Zumkeller, §12-13. 18 Pius XII in his speech of September 15, 1952, had already affirmed the absolute necessity of expressing the consecration to Christ. It was a sign of Christ’s will (from ritual O.E.S.A. 1928). 19 Litt. “Ecclesia Catholica,” August 11, 1889 “(Episcopus) docebit praesentem..., quae sit forma, color, materia habitus a novitiis et professis gestandi” in ASV, Con. Vat. II, De habitu religioso, b. 1232, f. 1, P. Adolarius Zumkeller, § 16.

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ornamenta aurea et etiam argentea, exceptis fortasse aliqua parva et simplici cruce vel numismate ex argento... Nec sericae vestes permittantur, nec ornatus serici vel alii qui vanitatem prae se ferant et ad murmurationem vel risum concitent. Habitus membrorum primae classis potest esse aliquanto distinctus ab habitu membrorum alterius classis. Non ita tamen, ut sint duo habitus funditus diversi.”20 The CIC supported this direction and these were dispositions that could not be changed without the permission of the Congregation for Bishops21 in the case of “tumultuationes civium, persecutiones Ecclesiae, edictum rei publicae vetans, itinera per terras infidelium haereticorumque facienda, detrimenta non parva exspectanda”22 or by the decision of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide.23 The aspect stressed was that, in light of the particular concessions provided, these were considered (in the legislative tradition) as necessary for priestly apostolates operating in difficult contexts and were not for the sake of convenience, or desire for more freedom.24 In this overall framework designed by members of the preparatory commission, there was a criticism laid down addressing certain questions in the contemporary church: si habitus non est satis simplex, si paupertati religiosae contradicit, si exigentiam sanitatis non respicit, si exigentiam sanitatis non respicit.25 20

Ivi, § 17. “Secundum CIC Religiosi omnes proprium suae Religionis habitus tum intra tum extra domum deferre debent (can. 596). Obligatio etiam praeter scandalum malamque intentionem per se gravis esse videtur, etiamsi poena pristina excommunicationis latae his temporibus non ultra exsistit simulque omnes illae controversiae, quandonam censura revera adesset, e medio sublatae sunt” ivi, § 20. As mentioned in Can. 596 of the CIC all the religious, both indoor and outside, must use their religious habit. 22 The shape of the religious habit cannot be changed without an express license of the Sacred Congregation (see Norm S.i. episc Et reg. June 28, 1901 # 70). Licenses that were frequently granted, connected to the decision of the Sacred Congregation (March 6, 1889): “Il vescovo istruirà di persona quale sia la forma, il colore, la materia dell’abito che deve essere vestito dai novizi e dai professi.” 23 “Capiti missionis expresse facultatem tribuit “permittendi clericis, ut vestes laicales induere possint, si aliter vel transire ad loca eorum curae commissa, vel in eis commode permanere nequeant” (cfr. also S. Congr. De Prop. Fide, 1 jul. 1752) in ASV, Con. Vat. II, De habitu religioso, b. 1232, f. 1, P. Adolarius Zumkeller, § 21. 24 See S. Congregatio Concilii letter 1 jul 1962 and S. Congregatione de Religiosis 15 July 1926, ivi § 22. 25 These are the recurring points of the Zumkeller report. 21

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The answers, apparently not always satisfactory, led to the suggestin and eventually the adoption, in the years following the Council, of a form of dress other than the cassock: the clergyman. The appearance of this form of dress would permit, according to the opinions, a number of advantages, including: a less ostentatious visibility in the context of coexistence with non-Catholic laity; a greater proximity and empathy with the secular condition; the refusal of a social position, identified with the cassock; and act as a symbol of privilege. At the same time, according to the reports of the preparatory commission, this would guarantee, and this seems to be an entirely new argument, an undoubted convenience when travelling and working, as well as a greater guarantee of hygiene.26 As stated above and as it appeared from the reports, what was not in any way to be changed, was the requirement that dress be recognizable to the laity and be a clear sign of consecration before God.27 This point was dealt with by the commission, which seemed to broaden its perception beyond its members and clarified how in both the lay28 and in the ecclesiastical29 environment reform of clothing was considered 26

Father van Biervliet mentions Pius XII’s speech: “Pie XII, sous le signe magique de l’adaotation, a daigné se prononcer, notamment dans son discours du 13 septembre 1951 aux religiouses enseignantes et dans celui du 15 septembre 1952 aux Superieures generlaes. D’après le Saint-Père l’habit religieux doit être simple, modeste; réspondre aux exigences de l’hygiène, exprimer la consécration au Christ; les modifications qui s’imposeraient doivent s’inspirer de la raison et de la charité bien ordonnée” ASV, Con. Vat. II, De habitu religioso, b. 1232, f. 1. 27 Pius XII had already clearly expressed this subject in the address of 15 September 1952. 28 “Investigatio, etsi limitata, apud directores Actionis Catholicae et “Scoutismi” in Gallia, in Belgio, in Germania, me induxit ad sequentes conclusiones: Generatim habitus religiosarum bene admittitur, dummodo ejus forma insipiens non sit.Habitus religiosorum, eodem modo ac vestis talaris, generatim minore favore apud populum gaudet. Vestis distinctiva status religiosi admittitur, sed optaretur ut vicinior sit vestimento laicorum, ut est habitus sic dictus “clergyman”; optaretur etiam ut adsit solummodo insigne distinctivum, ut est illa Crux cappellani castrensi in multis regionibus” in ASV, Con. Vat. II, De habitu religioso, b. 1232, f. 1, votum Alberto van Biervliet. 29 About the sheets that came to Secretary: “9 simplificationem petunt habitus foeminarum religiosoram, praesertim extra domum (1) aut in exclaustratione (communem vestem foeminarum (1). 5 aptationem petunt ad hodierna tempora. 4 simpliciter petunt vel formam communem pro omnibus religiosis foeminus cum signo aliquo distinctionis (2), vel ut quaestio agitetur utcumque sive pro viris (1) sive pro mulieribus (1). 4 uniformitatem habitus propugnant pro utroque clero (2) vel saltem in Institutis Statuum perfectionis recognitae (1); quae uniformitas esse

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necessary. Interpreted both in the sense of an approach to bourgeois practicality, and as a new framework, stripped of all symbolic anticlerical hermeneutics, it was turned into an opportunity to paint a new picture of the clergy in society. Simplicity, practicality, and the rejection of any eccentric, sumptuous and theatrical representation: these were the drivers of the argument. It seemed, in particular, that the desire not to provoke admiration was a strong motivation for certain positions.30 In later years the task to enact these requests was entrusted to the various Episcopal Conferences. The Italian case, however, highlights the difficulty in finding a shared synthesis. On October 12, 1964, the secretary of state gave a mandate to the Cei to question the bishops on the issue of ecclesiastical clothing. The 225 suggestions received from the bishops of the various regional conferences outlined a complicated framework on the introduction of the clergyman. There were 116 non placet, while the placet and placet iuxta modum numbered 108, with only 2 votes declared uncertain (Sportelli 1994, 220– 21). The reasons for the refusal varied: first of all, it was alleged there was a lack of preparation in the general population, who could misinterpret its meaning. The requirement also seemed to apply to a minority of priests, which helped to give to the reform only a basic consensus between the “beneficiaries.” There were some who appealed more to the value of tradition and those who feared that this could have created a dangerous tendency to break with “right conduct.” In addition there were also those who claimed resistance on the grounds of sociological considerations, stating that, especially in the south, the clergy would face ostracism from the population, as stated by Mgr Calabria, resident of the regional Salernitan Conference. On the other hand, even the placet contained in some cases a “right way” that provided for the recognition of the officiality of the cassock and poterint in veste quae usovenit “clergyman” appellari (1).2 vestem laicalem innuunt pro religiosis non sacerdotibus seu non clericis cum aliquo distinctionis signo. 1 prohibere vellet usum habitus cleri saecularis clero religioso sine consensu Episcopi. 1 capitis tegumenta specialia religiosorum abolere vellet. 1 prohibere exoptat Cardinalibus et Episcopis religiosis habitus sui Instituti derelictionem.” The formula reached by the Commission was: “Habitus religiosus sit decens, simplex ac modestus, temporum ac locorum adiunctis necessitatibusque proprii ministerii accomodatus, planeque ad statum evangelicae perfectionis aptetur,” ASV, Con. Vat. II, De habitu religioso, b. 1232, Sacra Congregazione dei religiosi, Commissione generale del 19 febbraio 1960. 30 See ASV, Con. Vat. II, De habitu religioso, b. 1232, f.1, votum Biervliet.

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the possibility of using the “clergyman”—not mandatory but permissible—in specific situations. The votes in favor, instead, such as those of Mgr Pellegrino and the Piedmontese bishops, showed approval dictated not so much by idealized motivations, but rather the awareness that, what at the time seemed to be a limited trend, would become widespread. So timely approval would avoid an ineffective prohibition and a belated approval “forced” by practice. In conclusion, it can be stated that while the Council opinions tended decisively towards the introduction of the new clothing, in an episcopal context, such as the Italian one, the impulse was weaker. The perceived danger seemed to lie not so much in the dress itself and in the terms of its reform (that most shared, for ideal or practical reasons), but in the climate in which such a change had to be fulfilled. In the general context of criticism, the fear was that the reasons for this reform, although considered right, would go unnoticed; victim of that intolerance that pushed anticlericalists to call into question traditional models and believers to withdraw into emotional responses, which could be assauged by keeping to the well-known tradition, rather than through new forms.31 Others, however, while rejecting the image of the cassock as an eccentric, elitist, sign of privilege, believed that it was necessary to take action through the establishment of the “clergyman” to reduce the sense of otherness. The “clergyman’s” establishment, therefore, if not exclusively for reasons of practicality, as approved by the Congregation of Bishops, or dictated by objective difficulties under the clause of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, was made possible through a different criterion of justification. This was comprised of two reasons: the more idealized one was connected to a desire to secularize clothing as a means to relaunch and update the priestly apostolate in society, and the other more practical reason was to support a practice considered “physiological,” and so not harmful to the integrity of religious teaching.

31

Italy decided to ban the circulation of a pastoral letter of the Dutch bishops on the Council, fearing that the contents would not suit the Italian public. In Caprile, Giovanni. 1966, Il Concilio Vaticano II. Annunzio e preparazione. Rome: Civiltà Cattolica, pp. 419–21.

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References AA. VV. 1967. La parrocchia nella diocesi oggi. Rome. Alberigo, Giuseppe. 2005. Breve storia del Concilio Vaticano II. Bologna: Il Mulino. Alberigo, Giuseppe, and Alberto Melloni. 1984. Fede Tradizione Profezia. Studi su Giovanni XXIII e sul Vaticano II. Brescia: Paideia. Barra, Giovanni. 1960. Parroci ed esperienze pastorali d’oggi, Turin: Borla. Battaglia, Giuseppe. 1973. Il Papa buono nei miei ricordi di discepolo, di collega, di amico. Faenza: Stab. Tip. F.lli Lega. Brambilla, Franca. 1943. “Realtà di anime e metodi di apostolato.” La Civiltà cattolica, 94-3: 99-100. Brucculeri, Angelo. 1953. “Chiesa e partiti.” La Civiltà Cattolica 104-2. —. 1954. “L’episcopato italiano e i problemi sociali dell’ora.” La Civiltà cattolica 105-1, pp. 517-527. Canaletti Gaudenti, Alberto. 1942. Sulla mortalità degli addetti al culto in Italia nel periodo 1928-1938. Spoleto: Panetto & Petrelli. Capovilla, Loris F. 1970. L’ideale missionario di Papa Giovanni. Rome: Abete. —. 1977. Papa Giovanni XXIII. Gran sacerdote, come lo ricordo. Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura. —. 1982. Giovanni e Paolo, due Papi. Saggio di corrispondenza (19251962). Rome: Studium. Caprile, Giovanni. 1966, Il Concilio Vaticano II. Annunzio e preparazione, Rome: Civiltà Cattolica. —. 1952. “Primi commenti all'annuncio del futuro Concilio.” La Civiltà cattolica 110-2. Chenaux, Philippe. 2012. Il Concilio Vaticano II. Rome: Carucci. —. 1994. Paul VI ET Maritain. Les rapports du «montinianisme» et du «maritainisme». Rome: Studium. Chierici, Araldo. 1984. Una speranza per la Chiesa. Padre Lombardi ed il Movimento mondo migliore: il progetto apostolico del gruppo promotore del Movimento per un mondo migliore nella sua evoluzione, Rome: Rogate. D’Agata, Carmelo. 1943. Statistica religiosa. Milan: Giuffrè. De Giorgi, Fulvio. 2015. Paolo VI. Il papa del moderno, Brescia: Morcelliana. Ferrario, Fulvio. 2014. La teologia nel Novecento, Rome: Carocci. Guzzetti, G. B. et al. 1953. “La parrocchia. Studio storico e sociologico.” La Scuola cattolica, november-december, Milan: La scuola cattolica.

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John XXIII. 1963. Discorsi, Messaggi, Colloqui del Santo Padre Giovanni XXIII, I. Città del Vaticano: Libera editrice vaticana. John XXIII. 1962. Il pastore. Corrispondenza dal 1911 al 1963 con i preti del Sacro Cuore di Bergamo. Padua: Grafiche di Messaggero di Sant’Antonio. Lercaro, Giacomo. 1965. Giovanni XXIII. Linee per una ricerca storica. Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura. Margotti, Marta. 2000. Preti e operai. La Mission de Paris dal 1943 al 1954, Turin: Paravia scriptorium. Mazzoli, Aleardo. 1965. La pastorale nella parrocchia moderna, Brescia: Queriniana. Melloni, Alberto. 2000. L’altra Roma, Politica e Santa Sede durante il concilio Vaticano II (1959-1965). Bologna: Il Mulino. Montini, Giovanni Battista. 1983. Discorsi e scritti sul Concilio, Rome: Istituto Paolo VI-Studium. O'Malley, John W. 2010. Che cosa è successo nel Vaticano II. Milan: Vita e Pensiero. Paul VI et la modernité dans l’Église, Actes du Colloque organisée par l’École Française de Rome, Rome, 2-4 juin 1983: ÉFR. Penco, Gregorio. 1986. Storia della Chiesa in Italia nell’età contemporanea. Verso il Concilio Vaticano II 1945-1965, vol. II, Milan: Jaca Book. Pesch, Otto Herman. 2005. Il Concilio Vaticano II. Preistoria, svolgimento, risultati, storia post-conciliare. Brescia: Queriniana. Poulat, Émile. 1999. Naissance des prêtres-ouvriers. Naissance et fin, Paris: Le Cerf. Riccardi, Andrea. 1986. “Preparare il Concilio. Papa e curia alla vigilia del Vaticano II” Paper presented at the conference organized by the l’École française de Rome, Italy, May 28-30. Sani, Roberto. 1985. “Roma cattolica: un'idea per un rinnovamento su scala mondiale. La mobilitazione di padre Lombardi.” Humanitas 40. Sportelli, Francesco. 1994. La Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, Potenza: Congedo. Toscani, Xenio. 2014. Paolo VI. Una biografia, Brescia-Rome: Istituto Paolo VI-Studium. Verucci, Guido. 1988. La Chiesa nella società contemporanea, RomeBari: Laterza. Vian, Giovanni. 2015. Storia del cristianesimo. L’età contemporanea, Rome: Carocci.

TURKEY’S HEADSCARF ISSUE UNVEILED: FASHION, POLITICS AND RELIGION IULIA-ALEXANDRA OPREA

Tradition and modernity. Religion and secularism. Unwritten conventions and defiance. Change and continuity. Trends and anti-trends. Headscarves and mini-skirts. Competing identities that seemingly exclude themselves. Briefly, Turkey is a land of contrasts and these are reflected in almost every aspect of life, from politics to one’s spiritual and religious choices, including apparently neutral fields such as fashion. “Clothes do not make the man” is a generally accepted truth, yet in Turkey clothing can provide information not only about social status, but also about the religious thinking and political orientation of a person. Fashion, especially women’s clothing, plays a central role in Turkish politics. From Atatürk’s dress code, which encouraged Turks to adopt European clothing instead of the Ottoman fez and the Islamic veil—a measure supported by the stateowned clothing industry—to the headscarf “revolution” and the controversial veil ban. From the emergence of Western-inspired shopping malls overloaded with European-style clothes to the opening of their Islamic counterparts that promote modern, fashionable ways of covering up—the so-called türban, available in many colors and various forms (unlike the traditional baúörtüsü worn in rural areas or the black çarúaf worn by older women), as well as the recent lifting of the veil ban and the political debates focusing on the headscarf, we can notice that both politics and religion have exerted influence on Turkish fashion trends, challenging Turkish identity, belonging and even the definition of secularism. According to the Kemalist elite, the veil ban was meant to preserve the secular nature of Turkey by excluding religion from the public sphere, the conservative elite considered the ban to have violated their freedom of conscience and religion, being therefore anti-secular. Fashion trends in Turkey carry multiple, sometimes contradictory, significances and provide information about the identity of their followers. This paper includes interviews with three Turkish women in order to better understand the issue.

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Originally, a distinction of free and virtuous women in monotheistic religions (Toprak and Uslu 2009, 44) and a symbol of upper-class women in the time of Muhammad worn among others by the wives of the prophet (Esposito 2002, 96), the veil has become a sign of devout Muslim women,1 and perceived as a symbol of oppression (Kavakci Islam 2010, 6) in the West and Westernizing world. This was the case with modern Turkey, where its founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, engaged in an extensive process of Westernization, secularization and modernization (Azak 2010, 10). In the newborn republic women played an important role and had to work side by side with men in order to bring the country abreast of the civilized Western world. Kemalism required women to be both modern in appearance and socially responsible (Heper and Criss 2009, 331). In this context, the veil was associated with the backward Ottoman-Islamic rule that subjugated women. Therefore, in order to emancipate women their bodies needed to be “unveiled” (Çnar 2005, 63). Although there was no official veil ban, Islamic women’s attire was discouraged (Karasipahi 2009, 22) and the mainstream textile industry promoted a modern European look for Kemalist women. Skirt-and-suit sets, jeans, blouses and dresses replaced the veil. In Kemalist fashion, even the headscarf embodied a new meaning, becoming an accessory for modern women worn around the shoulders and not on the head. Modern clothing became a symbol of the Atatürkist secular identity opposed to a backward “Islamist” identity (Kandiyoti and Saktanber 2001, 229), which was represented by the veil. Fashion played a central role in the identity-building process of the young republic. As the success of the modernization project was closely related to women’s status and appearance, the 1926 Civil Code abolished polygamy, unilateral divorce, and granted women and men equal rights. Moreover, in 1935, women were granted full universal suffrage (Arat 2005, 15–17). However, according to Arat, the emancipation was limited to the national project, individualism being undermined by the ideal of the modern, educated Kemalist woman, while in the private sphere patriarchal norms prevailed (Arat 2005, 18). Ayúe Kadio÷lu accurately captures the modern/traditional ambiguity Turkish women have experienced since the early days of the republic:

1

The Quran does not explicitly requires women to cover their heads, but to be modest, a rule which applies to both women and men. However, the veiling practiced by the prophet’s wives was adopted as an ideal by Muslim women (Kabasakal Arat 2010, 175).

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“They [n. women] are expected to be modern in appearance while retaining some traditional virtues such as modesty which would keep them away from stepping into the men’s realm. Those women who are unable to achieve such a delicate balance by either being too modern as to warrant the criticism of promiscuity or by being too traditional for not keeping up with novel fashions are usually pushed to the margins of society. The former are usually portrayed as too ambitious, and promiscuous ‘loose women’ while the latter as old-fashioned and outmoded types” (Kadio÷lu 1996, 178).

This situation led to the emergence of Turkish feminism in the 1980s. Even though the first feminists were secular, they questioned the liberating nature of Kemalism and demanded a more liberal society, respect for their individual rights and expression of their sexuality, and protection against violence and harassment. Soon after, the movement reached the conservative layers of society, challenging pious Muslim women, who demanded freedom to practice their religion (Arat 2005, 20–23). These educated, young, religious women, lived in the cities and wore the türban, a larger, modern veil that completely covers the hair; this is different to the baúörtüsü, which is a smaller scarf loosely tied under the chin, allowing the hair to be show, and is worn especially by simple, rural women, being more traditional than religious (Hakan 2007). The 1980s and 1990s were marked by the rise of the Islamist movement with türbanl2 women becoming more and more visible in public spaces. Fashion, formerly a tool of the Kemalists, was successfully used by the new conservative elite to shape a new Islamic identity compatible with modernity. Many textile companies, launched by conservative businessmen, met the demands of pious women, creating headscarves, overcoats and veils in many shapes and colors (NavaroYashin 2002, 82–83). Veil fashion shows and conferences like “Islam and aesthetics” were organized in an attempt to replace or provide an alternative to Kemalist culture and to promote the new Islamic look (Eligür 2010, 178–212). Eventually, the re-Islamization of society and the visibility of the headscarf in universities angered the Kemalists and in 1997 the veil was identified by the National Security Council as a threat to the secular nature of the state and banned from public offices, universities and schools (Deniz 2014, 242). As a result, many women who covered their heads were denied access to university or lost their jobs and countrywide protests against the ban were held (Tuksal 2007). The Kemalist interpretation of secularism requires the banning of all religious symbols from public space, including the veil. This view was 2

Women who wore the modern Islamic veil—the türban.

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challenged by the new conservative establishment under the umbrella of the AKP party, which has governed the country since 2002. They have promoted a different approach to secularism, in the light of freedom of religion and consciousness, making a distinction between liberal secularism, supported by pro-Islamic groups, and the assertive Kemalist secularism (Azak 2013, 94). The ruling party unofficially succeeded in lifting the veil ban in universities in 2008, and even though the measure was rejected by the Constitutional Court (Toprak and Uslu 2009, 48), many universities started to allow students to wear headscarfs and the government promised to support them if they encountered problems (Head 2010). In public offices the ban was lifted in September 2013 (Hayatsever 2013). The large majority of the population backed the measures, 68 per cent considering that headscarf should be allowed in universities, and women (70.2 per cent) being more favorable to the lifting of the veil ban than men (65.3 per cent). The same picture is painted for the right to wear the headscarf in public offices with 67.3 per cent of women and 62.9 per cent of men supporting it (Çarko÷lu and Kalayco÷lu 2009, 106). Looking at the statistics, we can assume that less than 33 per cent of Turkish women associate the veil with oppression. While the books and articles written about the veil provide us with a theoretical and historical perspective, many of them fail to give voice to its subjects, the women who wear the veil, resulting in bias. In order to overcome this shortcoming, I conducted around seven hours of interviews with three young women who cover or used to cover their head, exploring their reasons, opinions and backgrounds. The names of the participants were changed in order to protect them. The interviews were conducted in Turkish. The first woman who took part in the study was Arya, a twentysix-year-old unmarried university graduate who previously worked as a reporter at a Turkish television station and wears a modern veil or türban. She does not identify herself with any political ideology, being disappointed with Turkish politics and politicians. She moved from Bingöl to Istanbul with her family at the age of five. She has worn a veil since the seventh grade, i.e. since she was fourteen years old. As she explained: “I started to wear a veil at an early age. At the time, I had no friends of my age who wore a veil, all of them were açk.3 Even if my family was not very conservative, they used to send us [me and my sister] every summer to Quran and religion courses at the mosque. I really enjoyed being there. That was the time when I learned about the role of the veil in our religion. I 3

Açk means “open” in Turkish. It is also used to denote women who do not cover their heads.

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discovered that the veil gives me a state of tranquility. One morning, while heading to school, I decided to cover my head. At the time it was forbidden for students to wear the headscarf, therefore I had to take off my veil before entering the school, but I continued to cover my head again after classes.”

She confessed that although at the beginning she was very excited to wear the headscarf, shortly after she felt a little strange as she was the only girl of her age to wear a veil and everybody believed that her family forced her to cover up. Asked if she ever felt herself discriminated against, she answered: “Sometimes I felt discriminated against, but usually people liked me, as I’m an open-minded person, and they avoided making me feel bad. Once a teacher known for his anti-headscarf views asked me why I wore the veil, but he asked jokingly as he did not want to hurt me.” The case of Arya is even more interesting given that her twenty-oneyear-old sister does not wear a headscarf. The two of them respect each other’s decisions and beliefs. None of them has ever tried to convince the other either to cover up or to give up wearing the veil. Asked about the role of the veil, she said: “In my opinion we use the veil as a method to protect ourselves from a perverted society.” However, she is aware that for an ill-intentioned persons it does not matter what you wear. According to her, Turkey is a patriarchal society and the solution lies in education and she believes that Turkish mothers should do more in this regard. She decries harassment, having experienced it herself despite being veiled, and the growing number of rapes. While, generally speaking, Turkish people do not make differences between a veiled and an unveiled woman in terms of showing respect, conservative groups respect the former more. Arya lives with her family and she does not wear the veil while at home, unless they have male guests, moreover, during the summer she even wears a bikini at the beach, although she goes to female-only beaches where men are not allowed. As for her friends, she is proud to have both veiled and unveiled female friends and friends from different religious backgrounds, as well as ones who are atheists. While she does not make any distinction between people based on their style of clothing, whether they wear mini-skirts or headscarves, she does believe that excesses of any kind are harmful. She disappointedly admitted that some women cover their head for political reasons, turning the headscarf into a political symbol. Büúra, a twenty-two-year-old Kurdish housewife from Urfa province, eastern Turkey who voted for the AKP says that she personally knows many women who wear the headscarf only because they believe it looks good on them. In rural, eastern Turkey the veil is a sign of tradition, honor

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and religiosity, and it is almost impossible to find a woman who does not cover her head. Women tend to wear the traditional baúörtüsü, and a few of them wear the çarúaf.4 In the towns and cities to the east, the colorful türban is the trend, allowing women who are expected to follow cultural rules to be fashionable and modern, despite covering their heads. Büúra caught my attention as she seemed to be undecided when it comes to veiling. Sometimes she used a loose, colorful scarf, at other times she uncovered her head, and even dyed her hair blonde. More recently, she started to wear a türban and long skirts. Asking her about this awkward situation, she revealed that veiling was not her decision: “Look, dear, I did not start to cover my head because I wished to, that’s why I’m so so [sometimes I cover my head sometimes I do not]. My husband did not interfere in my choices, he only asked me to dress decently, I covered my head because my father-in-law insisted. ... I wish I was the one to decide on covering my head. One day my father-in-law called me and told me ‘My daughter, cover your head, I don’t want to see you without a veil,’ and I did, because I did not want to lose his affection. He loves me more than he loves his own daughters.”

Büúra explained that her parents-in-law lived in a very conservative village close to their town, where all the women covered up in a traditional way and wore long skirts. Her hometown is not very different, and there too most of the women cover themselves, but in a modern way, wearing a türban and modern clothes, such as pants. She added that her parents agreed that she should cover her head, as she is a married woman, but many of her relatives were against the long skirts she started to wear especially when she went to the village, considering such clothes more appropriate for an old women and not for a twenty-two-year old. Sometimes they even made fun of her. Büúra mentioned that her husband’s sister-in-law does not wear a veil and that she was not subjected to such a pressure. The explanation she found was: “Do you know what my husband said once? ‘I wish the first time I took you to the village, you weren’t wearing a long dress and veil! It is our fault.’ I knew the tradition of the place so I thought I would be showing more respect if I dressed accordingly. And then, they wanted me to dress like that all the time.” Another reason is the distance, her husband’s brother lives in Istanbul with his family: “The further you live [from the village], the better.” At the end of the interview, Büúra said that 4

A black full-body covering that is less common in Turkey. While some models reveal the face and hands, others cover everything but the eyes.

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the veil does not bother her anymore, she even started to like it and to identify herself with the new clothing and its religious dimension. The only thing she regrets is that somebody else took the decision, which should have originated in her heart. Büúra’s case shows us the extent to which women’s clothing is a family, and even community, issue in some parts of the country—it was not her husband who asked her to wear a veil, but her father-in-law. Although she initially objected, ultimately, her respect for her elderly relative won over. Covering one’s head or not, as well as the type of headscarf and clothing one wears, provides information about the honor and reputation of conservative families, especially in rural areas and towns in eastern Turkey. Whether they wish to or not, women become representatives of their families and communities and are subject to rules of conduct and clothing. While this reality applies to closed and traditional families, it is far from being representative of the whole country. On the contrary, many women do choose to cover their heads. Moreover, some of them far from being forced or convinced by their families are discouraged by them. This is the case with Eylül. Eylül is a twenty-seven-year-old unmarried postgraduate student who works as a reporter and holds nationalist views. In 2005 she decided to wear the headscarf: “In fact, I am a religious person. At the time, one of my cousins was wearing a headscarf. I liked it. While doing some shopping for school I bought a scarf and covered my head. My father was worried about the fact that I might have problems at school if I wore the headscarf and told me not to veil.” In her opinion, being religious, and consequently, wearing a headscarf does not contradict her respect for Atatürk: “In our country some people think that women who wear the headscarf, do not love Atatürk. I absolutely disagree. My mother wears the headscarf, but she loves her country, her nation and Atatürk. I grew up in such an environment.” She added that her twenty-four-year-old sister has never covered her head. Because of the veil ban, Eylül, just like Arya, had to take off her scarf at school. At university people ask her whether she covers her hair or not, given that she has been seen both ways—without a headscarf at ceremonies, despite the ban having been lifted—and she has experienced something of an identity crisis. In 2010, the situation started to annoy her and she decided to uncover her head. “Religion requires us to cover our head, but it should be done rightly and regularly. I could not do so, I’m studying and working, and I want to pursue an academic career.” Her family respected her decision. Although, in her opinion the veil is distinctive of being a pious Muslim women and the ban has been lifted for university students, Eylül gave up wearing the veil. She is afraid that a

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government change in the future would reimpose the ban and she is determined to achieve her career goals. In the meantime, she has got used to her new, uncovered appearance. She tries to fulfill all her religious duties—she reads the Quran, performs the daily prayers, fasts—and believes that being a good person and having a clear conscience is the most important thing. She opposes the veil ban, but at the same time is against full covering, “I have never liked the çarúaf, you cannot tell the identity of the person who wears it, is it a woman, is it a man? And those who wear it can do anything. There are many examples.” On the other hand, Eylül criticizes parents who force their girls to veil: “Women who are forced to cover up are unhappy, they are unable to find their inner peace and fail to cover in the sense of religion,” referring to the excesses of some women who cover their heads, like wearing “bumpits” under the headscarf in order to add volume, or wearing close-fitting dresses, trousers and lots of make-up. There is a tendency to divide Turkish society between those who support the headscarf and/or cover their heads, or the so-called Islamists, and those who are against veiling and dress in a Western style, or the Kemalists. However, this over-simplification fails to catch the multiple facets of Turkish reality and identity. Instead of drawing conclusions from the appearance of a woman, based on a simple correlation of the headscarf equating to Islamism and oppression, we should analyze the reasons and motivations behind this choice—or imposition—the type of headscarf worn—whether a çarúaf, baúörtüsü or türban—and most importantly, the attitude and opinion of the people who wear it. In doing so, we will encounter some paradoxes: sometimes “covered” women can be Kemalists and nationalists, while uncovered women can be religious. Moreover, the headscarf does not assure us of the religiosity of its owner: wearing the headscarf can be fashionable and cool; tradition can force women to veil; a headscarf can also be used as a form of liberation and freedom—wearing the headscarf does not necessarily contradict secularism. In other words, the headscarf holds a special place in the Turkish identity-building process(es), embodying different meanings and dimensions. In order to “unveil” the headscarf issue we need to remove the veil of stereotypes related to Muslim women who cover their heads.

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Century, edited by Celia Kerslake, Kerem Öktem and Philip Robins, 165–89. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kadio÷lu, Ayúe. 1996. “The Paradox of Turkish Nationalism and the Construction of Official Identity.” Middle Eastern Studies 32(2): 177– 93. Kandiyoti, Deniz, and Ayúe Saktanber. 2001. Fragments of Culture. The Everyday of Modern Turkey. London: I.B. Tauris. Kavakci Islam, Merve. 2010. Headscarf Politics in Turkey: A Postcolonial Reading. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Karasipahi, Sena. 2009. Muslims in Modern Turkey: Kemalism, Modernism and the Revolt of the Islamic Intellectuals. London: I.B.Tauris. Navaro-Yashin, Yael. 2002. Faces of the State. Secularism and Public Life in Turkey. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Toprak, Metin, and Uslu, Nasuh. 2009. “The Headscarf Controversy in Turkey.” Journal of Economic and Social Research 11(1): 43–67. http://www.fatih.edu.tr/~jesr/jesr.toprak.uslu.pdf. Tuksal, Hidayet ùefkatli. 2007. “The Unethical Disqualification of Women Wearing the Headscarf in Turkey.” Turkish Policy Quarterly 6 (1). Available at http://www.esiweb.org/pdf/esi_turkey_tpq_id_87.pdf.

CHAPTER SIX YOUTH CULTURE, COUNTERCULTURE, AND MARGINALITY

COURT OF MIRACLES, CHARITY, CONTEMPT: BEGGARS AND MENDICANTS FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO MODERN TIMES ALESSANDRO PISTECCHIA

At the edge of marginalization Analysis of attitudes towards the poor and marginalized is conditioned by assumptions made about the socio-cultural record of the environment in which they live. Paraphrasing Lucien Febvre, who said that “feelings can be the subject of historical analysis,” we are trying to show that in order to understand attitudes towards poverty one must investigate the general feelings of the period. Based on this, a fundamental aspect to consider is the place in which the homeless, the poor and the marginalized are sited or should be sited, in different societies and specific contexts (Mollat du Jourdin 2001; Geremek 1988; Geremek 1999; Geremek 2003). By studying the documents and literature of the field, an analysis of the world of beggars can be made, as well as an analysis of how society engages with them, with a focus on costumes and clothes as instruments of communication and auto-representation within society. Reaching the margins of marginalization1 means analyzing and contextualizing certain behaviors, both in a historical manner and in a reading of some of the dynamics of marginalization in a globalized Western society. As a result, it becomes reductive to consider marginal certain activities, such as begging, without actually putting the facts into context and placing them within dynamic economies and relationships. It is interesting to propose the idea of marginalization as a myth: “the myths of marginalization shape the self-image of those who are labeled as marginalized” (Martinelli 1990). 1

There are numerous definitions of the marginalized, but we here propose an interesting definition by Czarnowski on the marginalized as downgraded individuals, without social status, unnecessary for material or cultural production and regarding themselves as such.

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Therefore, starting from a non-exhaustive review of the literature of the field and the experience of direct observation,2 we can see a fluctuating and plural attitude towards poverty and charity emerging: —as a phenomenon which is disturbing and threatening to social order, or as harmful if it favors idleness; —linked to pity and humanitarian ideas, with a protective attitude and creating the centrality of education for human development (Enlightenment thinkers, misery as a result of ignorance). From a historical perspective, the ordinary cliché shows a contrast between the charitable Middle Ages and a Modern Age suspicious of beggars. An effective analysis must take into account, mutatis mutandis, the levels of incidence and social transformation. As we shall see, the Middle Ages and the Modern Age contain several phases of attitudes towards poverty that need to be historicized and contextualized.

The Middle Ages: between gift and suspicion In medieval times, Christianity was affirmed as a religion of the poor, helping individuals and disadvantaged groups. It progressively imposed on itself the spiritual value of poverty, which, by binding itself to the renunciation of wealth by Christ, affirmed its voluntary nature. Giving aid to the poor, which was a form of “justification” of wealth, was part of the social ethics of the Church; proof of the fact that a quarter of the Church’s income was allocated to poor clergy. There is a social utility in the poor: they allow the rich to earn their salvation. We see in the praise of mercy that the gift represents a decisive means of consolidating human relationships; besides this there is the praise of alms as a means to redeem one’s sins—especially the redemption of the rich—through an ideological rationalization of salvation. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the idea of mendicant orders as proponents of voluntary poverty spread, influencing the authorities in their attitude towards the poor by posing as intermediaries between the poor and the faithful. Monasticism was modeled on the example of poverty and renunciation of the first Christian communities. In voluntarily becoming the “poor of 2

Please note that the author has worked in the field of social inclusion and social emergency, devoting himself to in-depth study of the practices of begging and extreme marginality in Rome.

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Christ” (pauperes christi, poor volunteers) and then turning into the “involuntary” poor, almsgiving became an ufficium that was sometimes managed by an ad hoc member, while the number of beneficiaries increased with famines and epidemics. Until the twelfth century, Benedictine monasteries, which were organized and functional, focused exclusively on charity. We can see the beginnings of a mismatch between available resources and requests (Mollat 2001, 102, ex. Cluny abbey). Famine, leprosy, and especially social change, led to a large number of desperate people who “threatened to escape the usual attention of the monks: socially excluded or antisocial people in the forests; and in the streets, idlers and prostitutes.” The monks, in some cases, went to look for their lost sheep and distributed alms to them. One can notice different trends, both in the orders and brotherhoods that were created, as well as in their works of mercy. For example, France in the second half of the twelfth century saw the development of centers of hospitality along the pilgrimage routes, as well as truly charitable congregations (Gui de Montpellier, founder of l’Ordre des Hospitaliers du Saint-Esprit et de la confrérie du Saint-Esprit in 1180). Furthermore, the innovation of St. Dominic and St. Francis was realized according to the motto “to be with the poor and among the poor”: a “humanization of poverty” through sharing their condition. To summarize, these are the aspects that prevailed in Europe during this historical phase with respect to poverty, charity and support for the poor according to the doctrine of Christian charity: —Care of the poor and mediation between the rich and the poor was the Church’s temporal responsibility; —In the doctrine of Christian charity, there was a distinction between Peter’s poor (clergy) and Lazarus’ poor (profane) and an opposition between the pauper-potens and pauper-miles; —Heroic self-marginalization through the realization of moral and legal standards; —Almsgiving meant giving to the church (confraternities, hospitals, monasteries) for the redemption of sins; the redistribution of alms was realized through donations and bequests to monasteries; —Charitable obligations existed even for the poor (St. Bernard suggested mutual support and solidarity); the poor had a duty to help the the weak and sick too. However, there is evidence that medieval society treated the poor with contempt (Gregory of Tours). From 1200 onwards, one can see the first

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promulgation of a work ethic to discourage idleness; an attitude that preceded Protestantism by several centuries. In an interesting text by Gerson (in the treatise The beggar or the secret dialogue of the contemplative man with his soul on the spiritual poverty and beggary, fifteenth century), he describes the so-called “corporal poor,” hinting at techniques and devices used to trick and create compassion (Paglia 2014). In the Satire against beggars by Eustache Morel (also called Deshamps), one can see his negative definitions of vagabonds (sans aveu, pondus inutile terrae). There are traces of poverty as moral decline in the work of Mollat (2001, 83) who describes poor, unsupported crusaders as hooded and suppressed rebels. Therefore, in the Middle Ages two aspects coexisted: —The exaltation of misery (redemption); —The concept of abject poverty. Mollat describes beggars attacking dogs (2001, 34) and through such acts the idea of moral inferiority is formed. One can see harsh judgments and negative attitudes towards poverty (Raterio di Verona, Umberto di Romans), like the pauper superbus in the satire of the villain. Infamy is highlighted and linked to trades (prostitutes), religious or ethnic groups (Roma/Jews), ideological minorities (heretics), the sick (lepers, crazy), and beggars. In this scheme, the beggars fell into a category that was better tolerated, but later critics suggested that begging was an attractive life due to the overabundance of almsgiving. The theory was that alms were damaging to the immoral poor and that there was a class of “overassisted”—in the last period of Imperial Rome, around 120,000 people were estimated to have received assistance—who were evidence of the failure to distinguish on the basis of real need.

Shameful poor, professionals and hospitals The system of charity as a means to salvation was proposed. We should remember, however, that almsgiving represented an instrument for the ostentation of wealth and good behavior, especially during large distributions. The ritualization of charity was realized through collective begging as a mass phenomenon. These public disbursals were held on the occasion of funeral liturgies, during the progresses of various sovereigns, and holidays

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and they were connected to the typical routes taken by beggars. It is in this historical juncture, as Geremek emphasizes, that the need for order emerges. The first recognozable signs of being a beggar appear— the yellow cross—and beggars became the protagonists of emerging strategies towards the outside, connected to the use of certain recurring and codified clothes. Already in the thirteenth century (Jacques de Vitry, A Theology for the Poor, 1225), there were discussions about the problem of social integration of the poor and the risks of these social demands. Despite the large differences between charitable institutions acros Europe, from the twelfth century on, the laity began to engage in the works of mercy, ending the monopoly of clerics and monks. This is the moment when the first “hospitals” appeared—hospitals arose as shelters for pilgrims, the sick and the poor. These privileges were reserved for the category of shameful poor (impoverished nobility, who were forbidden to beg). Tierney (twelfth century) describes the Gratiani decretum: the distinction between honest beggars (driven by necessity, as the rusticus pauper) and dishonest ones. Poverty, in the view of local authorities, came close to being a profession and we see the beginning of references to “pensioner poverty”; it is also possible to see the formation of a beggar aristocracy and societies—beggars had different styles of begging and techniques (clothes, body, infirmity exposure, shouts, etc.). The theme of “disguises” and the standardization of techniques occurred with groups of beggars in large European cities attracting the attention of the media and becoming familiar to citizens too. Even language was now noticed and we see the first mention of beggar’s slang (argot or jobelin), the jargon of coquille (F. Villon), and of those wanting to pass themselves off as pilgrims. Certain philological studies claim to have found the roots of this slang in the Romany language—the language of the Gypsies (McCall 2008). The late Middle Ages saw an excessive flow of beggars, especially the traveling ones. The medieval balance, where the beggar had a clear role in society, was now broken. The principle of regulating assistance was strengthened in Western Europe in the following centuries.

The Modern Age, pauperism and reform of charity Pauperism in 1500 appears to be problem that marks the birth of the modern age. According to censuses of the time, up to 20 percent of the population in some areas lived in poverty or was unable to maintain an

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ordinary life and pay taxes. The roots of this are to be found in the fourteenth and fifteenth century, with the crisis of feudal society, characterized in various regions of Europe by food crises (1315/18), famines, epidemics, demographic pressures, poor agricultural productivity, mass urbanization, and unemployment. In this challenging environment, especially in the urban context, the question of how to stem vagrancy arose. In Portugal and England we can find traces of the first measures on the obligation to work in 1350. In Venice, in 1528, a decree prohibiting begging was issued and forcible hospitalization against the spread of epidemics was made—only the poor who were resident were to be attended to and the healthy poor provided forced labor. From 1500, as the West was marching towards capitalism, the concentration of land and the means of production into a few hands, proletarianization, population growth, migration, and social crises all enhanced the ethos of work (by force of moral enchantment). Since the crisis of the fourteenth century, the concept of social uselessness had developed with society’s rejection of the victims of society itself. Some have considered this to be the moment of fracture in which the medieval ethos on poverty decomposed. This decomposition could be seen in a general tightening of human relations; the loosening of traditional ties of solidarity; the construction of the poor as subversive and dangerous; and finally, the launching of an offensive against the poor (both by the Protestants and the Counter-Reformation).

Shameful beggars and false people in need In this climate, measures, both of a legal and symbolic nature, now developed. The yellow cross, a special badge to be exhibited, and the forks—where they distributed alms to the poor so that they did not rebel— are central to any understanding of the context of the legal interventions against the poor and the beggars. The provisions of the imperial edict of Charles V on social assistance (1531)—which was created to strengthen control of beggars and vagrants—included: penalties for healthy beggars; alms to be reserved for the sick with various checks to be made on hospitals to ensure access was only available to the needy poor; just distribution of alms, employment of the poor in public works as a form of compulsory education and the obligation to start a trade or education for minors; a ban on begging in churches, squares, and streets; the unification of charitable institutions into a mutual fund with designated tasks; responsibility for the assistance of

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beggars to shift from the religious orders to the laity. Another law that prohibited begging in public was approved in France in 1535. It laid down a series of restrictions on foreign beggars and the autonomy of the municipalities (Rouen laws, creating a dedicated police force or “police of the poor”). In the seventeenth century, these provisions were strengthened further.3 Papal Rome appeared to be an exceptional case because it attracted crowds of beggars (Paglia 1980) due the abundance of almsgiving and charitable institutions. With a seal issued in 1517, Sixtus V prohibited begging. Subsequently, a hospice was constructed to keep beggars away from the city with a regime of semi-imprisonment and a subsequent obligation to work, which used various forms of coercion. In 1561, Pius IV forbade begging and delegated a special commissioner, with the idea of concentrating the poor in certain areas of the city, creating ghettos for beggars. In 1581, Gregory XII opened the convent of San Sisto (for 1,000 people, with workshops for work, uniforms for residents, attention paid to hygiene and beard trimming, etc.). This became the central asylum for all the beggars of the city. The project had a limited lifespan. Generally in this period, there were numerous attempts to institutionalize and regularize assistance to the poor (see Various Authors, The hospital of the Insane in Rome, 2003).4 In this new system, the repressive element prevailed as society tried to control undesirable groups. The concept of the defence of social order also developed, particularly in relation to strangers and nomadic groups. Beggars, nomadic groups and foreigners were subject to frequent accusations of fires, plots, sorcery. They were persecuted, deported, and sometimes punishedphysically . Mollat refers to the identification between poverty and heresy, prevalent in both the Spanish and Roman Inquisition. This system used restrictive forms, such as imprisonment (at the end of the eighteenth century there was an increase in imprisonment for vagrancy acros Europe) and pushed for the assimilation of beggars into mainstream society where they could be put to work. The lists of the miserable were drawn up with the aim of recognizing the various types of begar (with 3

In 1631 in France the Compagnie du saint sacramenti was born. It was characterized by coerced imprisonment; in the England of Henry VIII a state certificate for the right to beg appeared. 4 The Trinity of the Pilgrims had the task of organizing aid for the poor (drafting lists and making placements in the convent of San Sisto) and provided hospitality for three days to pilgrims. At the end of 1600, Innocent XII inaugurated a general hospice for the poor in the Lateran; in 1613, the Society of St. Elizabeth released licenses that granted permission to beg.

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taxonomies and nomenclatures). Theories on asocial cults or beggars belonging to specific groups (such as Roma) more and more anticipated the exclusion of a part of the system of charity and hospitality. The contrasts between the poor—local/foreign; to help/to employ—were radicalized. The centralization of charitable institutions weakened the social function of the beggar who then became the object of organized assistance and not of individual piety. The reform of social welfare was the response of societies that were unable to restructure and organize themselves to deal with the rise of the poor. There was an unmet need for management, individual care, and protection by the state, in terms of preventive health policies against the risk of epidemics. Geremek has suggested that imprisonment was linked to the primitive accumulation of capital and wage compression (in times of scarcity of labor), maintaining profits for the factory owners whilst preserving the social order.

Arts and techniques in the court of miracles The specialized literature offers abundant representations of the reality of the marginalized and beggars; there was a consistent interest in the genres of the picaresque and social exoticism. They reflected the stereotypes and fears of the times (magic, esoteric practices, threats to the social order). In the nineteenth century, we can find a romantic and indulgent image, even ridiculous at times, but in the twentieth century poverty comes to be seen as threatening again. From ancient times there have been negative images, especially of strangers to a society; the figure of the poor has changed according to the time and the place; the archetype of the poor is constantly in flux. The literature analyzed includes historical novels and specialist literature in the field or contained in the work of Geremek: 1) at the end of the sixteenth century, the Liber vagatorum, with commentary by Luther, describes over twenty-eight categories of beggars, including mengen or spengler, street coppersmiths who are preceded by women, singing and dancing; 2) the speculum cerretanorum (Pini 1486), which describes vagabond charlatans; 3) the questioning of the two Roman beggars (late 1500, nineteen companies of beggars with an internal organization, their own corporations and heads who reside in the city, hold meetings, and decide on any changes in the jargon).

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Among beggars, the human body was of vital importance (nudity, wounds, pain, suffering), as was clothing that indicated suffering and laceration; this is an aspect that can still be observed today. An interesting phenomenon emerged in the 2000s in some Italian cities and in particular Rome—beggars operating at traffic lights in the city had a recognizable look: long brown coats tied with laces or ropes, without shoes or sandals/slippers exposing the nakedness of their feet, beards and long hair. I was able to detect their common origin (they often came from Romania, and in many cases from the same town). The message of their clothing was powerful—cardboard placards on which the request or the discomfort was written had been effectively replaced by clothing which is immediately cognizable. Sfurim, in the opera Fishke the Lame (published in Italy by Marietti in 1984), describes the techniques and hierarchies of Jewish beggars in Eastern Europe. We find elements of a headless society, and links to the idea of the “race of Cain”: werewolves, vagrants, beggars who embody duplicity and deceit, stories of cruelty and mutilation, practices that make up the current discourse and a repressive system of exploitation that supports trafficking and slavery.5 What we derive from these readings is that begging was a difficult art to learn; it contained the principles of merchant psychology (humility, persistence, commitment, the use of tools, such as rosaries, sticks, special clothes). This practice had rites and respect for order and solidarity, but also internal specializations (the so-called Nationes), diversity and ethnic affiliation/religion, with hierarchies and leaders. The systems of power and representation were becoming more concrete in managing relationships with society, as seen in the administration of “licenses” or letters of authorization. At the organizational level, we find individual or group begging systems and numerous categories (stationary/peddler). The strategy of beggars illustrates an awareness in adapting to the realities of contact, such as with an adjustment to existing religions. From this non-exhaustive analysis some thoughts emerge on groups or marginalized categories in the collective imagination. In particular the Roma and Sinti minorities are wrongly considered to be the holders of tahe monopoly on begging. There are many references to the secret language or jargon of the Roma beggars and many attribute the spread of slang and thief sign to the Roma population (McCall). 5

Think about the recently financed projects (http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/681 27)

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We find elements suggestive of strategies of self-representation as an “ethnic” group for inclusion into economic niches (such as begging) when the mass of people loses its control over the means of production. These refer to theories about the European Roma and the way that Europe created the class of Gypsies (Okely 1983) or creative groups considered similar to them. In conclusion, they suggest an approach that focuses on the relationships between groups and the role that marginalized groups play in society.

Bibliography AAVV. 2003. L’ospedale dei pazzi a Roma. Dedalo,. Bonadonna, Federico. 2001. Il nome del barbone. Rome: Derive Approdi. Foucault, Michel. 1964. Storia della follia nell’età classica, BUR, 1964. Geremek, B.: —. 1988. La stirpe di Caino. Il saggiatore. —. 1999. Mendicanti e miserabili nell’Europa Moderna. Laterza. —. 2003. La pietà e la forca. Laterza. Le Goff. 1987. L’uomo medieval. Laterza. Martinelli, F.. 1986. Roma nuova. Borgate spontanee e insediamenti pubblici. Milan: Angeli. Mc Call, A. 2008. I reietti del medioevo. Mursia ed. Mollat Du Jourdin, M. 2001. I poveri nel Medioevo. Laterza. Okely, J. 1983. The Traveller Gypsies. Cambridge University Press. Paglia, V. 2014. Storia della povertà, Rizzoli. —. 1980. La pietà dei carcerati: confraternite e società a Roma nei secoli XVI e XVII. Biblioteca di Storia Sociale. Piasere. 1999. Un mondo di mondi, L’ancora del Mediterraneo, 1999. Sfurim, M. 1984. Fishke lo zoppo. Marietti.

BEAT IS REBELLION. BEAT IS RHYTHM. BEAT IS FASHION ROBERTO SCIARRONE

At the end of World War II and on into the 1960s, Western culture was influenced by new phenomena in fashion, literature, music, visual arts and theater. Underlying these phenomena was a general trend among the “young” in both the United States and Europe of objection, who demonstrated their anger through provocation, nonconformity, and transgression. There were several factors at the heart of their rebellion, the first of which was opposition to the capitalist system responsible, inter alia, for the “atomic threat,” which had accentuated the already bitter battle between the generations. One of the first movements of youth protest in Europe was that of the Angry Young Men, which began in England in 1957. The Angry Young Men were animated by a strong transgressive mood that was in opposition to the traditional morality and conservatism of English society. A parallel movement developed in those years—the Beat Generation— which changed the literature and culture of the time, through its own, particular view of life and the collective consciousness of a society that still bore the marks of war (Bevilacqua 1994). The Beat Generation included figures such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder, Michael McClure and Charles Olson. It was not easy for this generation to assert their opinions, which scandalized the conformists. The term was coined by Jack Kerouac in 1947, but its official birth was in 1952, the year of the publication of Go—the story of John Clellon Holmes—considered the first “Beat” volume, and of the article “This is the Beat Generation” (New York Times, November 1952). The Beats were considered the “beaten,” the losers, defined in this derogatory manner with regard to their alleged instability, frequent use of alcohol and marijuana, and contempt for the established order. But the Beats were neither beaten nor losers. The Beat authors amplified the

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themes of youth protest of their era, starting from a radical criticism of the Vietnam War, which was extended to the American system through challenging the racial segregation of black people, the subordinate status of women, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In Italy, it was the writer Fernanda Pivano, with her translations, who raised awareness of and spread Beat culture. Through her work, translation was transformed into an act of creation and not of pure reproduction (Levi Pizetsky, 1966), and the numerous prefaces that she wrote promoted Beat texts in Italy (Pivano 1977). In cinema, the figure of the young rebel, sensitive and unhappy, was “deified” by actors like Marlon Brando in The Wild and James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause; both became symbols of youth revolt against the adult world, which was seen as old-fashioned and hypocritical. Consequently, Beat also became a fashion. The Beat protest involved innovation and new, unconventional styles of clothing: jeans, sweaters, sneakers, dark glasses and medallions. Fashion was forever in search of new ideas, as was culture (Godart 2010). Just think of the diachronic evolution of trends and styles. The great proliferation of youth fashion in the West dates back to the 1950s, with the style of the Beatniks, which was deliberately unkempt and used a lot of black. In this first phase, women wore men’s shirts, sports pants and had their hair short. The 1960s had been the scene of significant political turmoil and demands for social and cultural rights—for the first time young people became the protagonists of fashion. Dress became a palette on which to experiment with bolder patterns and combinations of colors and fabrics. For the first time in history, women’s legs were no longer hidden but exhibited with arrogance. Nylon stockings, made at the end of the 1950s, spread in the 1960s, becoming an essential accessory, often flamboyantly colored with flowers and imaginative designs. The patent for this invention belongs to Allen Gant, who, in 1958, worked at the Glen Raven Mills in North Carolina. Gant followed the instructions of his wife and, from a technical standpoint, it was Ethel Boon Gant who had the idea of panty-legs that later evolved into the modern colant, joining a pair of socks with a slip to created a single piece of clothing that would replace the garter belt. This is how tights were born! Their production, which was launched in the US by the Glen Raven Mills Company, was already in full swing by the end of 1959 and panty-legs arrived in US stores. In Italy, the first tights were produced in the mid-1960s in Castel Goffredo, the industrial district of Mantua, by Rhodiatoce, under the brand Nylon Rhodiatoce Scala D’Oro and Spring International. In Castiglione delle Stiviere, the Calzificio

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Golden Lady was founded by the brothers Arnaldo and Nerino Grassi; in 1966 it became the market leader in Italy and around the world. Another important production center for silk weaving and the production of artificial fibers was around Forli and Faenza, where, in the 1960s, Count Paolo Orsi Mangelli founded the company Orsi Mangelli (SAOM) and, subsequently, the well-known OMSA. In 1992 this became part of the Golden Lady Company. In the commercial imagination, the sketches of Don Lurio and the Kessler twins remain famous; in the 1960s they advertised these stockings with the slogan “Omsa ... che gambe!”. Another successful item from that era was Spandex, a polyurethane fiber invented in Germany in 1937 in the laboratories of Bayer, which was produced in the United States after the group EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) invested in the development of elastic fiber. Thanks to the work on polyurethanes by Mark Dagenkolb and Joseph Clois Shivers, an elastic fiber was produced in 1962 and commercialized under the trademark Lycra. The first applications of the new material were limited to corsetry and “medical” stockings, but in 1964 the Florentine designer Emilio Pucci designed a swimsuit with elastic Lycra. The real success took place in the late 1960s when Spandex “rescued” nylon by increasing its elasticity. Since then there have been many other improvements, actress Julie Newmar—known for starring as cat woman in the 1960s TV series Batman—invented the “derriere-shaping” pantyhose (which adhered to the body in a particular way, highlighting the figure), a first step towards the newer types of tights (push-up modeling, gradual compression, T-band). Despite the obvious advantages of the new design, they did not see great success until the mid-1960s, when the miniskirt spread and women’s fashion made a small, but important mark on the path to female emancipation—the society of the time was scandalized. Twiggy, the first supermodel-teenager, who was photographed using the new Polaroid camera, was famous for wearing it. In 1955, Mary Quant opened the boutique Bazaar on the King’s Road in London, founding a young, rebellious and “democratic” fashion, which together with Beatlemania, was a key component of Swinging London. Inspired by the Mini car, by the end of the 1950s, Mary Quant began to offer increasingly short clothes, which, because of their reduced length, did not hinder the movement of the legs. Critics and historians of fashion still disagree about the history of the invention of the miniskirt. In France, the designer André Courrèges is often cited as the inventor of the “mini-jupe” dress that ended above the knee. Some cite the designer John Bates, while others attribute it to Helen

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Rose who produced very short skirts for costumes—inspired in part by Roman tunics—for the actress Anne Francis in the science fiction movie Forbidden Planet, which was shot in 1956. The small dimension of the skirt was the focus of an unusual case of potential “tax evasion” in England. At the time the system of taxation charged an indirect tax on the purchase of clothes for adults and not for children, considering as such those of a length above 24 inches (about 61 centimeters). Skirts with their length ranging between 13 and 20 inches were not taxed! In 1960, the war in Vietnam began, Pop Art spread, and, in 1964, Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The film BlowUp (1966) by Michelangelo Antonioni illustrated the taste of the time. Julien Temple in Absolute Beginners did the same. Set in Swinging London, it tells of a protagonist falling for a young fashion designer (the film was based on the novel by Colin MacInnes). A documentary that is highly representative of the period is Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London by Peter Whitehead, which presents some of the big stars of the time, such as Mick Jagger, Pink Floyd and John Lennon. Several photographers, including Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon, immortalized Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton, the most famous models of the moment, in their work. The latter was the center of a media scandal when, on October 30, 1965, during a promotional tour sponsored by the Victoria Racing Club and a local manufacturer of clothes, she attended the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne for the Victoria Derby—a “showcase” for Australian fashion— in a mini dress (designed by Colin Rolfe), which showed her legs up to ten centimeters above the knee. Because of the hot day, Jean Shrimpton had no socks, gloves, and hat (accessories considered almost mandatory) arousing criticism from the press and the event became known as the Miniskirt Affair. Photos of the model, surrounded by older women dressed in traditional manner, highlighted the contrast between the old and the emerging new trend. On television and films, the miniskirt became increasingly popular, as in the original series of Star Trek (1966/69) in which the producer, Gene Roddenberry, decided to make it part of the uniform of female crewmembers, as if to underline that the garment, at the time still not fully accepted by the more conservative parts of society, was part of the future. The Holy See was strongly critical of this new piece of clothing and considered that this kind of dress degraded the image of women. Within a few years of its introduction, the Vatican authorities imposed stricter rules of behavior (including clothing), denying access to places of worship to

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women dressed miniskirts. Among those denied entry (in August 1969) was the Princess of Belgium, Paola Ruffo of Calabria. The fashion of the time also involved the widespread use of boots, often knee-high, which dominated the 1960s and 1970s. As for other footwear, this new mentality, fueled by the feminist movement, began to criticize the use of high heels, considering them an unnecessary element of seduction for emancipated women. To this end, slogans were made against Dior and other fashion houses that produced shoes with high heels. Fashion found a new way to surprise, presenting in 1966 a nude look that was destabilizing and simultaneously created the first hippies, who, in turn, influenced fashion after 1968. With the women’s liberation movement of 1968, an ideal environment was created for the discovery of the female body. If girls experienced the joy of colors, finding a style appropriate for their desire for greater freedom, guys also introduced innovations in their clothing. English teenagers at the beginning of the 1960s developed a particular style with strict rules—that of the “Mods.” Their slogan was “to live stylishly in difficult circumstances.” The Mods, like the nineteenthcentury dandies, cared obsessively about their clothing, and those who could afford it wore short, tidy, tailored suits, moccasins, a military green parka, and a Fred Perry polo. Living during the economic boom of the 1960s, the “Mods” made from the motto “adopt, adapt, improve” a philosophy of life, drawing liberally on the best that the fashion of the time offered and readapting it to their own taste; they looked to European trends too, particularly those of France and Italy. These two countries affected the style of the Mods in terms of aesthetics and behavior. The Mod style included a French hairstyle, the passion for the nouvelle vague and the very fashionable Gauloises cigarettes, which were held at the side of the mouth. The term nouvelle vague (new wave) appeared, for the first time, in 1957 in the Express, a Paris weekly, in an article by the reporter Françoise Giroud on French youth. Subsequently, this term characterized the films from 1959 onwards by directors from the Cinémathèque Française. Auteurs such as François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol and Eric Rohmer were the main exponents of the nouvelle vague. Mod also drew on the Italian elegance of the button-down suit, tight pants and pointed shoes, with precise accessories and an obsessive and meticulous attention to detail.

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What became the distinguishing feature was the scooter. Vespa and Lambretta motor scooters, icons of progress, were synonymous with this insolent, new, modern elegance. These motor scooters were proudly and nonchalantly displayed on the streets of London or in front of nightclubs. In 1964, the Mods attracted the curiosity of the media, because of their cult of formal perfection and spirit of competition. Magazines and programs for Mods spread—including the popular Ready, steady, go!— and many clothing stores sprang up as well (it was in them that the term Swinging London was coined). This was matched by developments in music: the High Numbers (shortly after the Who) and the Small Faces were the main exponents of the Mod sound—creators of an innovative way of composing melodies, a combination of R’n’B, blues and soul with beat and rock arrangements defined their music. Their clothing became a symbol of youth aggression of the time and borrowed from military uniforms. The best-known case is that of the Montgomery, a heavy wool jacket with a hood and patch pockets. The coat had been introduced by the Royal Navy for British sailors, as it offered a good protection against the weather—it was more commonly called the duffle coat. France, too, in the 1960s and 1970s introduced significant innovations in clothing inspired by space research, as seen in the work of Paco Rabanne. In 1962, Andy Warhol designed a dress in printed paper with labels of Campbell’s soup tins, showing how he felt that there was a need for new ideas to be implemented in the field of fashion. The 1970s brought short jackets and narrow trousers, the hairstyles became longer, and young people were inspired by ethnic culture and folk styles, wearing skirts, patchwork patterns, and colorful shawls, and with many references to “Oriental” style, such as turbans, sarongs and kaftans.

Bibliography Anderson, Jonathan. 1997. Storia della moda. Novara: De Agostini. Besson, Jean-Louis. 1986. Le Livre des costumes. La mode à travers les siècles. Paris: Gallimard. Bevilacqua, Emanuele. 1994. Guida alla beat generation. Rome: Cooper. Bottero, Amelia. 1979. Nostra signora la moda. Milan: Mursia Editore. Campbell, James. 2001. This Is the Beat Generation: New York–San Francisco–Paris. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Cook, Bruce. 1971. The Beat Generation: The Tumultuous 50s Movement and its Impact on Today. New York: Simon Schuster Trade. Cosmi, Benedetta. 2010. Non siamo figli controfigure. Docenti Beat. Rome: Sovera Edizioni.

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Cumming, Valerie. 2004. Understanding Fashion History. New York: Batsford Ltd. Godart, Frédéric. 2010. Sociologie de la mode. Paris: Éditions La Découverte. Lehnert, Gertrud. 2000. Storia della moda del XX secolo. Berlin: Ullmann. Levi Pizetsky, Rosita. 1966. Storia del costume in Italia. Milan: Einaudi. —. 1995. Il costume e la moda nella società italiana. Milan: Einaudi. Lipovetsky, Gilles. 2002. The Empire of Fashion: Dressing Modern Democracy. Woodstock: Princeton University Press. Pivano, Fernanda. 1976. C’era una volta un beat. 10 anni di ricerca alternativa. Rome: Frassinelli. —. 1977. Beat Hippie Yippie. Milan: Bompiani.

HAUTE COUTURE AND SCIENCE FICTION: SPACE FASHION DURING THE SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES VALENTINA MARIANI

Haute Couture after the Second World War In the decades after World War II, society entered a new era—that of mass consumption. The dynamics of mass production soon became evident in the world of fashion too. Technological innovation proliferated, accelerating the development of new fabrics and artificial fibers. The result was the birth of ready-to-wear clothing at reasonable prices that were affordable to everyone, and of good quality. Haute couture was deeply marked by the effects of World War II; before the war it had been recognized as the authority in fashion, while in those difficult years after it it did not seem able to offer models suited to the lifestyles of the ordinary and practical population of this new time (Merlo 2008, 115). The war crisis inevitably highlighted the need to save, and for some years fashion lines were simple and uninteresting. Women’s fashion was simplified due to the lack of materials as well, especially of wool and leather, which had been used to dress troops. For years, women saw only knee-length skirts, square shoulders and simple textiles; countries like England and Italy distributed ration cards with coupons for clothing (Belfanti 2008, 231). The real inspiration for post-war fashion was Christian Dior. He stormed into Paris with a style distinctly opposed to the austerity that characterized the moment. On February 1947, his first defilé was called by the American journalist Carmel Snow the “New Look” and it determined the direction that fashion would follow during the entire 1950s. The New Look was a nostalgic and elegant style, characterized by soft, feminine shoulders, an accentuated bust, a tiny waist, long, wide skirts, gloves, hats and high-heeled shoes. The creation of a suit of this kind required meters of material and, for women who were forced to dress in a

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simple and austere way during the years of occupation, this luxurious profusion of fabrics was confirmation that the war was really over. Another great couturier of the 1950s was Cristobal Balenciaga. Born in 1895 in Getaria, he inherited a strong passion for tailoring from his mother; when he was twenty, he opened his first fashion house in San Sébastian. His models, presenting creative silhouettes, a sort of “extra space” between the garment and the body, were so similar to works of art that Balenciaga became known as “the master” of haute couture. Despite that the relationship between himself and Dior had never been so good and it was Dior who defined Balenciaga as “The Master of Us All.” In contrast to the New Look launched by Christian Dior, in this time when the femininity of a woman was determined by the smallness of her size, Balenciaga decided to free women by transforming the silhouette, broadening the shoulders, erasing the waist and eliminating the corset. He knew the fabrics and their potential well and took inspiration from them, inventing a new fabric to create volumes suitable for eveningwear: the Gazar. His outfit with a round neckline and a tunic dress, pulled over the body and without a belt, became the basic garment of the female wardrobe in the second half of the twentieth century. Always ready to help and appreciating those who had talent, he hosted Emanuel Ungaro in his studio and took André Courrèges on as an assistant. In the 1960s, children born during the post-war baby boom were becoming teenagers and the era of mass production and consumption marched ahead at full speed. The new generation was in search of freedom, expressed through music by British bands like the Beatles or Rolling Stones, while their interests and concerns were well represented in the French films of the Nouvelle Vague. In the mid-1960s, the youth protest movement developed, reaching its apotheosis in 1968. Students and workers in Europe and the United States took a stand against the ideology of capitalism that placed money and the market as the focus of life. Young people also discovered that to exhibit their bodies was the most effective way of standing out from the older generation. These years also marked an important change in the aesthetic ideals for women and men. No more was the curvy and sophisticated women of the 1950s in style, but rather young girls who were pale and very thin. With this new model, a new sartorial style developed, dedicated to young fashion houses and industries. The Vietnam War soon became the trigger for a general uprising, connected to the struggle for civil rights and hostility towards capital. Even the traditional family was shaken by the rejection of parental authority and gender roles and protests began to spread the idea of a more

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comfortable, informal and less elitist dress. Concerning fashion, the demand for mass clothing increased: it was now a phenomenon that affected international markets and only a small and exclusive part was reserved for the wealthy elite. Only major companies could compete as they produced simple, less elaborate lines; and the new production chain and synthetic fabrics and blends enabled low prices. In this way, the primacy of haute couture and the fashion mythology of Paris began to crumble. These years were characterized by a rapid evolution of the same basic concepts of haute couture. In these same years, an exceptional period of history began—a real race where, very soon, suitable clothing and appropriate materials would be necessary: the Space Race.

The Space Race and the birth of the “Space Look” The year of 1957 marked the beginning of a new era—one that showed to the world the existence and accessibility of the “fourth frontier” of extra-atmospheric space. October 4, 1957, was a Friday, and in Italy there were still twenty-eight minutes to midnight. The first editions of newspapers had already closed. The front page of Il Messaggero reported clashes between students and police in Warsaw and the success of Bruno Monti in the cycling tour Giro dell’Emilia. At 22:28 (Moscow time) from the Baikonur Polygon, the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, was successfully launched into space, provoking the spectacular Space Race between the US and the USSR and fundamentally changing the dynamics of the Cold War. The history of space exploration is relatively well-known, especially because of its spectacular nature. It is a story that is part of the broader history of the Cold War, and is a way of representing and interpreting it (Mariani 2013, 4–6). From 1957 to 1975, there was no rest for the United States or the USSR, which, with incredibly tight timetables, alternated satellite launches, reaching incredible achievements, such as putting the first living being in space, then the first man and the first woman in orbit, until the success of group missions. Space was a real battlefield in which the two great powers struggled in their aspirations for conquest and supremacy. In the fierce hostility that characterized their relationship at that time, the 1960s and 1970s were exceptional in their intensity. In addition to influencing political decisions and geopolitical relations between states, the Space Race also affected fashion. The Space Race had immediate consequences, especially regarding the geopolitical balance and relationship dynamics between states. More

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trivially, however, the wave of this exceptional spectacle that followed the launch of Sputnik had immediate implications at the level of everyday life and on the collective imagination of society. These years saw the birth of a style that inspired high fashion designers—they presented their own interpretations of “space history” in their fashion parades, Inspired by the Space Race, which started in 1957, three designers formed a triad of stylistic influence, so powerful that they defined a space couture. They were André Courréges, Pierre Cardin, and Paco Rabanne and thanks to them, in the 1960s, a new style, known as Space Age or the Space Look, was born.

André Courréges André Courréges was born on March 9, 1923, in Pau, France. Before pursuing a career in fashion, he studied engineering. From 1941–45, he was a pilot in the Air Force during World War II. In 1945, Courréges came to Paris and worked briefly for a designer named Jeanne LaFaurie. In 1948, he joined the staff of the couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga and eventually advanced to the position of Balenciaga’s first assistant, working in this position until 1961. André Courréges opened his fashion house, La Maison de Courréges, at 48 Ave Kléber in 1961. From there, he began taking his “ascetic scissors” and making clothes that were magical in their simplicity. He is considered to be the father of the miniskirt, which he invented in 1964. His miniskirts were the shortest in Paris and were designed in cool colors, such as pink, white, ice-blue, pale turquoise, day-glow orange and lime green.1 He showed skinny pant styles, with tunics and jackets, slit black boxy tops with no bra back, and baby bonnets tied under the chin and oversized sunglasses. His garments featured welt seams, top stitching bias, gabardine, double-faced wool, cotton lace, organdie and leather. Courréges invented a new world characterized by simple, geometric lines. Inspired by Coqueline Barrière, who would become his wife in 1967 and his business partner, Courréges began to experiment with tops with sequins and transparency and designed a see-through mini in sheer organza, appliquéd with flat round daisies. He soon developed his own style, creating clothes made of plastic, illuminated by fluorescent colors, which did not involve the use of corsets and constrictive materials. This was the uniform of a futuristic woman ready for the sexual revolution. 1

At the same time, Mary Quant was also busy with scissors, and the controversy over who of the two was, indeed, the inventor of the miniskirt, is still discussed.

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Gradually softening the austerity of the silhouette, as his great teacher Balenciaga had done, Courréges developed more comfortable lines in soft fabrics and pastel colors, which also characterized his ready-to-wear and sportswear lines. He was the first to open up to space history, showing his vision of the future of fashion. In 1964, he launched the Moon Girl collection with Audrey Hepburn as the model. Flared mini dresses with plastic portholes for waistlines and an assortment of hats shaped like platters featured in his Fall 1964 collection. But even more revolutionary was the footwear. Low-heeled, calf-high boots made of white plastic and ornamented with a clear cutout slot near the top. This so-called go-go boot quickly moved from the catwalk to the street and onto the dance floor. This fantastic line was only the first step in the creation of the Space Look, which later inspired Cardin and Rabanne. Courréges loved black, white and silver geometric styles, without seals. His models paraded on the catwalk, wearing the distinguishing feature of Courréges, the white boots, without heels. Conscious of his role as innovator, Courréges said that “women have to walk with low heels on the road to emancipation.” It seemed that his models arrived on Earth directly from outer space, like extraterrestrial creatures. To accentuate this Space Look, the models wore hats, helmets and synthetic wigs. The Eskimo Lunettes deserve special attention—white sunglasses with cracked lenses, like half-opened eyes, which were the perfect, finishing touch to present the models as real astronauts; they hit the market in 1965. Accessories and plastic clothes accorded with an optimistic faith in the future and with the euphoria of the conquest of space. Even the colors of the makeup and clothes seemed to come directly from space: white and silver gave lightness and delicacy to the modern moon girl. In 1967, more than ever inspired by space, but also more focused on the historical moment and the changing needs of society, Courrèges launched his first line of ready-to-wear, the Couture Future. This line included fifteen models in five sizes and adjustable hems—a unique line, which emphasized the use of new materials, using PVC, acrylic fabrics, vinyl and polyester. The Space Age collection of 1967 developed Sputnik couture, which was inspired by the novels of Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick, foreshadowing the future; it was accessorized with silver wigs, aluminum, plastic, plexiglass, paper, and optical fiber dresses. Stylized stars and moons appeared everywhere. From that moment on, the models of André Courréges embodied the myth of the future and the conquest of space. Even the fashion shows brought a sense of novelty: they were no longer

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catwalks set up in a studio for a select elite, but modern film sets, shot at symbolic places in Paris, or innovative scenarios, in the style of films like 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick (1968). Even more particular was the impressive collection of 1969, inspired by the first moon landing. The models of Courréges were dressed in metallic colors, with multicolor synthetic wigs—the Space Age Look. His success was unstoppable, as was the race to space and the moon, which also inspired the film Barbarella (1986) with Jane Fonda, dressed by Paco Rabanne, in sexy and metallic clothes, but with the touch of Courréges, in high, white, soft boots. It can be said that his creations, together with those of Cardin and Rabanne, all of whom were “bewitched by the moon,” were the most representative of the Space Style of the 1960s.

Pierre Cardin Pierre Cardin was born on July 2, 1922, in Treviso. He studied in central France and began his career at the age of fourteen when he did an apprenticeship at a clothier in Saint Etienne in order to learn about making apparel. He left his home in 1939 to work at Vichy. From there, Cardin improved his fashion designing skills and eventually became one of the most recognized designers of the twentieth century. Later, however, he would turn to humanitarianism and during the Second World War he worked at the Red Cross. In 1945, he moved to Paris to learn about architecture and worked in a fashion house. He became the head of tailoring at Christian Dior after working with Elsa Schiaparelli. In 1950, after completing an order for a masquerade ball in Venice at Palazzo Labia (1951), he founded his own fashion house at 10 Rue Richepanse and launched his career. In 1953, he moved his work into a six-story eighteenth-century mansion at the very fashionable Faubourg Saint-Honore and established the House of Cardin. As part of the purchase agreement, Cardin was obliged to continue a conservative man’s shop that had occupied the building’s ground floor. Unwilling to associate with traditional men’s shirts and ties, Cardin divided his elegant house into two separate boutiques in 1954: one was called “Adam” and the other “Eve.” He then set about designing avant-garde ties, sweaters and suit jackets, which became enormously popular in Europe. In 1957, Cardin was still regarded as a suit designer and costume maker. He wanted to break out of this mold into the world of total fashion design. To do this, Cardin presented his first full fashion collection of over

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120 styles in the summer of 1957 in Paris. The show was an immediate success and Cardin soon became a member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture (Couture Employers’ Federation) as one of the best designers in France. In 1959, Cardin presented, for the first time, his ready-to-wear line as a member of the Chambre Syndicale. From this position of authority, he became a pioneer of the system of ready-to-wear made by a haute couture fashion designer. In1960, he established himself in the field of menswear, which, until then, had been the exclusive territory of tailors in a system that had remained virtually unchanged since the days of the French Revolution. Cardin anticipated the “unisex” trend, a major change that led to the hippie movement. In the late 1960s, men wore their hair long and wore brightly colored dresses with lace and frills—this period of fashion is known as the “Peacock Revolution.” In 1966, inspired by the famous 1964 collection of Courréges, Pierre Cardin also discovered “space.” In his Space Age collection, Cardin introduced a range of futuristic clothes, made of inorganic materials and shaped into simple lines. New artificial materials opened up several possibilities for minimalist, synthetic and futuristic styles of fashion. Authentic post-Moon landing atmospheres characterized Cardin’s defile. His “moon girls” wore silver and multicolored wigs, with glasses and narrowed cyber, plastic skirts, helmets and boots. He has always claimed to have drawn inspiration from the cosmos, satellites and computers, as in the dress, Cosmos, from 1967—a tunic with a circle of plastic—or space suits designed for the entire family. Even before Neil Armstrong had stepped onto the moon’s surface with his moonboots, Cardin had turned out his famous Cosmonaut collection onto the catwalks of Paris in 1968. “The clothes I prefer are those for a life that does not exist yet...,” Cardin used to say. As with millions of other people, he was astonished by the first man setting foot on the Moon in July 1969. Interviewed by David Leitch for the Sunday Times in 1984, Cardin said that his greatest achievement was to walk in the same space suit worn by Neil Armstrong during the Moon landing. Cardin has been the only person apart from Armstrong to do so. It was a special event, immortalized in a black and white photo and still displayed in his office in Paris. “Then I dreamed of going to the Moon: physically, not metaphorically. I am the only person who was allowed to wear the suit that Neil Armstrong had when he stepped on the Moon,” recalled Cardin on the death of Armstrong in 2012. His passion for the cosmos pervaded his cutting-edge style inspired by the space age, valorizing forms and geometric patterns, in particular the

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circle line that has no beginning or end and is a symbol of infinity. Pierre Cardin’s Space Age collection featured white-knitted skin-tight catsuits, tabards worn over leggings, tubular dresses, and manmade fibers. Some of his collections were made entirely of metal and plastic. His female models were dressed in shiny vinyl, skin-tight catsuits, high-legged leather boots and even space helmets. Collars, when used, were typically oversized and cutouts were very revealing; there was a cybernetic elegance in the vinyl fabric and embroideries like stardust, and the almost abstract shapes obtained by the use of unconventional materials. These are constant elements of the Cosmonaut Collection of 1968, together with the “windows,” carvings and openings in clothes. All this was possible thanks to a special fiber discovered by him: the Cardine, a bonded, unbreakable fiber incorporating raised geometric patterns. “Windows” cut into the fabric were based on the costumes of the famous science fiction series Star Trek, which began in 1966. Latex spacesuits, bright colors, and geometric shapes all looked towards a pure, androgynous style, very far from the “institutional” woman’s vision of the period. A cultural revolution was coming and Cardin breathed that atmosphere in advance translating it into a wave that he called Space Age and inspiring the fantasies of contemporary designers who interpreted, in turn, their own sense of Space History.

Paco Rabanne In a picture of Guy Bourdin in 1966, the famous model Donyale Luna wears a suit of metal plates held together by hooks, designed by Paco Rabanne—“metallurgical” fashion, as Coco Chanel defined the designer’s style in 1965. Son of a republican general shot by Franco during the Spanish Civil War, Francisco Rabaneda Y Cuervo was born in San Sebastian in Spain in February 1934. In 1951, while still very young, he moved to Paris to study architecture at the École des Beaux Arts and concluded his studies successfully. Through his mother, a former chief seamstress of the famous Maison Balenciaga, he came into contact with the world of fashion. All the creativity of Rabanne departs from tradition; fascinated by Pop Art, Dadaism and sculptures in innovative materials, such as neon, plastic, and iron, he entered the world of fashion by creating accessories for the leather craftsman Roger Model, then for the footwear manufacturer Charles Jourdan, immediately arousing interest among the big fashion houses like Dior, Cardin and Givenchy, which soon asked for his cooperation. Experimentation was part of Paco Rabanne. In the early

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1960s, the young designer worked to create original buttons in leather, stone, and plastic (Muzzarelli 2011, 115). He was also dedicated to the creations of earrings and telescopic visors for friends and clients who supported his creations. He transferred his love for plastic and metal, as well as the skills of a goldsmith, into creating clothes. Some models of boleros, made using rhodoid disks, a rigid and low cost plastic that could be colored and easily cut, were in great demand by the major Parisian boutiques. This success persuaded him to open his first atelier at 29 rue du Caire in 1964. In 1966, he started his career as a designer by presenting his first collection at the Georges V Hotel entitled Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials, which included his first plastic dress. The dresses in this collection were made with innovative materials, such as plastic and metal mesh; it was a daring collection, which became famous for its use of black models and cuttingedge music. As reported in the international press, the parade was a scandal and Coco Chanel stated: “He is not a tailor, but a metallurgist!” His fashion was influenced by the arts of the time and he presented his models in contemporary art galleries, such as that of Iris Clert, where he showed a white coat in ostrich feathers with transparent adhesive bands. His courage and openness to the future revolutionized the world of fashion by opening up new horizons never experienced before—a new couture in which needle and thread were replaced by welding and pliers. Later, due to technological advances, Rabanne became even more extravagant. In 1967, he launched a series of clothes filled with irreverent juxtapositions: paper tissues in a web of nylon and tied together with sticky tape; aluminum imitating lace or feathers glued to ribbons; strips of fur knitted with metal elements. For evening clothes, he chose thin plastic tubes, while his “brides” were dressed in opalescent rectangles of white rhodoid: “My clothes are like weapons; when you close them, you seem to hear the sound of a revolver trigger.” His vision of a futuristic space woman was also reflected in the field of cinema: in 1967 he designed the costumes for Two For The Road by Stanley Donen, in which Audrey Hepburn wore a wheel dress made of transparent plastic discs and metal chains. The costumes for Barbarella by Roger Vadim (1968) were alsocreated by Paco Rabanne. After the Moon landing, Rabanne dedicated his attention to opalescent and “lunatic” dresses, ending his experimental parable with the hypothesis of biodegradable clothes and according to new ideas about the protection of earth and space. In 1969, he presented Calandre, his first fragrance for active women, a bottle circled in metal with a cypressy fragrance—a revolution for the time. He created a number of fragrances, always

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innovative and ahead of their time. In 1990, Paco Rabanne created his women’s ready-to-wear line, which was very stylish. In perfect harmony with his haute couture creations, this new line took a proud stand for modernity with its innovative materials, elegant simplicity, and spicy femininity (Mendes and de La Haye 1999, 104). Salvador Dalí used to say about him: “He is the second genius of Spain, after me.”

Bibliography Belfanti, Carlo M. 2008. Civiltà della moda. Bologna: Il Mulino. British Patè Videos. www.britishpathe.com. Mariani, Valentina. 2013. “Outer Space: A New Dimension for the Application of the Principle of Balance of Power during the Cold War.” In Empires and Nations from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century, Volume II, edited by Antonello Biagini and Giovanna Motta, 477–86. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Mendes, Valerie, and Amy De La Haye. 1999. 20th Century Fashion. London: Thames and Hudson. Merlo, Elisabetta. 2008. Moda. Storia di un’industria dall’Ottocento ad oggi. Venice: Marsilio Editori. Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali. La Moda Ieri e Oggi. Archivi della Moda del Novecento. www.moda.san.beniculturali.it. Muzzarelli, Maria Giuseppina. 2011. Breve storia della moda in Italia. Bologna: Il Mulino

THE TATTOO TREND AND EPHEMERAL APPEAL ALESSANDRA CASTELLANI

Fashion is closely related to many fundamental issues, such as gender, self-representation and personal narratives. The dressed body corresponds to the physical and cultural territory where the visible performance of identity takes place. In recent decades, tattooing has emerged as a discourse and technique that embodies the relationship between adornment, clothing and personal identity. Tattoos question and redefine the ideal of beauty and gender, subverting and destabilizing common discourses regarding the “natural” body. Tattoos challenge personal identity and perceptions of “otherness.” Tattooing has moved from being a relatively obscure topic associated with non-mainstream groups to a thriving aspect of contemporary culture. Current interest in tattooing in the West can be traced back to the time of the mid-1970s when members of the punk subculture started to wear tattoos as a symbol of resistance against middle-class values. At that time, tattoos began to move from a mark used by biker gangs, the military and the “mob” to a symbol of individualism practiced in subcultural terms. Indeed, tattoo culture also developed from different discourses that emerged during the 1960s; from body art, feminism and gay liberation, all questioning gender, identity, beauty, the “natural” body and social roles. Body piercing has its origins in the gay and fetish scene. During the 1970s, Jim Ward was the first to experiment with nipple and genital piercing on his body; he then transformed this into a business. In the mid-1970s he opened a piercing shop in Los Angeles and developed basic techniques and specific devices, which became very popular especially in the following decades. By 1993, Suzy Menkes, commenting on the popularity of navel rings among top models on the runway, stated that: “body piercing went mainstream” (Menkes 1993). While accepting the physical realities of the body as an artistic medium, since the 1960s, many performance works have pointed out the cultural construction of the body. The action of inflicting pain upon oneself communicated the importance of integrating the body into a discourse about identity and art. Self-injury as an act of rebellion was later

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adopted by the Sex Pistols and other punks. According to Ken Hewitt “the punks’ willingness to objectify themselves as repulsive products of their own dissatisfaction and of a sick society distinguished them from previous performers who expressed bitterness in a less dramatic way” (Hewitt 1997, 111). In general, the punk subculture can be read as a sign system focused on the body and on self-stigmatization. Punk tattoos and adornments gloried in narcissism. At that time, self-cutting, tattoos, and body performance became a potent form of rebellion. According to Dick Hebdige “the body becomes the base-line, the place where the buck stops. To wear a mohican or to have your face tattooed, is to burn most of your bridges … such gestures are a public disavowal of the will to queue for work” (Hebdige 1988, 32). Sid Vicious never went in for tattoos, but in a famous performance in 1978 he wrote on his chest with a razor “Gimme a fix”; he stated a sort of living accusation that something was painfully wrong. As a public stance of punk martyrdom, slashed clothes and ripped flesh became symbolic displays of the body as the mutilated product of a marginalized social condition. Defiance and disaffiliation from the workaday routine were marked on the body. At that time, in Western culture, tattoos were seen as something dirty—an unwashable stain for degenerate people (Chalmers 1989, 150–55). In ways similar to performance artists, punks manipulated their bodies to communicate symbolic messages of chaos and pain, but they also presented the body as a new territory to be explored and redefined. The flesh was reclaimed, validated and experienced as crucial to defining identity and exploring a fresh frontier of communication. These practices were perceived with both repugnance and fascination by mainstream culture, but in the following decade they spread out from their subcultural niches. After the mid-1970s, tattoos became fashion-related adornments (Mifflin 2013). Tattoo designs borrowed from “exotic” places like Samoa, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Borneo reinterpreted a long-standing tradition. The tribal style, inspired by Far Eastern tattooing, was created by a punk rocker tattooist, Leo Zulueta, a Hawaiian of Filipino descent. Tribal designs contributed to increasing the popularity of tattoos among young people because they were easy to make (being heavy black lines without detail) and very impressive to see. At the same time, tribal tattoos allowed one to represent oneself as “savage,” “wild” and exotic. The main sources of inspiration for those tattoos were drawings from James Cook’s Pacific voyages and nineteenth-century photos of the Far East. Cook and his crew were the first Westerners to use the Tahitian word “ta-tu” or “tatau” when describing the practice; prior to that time, tattoos in Europe were known as

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“pricks“ or “marks” and the ancient Greek word for this technique was “stigma,” solely used to mark slaves, criminals and marginal groups (Castellani 2014; Castellani 1995). Western body modifications through tattooing have mediated exotic representations of “otherness.” In the eighteenth century, a tattoo usually represented the mysterious patterns of the noble savage; in the following century it was stigmatized as an unmistakable sign of primitiveness and atavism. As a matter of fact, tribal tattoos, used first by punks and then by ordinary people, embodied the idea of rethinking and revisiting Far Eastern imagery directly on the body—practicing something considered negative by former Western generations. The tribal tattoo was a way of experiencing some part of an invented tribal identity, with people trying to connect back to an imagined primitiveness. The appropriation by Westerners of Far Eastern designs was seen by Zulueta as a sign of admiration for cultures that no longer existed. He also stated that his own use of the designs was not literal, but that he revisited Far Eastern patterns as a springboard for his own creativity (De Mello 2000, 87). According to Edward Said, the West constructed a notion of the East as “other” through Orientalism, which turned the East into a place to be feared or desired (Said 2003). Exoticism involves a broader trend of speculation on difference. The inclination to view humans as essentially different is neither specific to ethnicity, nor to geographical region. Zulueta forged an invented tradition about Polynesian tattooing and adapted it to contemporary Western culture. The imaginative web of ideas that surrounds how Western society perceives the East created a specific aesthetic of diversity embodied in black, extensive lines on the body. The Western perspective implicitly defines that which is familiar, that which is “Western,” correct, thereby rendering all aspects of the East to be both “backward” and fundamentally “inferior.” Western tribal tattooing also incorporated the implicit inferiority of Eastern populations. The supposed marginality evoked by a tribal tattoo was transformed into a Western symbol to proudly reaffirm an unchangeable and hopeless “savage” condition. Punk translated the fear and disgust embodied in “otherness” into the skin. In the following years, the taboo-breaking punk look deeply influenced the fashion mainstream. Fashion designers have often sought inspiration from subcultures and marginal worlds and have incorporated designs and symbols that emerged elsewhere and with different purposes. As a matter of fact, the repulsive punk subculture was easily transformed into something fashionable. By the 1980s, the once-rebel punk art of tattooing achieved mainstream popularity. It became more closely related to the

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fashion system, to a non-stereotyped mode of self-representation and has significantly impacted contemporary fashion and trends. Japanese designer Issey Miyake was the first to deliberately use a Far Eastern tattoo design in a garment. In 1971, Issey Miyake debuted in New York with his printed Japanese-style tattoo-like images of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin onto skin-colored material. He established that the making of clothing could have the intellectual and aesthetic resonance of other arts. In the following years, Miyake, and other Japanese designers, developed a novel notion of the dress and the body. Like the work of many artists and youth cultures of the same period, Japanese designers subverted the relationship of the beautiful to the ugly. Miyake also explored the making of body covers with unconventional materials and techniques. In 1989, Issey Miyake was once again inspired by tattoo designs and introduced the Tattoo Dress. The effect was of the wearer exposing her body through the elastic, synthetic materials that snugly fit the flesh. The body appeared tattooed, both ugly and strangely alluring. Despite the popularity of Japanese art and imagery among tattoo artists and enthusiasts in the West, in Japan, tattoos had been banned until after WWII. At the time of Miyake’s Tattoo Dress, tattoos were still perceived as something deplorable and were associated with Yakuza and lower-class culture. Issey Miyake’s Tattoo Dress embodied both a Western fascination for Far Eastern tattooing and a Japanese rejection of a local and deplorable practice seen as primitive. The fascinating ugliness of the tattooed body was represented both in Western and in Japanese cultural terms. In the same year in which Issey Miyake launched the Tattoo Dress, tattoo-print bodysuits were created by Martin Margiela for his first show; in the following years he became famous for his conceptual approach to fashion. Clothes as a covering made the boundary with the body infinitely ambivalent. Margiela’s tribal tattoo bodysuits created a trompe l’oeil effect, used to make the textile look like the skin. It was an attempt to deceive the viewer completely, and to mock the conventions of serious self-assertion and permanent self-representation of an extensive tattoo on the body. Or perhaps he was embodying the mixed feelings people have about tattooing. Trompe l’oeil had a way of bringing these conflicting feelings to light. Since debuting his first collection, the garment has become a mechanism to reform and to extend the body. By transposing the bodymodifying aspects of an exotic style, Margiela has confronted and embraced an alternative ideal of beauty, coming from punk and post-punk culture. By practicing deconstruction, Margiela and other designers have

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uncovered the mechanics of dress structure. By rethinking and undoing the function and meaning of a garment, they inaugurated a fertile reflection that questioned the relationship between the body and the garment, as well as the concept of the “body” itself and its inside/outside demarcation. During the 1990s, Jean-Paul Gaultier was among those couturiers who were fascinated by the features of tattooing imagery. In 1993, his Spring/Summer show celebrated tribal decorations with fake tattoos on flesh, patterns on sheer T-shirts, and real and false pins and rings studding the anatomy.: “It was not only about that primitive thing, but also about decoration,” Gaultier affirmed, “I like the idea of the body as a piece of art, to change your body, like with tattoos. It is the punk influence, but it also something spiritual” (Menkes 1993). The French designer merged together fake tribal tattoos and faux ethnicity on glamorous models. He mashed up Orientalist fascination with Californian New Age and savage punk imagery, foregrounding an exotic painted body. He alluded to other cultures, revisiting them in Western terms. At the time, Gaultier was also influenced by the famous French tattooist Tin Tin, who has tattooed many fashion designers, including John Galliano and Marc Jacobs. Gaultier has also been inspired by Western sailor tattoos. He incorporated elements of fetish clothing to present the tattooed sailor as an explicit sexual object. This is particularly clear in the ads for the launch of Gaultier’s fragrance Le Male (1995). Gaultier described the sailor as a hypersexualized gay symbol, a fantasy, an icon, and as a form of gay imagery about ambiguous virility (Butchart 2015, 80). As a designer, Gaultier translated gay awareness gained through gay liberation and the gay sailor stereotype into the fashion industry; his work has expressed a full-frontal engagement with issues of gender, ambiguous sexuality, LGBT and camp aesthetics, drawing on sources in high and popular culture. In subsequent decades, Gaultier has often revisited sailor-style and Japanese tattoos—as in his Spring/Summer 2012 collection that saw tattoo-print body stockings and the tattoo motif carried over into evening pieces with silk cord embroidered onto the nude tulle bodices of draped gowns, or down the arm of one-sleeved cocktail dresses. Gaultier also released a Diet Coke bottle, entitled “Tattoo,” the design of which reflected his fashion collections. John Galliano also created tattoo-printed body stockings that played with the idea of a second skin. He transformed the trompe l’oeil effect into a witty parody of seriousness, of sailor-style “toughness” and exotic imagery. In 2013, Nike launched a line of leggings and sports bras inspired by Samoan tribal tattoos. Mainstream fashion assigns new meanings, often of a different value, to subcultural practices. As Diane Crane states, “changes in clothing and in

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the discourse surrounding clothing indicate shifts in social relationships and tensions between different social groups that present themselves in different ways in public space” (Crane 2000, 3). Nowadays, the tattoo does not evoke an extreme, fearful exoticism nor gangsterism, but has become part of the fashion industry, admired and desired as a socially accepted form of adornment. According to Victoria Pitts, “tattooing is the most established form of non-mainstream body art in the West” (Pitts 2003, 5). In 2011, Rick Genest, aka Zombie Boy, with corpse tattoos covering the majority of his body, was featured in Thierry Mugler’s Autumn/Winter men’s collection. Rick Genest was also featured in Lady Gaga’s video for “Born This Way,” with Lady Gaga wearing facial makeup that replicated Genest’s tattoos. In the same period, “Go Beyond the Cover,” a viral video developed by the Montreal-based agency Agence Tuxedo for L’Oréal, began with Rick Genest appearing to be an ordinary guy. He Then wipes his chest and his face with a cloth to reveal the tattoos underneath his makeup. Members of subcultures continue to push the boundaries of social acceptance and the visual appearance of their bodies. Non-stereotyped ways of self-representation have transmigrated to different contexts, such as queer culture or extreme body modification, leaving the formerly rebellious tattoo to the aesthetic domain of fashion. The body artist, Franko B, recently designed a Fai bene collection (2015) for Rruna, moving from a provocative staging of the bleeding tattooed body to the fashion industry. The “fashionalization” of subcultural tattoo and body modification has contributed to a different approach to nudity and human attractiveness. Nowadays, the body is perceived as something that can be molded, an item that can be added to, and a form of self-representation that can be upgraded by the use of tattooing and other body modifications. Tattooing and body modifications have conceptually denaturalized the body. Tattoos often function as a very intimate form of dress, unencumbered by the negative connotations of “marking” the body and altering “natural” appearance. As Joanne Entwistle argues “the body and dress are now a crucial arena for the performance and articulation of identities” (Entwistle 2000, 327). The skin expresses a different way of seeking a bodily experience and an additional facet to the personalization of visual identity. Tattooing—as clothing—is a form by which one exposes one’s “self” to the outside world. Tattoos communicate multiple messages and narratives to multiple viewers, and the body becomes open to interpretations beyond that of the wearer. When obtaining tattoos or choosing clothes, the style becomes another way of finding new identities and subjectivities—a way

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of expressing the project of becoming oneself. The variety of options in lifestyles available in contemporary society enables people to make their choices, thus creating a meaningful self-identity. Tattooing and body modification have become a ubiquitous presence in the fashion industry of late: “new high-end tattoo parlors are popping up as fast as gourmet coffee shops in Brooklyn,” stated Chioma Nnadi, the fashion news director of Vogue.com, in “Is The Tattoo Becoming Passé?” (Nnadi 2014). But the nature of the tattoo and of body modification is the permanence of the act; it cannot be removed, or amended in toto. The individual is frozen within the limitations of a tattooed or modified body. This restricts the personal capacity to change once one gains a tattoo. On the contrary, fashion communicates ephemeral desire and impermanence: “making a fashion faux pas for the night is one thing, being condemned to a very permanent reminder of it is quite another” Chioma Nnadi affirmed. Fashion allows people to reinvent themselves or to play and experiment with new identities and to add an easy going futile charm to body adornments. But a permanent reminder implies something more engaging. Precisely for this reason, in recent years, tattooing has become an endless source of inspiration for body painting and flash tattoos. In February 2010, Chanel was the first fashion-house to offer limited-edition Les Trompe L’Oeil de Chanel Temporary Skin Art, designed by former global creative director Peter Philips and based on fake tattoos of necklaces, chain bracelets and chain garters. In 2012, Dior launched its Les Ors de Peau, a collection designed by Dior’s costume jewelry designer, Camille Miceli. The temporary tattoos were made of 24-karat gold micro-particles. Recently, Riccardo Tisci, for the Givenchy Fall/Winter 2015 show at Paris Fashion Week, sent models down the runway with multiple fake facial piercings; in the same fashion week, Vivienne Westwood’s fake facial tattoos were a bold and colorful stand against societal notions of beauty. Models at Dries Van Noten’s Spring/Summer 2015 show sported painted-on gold lip rings with a metallic foil effect. At Anthony Vaccarello’s Spring/Summer 2015 show models’ earlobes were painted in a lacquered patent black, adding a gothic edge to the ready-to-wear presentation. The show’s make-up artist Tom Pecheux stated: “I thought, perhaps we don’t do an earring, but a black tattoo—something that felt very graphic, because the collection is graphic” (Kirkova 2014). Trompel’oeil dresses, fake piercings, tattoo designs on fabrics and stenciled-on chain bracelets or necklaces on the skin play with the idea of a clothed nudity and they are also a way to put together fashion variability and

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different concepts of beauty and adornment that have emerged from subcultures and body art scenes. The last few years have also seen a huge rise in celebrities promoting their new flash tattoos on social media sites, which has resulted in fans rushing out to copy their look. Pinterest, and especially Instagram, provide a platform for celebrities and consumers to communicate their visual identity and their many-sided ways of expressing it. Recently, Beyoncé launched her X Flash Tattoo collection of temporary designs, meaning that her fans can sport the same fake ink that she wears in her music videos and holiday snaps. Other celebrities have created temporary tattoo collections, like Rihanna, who has collaborated with a jewelry designer on a collection of black and gold flash tattoos. Social networks are pushing the fad into the mainstream. Celebrities are known for setting trends that are replicated by millions. The generation that has grown up with selfies has created a new visual language: selfies allow people to continuously rewrite their individuality and to share it. Body painting and flash tattoos perfectly fit with this peculiar form of communication, especially among those who want an edgy look without the controversy or commitment of a real tattoo. Flash tattoos endlessly play with the captivating idea of an optical illusion: is that fake jewelry? Is it a real tattoo? The attractiveness of the flash tattoo is enhanced by the trompe-l’oeil effect that produces a visual deception and ironic pleasure with it. A flash tattoo is a representation of one’s fluid and changeable identity. Both temporary tattoos and fake septum piercings are great ways to individualize consumers’ looks without the long-term commitment of a piercing or a tattoo (Winge 2012, 115–16). Fashion is an ever-changing set of trends. The intense relationship between tattoos and fashion resides in the ongoing and unstable tension between complementary opposites—the ephemeral and tragic; seriousness and mockery; beauty and ugliness; male and female. Trends in fashion constantly toy with the symbolism of body modification and representations of death and human frailty (Steele and Park 2008, 65). Tattoos and fashion, as Giacomo Leopardi argued, are of the same breed, both execute change and decay on the body (Leopardi 2010), but have totally opposite attitudes toward time and self-representation. Marking the body inscribes identity in blood and ink, as a potent form of selfexpression; nevertheless fashion taunts death and seriousness, and promises seasonal renewal. Fashion, by definition, has a fear of commitment. The permanent tattoo is a constant memento of something deja passé; on the other hand the fashion perspective is based on “nowtime” (Jetztzeit), as Walter Benjamin observed (Benjamin 2007, 253–64). Fashion has the ability and the boldness to stand for the present. If the

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tattoo is a commitment for forever, fashion’s greatest seduction is its mutability. In certain youth culture groups, tattooing has clearly passed its peak. Reflecting on tattooing and on his generation that, during the 1990s got tattoos en masse, Dan Brooks recently wrote a story for the New York Times magazine arguing that “the problem with thinking of our tattoos as a declaration of the permanence of our values is that they haven’t been permanent for very long” (Brooks 2014). While fashion stands for the ephemerality of contemporaneity, tattooing is based on the nostalgic feeling that the time in which the tattoo has its significance has now passed. Consequently, the permanence of tattoos is petrifying. Marking the body remains tangible and consistent: it is always a reminder, even when it was not supposed to be like this. Fashion aims to understand the past in order to discard it and attempts to redefine itself over time, whereas the tattoo is a static form of expression for the individual. As Dan Brooks stated: “getting a tattoo is a way for your past self to exert power over your present self.” Indeed, the temporary tattoo puts together fashion variability and different concepts of beauty that emerge from the permanent tattoo. The flash tattoo is fleeting, ephemeral—to be gazed upon and enjoyed in the present, before it is gone.

References Benjamin, Walter. 2007. “Theses on the Philosophy of History.” In Illuminations, edited by Hannah Arendt, translated by Harry Zohn. New York: Schocken Books. Brooks, Dan. 2014. “The Existential Anguish of the Tattoo.” New York Times, February 14. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/magazine/the-existential-anguishof-the-tattoo.html?_r=0. Butchart, Amber J. 2015. Nautical Chic. London: Thames & Hudson. Castellani, Alessandra. 1995. Ribelli per la pelle: storia e cultura dei tatuaggi. Genoa: Costa & Nolan. —. 2014. Storia sociale dei tatuaggi. Rome: Donzelli. Chalmers, Martin. 1989. “Heroine, the Needle and the Politics of the Body.” In Zoot Suits and Second-Hand Dresses, edited by Angela McRobbie, 150–55. London: MacMillan. Crane, Diane. 2000. Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing. Chicago: The Chicago University Press.

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Entwistle, Joanne. 2000. “Fashion and the Fleshy Body: Dress as Embodied Practice.” Fashion Theory 4 (3): 323–48. Hebdige, Dick. 1988. Hiding in the Light. London: Routledge. Hewitt, Ken. 1997. Mutilating the Body: Identity in Blood and Ink. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Press. Kirkova, Deni. 2014. “The make-up that thinks it is jewellery: As models on Paris catwalks sport painted gold lip rings FEMAIL looks at the temporary beauty trend that is here to stay.” Mailonline September 26. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2770493/Tattoo-jewellerystay-SS15-Painted-gold-lip-rings-lacquered-earrings-seen-ParisFashion-Week.html. Leopardi, Giacomo. 2010. Dialogue between Fashion and Death. New York: Penguin Books. DeMello, Margo. 2000. Bodies of Inscriptions: A Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community. Durham: Duke University Press. Menkes, Suzy. 1993. “RUNWAYS; Fetish or Fashion?.” New York Times, November 21. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/21/style/runways-fetish-orfashion.html. Mifflin, Margot. 2013. Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo. New York: Power House Books. Nnadi, Chioma. 2014. “Is The Tattoo Becoming Passé? Two Women Weigh In On the Pros and Cons of Body Ink.” Vogue.com, May 13. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.vogue.com/865804/pros-and-cons-of-getting-a-tattoo/#. Pitts, Victoria. 2003. In the Flesh: The Cultural Politics of Body Modification. New York: Palgrave McMillan. Said, Edward. 2003. Orientalism. London: Penguin Books. Steele, Valerie, and Jennifer Park. 2008. Gothic: Dark Glamour. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Winge, Therèsa M. 2012. Body Style. London: Berg.

CHAPTER SEVEN FASHION, HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY

FASHIONABILITY AND COMFORT: DESIGNING CHEMOTHERAPY UNIFORMS TO ENHANCE THE WELL-BEING OF PATIENTS AND ONCOLOGY NURSES DANA CONNELL AND AMANDA HUFF

In the United States, oncology nurses handling and administering chemotherapy drugs to cancer patients wear personal protective equipment (PPE). The recommendations for PPE gowns, designed to protect from potentially harmful spills, are consistent across several groups, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the American Public Health Association (APHA). Each disposable gown is one-size-fits-all, and made of lint-free, low-permeability fabric, such as materials coated with polyethylene. Gowns have a solid front, long sleeves, and ribbed cuffs with a closure in the back. Though the safety of the staff that administers the drugs is paramount, equally important is the response of the patient to the nurse’s appearance. Patients receive chemotherapy wearing street clothes in an outpatient setting. When the nurse approaches shrouded in a noisy, somewhat monstrous uniform, the overall effect can be alarming. Additionally, nurses interviewed about their experience complain that the gowns are uncomfortable and hot. This paper suggests that the comfort and ease of both nurses and cancer patients might be greatly enhanced through attractive user-friendly garments, made of breathable, washable textiles in adjustable sizes. In a faculty-led design challenge using a safe, patient-friendly paradigm, students in a fashion design program at a mid-western college developed solutions that might improve the comfort level of all concerned, demonstrating that fashion plays an important role in more places than a catwalk or glossy magazine.

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Introduction The World Health Organization reports that the incidence of cancer is projected to increase by 70 percent over the next twenty years, adding to the already 14 million people diagnosed and 8.2 million deaths in 2012 (Steward and Wild 2014, 26). While progress has been made in the reduction of some cancers, other cancers are on the rise. Increases in cancer incidence are projected worldwide due in large part to an aging population. Researchers also point specifically to the high incidence of cancer-causing behaviours, including smoking, alcohol use, and sedentary lifestyles (Jemal et al. 2011, 69–90). The growing number of cancer patients has given rise to additional ambulatory care cancer treatment centers both in traditional hospital settings and specialized cancer treatment centers. Ambulatory care facilities and cancer treatment hospitals have benefitted from a boom in building new and improved healthcare facilities. Healthcare facilities have become significantly more customer-centric; hospital designers now seek “evidence-based design” of healthcare facilities. This approach is proving beneficial to patients and providers (Hamilton 2003, 18–26) and has resulted in healthcare facilities with dramatic improvements in function and comfort. Leading facilities such as the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DFCI) in Boston, Massachusetts, have advanced by engaging patients and families in building decision making. After a case of a tragic chemotherapy overdose, DFCI instituted a patient-family advisory council who, among other topics, participated in the planning and renovation of chemotherapy administration areas (Conway et al. 2006, 17). While evidence-based design has improved patient and healthcare provider outcomes through the physical environment, there remains work to be done to improve nurse and patient interaction, specifically in terms of the uniform.

Meeting the needs of the healthcare provider and patient The administration of chemotherapy or antineoplastic drugs brings risk of exposure. Such exposure is most often inhalatory, dermal, or oral. Inhalation is generally through exposure to droplets, particulates, and vapors. The highest risk of dermal exposure occurs when workers touch contaminated surfaces during the preparation, administration, or disposal of hazardous drugs (Connor and McDiarmid 2006, 358). Cancer treatment nurses in the United States are required to wear PPE when administering chemotherapy drugs. Such requirements are consistent across several

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groups, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and American Public Health Association. The PPE is intended to protect patients from infection and healthcare providers against spills and splashes of the potentially harmful chemicals contained in the chemotherapy agents. Chemotherapy regimens are administered intravenously (IV), requiring nurses to handle and mix drugs according to set protocols, manipulate tubing that is attached to patients, and in some cases, clean up hazardous medication spills. There are multiple points where exposure can occur during medication administration. These include: IV bag leakage or punctures causing medication to spray; system malfunctions; imperfect connections between the IV bag and tubing or patient IV connection. Grazing against or handling drug vials and bags alone risks exposure with the most common exposure caused by contaminated surfaces where hazardous materials have been previously placed (Bolton et al. 2011, 13). Protecting nurses against hazardous chemotherapy drugs is imperative. However, the garment most commonly worn lacks comfort, true functionality, and versatility. For many, one-size-fits-all standard garments are too small or too large. According to a 2003 SizeUSA survey, the average woman now is taller, heavier, and a different shape than in years past (Newcomb and Istook 2006). In addition, men have added one additional inch of height for each key measurement in the chest, waist, hip, and collar (Zernike 2004). Uniforms too small or too large encourage providers to prematurely remove the ill-fitting garment leading to increased exposure risk. A garment that is too small is difficult to put on and often rips at seams defeating its intended protective purpose and creating waste. A garment that is too large is cumbersome and bulky, impeding the nurse’s movement. Function is another key issue. When administering chemotherapy drugs nurses may need a variety of additional supplies, such as stethoscope, bandages, scissors, alcohol wipes, gauze, medical tape, phone, and patient identification labels. These supplies are commonly utilized during each patient interaction. A well-designed garment meets both the functional and comfort needs of the user, allowing them to effectively and efficiently perform their job. Functional pockets allow for both the storage of supplies, as well as the ability to move efficiently. The actual “fabric” or textile used in uniform production is also important. An approved uniform, shown in Figure 1, is made of lint-free, low-permeability fabric, such as polyethylene-coated materials. The garment is solid in the front with long sleeves, has a closure in the back, and elastic or knit cuffs at the wrist that are tucked under gloves. Though

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somewhat cost-effective, the fabric is non-breathable, resulting in excessive heat and moisture build-up for the wearer. The garment is worn over the provider’s own clothing or hospital-mandated uniform. This single-use disposable garment costs approximately $6.45 per gown according to hospital procurement figures. Costs and discounts vary by supplier. It is recommended that the gowns are removed and discarded if visibly contaminated and upon leaving areas where drugs are mixed, handled, or administered (Bolton et al. 2011, page 26).

Figure 1. Photograph taken by author Dana Connell.

The PPE is also designed to protect providers and patients from infectious diseases, which threaten the well-being of all inside a healthcare facility. Recent decades have seen healthcare workers shrouded in protective gear during SARS, H1N1, and, most recently, Ebola outbreaks. A recent competition led by Johns Hopkins University (Sneiderman 2014), cited a need for improved uniforms and suits to protect against disease and provide increased comfort and function, while also considering patient responses. Fear, anxiety, and discomfort may overwhelm the patient as a provider approaches in a noisy, poorly designed garment. There has yet to be a standard adopted across the board; however, the 2014 NIOSH update “contains recommendations for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in specific situations” (Traynor, 2014). It would be beneficial if one standard were followed by each governing body to ensure a safe, functional, and policy-fulfilling PPE is developed. Extensive studies of evidence-based facility design have resulted in twenty-first-century design practices that are aesthetically pleasing and

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comfortable for patients and staff (Leather et al. 2003). Researchers from Texas A&M and Georgia Institute of Technology identified 600 studies with evidence that improved hospital facility design can be “safer, more healing, and better places to work” (Ulrich et al. 2005). They cite four specific areas where evidence-based facility design can affect patients and staff: 1. Reduce staff stress and fatigue and increase effectiveness in delivering care; 2. Improve patient safety; 3. Reduce stress and improve outcomes; 4. Improve overall healthcare quality. Poor uniform design threatens to reverse these positive impacts. It may be conjectured that the millions of dollars spent on well-designed physical environments are significantly impacted by the current PPE. The PPE is in direct conflict with the comfortable chairs, calm lighting, music, and special warming blankets, all designed for calm and healing in these facilities. Quality of acoustics in healthcare is also linked to healthcare provider pressure and strain. The hospital setting is fraught with unexpected alarms, machinery, audible patient distress, and overhead announcements. The noise encountered by healthcare providers has been shown to impact stress levels. The loud, irritating shuffling-paper-sound of thet PPE worn by multiple providers could have a negative impact on nurses and patients and requires further examination. It is also important to consider the patient perspective. As the patient sits in street clothes receiving a chemotherapy infusion, an enshrouded provider stands over them, adding to anxiety and fear of their illness. In one large metropolitan Chicago hospital, nurses suggested that one out of every three patients may be negatively impacted by PPE garments in the oncology unit. This information was obtained by a verbal survey of approximately thirty-five nurses at this particular facility. More research is needed to isolate the physical and psychological impacts of PPE and to formulate a plan to produce further action and change. Such research could offer PPE options for a variety of healthcare facilities beyond oncology.

Environmental issues Use of the current single-use disposable PPE in cancer treatment results in additional costs for proper disposal as a medical waste product. One hospital nurse, at the aforementioned facility, verbally estimated in

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April of 2014, that one nurse will dispose of approximately five PPE gowns within a 10–12 hour shift. The number of disposed gowns is staggering; if, for example, a large metropolitan outpatient clinic utilizes an average of thirteen nurses donning five gowns per day in a given shift (1,300 gowns in a year), this totals $419.25 per day and approximately $106,070.25 in PPE gowns per year. These averages might equate to approximately 16,900 gowns, most often lightly used, being disposed of each year in one hospital. Under current guidelines, gowns are to be disposed of in yellow biohazard containers, which can cost approximately $30-$50 per bin. If one bin is designated for disposal of gowns alone, an institution could face $15,000 per year to provide one bin per day. An alternative to the inexpensive yet wasteful PPE is to consider a washable garment. Washable garments allow reuse by providers and minimize the environmental impacts of disposal in favor of laundering. In a 2014 study of nonsurgical healthcare attire, only 36 per cent of respondents stated their hospital provided laundering of hospital-issued attire. The study also noted no difference in home laundered attire compared to hospital laundered attire (Bearman et al. 2014, 107–21). Laundering of garments that may be contaminated with chemotherapy drugs brings new wastewater concerns. Such concerns will vary depending on the drugs used. At present, reusable garments are not permitted.

Form follows function In a 2014 pilot study, researchers evaluated spills and exposure to chemotherapy drugs and the impact within the organization. The study revealed that of the 40 participants and spills reported, only 29 percent wore the PPE uniform. In addition, 60 percent of those experiencing a spill had little to no level of concern over the exposure. Though limited in participation, the study concludes that: “staff should participate actively in selecting personal protective equipment that balances comfort and safety” (Friese et al. 2015, 111–17). At a large metropolitan hospital in Chicago, healthcare providers echo the need for balancing comfort and safety with function. During initial interviews, nurses cited multiple problems with the current single-use PPE uniform. The current uniform lacks multiple pockets, which would enhance its functionality and allow workers to have all the tools necessary to administer chemotherapy drugs at hand. The single-use uniforms are made of a paper-like polyethylene-coated material which nurses state easily rips or tears with objects being taken in and out of a pocket. Nurses are often forced to make multiple trips to the supply area or worse, defeat

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the purpose of the uniform by placing objects in the pockets of their underlying street clothes. The polyethylene-coated material is nonpermeable and consequently non-breathable. The uniform worn over street clothing or medical scrubs leaves the nurses overheated and anxious to remove the garments. The gowns are cumbersome to don and virtually impossible to put on quickly in case of an emergent situation. When surveyed, the most common complaint from nurses was that the gowns seem to be designed with only the male form in mind. This includes broad space in the shoulder areas and a straight waist down past the knees. Due to the excess material and poor overall fit, most female wearers end up with excessive perspiration and overheating. This overheating can compromise safe and quality of care of patients due to the nurse being focused on the fastest route to gown removal. For those on the small end of the scale, the garment billows and rustles like a large paper sack tied at the waist. Conversely, for those at the larger end of the scale, the garment is tight and restrictive. Tight, ill-fitting garments are more susceptible to stressed seams which easily rip or tear when worn. It should be noted that these uniforms are made in more than one size. It is not known what the decision-making path is, however procurement of a single size garment may stem from supply chain efficiency and cost effectiveness for inventory management. The current PPE gowns worn by chemotherapy nurses serve an essential role in protecting workers from hazardous chemicals during infusion. However, these costly, disposable gowns pose a threat to: the overall care provided when workers are anxious to remove the garment; the environment; and the psychological well-being of the patient.

Designing a better uniform: a pilot study Students in a Chicago fashion design Bachelor of Fine Arts program entered a 2013 challenge to create a better uniform. The winning design was awarded $200. The challenge was to address the fit and functionality of the current PPE uniform. Nurses at a Chicago hospital oncology unit were interviewed by the faculty advisor to gather information for the design brief. One question and answer session was held between participants and a healthcare provider. The purpose of this session was to provide clarity on the needs as well as the regulatory limitations imposed by NIOSH and OSHA. Of key concern for nurses was: breathability of the fabric and garment; pockets to hold essential work tools; sizing. Students designed uniform ideas using a flat sketch format. After two weeks, sketches were submitted for review by the faculty and oncology nurses at

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the Chicago hospital (5 reviewers total). Parameters for the PPE uniform design were outlined for the students in the design competition.

The design shown in Figure 2 was the winning design. While it did not meet the requirement of covering to the neck, this design did meet most of the other criteria. This design was clean, functional, easy to put on and take off, and presented in a professional manner. The additional designs shown in Figure 3a and 3b had some desirable features that may be useful in future designs. In particular, under arm gussets made of layered mesh to provide breathability showed promise while the notion of an apron style layering piece was also an interesting solution.

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Figure 2. Illustration Credit: Kat Hoffman.

Students focused on each of the areas nurses noted as needing improvement. All designs included a pocket, although in some the pocket was too small. Fabrics improved breathability, and garments were offered in multiple sizes. The competition was limited in fabric selection, which requires further investigation. However, students did consider variations in style, color, and pattern towards a more fashionable textile. Following the design submission, nurses were given a brief survey to score the designs and provide feedback on six questions. Table 1 presents their collective responses. Overall, the results of the design challenge were positive with an average score of 4.75 out of 5 for the winning design. The area needing most improvement was in pocket size and functionality, which scored 3.75.

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Figure 3a. Illustration Credit: Julianne Khanina.

Figure 3b. Illustration Credit: Kayla Evans.

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Table 1. Collective responses from design challenge evaluators. Scale: 1= least successful, 5 = most successful Oncology Nurse Responses: n = 5 Average Question Comments Score Does this design appear 4.5 comfortable? Would need to see fabric Will this design improve 4.0 samples. breathability? Regulations recommend Does this design provide 4.5 disposable. for on/off all day wear? Does this design provide Larger pocket. Add flap on ample pocket size and 3.75 pocket. placement? Is this design attractive to 4.5 the patient? Overall, would you wear 4.75 this design? Overall, do you think this design could meet health 4.75 regulations?

Conclusion and recommendations The design challenge highlighted the need to address PPE in healthcare and specifically, oncology. Using evidence-based uniform design can improve satisfaction for providers and patients alike. The recent design challenge by Johns Hopkins University to design a better Ebola suit (Sneiderman 2014) signified a need for improved safety while also considering the impacts on patient perceptions of disease and quality of care. As recommended in the 2015 pilot study by Friese et al., healthcare providers can impact garment design by making recommendations for a uniform that is not only functional, but also properly fitting and with some elements of style. Additional research areas should include a well-designed survey of nurses at multiple facilities of varying size and structure. Such a survey should explore the variations in facility PPE uniform protocol. Patient surveys are also necessary to fully understand the impact of PPE on patient psychological well-being and overall response to treatment. Designing a better uniform will need to focus on both female and male healthcare providers. In 2011, the US Census reported that 91 per cent of

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US nurses were female (US Census Bureau 2013). With just 330,000 male healthcare providers in nursing it is evident that most nursing specific, non-PPE, uniform designs should be geared towards female users. Yet, PPE is designed as a one-sized garment more likely to fit males. There is evidence that male providers are on the rise indicating that uniform designs should be androgynous in nature, but one needs to take into consideration body size and shape for improved fit. Androgynous designs geared to shape and overall size have the opportunity to improve overall comfort and functionality. Beyond the human implications of the PPE are the textile advancements that are in rapid development. Issues of permeability, breathability, and stretch for improved fit are all possibilities in the future of textiles. There are a plethora of technical textiles advancing the industry and poised for growth in a variety of fields, including medicine (Dhanabalan 2014). Identifying possible textiles is a first step in improving the uniform for healthcare workers. The future may provide new opportunities where function and fashion meet in the medical field. The use of color and pattern in healthcare uniforms has expanded from white, traditional garments to a wide variety of patterns, colors, and styles. The current PPE uniforms are typically a medium blue or yellow color. Occasionally, other solid colors such as aqua or green are seen. Textile design could incorporate designs that are patient-friendly while also meeting the professional needs of the provider and the facility. The PPE uniform also indicates a need for a business case study to analyze the cost effectiveness of disposable versus washable uniforms. Such research would explore the costs associated with hazardous waste disposal and laundering. Additionally, overhead costs and inventory management would need to be addressed. Together, surveys, personal interviews, and design challenges can offer insight and improvement to the current PPE used in healthcare.

Limitations The outcomes of this paper are limited to the experiences of one large mid-western Chicago hospital cancer center and limited participation by healthcare providers. Participants were from one unit within the cancer center and did not include comprehensive feedback and analysis. Background knowledge also played a key role in the limitations of the design challenge as the students’ point of view was from that of a functional fashion aesthetic.

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Bibliography Bearman, Gonzalo, Kristina Bryant, Surbhi Leekha, Jeanmarie Mayer, L. Silvia Munoz-Price, Rekha Murthy, Tara Palmore, Mark E. Rupp, and Joshua White. 2014. “Healthcare Personnel Attire in Non-OperatingRoom Settings.” Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 35, no. 2: 107–21. doi:10.1086/675066. Bolton, Deborah L., Seth Eisenberg, Eileen M. Glynn-Tucker, Josie Howard-Ruben, Melissa A. McDiarmid, Luci A. Power, and Charlotte A. Smith. 2011. Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs, edited by Martha Polovich. Pittsburgh: Oncology Nursing Society. Connor, Thomas H., and Melissa A. McDiarmid. 2006. “Preventing Occupational Exposures to Antineoplastic Drugs in Health Care Settings.” CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 56 (6): 354–65. doi: 10.3322/canjclin.56.6.354. Conway, Jim, Bev Johnson, Susan Edgman-Levitan, Juliette Schlucter, Dan Ford, Pat Sodomka, and Laurel Simmons. 2006. “Partnering with Patients and Families to Design a Patient- and Family-Centered Health Care System: A Roadmap for the Future, A Work in Progress.” Accessed September 22. http://www.hsi.gatech.edu/erfuture/images/c/c2/Family.pdf. Dhanabalan, Vignesh. http://www.slideshare.net/vigneshdhanabalan/waterproof-breathablefabrics-by-vignesh-dhanabalan-doc. Friese, Christopher R., Cristin McArdle, Ting Zhau, Duxin Sun, Ivan Spasojevic, Martha Polovich, and Marjorie C. McCullagh. 2015. “Antineoplastic Drug Exposure in an Ambulatory Setting: a Pilot Study.” Cancer Nursing 38(2): 111–17. doi: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000000143. Hamilton, Kirk. 2003. “The Four Levels of Evidence Based Practice.” Healthcare Design 3(4): 18–26. http://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/article/four-levelsevidence-based-practice?page=show. Jemal, Ahmedin, Freddie Bray, Melissa M. Center, Jacques Ferlay, Elizabeth Ward, and David Forman. 2011. “Global Cancer Statistics.” CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 61: 69–90. doi: 10.3322/caac.20107. Leather, Phil, Diane Beale, Angeli Santos, Janine Watts, and Laura Lee. 2003. “Outcomes of environmental appraisal of different hospital waiting areas.” Environment and Behavior 35 (6): 842–69. Doi: 10.1177/0013916503254777.

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Newcomb, Beth and Cynthia Istook. 2006. “Using SizeUSA to Improve Apparel Fit.” Paper presented at the annual meeting for the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes, North Carolina University, June 18–22. http://www.iffti.com/downloads/past_conferences/NCSU,%202006/Ful l%20Paper./Newcomb_Istook.pdf. Sneiderman, Paul. 2014. “Improved Suit for Ebola Caregivers Chosen for Funding in Federal Competition.” Hub, December 12. http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/12/12/ebola-suit-design-funding. Steward, Bernard W. and Christopher P. Wild, eds. 2014. World Cancer Report 2014. Lyon, France: World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer. Traynor, Kate. 2014. “NIOSH Revamps Hazardous Drugs Uptake.” American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy News, December 15. http://www.ashp.org/menu/News/PharmacyNews/NewsArticle.aspx?id =4138. U.S. Census Bureau. Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division. Industry and Occupational Statistics Branch. 2013. Men in Nursing Occupations: American Community Survey Highlight Report, by Liana Christin Landivar. https://www.census.gov/people/io/files/Men_in_Nursing_Occupations. pdf. Ulrich, Roger, Xiaobo Quan, Craig Zimring, Anjali Joseph, and Ruchi Choudhary. 2005. “The Role of the Physical Environment in the Hospital of the 21st Century: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity.” abstract table supplement. Designing the 21st Century Hospital Project. The Center for Health Design. https://www.healthdesign.org/chd/knowledge-repository/role-physicalenvironment-hospital-21st-century-abstracts-table-supplemen-0. Zernike, Kate. 2004. “Sizing Up America: Signs of Expansion From Head to Toe.” The New York Times, March 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/01/us/sizing-up-america-signs-ofexpansion-from-head-to-toe.html.

ETHICAL FASHION AS A POST-POSTMODERN PHENOMENON LAURA BOVONE

The aim of this essay is to follow the phenomenon of fashion from modernity to post-modernity and on to its present day developments: in particular from a time when nobody would have spoken of ethicalresponsible-sustainable fashion to a time when this may be the core of fashion debate. The second outcome of this attempt is found in the possibility of showing the limits of this modern/postmodern bipolarity. A new era appears to be coming when we can finally get rid of these no longer useful categories; ethical fashion is a particular signal of this change. This is clearly a theoretical approach to fashion that needs to be supported by empirical documents and data. In particular, I mean to offer a socio-cultural perspective on the fashion world, but a couple of events will stay in the background despite their heavy structural impact on our lives and fashion: the development of Web 2.0 from 2000 onwards and the global economic crisis after 2008.1

From modernity to postmodernity and beyond The postmodern era has often been described as being ruled by the aesthetic imperatives of the image of culture. This means that emotion and taste, which modernity has confined to the margins of its rational and productive worldview, have gain new force and consideration. Human 1

Most of the examples and quoted interviews were collected during the ongoing survey “Sustainable practices of everyday life in the context of crisis: toward the integration of work, consumption and participation,” funded by MIUR-PRIN 2010-2011 and coordinated by Laura Bovone (Università Cattolica di Milano), in collaboration with the universities of Milan (coord. Luisa Leonini), Bologna (coord. Roberta Paltrinieri), Trieste (coord. Giorgio Osti), Molise (coord. Guido Gili), Rome, “La Sapienza” (coord. Antimo Farro), Naples, Federico II (coord. Antonella Spanò).

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beings, no longer thinking themselves able to govern and improve nature, have started to think about the waste produced by industrialization and released into the environment. Modern work ethics seem not to be as important in a world that has made inroads into the nightmare of poverty and reached higher levels of consumption. If the aesthetic sphere, concerning both consumption and fashion choices, was assigned to women in modern times, postmodernity appears to enhance women’s space, not only in the enormous variety of goods at their disposal, but also in the aesthetization of a great part of production (Jameson 1991). For both genders, the new postmodern era is a time of choices with freer participation in the many experiences at their disposal, away from the moral rules of the past and towards a personal and emotional construction of what can be considered a good life. Clothing, in particular, seems to have lost its ostentatious role along with with its ability to confirm the social position of the family (Crane 2000) and helps dreams of beauty or desires for masquerade. Street styles and, more generally, the flourishing of “oppositional dress” (Wilson 2005) draw a more complicated, but richer panorama: “In a social universe of fixed hierarchies … the role of clothing is unambiguous and limited. In contemporary westernised societies, however, fixed hierarchies no longer provide such clear depictions of order, and so clothing often functions to obscure a person’s rank. Fashion becomes a masquerade. Instead of positioning individuals in a fixed social universe, it promises to fulfil their desires to perform multiple social identities” (Finkelstein 1998, 41).

Recent phenomena have highlighted the emerging limits of the postmodern narrative in general, and in the field of fashion in particular. Fashion is, in fact, one of those “aesthetic markets” where economic rationality and taste are intertwined and both producers and consumers make their choices (Entwistle 2009). Furthermore, the ethical-slowsustainable fashion movement proves that our social imaginary can be enriched with an unexpected, ethically driven capacity through which we combine aesthetic innovation with care for global social justice and a healthier life.

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Bipolar narratives of Modernity Postmodernity rationality image, emotion, ambivalence industrial progress (mastering nature) ecology (70s Æ) work ethic (masculine) consumption (feminine) gendered division of labor world feminization/aesthetization conformism experiences Fashion work/class-related clothing (hat) dream, masquerade (t-shirt) top-down fashion street styles, oppositional dress

Fair consumption and ethical fashion Ethical fashion is probably the most comprehensive way of speaking about production and consumption of clothing that is able to synthesize: a desire for beauty; a search for tranquility; a moral sense; beauty and health; our future and that of our children; consumption and safe production. It tries to combine instances of sustainability and responsibility with our aesthetic dreams. Therefore, it marks both the peak of postmodern ambivalence and the exit from a pure postmodern aestheticism. We can say that ethical fashion has developed in a general cultural climate created by the debate concerning responsible consumption. This cultural turn is boosted by new relationships between producers and consumers. The latter, now more informed about the near and future dangers connected to large sectors of industrial production and supported by the internet from the mid-1990s onwards, gather in associations and boycott-buycott movements, volunteer in fair trade initiatives and social cooperatives, and create urban circuits where small ethical producers and retailers are encouraged. The language of consumption engages at a level that can be easily understood and happily shared; women turn out to be heavily involved and the chief perotagonists of fashion—they become the protagonists of acts of political consumerism (Micheletti 2003; Bovone and Mora 2007). As we can see, social responsibility responds to a wider feeling predating the Corporate Social Responsibilitty (CSR) policies of fashion companies, and generating them too. Fashion starts in the postmodern climate under the influence of feminist and ecologist movements and an awareness of the limits of overconsumption. In recent decades, organized initiatives have grown in number and size—to fair trade shops and the recovery and resale of second-hand garments, we can add; social cooperatives organizing fashion laboratories for women in prisons or in faraway favelas; and the organic

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production of textiles (Lunghi and Montagnini 2007; Lunghi 2012). Informal pressure, boycott campaigns, such as the memorable one against Nike in the 1990s, the long anti-fur season (Skov 2005), and the push by big networks like Clean Clothes, also draw in segments of mainstream production and distribution. The commitment of social cooperatives after a certain time drags fashion brands into philanthropic enterprises. Organic and fair trade labels have become recognized brands in themselves. Consumer movements and big campaigns, as well as the circulation and diffusion of certificated responsible goods, have increased because of the web. Postmodern culture is emotional and we start speaking of ethical fashion when the search for an aesthetic combines with the acknowledgement of risk and sustainability or fears for our health and for exploited producers. Consumer initiatives are a means to effect partial change of consumer/producer relationships and the general configuration of the supply chain. Consumers still desire and accumulate garments for individual possession and feel persecuted by advertisements and prices; designers and producers always have the last word. Communicators are the official intermediaries and gatekeepers between them. Moreover, there is criticism of ethical fashion as not just a niche market, but also an impossible market (Crane 2015; Tseëlon 2011). Ecolabels are not widespread nor easy to read. The higher prices involved are an obstacle as well. Fast fashion production is mostly far from ethical, but constitutes a big part of the market, the products of which are very quickly disposed of in landfills (this is why ethical fashion is often called “slow” fashion). As far as CSR is concerned, critics have demonstrated that many philanthropic initiatives pretending to be forms of engagement with the developing world are actually part of marketing campaigns designed to please socially conscious consumers. Companies can appear to be actively trying to fix inequality while their real objectives are effective communication and capital growth. Accordingly, in most cases, we are seeing a sharp separation between design know-how, located in the developed West, and manual work, located in less developed countries. That is why ethical fashion is heading towards a stronger engagement with community development problems, including attempts to involve communities at the decision-making level (Solomon 2015).

Ethical fashion and the sharing economy At the start of the new millennium, the passage from web 1.0 to web 2.0 opened up a new era and new possibilities for ethical production/consumption and ethical fashion. Since 2008, the ethical side

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has been openly theorized around collaborative practices, communities of producers and consumers, and shared decisions and benefits. With the most recent economic crisis, we have entered the era of the sharing economy (Belk 2010; Schor 2014); this harks back to a past utopia of decentered production where the means/machines of production are no longer in capitalist hands, but are cheap and user-friendly enough that groups of consumers can use them to make their own objects. The Makers’ Movement (Gauntlett 2011) has rediscovered the opportunity of realizing their ideas through low-cost technologies, open source software and social networks. They operate by connecting virtual spaces with real labs or co-working spaces. They often combine 3D fashion production with craftsmanship (Sennet 2008), heading towards different forms of small scale and on demand production, or even “prosumption”—production not for the market, but for personal or family use, which in the online age can occur on an unprecedented scale and with unprecedented modalities. Blogs, YouTube and Facebook can certainly exploit consumers, but they can also help them reach new objectives: they are means of consumer production (Ritzer 2013). Digital fashion and sharing are emerging phenomena and show a variety of combinations (Mazzucotelli 2016). The sharing economy includes a large group of activities, like co-working, cohousing, bartering, making-together, crowdfunding, and crowdsourcing—all these practices need a certain digital competence. Apart from cohousing, all of them can more or less be applied in the field of fashion where the digital channel concerns not only the obvious activities of communication and distribution, but also those of creativity and manufacturing through crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and making. The logic of access, instead of possession, can be found in the activities of swapping or purchasing second-hand; even more so at the level of shared technologies. Through 3D production digital craftsmanship or making overcomes the distance that has long kept those who design, those who produce, and those who consume fashion apart. Collaboration and prosumption aim to achieve economic-ecological-social sustainability, multiplying situations to reduce the modern phantom of work alienation. The same can be said for consumer alienation—George Ritzer (2013, 11) speaks of “a revolutionary development.” The spirit of the Makers can be found in the following excerpt from an interview of one of the founders of WeMake, a coworking space in Milan where both design and fashion items are produced: “We seek solutions together. We work at a distance; we take inspiration and improve the work already done by someone else. If you take an object

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produced by a 3d printer, perhaps self-assembled, it may be useless. But it doesn’t have to be worthwhile in itself: even if its use value is very low, the object, because of its production process, is a prototype that incorporates the social relations that have been put in place to make it real. My goal is to create here a community that is keen to invest, together with me, some time to figure out a new way of doing things. Therefore, we have training and educational activities….”

Not all sharing activities in fashion imply the social and even political commitment observed in WeMake, which aims to gather different professionals together in a new sort of social enterprise. Clearly crowdfunding, which is about finding economic support or advance purchasers for a new product (e.g., Wowcracy, an intermediary platform created by a young and aggressive Italian team, registered in London), is generally more business oriented; the same can be said for crowdsourcing, where, in many cases, new solutions are not only welcomed, but even paid, or openly exploited (e.g., Burberry’s Art of the Trench project, where consumers are invited to upload photos of themselves wearing trenchcoats to the official website). In both cases consumer adhesion turns out to be decisive for production. Swapping activities are supposed to be mostly informal, but actually range from the transnationally structured and totally for-profit Rentez-Vous platform, to the small family business run through the website Reoose, and the locally based, but still partially economically oriented Swap in the City (“Sure since I started swapping, I have changed my relationship with things... before I used to care more about my things … now I am more detached, I can more easily get rid of them because I think that probably someone else can take advantage of something I keep without using, so if I discard my dress, it is as if it had another life”), to the more morally and socially oriented Gas or Il tuo armadio, an ethical purchasing group based in Milan where a group of friends volunteer. In repair and knitting circles, the social/political aim is often more important than the economic aim (Minahan and Wolfram Cox 2007; Reiley and De Long 2011). To summarize, sharing activities imply a multilevel and multifunctional entanglement and an important relational commitment: Gauntlett (2011), recalling Ivan Illich (1973), speaks of conviviality. All this gives new impetus to ethical fashion, which is a part of post-postmodern culture. The following elements, either brand new or strongly increasing, in particular should be noted: the paradoxical mix of very up to date technology and traditional communitarian aspirations; the cross collaboration of design, production, distribution, and consumption; the multifaceted search for sustainability (through making, bartering, DIY and DIT, repairing,

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altering, knitting); the deprofessionalization of many functions through social media networks, blogging activities, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and a deeper engagement of local developing-world communities. All this is clearly leading to a disintermediation of the supply chain, which will considerably improve traceability within the fashion system. Important values are implied here, from the fundamental question of ownership to the principle of access and the search for more democratic relationships and transparent processes.

Fashion and the ethical imagination It is clear that a lot has changed in the first decades of the new millennium—in ethical fashion as well. All in all, postmodern culture focused on the present and was unable to plan or even conceive of a better future. New technology obviously looks towards the future, as does increasing disappointment with the world as it is and a desire for change. Emotion, desire, and dreams are not enough to fight against global economic and political crises and unsustainable consumption generates uncontainable pollution, but also uncontainable compassion (or fear of?) for the poorer parts of humanity. The new millennium has gradually given life to a new type of imagination relating to our aspirations for a better world more than an emotional postmodern aestheticism. Serge Latouche (2003) maintains that everybody must at least partially abdicate their own privilege if they wish to survive the failure of the Western economic system. What we know regarding the exploitation of distant people and the damage to ecosystems leads us to assume responsibility on a global scale. In order to resolve these problems, it is necessary to “decolonize the imaginary”; decentralize decisions; engage with the knowledge of communities and minorities thus far neglected; and together find solutions in terms of equality and sustainability. A few years before, Arjun Appadurai (1996) had presented imagination as an engine offering an unhoped-for push to problematic development, with its most visible product being the huge migratory flows of people. Social actors found new forms of common life after having together worked out an image of the future that not only seemed inaccessible to prior generations, but also internally contradictory. Following these scholars (and also inspired by Lash 1994), I use the concept of Ethical Imagination (EI ) here. We can think of a complex use of the imaginative ability, which has to do with representation and appearance, and therefore with emotion and

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aesthetics, but that is also able to: synthesize a series of ethical and cognitive elements; retain tradition and project itself into the future; create feelings of belonging; and bring about new grassroots derived values that are translatable into rational planning. According to Appadurai, we can consider EI to be a cultural elaboration acting within the social imaginary and drawing us towards big epochal changes; in this case building a bridge between production and consumption and transforming them into innovative fruitful “communities of practice” (Wenger 1998). As far as ethical fashion is concerned, we can consider it to be an effort of imagining shared solutions for the difficult combination of aesthetic innovation and social and the environmental sustainability of production and consumption. That said, the new digital potential is important, but I assume that at stake is something much more than collaboration through digitization (Crewe 2012). Attention to fashion has often been indexed as useless, if not immoral, behavior. A similarly stigmatizing judgment has long been incumbent on all consumption activities and usually contrasted with the virtuous activity of production. Accordingly, the masculine work ethic has often been contrasted with the (immoral) aesthetic of the female or young consumer. Similarly, the productive mind-set of modernity and its work ethic are contrasted to post-modern consumption. My thesis is that fashion, the culture industry par excellence, is able to assume a fundamental role in dismantling this dichotomous mentality of modernity/postmodernity by highlighting its obsolescence and constitutive weakness.

Modern rationality scarcity Ego discourse (science, econ) (alienated)production masculine work ethic utilitarian individualism Norms

Contemporary culture and fashion: overcoming polarization Postmodern Post-postmodern aesthetics ethics as conviviality welfare economic crisis desire we emotion, image tradition+EI+project consumption feminine (immoral) aesthetics expressive individualism anything goes

collabor., consump./making, prosumption shared objects and processes sustainability, shared creativity sociability

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Ethical Fashion as a Post-Postmodern Phenomenon aestheticÆethical fashion shopping mall

ethical collaborative fashion web 2.0 + fab-labs digital + material

In this progression, postmodern aestheticism is overcome, but not totally denied. Imagination appears to be able to challenge modern dichotomies, as well as the opposition of the modern to the postmodern, and even gender bias. Collaboration, responsible production, moderation, and consumption build on the retrieval of tradition (in terms of slowness and local and communitarian values), together with rationality and a positive faith in creative imagination. In this post-postmodern trend, a primary role is to be played by women. Workplace communities and prosumption seem to be increasingly central for women to gain new positions in society. This has to do with feminine work styles, new independent jobs online, and the cooperative organization of home produced goods and services. Prosumption, in particular, blurring the boundaries between production and consumption, can become a form of resistance and a step towards effective growth in developing world contexts too. Cosmopolitan, higher class women are increasingly achieving better positions in all sectors where taste and status objects have traditionally been produced and distributed by an overwhelmingly female workforce, and they are, as we know, the most sensitive part of the population to the values of responsibility. Women enliven the home circuits of loaning, recycling and giving clothes, as well as non-profit enterprises and cooperatives. At stake is work conceived and organized by women, done by women, sold and communicated by women, and of course having women as the final consumers, and consequently as critics and controllers. Responsible/slow fashion is a part of the same culture that underpins slow food, but extends this culture to a sector more highly colonized by aesthetics and much farther from the problems of equity and health than food (Clark 2008). Responsibility for sustainability seems to be less obvious in fashion, but this does not make it any less important for the overall expansion of the ethical imagination.

Bibliography Appadurai, Arjun. 1996. Modernity at Large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis-London: University of Minnesota Press. Belk, Russell. 2010. “Sharing.” Journal of Consumer Culture 36: 715–35.

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Bovone, Laura, and Mora Emanuela, eds. 2007. La spesa responsabile. Il consumo biologico e solidale. Rome: Donzelli. Clark, Hazel. 2008. “Slow+Fashion – an Oxymoron – or a Promise for the Future…?” Fashion Theory 12 (4): 427–46. Crane, Diana. 2000, Fashion and its Social Agendas. Class, Gender and Identity in Clothing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. —. 2015. “The puzzle of the ethical fashion consumer: Implications for sustainability and the future of the fashion system.” Paper presented at the International Conference Fashion Tales. Università Cattolica, Milan, June 18–20. Crewe, Louise. 2013. “When virtual and material worlds collide: democratic fashion in the digital age.” Environment and Planning 45: 760–80. Entwistle, Joanne. 2009. The Aesthetic Economy of Fashion. Markets and Values in Clothing and Modelling. Oxford–New York: Berg. Finkelstein, Joanne. 1998. Fashion. An introduction. New York: University Press. Gauntlett, David, 2011. Making is Connecting. The Social Meaning of Creativity from DIY and Knitting, to You Tube and Web 2.0. Cambridge: Polity Press. Jameson, Fredric. 1991. Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham: Duke University Press. Illich, Ivan. 1973. Tools for Conviviality. New York–London: Harper and Row. Lash, Scott. 1994. “Reflexivity and its Doubles: Structure, Aesthetics, Community.” In Reflexive Modernization, Politics, Tradition and Aesthetic in Modern Social Order, edited by Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens and Scott Lash, 110–73. Cambridge: Polity Press. Latouche, Serge. 2003. Décoloniser l’imaginaire. La pensée créative contre l’économie de l’absurde. Paris: Parangon. Lunghi, Carla. 2012. Creative evasioni. Manifatture di moda in carcere. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Lunghi, Carla, and Montagnini Eugenia. 2007. La moda della responsabilità. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Micheletti, Michele. 2003 Political Virtue and Shopping, Individuals, Consumerism and Collective Action. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Mazzucotelli, Salice Silvia 2016. “Digital Fashion: an Emerging Fashion System.” Critical Studies of Fashion and Beauty (forthcoming). Minahan, Stella and Wolfram Cox Julie. 2007. “Stitch’n Bitch, Cyberfemminism, a Third Place and the New Materiality.” Journal of Material Culture 12 (1): 5–21.

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Reiley, Kathryn, and DeLong Marilyn. 2012. “A Consumer Vision for Sustainable Fashion Practice.” Fashion Practice 3 (1): 63–84. Ritzer, George. 2013. “Prosumption: Evolution, Revolution, or Eternal Return of the Same?” Journal of Consumer Culture: 1–22. Schor, Juliet. 2014 “Debating the sharing economy.” Essay published by the Great Transition Initiative, Tellus Institute, available at http://www. greattransition. org . Sennet, Richard. 2008. The Craftman. London: Allen Lane. Skov, Lise. 2005. “The Return of the Fur Coat: A Commodity Chain Perspective.” Current Sociology 53, 1: 9–13. Solomon Lauren. 2015. “Why the Fashion Industry Should Engage with Community Development.” Paper presented at the international Conference “Fashion Tales”, Università Cattolica, Milan, June 18–20. Tseëlon, Efrat. 2011. “Introduction: A Critique of the Ethical Fashion Paradigm.” Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty 2 (1–2): 3–68. Wenger, Etienne. 1998. Communities of Practice. Cambridge: University Press.

THE COSMETICS INDUSTRY: MARKET EVOLUTION AND COSTUMER BEHAVIORS MARTINA MUSARRA, CARLO AMENDOLA AND RAFFAELLA PRETI

The expectations of today’s consumers are constantly evolving, and nowadays the cosmetics industry has become an essential component in ensuring quality of life and well-being, especially in the most developed countries. Over the years, consumer needs have changed and thanks to the process of certification, consumers are better informed about the presence of contaminants in the products they buy and about their consequences for human health and the environment. In the food and cosmetics industries, consumers have become more sensitive regarding ethics, paying more attention to animal welfare and fair trade labels (Jeffries 2013). To meet ever changing consumer demands, science and innovation together with the responsible use of resources, has seen the implementation of best practices in the cosmetics supply chain (Pereira de Carvalho and Barbieri 2012) by promoting quality and safety consciousness as part of a sustainable and integrated vision. This study examines a random sample of women with the aim of analyzing the key variables that influence the process of purchasing sustainable cosmetics. The theoretical model is based on exogenous variables related to the qualities of the ingredients in cosmetics to determine the relationship between the purchasing process and environmental awareness in the promotion of sustainable consumption in this sector. The results lead to an analysis of the biological cosmetics sector and its future scenarios related to customers’ willingness to pay for sustainability.

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Introduction The natural cosmetics market in Europe is increasing in size and the revenues are doubling every year. Previously, the demand for natural cosmetics was strictly related to consumer health conditions, such as alimentary intolerances, skin irritations and rashes. In recent years, changes in consumer choices and preferences have been registered. Thanks to globalization and the removal of trade barriers at the international level, consumers are less informed about the composition of the goods they buy (Iyengar 2000). Having lost their identification with geographical territory, consumers have drifted apart from the model of local consumption, which included information on the ingredients of the products and used simpler production processes. Nowadays, consumers wish to recover their connection with the environment by paying more attention to the composition of the goods they buy and their related effects on human health. Consequently, the biological food market, as well as the natural cosmetics and organic clothing industries, have begun to increase in size, mainly because of the importance that consumers attribute to product traceability and quality. For instance, in France since 2005 natural cosmetics sales have boomed after media reports highlighted the possible dangers of synthetic substances in cosmetics and toiletries (Centro Studi Cosmetica Italia 2015c). Organic personal care products are manufactured from natural plant ingredients extracted under controlled processes, which respect the international standards legislation (ISL). In fact, ISL helps to harmonize the technical specifications of products and services making the industry more efficient; conformity with ISL helps reassure consumers about product safety, as well as environmental protection. Organic personal care products do not contain synthetic chemicals, such as parabens, phthalates, petrochemical and aluminium salts; for this reason their shelf-life is short. At the global level, skin care products constitute the largest segment of the sector in terms of revenue; research demonstrates that this specific market segment will continue to lead the organic personal care products market during the forecast period (Berneman et al 2009). Thus, the market reflects increasing attention by consumers to personal health and hygiene, especially in the skin care segment. Hair care is the second largest segment in the organic personal care market; the most notable factors here are the launch of new products and the increase of distribution channels and related methodologies.

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Because of the large amount of capital that the cosmetics sector requires for entry, especially the high costs of certification labels and the high quality of ingredients that must be processed, the main actors operating in the market are large cosmetics retailers, investors and manufacturers. In recent years, the role of multinational companies has grown in importance, making North America the largest market at the global level (Lusk 2012).

The international cosmetics industry The global market for organic personal care products has seen steady growth in recent years due to increasing consumer concern regarding personal health and hygiene. In addition, the development of new distribution channels and new products has contributed to market evolution. However, the limited shelf-life of products, the supply of raw materials, and the stringent regulatory framework are expected to be key challenges for market growth over the next five years (Cosmetics Europe 2014). Skin care products dominated global market demand for organic personal care products in 2011 with a 32.1 percent share, followed by the hair care and makeup segments. In terms of revenue, the market for organic skin care products is expected to grow steadily, by 9.9 percent from 2012 to 2018. The market for natural cosmetics is developing dynamically worldwide and reached 22 billion euros in 2013 (Centro Studi Cosmetica Italia 2015a, b, c). Market revenues increased by 10.6 percent compared to the previous year. The highest growth rate was registered in North America, which, in 2013, accounted for over 34.9 percent of global consumption. Europe is the second largest market in terms of demand and accounted for over 28.9 percent of the global demand for organic personal care products in the same year, reaching the amount of 2 billion euros. Germany and France accounted for 35 percent and 15 percent, respectively, of total European sales in 2013; other leading European countries in this particular sector are Italy, the UK, and Spain. These five countries together represent 90 percent of total European production (Eurostat 2014). Growing consumer attention to the composition of cosmetics is behind this developing trend not only in developed countries, but also in the new markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICS), as well as Eastern Europe. The importance of Eastern Europe is mainly related to its strategic position: the region is near the origin countries of these commodities and low costs of production and labor encourage the tendency of big companies to delocalize their manufacturing processes to the region.

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Methodology Our research wasconducted with a sample of 250 women living in the city of Rome, representative of consumer behavior in the entire region, in order to determine their reasons for choosing biological and natural cosmetics and to define the correlation between biological cosmetics and general consumption of organic products. We have restricted the analysis to a sample of women because they tend to be the most informed about organic products and their characteristics and they represent the main consumers in this specific market. We created a survey with sixteen questions using the SurveyMonkey web platform. We spread the survey through e-mail and common social networks, Facebook and Twitter, in order to rapidly obtain feedback. We included students, professors, academic staff, as well as workers, businesswomen, and retired persons in our sample. We proceeded by dividing the questionnaire into three macro-areas, two composed of five questions, and the last part composed of six questions. In the first part, we wished to understand the social background of respondents (age, annual salary, educational level, family, knowledge about biological cosmetics). The second part aimed to understand the personal behaviors of respondents by analyzing the correlation between their purchasing processes and environmental awareness (the importance of environmental safety during shopping, frequency of purchasing biological goods, typologies of organic products used, willingness to pay a higher price in order to have a certified product). The third part represents the core analysis and aimed to understand the market penetration of biological cosmetics into society (selection criteria for natural cosmetics, frequency of purchase, reasons leading to the purchase of a specific product, retail structures, differentiation of the most used organic cosmetics and their presence on the market, willingness to pay a higher price in order to use guaranteed biological cosmetics). The three parts are fundamentally related to understanding customers’ knowledge of the organic cosmetics market, their sensitivity to environmental issues, their willingness to pay for certified products, and their frequency of purchase. The data were extremely significant for understanding the market dimension and structure.

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Results By analyzing the results of our survey, we developed some important outcomes that may be useful for explaining the behavior of Italian consumers and their preferences in this emerging market. As we can see in Figure 1, the majority of respondents belonged to three age groups: 21–28 (16 percent), 29–35 (21 percent) and 46–60 (37 percent). This demonstrates the heterogeneity of our sample and reinforces our results.

Figure 1. Sample age composition.

According to our research, a small percentage of women (7 percent, Figure 2) did not have enough information about the presence of biological cosmetic products on the market. We focused our study on 93 percent of our sample, in order to develop sound information about the development of this new market. We considered where women bought biological cosmetics and what were the most important factors when deciding whether to buy a specific product. We also analyzed the most popular organic cosmetics on the market and the factors that determined the selection criteria for a biological cosmetic product. It emerged from the research that the most popular shops were herbalist shops (56.4 percent), drugstores (38.2 percent), and perfumeries (34.8 percent), while supermarkets (28.9 percent) and online shopping (16.7 percent) were less commonly used for purchasing, mainly because online shopping is a relatively new business. In the meantime, this

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field represents a growing market of enormous potential and is rapidly modifying the sales system. Generally, the clothing and cosmetics sectors are the most important on online shopping platforms both for their lower costs and rapid revenue generation. Communication channels depend on the consumer and the purpose of marketing is to engage the prospective customer through many channels and through integrated dialogues that are driven by his/her preferences, triggers, signals and behavior.

Figure 2. Knowledge about biological cosmetics.

We decided to focus our attention on the relationship between biological products in general and, specifically, biological cosmetics. Consequently, our aim was to study the psychological preferences of consumers and define how their behaviors were linked to their final choice of a specific product. By analyzing our results, we found that the main variables driving a consumer’s decision to buy a certain product centered on the environment and human health. In fact, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, consumers are willing to pay a higher price to have a guaranteed product. The results demonstrate that the majority of the interviewed women would be prepared to pay a 10 percent premium over the final price if the product has certain qualities. A rate of 34.8 percent in Figure 3 and 33.8 percent in Figure 4 validate a correlation between personal consumer preferences for high quality and certified products (ingredients, labels, absence of toxic chemical components, ecological footprint and expected effects on human health).

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Figure 3. Willingness to pay for general biological goods.

Figure 4. Willingness to pay for biological cosmetics.

In particular, it emerged from the survey that the most relevant variable in consumer decisions to buy a certain cosmetic product was the absence of particular dangerous substances (parabens, paraffin, mineral oils, SLES, SLS, aluminum), rather than the presence of natural ingredients. This was followed by quality certification, absence of nickel, price, brand and product promotions. Furthermore, we also calculated the sample’s frequency of purchase by analyzing if the women in our sample were regular or irregular customers. From our research, it emerged that the majority of Italian female consumers were not regular consumers in the biological cosmetics market, but purchased these products “sometimes” (44.6 percent). On the other hand, 22.5 percent of women regularly bought these products, while 13.7

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percent had bought these products “only once”; 19.6 percent of our sample had never bought biological cosmetics. However, the outcome is positive, underlying a steady increase in the percentage of women who are interested in entering this emerging market. Our feedback is generally in line with the national data, which report an increase in the production and sale of biological cosmetics, registering a share of about 15 percent (LargoConsumo 2014). We decided to analyze the most purchased biological cosmetics on the market. We inserted the following products into the survey: face and body creams; perfumes; nail polish; make-up remover; foundation cream; face powder; blusher; eye shadow; mascara; lipstick; eyeliner pencil; lip pencil. We asked respondents to indicate the frequency of purchase (always, sometimes, never) of the abovementioned biological cosmetic products, in order to study the future tendencies of the market. Even though the market penetration of these particular products is not particularly deep, we registered that 35 percent of consumers regularly purchased face and body creams. The lowest rate of biological cosmetics purchases was registered for perfumes (63.5 percent) and nail polish (82 percent). Our sample shows a preference for traditional perfumes and nail polish, demonstrating a complete indifference to this new market.

Conclusions Cosmetics are personal care products used to enhance and beautify the appearance of individuals. This study was conducted with the aim of having a better understanding of consumer behavior in the organic cosmetics industry. The increasing focus on external appearance among individuals coupled with a rise in disposable income has lead to increased demand for organic cosmetic products. Our goal was to analyze the “offer” and “demand” of the Italian market, in order to define the sector’s evolution in relation to consumer penetration. From our research, we found that the Italian market is relatively young. It is characterized by a growing offer and weak demand, which is expanding access to the market. There is emerging potential for companies to create new business segments in order to meet the growing demand of consumers. Sales channels, especially, are acquiring importance by introducing new tools for the distribution of organic cosmetics; as confirmed in this research, retail stores and online portals are the two primary sales channels. Our study demonstrates that, initially, health was the main consumer driver related to the biological market (food and cosmetics)—for food

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intolerances, as well as skin irritations—while nowadays the functionality of natural ingredients and their traceability in the supply chain are key factors in the purchasing process, having added value for consumers. Consumer attention to these products relates to their consequences on human health. Consumers have become more aware of the ingredients of products that come into direct contact with their skin; for this reason, as confirmed in our study, the market share is growing. Thus, both at national and international levels, the biological cosmetics industry is increasing its importance, stressing the importance of certification systems as an assurance for consumers. The global biological cosmetics market will grow with the improvement in lifestyles and increasing disposable income among individuals over the forecast period (2015–2020). The growing demand for natural ingredients in cosmetic products is a major contributing factor to the growth of organic cosmetics. Even though the majority of Italian female consumers are not regular users of biological cosmetics, its potential is notable. Furthermore, we stressed the relationship between the environment and the purchase of biological cosmetics by demonstrating that women are willing to pay a higher price if there is an assurance of environmental harm reduction. Consumers of biological cosmetics pay attention to the origins of natural ingredients contained in products, as well as to the production processes and environmental impacts, by purchasing certified products, even if they are more expensive. To conclude, the most relevant factors that we found in our study, correlated to the purchase of biological cosmetics, were: health care, environmental safety and a willingness to pay for certified products. The trend is growing, demonstrating the relevance of this emerging market at national and international levels.

References Berneman, Corinne, Paule Lanoie, Sylvain Plouffe, and Marie-France Vernier. 2009. “L’Écoconception: quels retours Économiques pour l’Entreprise?” CIRANO; available at http://go.nature.com/Mw4reZ Centro Studi Cosmetica Italia. 2015a. “Industria Cosmetica: produzione, mercato e commercio estero.” http://www.unipro.org/home/ —. 2015b. “Cosmetica green: tendenze globali e mercato nazionale” —. 2015c. “Biodiversità nella cosmesi: presente e futuro”

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—. 2015d. “Le vendite dirette e i prodotti cosmetici: dinamiche di un canale vincente.” Cosmetics Europe. 2014. “Why sustainability is essential: the vision of the European cosmetics industry—Report.” Iyengar, Sheena, and Mark Lepper. 2000. “When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70: 996–1006. Italian-Indo Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 2014. “Beauty industry scenario India-Report.” Available at http://www.cosmoprof.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/11/www.cosmoprof.com/India_BeautyReport.pdf Jeffries, Elisabeth 2013. “Eco-fashion hits the highest street.” Nature Climate Change 3: 176–78. Kuchler, Fred, Krissoff Berry, and Harvey David 2010. “Do Consumers Respond to Country-of-Origin Labelling?” Journal of Consumer Policy 33: 323–37. Largo Consumo. 2014. “Il mercato dei cosmetici e le tendenze future.” http://areastampa.cosmeticaitalia.it/wpcontent/uploads/2015/07/COMUNICATO-STAMPA_Indaginecongiunturale-21-luglio-2015.pdf Lusk, Jayson 2012. “Consumer information and labelling.” Natural Resource Management and Policy 38: 349–73. Lusk, Jayson, and Stéphan Marette. 2010. “Welfare Effects of Food Labels and Bans with Alternative Willingness to Pay Measures.” Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy 32: 319–37. Pereira de Carvahlo, André, and Jose Carlos Barbieri. 2012. “Innovation and sustainability in the supply chain of a cosmetics company: a case study.” Journal of Technology Management and Innovation 7 (2): 2231.

CHAPTER EIGHT FASHION THEORY

A HISTORY OF WASTE: FASHION, CULTURE AND LUXURY AS A CLASH BETWEEN DEMOCRATIC AND ELITIST FORCES NELLO BARILE

The word “waste” has a negative connotation in several languages and is immediately associated with the dynamics of industrial society, especially with the rise of consumption. The semantic definition of the word “consumption” was overturned during the twenties and thirties, changing from a descriptor of the protestant ethos based on the value of frugality to a complete abnegation to the gospel of waste (Rifkin 1994, Ewen 1988). The word “waste” still incorporates a negative sense in its reference to either a material or intangible process. I demonstrate here that it is important to understand the meaning of the relationship between the meaning of waste and a constellation of other concepts, such as luxury, fashion, art, power and social change. Nowadays, contemporary culture is engaged in rearranging the social value of waste, incorporating elements related to this issue from counter-cultures, but this concept still remains relevant at all levels of the fashion system. To understand its evolution, it may be useful to adopt a periodization dividing the luxury system into five main phases: 1) Pre-Fashion—Etiquette 2) Haute Couture—Traditional luxury 3) Prêt-à-Porter—Democratic luxury 4) Post-Fashion—Neoluxury 5) New polarization—Hyperluxury versus low cost society. During the first stage fashion still submitted to external rules, such as the logic of etiquette in the Ancient Regime (Elias 1980). In the second stage, fashion generated an internationally productive empire with Paris propagating the main trends that then spread all over the world. The third stage reshaped the dynamic of modern fashion under the democratic logic of serial production and with a new dialogue between designers and urban subcultures. The fourth established the final mutation of the system and

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was exemplified by the hybridization of styles and aesthetics and the crisis of street styles through their constant interchange with official fashion— neoluxury was an innovation representing the values of that period. Finally, the advent of a new contraposition between the top and bottom of society—hyperluxury in the hands of a new super-elite and fast fashion consumed by the lower classes—has probably seen the most dissipative and disruptive model of production. 1) In the Ancient Regime, luxury, consumption and practice were completely incorporated into the logic of “etiquette” and the ceremonial (Elias 1983) as a complex cultural system subjugating even the monarchy. In fact, the adoption and observation of those implicit rules defining a specific “lifestyle” was a necessary condition for management of the court by the king (in this case Louis XIV). As was suggested in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006), the private space of the two monarchs existed and functioned purely in the interests of the reproduction of power at court. This system displayed the submission of fashion to external logics of power, social hierarchies and politics. 2) The most popular and clearly recognizable ideal of luxury was elaborated during the late nineteenth century with the help of the Industrial Revolution and the theories of the social sciences. It was a basic concept that was completely shaped during the period of the “golden age of fashion” (Lipovetsky 1990; Crane 2000) and lasted almost a hundred years. In this period, luxury functioned as a strategy for signaling status and power by the upper classes. Modern, industrial society inherited this trait from aristocratic society and readapted it to the needs of the new bourgeoisie. In a dynamic new society it became necessary to find new ways to mark social differentiation. As authors like Veblen and Simmel have noted, the ostentatious nature of luxury goods had a fundamental sociological basis. The boundaries between classes were threatened, becoming more flexible. In this border-free competition, the luxury concept swung between the exchange value and the symbolic meaning of goods. As such, the bourgeoisie adopted new strategies to legitimate its status before the rest of the society. This conception underlines the relationship between waste, fashion, luxury and the necessity to adopt bad taste (“grotesque and intolerable” styles) to renew differentiation. The luxury expressed by the élite was not just an exhibition of the magnificence and seductive power of clothes. It also referred to the category of time that was relevant in Veblen’s reflections (1912, 178). The logic of social distinction is possible according to the social availability of time. Time can be considered a fundamental resource that crosses the fourth stages of luxury and connects

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the nature of industrial society to its post-industrial evolution. In an emerging financial culture, clothes start to represent an ideal of luxury demonstrating full control of time—observing a superficial outfit, it is possible to conclude that its owner can consume without physically producing anything. The trickle-down theories further reflect the institutionalization of fashion as a productive system—in 1856 Charles Frederick Worth revolutionized the notion of fashion, breaking definitively with the ideals of etiquette. Worth’s invention of the fashion show (called defilè in French) overturned the relationship between client and tailor (Lipovetsky 1990); the evolution from tailor to designer, placed the figure of the designer above the upper classes and common people. In other words, he became the center of the whole system. Fashion became a mutable, autonomous phenomenon, which was hegemonized by the designer who turned himself into a creative genius able to implement fashion’s peculiar taste (or “bad taste” according to Veblen), emancipated from social conventions. As in Simmel’s vision, change in fashion, which animates the luxury market, is a vital mechanism. This is further seen in the etymological derivation of the Italian word “lusso” from the Latin “luglutto” (Calefato 2003). This same period not only developed the notion of symbolic waste, but also its material equivalent. Although the notion of “low cost” fashion is relative contemporary, we can find its origins in the availability of enormous quantities of cotton imported to Europe from the New World, which played a fundamental role in driving consumption. This new hyperproduction of garments, drastically reduced prices so that even poorer people could wear industrial products: “it is impossible to estimate the advantage to the bulk of the people from the wonderful cheapness of cotton goods….the humble classes now have the means of a great neatness, and even gaitey of dress as the middle and upper classes of the last age” (Baines 1835, 358). The explosion of cotton production during the nineteenth century, in the UK and then in the USA, drove a revolution in public consumption and anticipated the logic of low-cost society—“the cheap cotton clothing available to the masses was the historical equivalent of today’s $5.99 cotton T-shirt” (Rivoli 2009, 7). Another example of the symbolic notion of waste is revealed in the work of Christian Dior who, according to Polhemus (1994) represents the last example of a fashion devoted to the celebration of the “new.” This marked a specific turning point in an industrial society on the verge of evolving into a post-industrial one and with a sense of time expressed by

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clothes that included the category of waste. In fact, “time is a socialcultural concept which reflects and expresses a society’s or a person’s real or ideal social situation” (Polhemus and Procter 1978, 13). Indeed, “traditional anti-fashion adornment is a model of time as continuity (the maintenance of a status quo) and fashion is a model of time as a change” (Polhemus and Procter 1978, 13). The cultural reaction against this new style, and also a new social ideal of femininity, triggered huge waves of moral pain. When the New Look arrived in the US, several newspapers and civic organizations expressed a violent counter-reaction. In 1947, the English Labour MP, Mabel Ridealgh, attacked the New Look in the pages of the Daily Herald: “I hope our fashion dictators will realize the new outlook of women and give the death blow to any attempt to curtail women’s freedom” (David 2012, 190). 3) The paradox of the sixties is that, while Western societies were entering the post-industrial age (Bell 1973), the fashion system was developing through the use of standardized industrial methods. Prêt-àporter did not just increase the number of high quality garments industrially produced, it was also a new ideology related to the explosion of the middle classes during the sixties. The fashion system in this period opened up to the influence of the streets and diffused creativity, which changed the basic rules of the system. This new productive model was triggered by the development of mass society and cultural innovations that came from subcultures and street-styles (Barile 2005, 2012). If the Golden Age of fashion was ruled by the Simmelian and Veblenian concepts of trickle-down, this new democratic luxury can be analyzed according to Blumer’s collective “selection model” (Blumer 1969, 268). This democratic logic of prêt-à-porter was a combination of creativity and bureaucratization (Lipovetsky 1990, 84), and signified a transformation under the new middle class “dictatorship.” Gundle (2009, 253) has shown how the concept of “glamour” was consolidated by society in this period. Conrad Hilton’s first hotel chain, and the competition between TWA and Lufthansa, which was won by the former because of its seductive image, all show how the sixties, driven by the success of some lifestyles, was able to orient the further expansion of mass society. New values coming from the ethics of leisure (Morin 1962) and also from countercultural movements were added to the traditional conception, which was based on power, ostentation and respectability. When, in 1968, Yves Saint Laurent declared “non au ritz, vive la route,” luxury absorbed the values of transgression and sexual provocation from youth culture and street-styles.

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After the long decade of the seventies—split into a critical first half when the ideals of the countercultural critique of consumption was even absorbed by mainstream fashion, and a second half when the nihilism of the punk era set the field for a new hedonistic age—the eighties was a controversial decade in which waste, luxury and deconstruction all mixed together. One of the protagonists of the eighties cultural scene was the social type of the yuppie. The yuppie can be considered the epitome of an extremely pragmatic ideal of fashion summarized by the formula “Dress for Success.” In this new hedonistic view, the main purpose of life was pleasure; it encouraged people to invest in their bodies, fitness, travel, etc. In this sense, the luxury claimed by yuppies was diametrically opposed to that of the upper middle classes of the nineteenth century, which was still based on traditional bourgeois respectability and Protestant ethics. More than just wasting or speculating with time, we may say that this new social type was also consumed by time. Yuppies in the eighties were the social type that embodied the values of neoliberal Reganism: young, ruthless, social climbers. The yuppie ethic (young, urban, powerful) was a “nonethic.” Yuppies, as the point of no return of capitalistic ideals, were the epilogue of a lifestyle devoted to excess where the attention to self-image was the precondition for a rapid and exciting career. The Yuppie “bible” was the film Wall Street (1987), directed by Oliver Stone. His main character, Gordon Gekko, is a ruthless broker obsessed with power, who uses every means he can in order to manipulate the life of his colleagues and competitors. More than a film in praise of Italian elegance (the dresses were designed by Nino Cerruti), the fellowship between finance and contemporary art was very interesting. The fellowship between luxury, finance and art is a topic too wide to be treated in these few pages. During the 1980s, a pact was made between fashion and art. Artists used designers as subjects for their portraits, turning them and other protagonists of the system (models, photographers, advertisers, etc.) into celebrities. Fashion firms made huge investments in the field of art and invested in patronage in order to consolidate their relationship with the artistic universe and regenerate their brand image. Later, in the second half of the nineties, the fashion system and global brand system, suffered a huge crisis of credibility. As Crane has underlined, the difference between the traditional relationship between fashion and art and this new one is that: “Worth did not become an art collector and did not participate in the social activities of his clients” (Crane 2000, 149). In the eighties, several designers, such as Armani, Krizia and Coveri, were portrayed by Warhol as famous pop icons. In the

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same way, fashion was trying to evolve in order to become considered a “major” artform (previously, it was considered “minor” art). This age was also the beginning of a new relationship between the exclusivity of art and the sensibility of the common people. The hero of this changing period was Versace, a “modern Merlin,” who has recently been presented by Gundle as a point of arrival in the evolution of “glamour” in mass society (Gundle 2009, 5). At the same time, the “Aristo” trend (Steele 2000, 109) signaled the relaunching of haute couture in the decade that, more than any other, highlighted the success of prêt-à-porter. This was made clear when, in the second half of the decade, Christian Lacroix launched his new luxury collections, based on an extreme and sophisticated style that declared the end of fashion’s “democratic” phase. Lacroix’s “Crash Chic” was a type of fashion idea inspired by the French Revolution when people could admire the clothes of the aristocracy as they walked along the road to the Guillottine. As Baumgold states in an article of that period: “Lacroix makes clothes of such extravagant, gorgeous excess as to divide the classes once and for all” (Baumgold 1987, 38). The end of the decade heralded the advent of new sets of values signalling a change in direction. 4) The radical overturning of the values that inspired fashion during the previous decade was particularly clear in the notion of a new “snobbery” introduced by Rebecca Armstrong (1995) and analyzed by Arnold (2001). This specific cultural attitude can be applied both to minimalism and to the several manifestations of “new-luxury.” Minimalism engaged in a straight redefinition of the notion of luxury. Helmut Lang’s disruption of clothes or, for example, their contamination with mildew and bacteria offer radical and symbolic examples of hyper-waste where clothes are not able to be consumed, but are inhospitable, like those of beggars and clochards. In this highly culturalized idea of fashion design, waste is sublimated and articulates more than ever before with the world of art. In defining newluxury, we can refer to the following key concepts: culture, spirituality, emotion, experience and authenticity. With the word culture we express two different and complementary dimensions. The first is that of traditional culture, distinguishing a specific historical period. In this dimension, the art, architecture, fashion and music of certain periods are included. The second dimension refers to “material culture” as a hallmark of a certain society, ethnicity, class, or subculture. It is an anthropological concept that allows us to understand the essence of the daily experience of a social group. The economy of experience becomes a fundamental approach for comprehending the evolution of consumption over the last decade. It indicates the surpassing of purely ostentatious consumption

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towards an idea that buying products or brands means entering into an experiential world. Therefore, the quality of experience is the engine of consumption. According to Pine II and Gilmore (1999), market evolution naturally leads to a declassing of the economic role of products and services while emphasizing the new role of experience, the orchestration of which, in design thinking, has created the “total living” trend. If the total look of the 80s was a demonstration of brand power over the consumer, total living deals with the integration of creativity into multiple expressions. In other words, it is an environmental conception of luxury that enfolds the consumer in multiple creative languages (fashion, design, art, music etc). 5) In spite of the optimistic, and perhaps anachronistic, intentions of the previous decade, when the immaterial and symbolic power of new consumption was exalted, the years after the millenium restored the old ideals of luxury and pushed them to their extremes. Regardless of the succession of financial crises, which saw exponentially increasing profits for those that survived them, contemporary luxury is becoming structurally reinforced. The mechanics of modern capitalism have multiplied social injustice, especially if we consider financial speculation, while the dynamics of social networks, with their democratic rhetoric of digital capitalism, are based on a simple principle, defined by network analysts as the Matthew Effect: “rich get richer” (Barabàsi 2004; Buchanan 2004). If the image of the broker during the eighties was associated with the protagonist of Wall Street, another popular movie, The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorzese, 2013) tells a different story. The adventures of business enterprise as piratical activity as the quintessential expression of the cult of waste (girls, drugs, money, yachts etc.), and also relating these events to the rise of the digital economy as an atypical form of what has been called “punk capitalism” (Mason 2008). On the same path, there is new research dedicated to the dramatic effect of the web and of the “sharing economy” on the disruption of the middle classes (Lanier 2014). The whole process of financial, digital and material exploitation brings the notion of waste to an uncommon level of power and reanimates academic debate on neomarxist approaches (Fuchs 2013). In the background, we see the old social stratification crumbling, which has determined an increasing polarization between the global superélite and the adepts of low-cost society—a polarization that Bauman refers to as that between the tourist and the vagabond (Bauman 2000, 24). Paradoxically, a certain strain of sociological literature on the disappearance of social class has predicted the disappearance of the old middle class, seeing a new opposition between a super-élite, becoming

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ever more powerful, and a low cost society, born of middle class decomposition. In particular, Gaggi and Narduzzi (2006) insist on the crumbling of the class system dominated by the middle classes during the late twentieth century as the engine of industrial and cultural development. Its crisis prefigures a new social stratification composed of four fundamental layers: 1) patrimonial aristocracy; 2) knowledge technocrats 3) medium-low income society; 4) a new-proletarian class with a limited purchasing power, consuming basic necessities (Gaggi, Narduzzi 2006, 11). This development of a new super-class does not only affect status, but it manifests itself in an increasingly marked distancing with the enclosure of the new class from the circuits of daily life. Besides the indicator of financial capital, the objects that define the super-rich have a strong symbolic power. This is the reason why Kempf (2007, 70) reinvigorates Veblen’s point of view that a period of “wild capitalism” could come back into vogue because of worsening inequality. This super-rich class exemplifies waste and displays the direction of the whole of society. The lower classes attempt to emulate this, regenerating the myth of infinite growth and the production-consumption cycle. What unites the old and the new oligarchy, and the old and new ideals of luxury, is the idea that respectability only concerns one’s peers while the rest of society is not worthy of attention and interest. The excessive inequalities between social classes are also likely to increase ecological issues. As a spearhead of consumer society, this ultra-bourgeoisie shows a schizophrenic mentality: it is mainly responsible for the destruction of the environment in a sort of trickle-down of waste and disruption; it also incorporates a new political vision and values that come from radical ecology. Hyper-luxury is an entropic luxury that has environmental and social impacts, but is also able to produce a specific story that operates as a cognitive air-bag to soften the social impact of its lifestyle. Even though for a long time it was not fashionable “to be rich,” money is now to be flaunted in the most striking manner, trying to enrich the credibility of a cultural project (Kempf 2007, 138). The demand for luxury goods has increased as a result of countries like Russia and China: “In Russia, 5 million of the total of 142 million people (including the 103.000 billionaires) produce a 2,5 billion euro value market with an annual estimated growth of 20% over the next 5 years. In China only 1% of the people can afford luxury goods: but we are talking about 14 million Chinese people and a 2 billion euro value market which will grow by over the 50% in the next few years” (Franchi 2007, 59).

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Moving to the other side of this immense waste machine, we find something even more alarming. The value of the low cost sector triggered by fast fashion is impressive. The speed of its production and capacity for penetration of global markets make this model of business the most dissipatory one. In the several ages of development of the system, there was a distinction between a symbolic notion of waste and a material notion of waste: the former was more ecological while the latter was completely anti-ecological. Today, the notion of waste is both material and immaterial and it obliquely crosses all models and segments of production: haute couture, prêt-à-porter, fast fashion and also ethical fashion, which has recently been analyzed as a new paradigm. “For most of the twentieth century, fashion retailing saw the rotation of current assets by a factor of two or three (turnover divided by current assets or sales/rock)… However, nowadays retailers such as Zara, H&M, Vero Moda, and Abercrombie & Fitch reach ratios of over five” (Sheffer 2009, 131).

According to Jackson and Shaw (2013), “Zara, for instance, turns over its stock approximately seventeen times a year and the central London flagship store of Topshop, at Oxford Circus, can have six deliveries of stock per day” (153). This is why the authors conclude their reflections by stating that “Fast Fashion is here to stay” (153). While most fashion market players pretend to be sustainable, the reality is that their level of production and logistics leads to additional material and symbolic waste. The economy of experience has accustomed both high- and low-end consumers to a new relationship with brands, products and places of consumption. While in haute couture the experiential dimension is completely designed under the guidelines of the brand identity and has coherence (with a few exceptions such as Givenchy’s adoption of Donatella Versace as a testimonial for their latest campaign), in the case of the fast fashion brands, the aim is to reconstruct a sense of authenticity surrounding products, places and brands that is completely dehumanized by their need for speed. Consider for example the capsule collection, produced in a limited range and diffused in stores as a purely dissipative event. The customer’s emotional investment, waiting in line for the opening of the store, fighting with others to obtain the best piece, using their knowhow to quickly identify the elements that best fit with their taste, is something very similar to the new forms of cognitive exploitation created by social networks—the only difference being that social networks are completely free, while fast fashion has a cost. In both cases we see how eager the user is to fill consumption with emotions, relations and

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experiences, and how the interaction between those three “resources” redefines the notion of waste, including it in the consumer’s identity in what today is called “selfbranding” (Barile 2013).

Bibliography Abruzzese, A. 2006. L’occhio di Joker: cinema e modernità. 1st ed. Rome: Carocci. Aldana-Gonzalez, M. 2003. “Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks; Linked: The New Science of Networks.” Physics Today Vol.56 (3): 71–72. Anholt, S. 2006. Competitive Identity: The New Brand Management for Nations, Cities and Regions. United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. Armstrong, L. 1995. ‘The New Snobbery.” Vogue. Arnold, R. 2001. Fashion, Desire and Anxiety: Image and Morality in the Twentieth Century. United States: Rutgers University Press. Bell, D. 1973. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. A Venture in Social. Forecasting. New York: Basic Books. Barabási, A. L. and J. Frangos. 2002. Linked: The New Science of Networks. 1st ed. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books Group. Barile N. 2013. “From the Posthuman Consumer to the Ontobranding Dimension: Geolocalization, Augmented Reality and Emotional Ontology as a Radical Redefinition of What Is Real” in Social Robots and Emotion: Transcending the Boundary Between Humans and ICTs, edited by Satomi Sugiyama & Jane Vincent. Barile, N. 2005. Manuale di comunicazione, sociologia e cultura della moda: Vol. II, Moda e stili. Rome: Meltemi. —. 2012. “A Knot to Untie: Social Power, Fetishism, Communication.” In The Social History of the Tie. In: Exchanging Clothes: Habits of Being II, 193–211. MINNEAPOLIS:University of Minnesota Press. Bauman, Z. 2000. “Tourists and Vagabonds: Or, Living in Postmodern Times.” In Identity and Social Change, edited by Joseph E. Davis, 13– 26. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Baumgold, J. 1987. Dancing on the Lip of the Volcano. New York Magazine. Blumer, H. 1969. “Fashion: From Class Differentiation to Collective Selection.” The Sociological Quarterly 10 (3): 275–291. Calefato, P. 2014. Luxury. Fashion, Lifestyle and Excess. Bloomsbury Academic Cova, B., and M Saucet. 2010. Unconventional marketing. The Routledge Companion to the Future of Marketing.

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Crane D. 2000. Fashion and Its Social Agendas: Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing. University of Chicago Press. Deirdre David. 2012. Olivia Manning: A Woman at War. Oxford University Press. Davis, F. 1992. Fashion, Culture and Identity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Edgar, M. 1962. L’Esprit du temps [The Spirit of the Time]. Paris: Grasset. Ellis, B. E. 1991. Ame Edgar, M. 1962. L’Esprit du temps [The Spirit of the Time]. Paris: Grasset rican Psycho. Picador. Ewen, S. 1988. All Consuming Images. Basic Books. Fiske, N. and M. J Silverstein. 2008. Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods--and How Companies Create Them. Portfolio Trade. Franchi, M. 2007. Il senso del consumo. Milan: Bruno Mondadori. Fuchs, C. 2013. Digital Labour and Karl Marx. London: Routledge. Gaggi, M. and Narduzzi, E. 2006. La fine del ceto medio e la nascita della società low cost. Torin: Einaudi. Gundle, S. 2008. Glamour a history. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jackson, T. and D. Shaw. 2007. Mastering Fashion Marketing (Palgrave Master Series. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Kempf, H. 2007. Comment les riches détruisent la planète. Paris: Éditions du Seuil. Lanier, J. 2014. Who Owns the Future? United Kingdom: Penguin Books. Scheffer, Michiel. 2009. “Fashion Design and Technologies in a Global Context.” The Fabric of Cultures: Fashion, Identity, and Globalization edited by E. Paulicelli and H. Clark. Oxford: Taylor & Francis. Pine, J. B. and J. H. Gilmore. 1999. The Experience Economy. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. Rifkin, J. 1994. The end of work: the decline of the global labor force and the dawn of the post-market era. New York: Tarcher/Putnam. Reich, Robert B. 2008. Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life. New York:Vintage Book. Rivoli, P. 2006. “The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade.” Foreign Affairs Vol.85: 2. Veblen, T. 1912. Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: B. W. Huebsch. L. Welters, and A. Lillethun, eds. 2011. The Fashion Reader. 2nd ed. New York: Berg Publishers.

FAUSTO SQUILLACE: THE FASHION PROTO-SOCIOLOGIST ANGELO ROMEO

Introduction In the history of sociology, some scholars—and among them no doubt Fausto Squillace—stand out for their inventiveness and vision. They have a kind of genius predictive of the climate and the time in which they live, are deserving of more attention, and should be reinstated as prominent authors in the history of sociological thought—not just mentioned on a few pages in order to put an extra item in a redundant bibliography. Along with Squillace the list is full of authors who, in disciplines related to sociology, have made a significant contribution, such as Franco Ferrarotti, Sighele, Vanni, Miceli, Niceforo, Carli, Loria, and De Marinis. On the one hand, it may seem boring to propose a re-analysis of a small booklet such as La moda by Fausto Squillace, since we have become accustomed to the established literature; on the other hand, we would regain possession of a theoretical apparatus, dealing with many aspects neglected in favor of the “classic” scholars. Squillace has often been kept in the shadows and in some cases rarely mentioned, but this is not a reason to consider his studies and insights— dating back to 1912 when the book was published—of negligible impact in understanding fashion. To those who are going to read him for the first time, it will be clear that he used, both in the title and in the text, arguments that George Simmel had previously developed. Squillace’s work, though, does not look like a copy or a critique of Simmel’s volume, but develops many of its points, along with those of Spencer and Tarde. If this scholar, whom we revive today, in the pages of one of his small, but dense books, is not reported as a “classic,” how can it be considered by those who are to read and study him? This is not the place to discuss Squillace’s position, but given the unique nature and the shadow cast over his works, it should be

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stated that we are referring to an “Italian proto-sociologist” (Nocenzi and Romeo 2011). Reading the first few pages of the text, one quickly realizes the contemporaneity of his thought, which may appear to be chronologically obsolete and targeted at a niche audience of fashion enthusiasts. He provides an analysis of past issues that are relevant today, as in the case of new luxuries, new consumption, and, especially, the idea that fashion is not just the habitus you wear, but a modus vivendi, a style of life and thought, accompanying the individual every day. It is interesting to recall Margarita Rivière’s emphasis on this subject, when she wrote: “so far, we have studied, including classics like Simmel, an exclusively dress-centered micro-fashion. We must switch to considering fashion as a process—a macro-system. With its derivatives in people’s bodies and brains” (Riviere 2007, 66–67). Squillace targets this combination of body-mind and physical space when, in giving the first definitions of fashion, he connects it not only to dress, but also to everything the individual uses in their everyday life, how they relate to others and the context in which they move: the particular way of using fantasy ephemerally, which regulates the shape of furniture, clothes, hairstyles, vogue and imitation (Squillace 2010, 25). Squillace’s work retrieves some elements that can be revisited in terms of “consumer society”—a society that is more and more concerned with the brand and the image of products. As a backdrop to the new dynamics of fashion building, we have the status symbol and the new ways in which fashion makes itself known. Just think about the contribution of the media, and especially of advertising and the advent of the internet, and you will catch some of these modern tools of fashion communication. Simmel, Tarde and Squillace would not have known about the tools through which today’s fashion “displays” itself and seeks to engage its audience and we might wonder what good it is to re-read this book at a time when so much about fashion, luxury and consumption has already been said. Why re-read Squillace? He was, from our point of view, the first Italian sociologist to deal with fashion at a time when the discipline was struggling to establish itself in Italy and especially at a time when working with fashion did not mean to study this phenomenon scientifically, but to do gravure journalism. Indeed, the early scholars who were concerned with the sociology of fashion were often credited with the appointment of the trends forecast for the current year or the following season. This was mainly due to the absence in Italy of a tradition of academic sociological study of fashion, which slowly emerged over the years. Squillace

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represents the first of these authors on the national stage in the early twentieth century. Along with the presentation of this work of Squillace, we wish to provide some information about him, his life, and other publications which are of interest to the social sciences and other disciplines, such as philosophy. He was born in Sondrio in 1878 to Calabrian immigrants and died in Catanzaro in 1920 at the age of 42. He was a law graduate and began working as a lawyer with his brother Odoardo, who was president of the province from 1905 to 1910. Although no monograph of the author is available, meaning that personal data was obtained through his death certificate and other information related to his journalistic career, many of his contemporary scholars describe his character, as we do, in the following pages. Moreover, even though he did not get much attention in Italy, he was not entirely unknown abroad. Among the names who edited translations of his books, we can include: R. Eisler (Leipzig), E. Ovejero (Madrid), A. Ferrer Robert (Barcelona), P. A. Sorokin and R. Michels. Italians interested in his thought included: his Calabrian friends A. Turkish, A. Renda and G. Patari; also F. Barbano (Barbano 1985), F. Ferrarotti, O. Lentini (1971–72, 116–40), M. Ferrari Occhionero (1983, 75–85), and A. Placanica (1975). The reflection on Squillace’s thought by these Italian scholars has been significant and they have allowed us to investigate further and learn more about his work. At the end of his book, Profilo critico di storia del pensiero sociologico, F. Barbano dedicated a few notes to Squillace , writing: “It will certainly be interesting to review, for more refined retrospectives, Fausto Squillace’s Dottrine sociologiche.” O. Lentini repeatedly quotes Fausto Squillace referring both to Dottrine Sociologiche and to Dizionario di sociologia, arguing that: “It was Squillace who theorized the theoretical nature of sociology by committing to the systematic gathering of information on the discipline without ever coming to empirical research, despite having reached a remarkable conceptual clarity” (Lentini 1971–72, 122). He was very active in journalism, adding to legal questions with his writings, attending major debates and being involved in conferences that on occasion produced deep monographs, such as La moda.

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Fashion in Squillace’s sociological analysis According to Squillace, fashion is a form of art; more precisely, it is a form of decorative art applied to the human body. Therefore, in its broadest sense, it is a collective type theory, in its imitative (proper fashion), or inventive and distinctive (elegance and luxury) manifestations, along with their degenerations (servility, eccentricity, flaunting). Fashion becomes both a collective phenomenon and an artistic phenomenon. Specifically, it is a collective type of human beauty, whose ideal is related to time and place like any other social event. In the careful description of fashion provided in these pages, special attention is brought to bear on the etymological meaning of the term fashion in Latin, Spanish, Basque, French, English, German and even Hebrew. Within this etymological research, he points out that there is not only the aesthetic appearance of the habitus, but also a modus vivendi that affects all the contexts of individual and collective life. Squillace developed concepts similar to those of Simmel and Veblen, scholars that he discusses in this work, although he never got to know them personally. In reading him, one notices the use of highly sophisticated language, as well as some terms that have now disappeared, in his description of fashion phenomena, and a careful systematicity in describing, from a historical point of view, the evolution of dress, as well as the main stages of the history of fashion. What is the novelty that Squillace brought to the sociology of fashion and its theoretical apparatus? He considered fashion to be a collective phenomenon, which can easily be seen today by looking at the changing nature of contemporary fashion—I am referring not only to the development of fashion according to the drip theory, but to this theory determined in the creation of fashion. Squillace provdes two significant reflections, later developed by Nicola Squicciarino and Gerardo Ragone. Squicciarino is the first to use the puppet model, that: “would highlight how in a consumer society, even with an undeniable general improvement of life, there is, despite appearances, a disguised pyramidal relationship in which secretly, through the mass media, the lower classes are constantly offered consumption-addiction behavioral patterns, and the more they will be drugged by the bombardment of media advertising on fashion and consumption, the higher the chance of their being played by the invisible threads of economic power” (Squicciarino 1986, 141).

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Ragone (1976), for his part, emphasizes that while continuing to experience a situation where the ruling classes are the ones dictating fashion to their subordinates, the mass media are actually playing the role of “collective cadres of reference.” The two theses end up completing Squillace’s analysis of fashion as a collective phenomenon, making it topical and, in light of the development of consumer society, increasingly driven by advertising and the media in general in influencing the choices of those who follow fashion and those who make fashion. Fashion, as a collective phenomenon, can now also be accessed by referring to the birth of “second-class” fashions—youth styles and street fashions—which sometimes lead social scientists to question the second, original and interesting point of Squillace’s thinking: beauty. Beauty can be analyzed by looking at ugliness, according to aesthetic, economic and psychological criteria. A thorough assessment of how beauty can be understood can be made by reference to these three criteria. This is a powerful concept in a consumer society dominated by mass media, as well as by aesthetic concerns, which often ends up making beautiful what is not. In today’s aesthetic age, it is interesting to reread the questions he was raising in 1912, “Well, does this human beauty really exist? ... What do we mean by the human body? The male one or the female one? Who is more beautiful, men or women? What men of which race, what people, what region? And yet, of what age? In the position or expression of a child or teenager, a man standing calmly, a man working or a man in thought? And what is ugly? Is it a bad or incomplete expression?” (Squillace 2010, 33).

These are questions that are frequently raised today, especially at a time when aesthetics has considerable weight in making changes to people from an aesthetic point of view, but also with regards to the creation of new relationships and lifestyles.

Luxury One last interesting point worth noting is Squillace’s interpretation of luxury. He writes: “According to its literal meaning, luxury, from the Latin luxus, ‘signifies shallowness in the uses and comforts of life, almost to demonstrate wealth and magnificence’ (Fanfani), or, ‘luxury is properly excess, pomp, swank, magnificence, abundance’ (Larousse). ‘luxury is lavishness, over-spending

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Fausto Squillace: The Fashion Proto-Sociologist in clothing, food, furniture’; abundance of sumptuous things (Littré) etc. It is worth determining from now on that luxury is a relative thing: it is a simple relationship. It can happen, an economist says, that in many places a certain custom and some refinement in dress are so habitual that these things can be considered conventionally necessary, since, in order to achieve them, men will generally sacrifice some of the things necessary for their own productivity ... Be warned that as to many things, rightly referred to as unnecessary luxury, up to a certain limit their consumption is productive, since they are consumed by producers according to the theory of needs, their cry of welfare, their social status, etc., and what is a luxury for one is a pure necessity for the other” (Squillace 2010, 81).

Then he adds: “In more detail, luxury is but a target for the products of decorative art. Braudillart notices that luxury aims at domination, as opposed to art, which aims towards wellness and congruity with the environment; luxury is therefore characterized by economic scarcity: it is not all that is beautiful and good, but everything that, due to its high price and scarcity, is desirable and unattainable to many. However, Braudillart first distinguishes luxury from art, while afterwards, in examining luxury among various peoples (eg. in Egypt) he makes it a demonstration or application of decorative art; and among public luxury he includes religious and civil monuments, festivals, gardens, cities, etc. It is, therefore, decorative art and other forms of art (sculpture, painting, architecture), which back then, still undeveloped and non-autonomous, were still only decorative arts! All art is meant to strengthen and embellish life, although the various forms of art target one human faculty or another; for example, intelligence rather than feeling or sense, regardless of the fact that none of these faculties exists by itself. The decorative arts, and consequently fashion and luxury, appeal more to the sense, that’s all! And the fact that Luxury is actually considered, although unconsciously, as art, is due to the fact that the fathers of the Church, in preaching against Luxury preached against art as well, the only superfluous thing in those days; or better still, against decorative art, as luxury in certain ages (from the fifth to the eleventh century) boiled down to the decorative arts. And the relationship between art and luxury has always been close and reciprocal: in Greece, art regulated luxury; in Byzantium, luxury corrupted art, and so on” (Squillace 2010, 82).

A luxury that is interpreted as “the economic distinction of fashion, just as elegance represents its aesthetic distinction; but as a phenomenon or epiphenomenon of fashion it is a collective aesthetic phenomenon, and, like fashion, finds its principle in the natural tendency of the need for decoration, in the love of clothing, in sexual hunting, in pride and vanity, and it develops in the welfare state;

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it is appreciated because it is the symbol of wealth, the most desired of goods” (Squillace 2010, 81).

These are the characteristics of contemporary luxury that go beyond the trends of jewelery or expensive cars, and today we find luxury in leisure time, luxury in traveling at certain times of the year, and luxury that the media pour into us through referential messages, leaving much to the imagination and the idea of a dream that is inherent to luxury itself. To this analysis we should add the creation of new forms of a more democratic luxury, since, as pointed out by Anna Maria Curcio: “the new luxury demands time, unlimited time, needed for the enjoyment of the new and even minimal use of luxury, it is self-legitimizing through complacency, but especially with the secret, silent strengthening of the self-asserting identity” (Curcio 2007). In conclusion, we might wonder what is Squillace to be credited for today? For having contributed to the discussion of some of the classics of fashion sociological thought, pointing out issues like elegance, beauty, luxury in amanner that, despite favoring a sociological focus, becomes a useful contribution for scholars in other disciplines. It is also an invitation to offer a deeper understanding that, while taking into account the lack of discussion of issues related to the advent of global communication and the temporariness and uncertainty of everyday life, highlights the qualities of a scholar who, at the beginning of the twentieth century, had the merit of introducing a series of studies we might call Made in Italy on the sociology of fashion.

Bibliography Barbano, Filippo. 1971. Profilo critico di storia del pensiero sociologico. Turin: Giappichelli. —. 1985. La sociologia in Italia, Gli anni della rinascita. Turin: Giappichelli. Burgalassi, Marco M. 1996. Itinerari di una scienza. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Codeluppi, Vanni. 2002. Che cos’è la moda. Rome: Carocci. —. 2005. Manuale di sociologia dei consumi. Rome: Carocci. —. 2010. Dalla produzione al consumo. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Curcio, Anna Maria. 2002. La moda: identità negata. Milan: Franco Angeli. —, ed. 2007. Sociologia della moda e del lusso. Milan: FrancoAngeli. —, ed. 2015. Le mode oggi. Milan: FrancoAngeli.

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Ferrari Occhionero, Marisa. 1983. “Il contributo di Fausto Squillace alla sociologia: prime note.” In Contributi di storia della sociologia, edited by Alberto Izzo and Carlo Mongardini, 75–85. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Grossi, Giorgio, and Simone Tosi, eds. 2014. La società consumata. Milan: Mimesis. Izzo, Alberto, and Carlo Mongardini. 1983. Contributi di storia della sociologia. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Lentini, Orlando. 1971–72. “Storiografia sociologica italiana, (18601925).” Critica sociologica 20: 122. Nocenzi, Mariella, and Angelo Romeo, eds. 2011. I sociologi dimenticati. Antologia del pensiero proto sociologico Italiano. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Placanica, Augusto. 1975. Fermenti dell’intellettualità meridionale nella crisi di fine secolo, (1896-1899). Catanzaro: Ed. Ursini. Ragone, Giovanni, ed. 1976. Sociologia dei fenomeni di moda. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Rivière, Margarita. 2007. “Morte e rinascita della moda.” In Sociologia della moda e del lusso, edited by Anna Maria Curcio, 66–67. Milan: FrancoAngeli. Simmel, Georg. 2015. La moda. Edited by Anna Maria Curcio. Milan: Mimesis. Squicciarino, Nicola, ed. 1986. Il vestito parla. Considerazioni psicologiche sull’abbigliamento. Rome: Armando. Squillace, Fausto. 2010. La moda. Edited by Angelo Romeo. Rome: Nuova Cultura.

THE TRANS-DISCIPLINARITY OF FASHION THEORY: IDENTITY, LANGUAGE, MEDIA PATRIZIA CALEFATO

Fashion theory Fashion theory and fashion studies were born as autonomous fields in the second half of the twentieth century on the basis of being recognized as cultural studies. Fashion is a form of popular culture. It is part of everyday life in the sense that fashion, and more dressing generally, encompasses the whole sphere of the “popular,” and of common sense, which, following Gramsci, I conceive of as contradictory and ambivalent. Fashion is a social discourse, a system of signs, as defined by Roland Barthes, who wrote about “real” fashion, considered as a social practice (in most of the collected essays of the book The Language of Fashion, 2006) and about “written” or “described” fashion, which has been converted into language, as happens in specialized magazines (in The Fashion System). As a discourse, fashion is involved in the procedures of its own order in a Foucauldian sense; the procedures recognized by Barthes in his fundamental semiotic opposition/binarism of “in fashion/out of fashion” and his assertion that this opposition/binarism sets up the way the system of fashion operates. This opposition/binarism is reproduced in all the fields where fashion-signs express themselves: colors (for example blue in opposition to green); seasons (winter in opposition to summer); jewels to bijoux; Chanel to Courréges; language to clothing, etc. However, if we follow Foucault, the order of discourse is based on ambivalent forces so that the role of these procedures “is to ward off its discourse’s powers and dangers, to gain mastery over its chance events, to evade its ponderous, formidable materiality” (Foucault 1970: 52). Thus, the order of discourse contains within itself a conflict against its own materiality and when we talk of a system like fashion which has a direct relationship to the clothed body, this materiality is tangible, almost

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literal, and involves the role of the human senses. The human senses, in their complexity and reciprocity, are at work in the reproduction and communication of fashions. There are stereotypes of common feeling, but there are also ways to exceed the common feeling and even to use the intrinsic fetishism of fashion, the living power of objects and garments, in order to invert and humanize their meaning. The clothed body is both the product of fashion as a discourse and the subject that generates this fashion discourse. For this reason, fashion theory cannot but be a multiple, complex and trans-disciplinary field of knowledge, which reflects the force of the human body as a producer of both undreamed-of significations and, at the same time, as a site of the constrictions, stereotypes and objectifications that human bodies live through fashion and its imagination. Fashion theory considers fashion as a system of meaning within which cultural and aesthetic portrayals of the clothed body are produced. From a connotative point of view, “fashion theory” recalls such expressions as “film theory,” “gender theory,” “queer theory,” etc., in which the word “theory” implies a positioned knowledge and theory is implicitly seen as the deconstruction of universalistic canons. The “theory” sees its “subject”—in this case contemporary fashion—as a system in which roles, social hierarchies, the models of imagination and the figures of the body are produced. Fashion theory represents an epistemological “jump” from the traditional history and sociology of clothing: it points to a transverse theoretical and genealogical approach that constructs favorable conditions and theoretical filters by selecting components from the human and social sciences (including literature, philosophy and the arts) to conceive of the fashion system as a special dimension of material culture, the history of the body, and the theory of the tangible. The clothed body is the physical-cultural territory in which the visible, perceivable performance of our outward identity takes place. This composite cultural text-fabric provides opportunities for the manifestation of individual and social traits that draw on such elements as gender, taste, ethnicity, sexuality, a sense of belonging to a social group or, conversely, transgression. Fashion studies on gender show how the history of clothing has also been the history of the body, of the way in which we have constructed it, imagined it and attributed it to men and women on the basis of its productive and reproductive functions, its discipline, the hierarchies written on it, and the discourses that have generated its passions and meanings. Fashion, or rather fashions, organize the signs of the clothed body in time and space, as if forging its own language, and, at

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the same time, they represent possible ways of mixing reference codes by constructing hybrids between signs, like the linguistic and cultural hybrids within which the very idea of identity is constructed. The materiality of the clothed body implies disciplinary interconnections, jumps and translations across knowledge borders. I use the expression “translation” in a metaphorical, as well as a literal sense; and as a cultural inter-relation, following Walter Benjamin’s idea of translation as a practice where language considers the “strangeness of languages’ as its own limit, but at the same time as the only possibility to enter a higher and purer area” (Benjamin 1921). Trans-disciplinarity, in this sense, is a more complex and more open view than that of “flattened” multi-disciplinarity. Let us think, for example, of the way in which gender identity plays out through fashion with the canonical, stereotyped ways of portraying male and female, on the one hand, and the challenges to the dominant discourse that are conveyed by the signs of the body, on the other. Let us think of the complex relationships between styles of appearance and the forms of resistance and pleasure in which subordinate identities are expressed. There is a close relationship between style as expressed in clothing and subversion, i.e. the way in which dominated and exploited people use certain fashions to express resistance and/or conformity.

Fashion and identity According to Barthes, we can establish a distinction between dress and dressing: the former is basically a social reality, whereas the latter is an individual reality by means of which the individual translates the general institution of dress onto himself/herself. Examples: x Manifestations of dressing encompass elements including: the size of the item of clothing; its degree of wear, untidiness or cleanliness; a partial lack of clothes; non-use, e.g. non-aligned buttons, unworn sleeves, pleated clothes; and everything that has to do with the way the item of clothing is worn by the person. x Dress phenomena include elements like: ritual colors, e.g. black for mourning; the differences between men and women’s wear; features that distinguish between children’s and adult clothes. Fashion is a costume phenomenon, since it is a social and communicative practice, or rather, it is a system through which individual

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and collective representations of body and identity are made. From when can we talk of fashion in human history? From when has there been an awareness of something that has to do with what we usually define as fashion? In order to explain this we will make reference to the word for fashion in Italian: moda. Moda comes from the Latin modus (which means measure) and from modern. The modern concept of fashion is made up by the elements of imitation and innovation, articulated in never-ending dialectics, as Georg Simmel has described (1904). Fashion consists in doing like others do, and in this sense it implements the meaning of modus; on the other hand, it is the perennial creation of modern forms. The concept of fashion was highlighted for the first time in late sixteenth-century literature, in particular in the essay Degli habiti antichi e moderni di diverse parti del mondo written by the Italian painter and designer Cesare Vecellio (1521–1601). In this essay, the expression cosa de gli habiti appears, the meaning of which is very close to the current idea of fashion. This concept was not created at the onset of bourgeois identity, but it is with bourgeois society that clothing symbols and items started to spread more widely and the imitative mechanism became more generalized. It is not totally correct to describe fashion as a social system for regulating costumes developed in the centuries before that crucial moment we call the modern era (starting from the sixteenth century), because fashion also implies cultural awareness of its rules—a social discourse that talks about and spreads its principles to a wider audience. In this sense, the invention and spread of printed material played a key role. It is also true that the social symbolism connected to costume has always been there. And this is one of the aspects that let us use, with due caution, the word fashion in a historical and cultural context—different to that of the modern era and Western bourgeois society when looking at the history of global humanity. In its more recent manifestations, fashion, paradoxically, has acquired those habits or forms that Barthes includes in the field of dressing, as opposed to dress. Some examples: x The individual’s dimensions (dressing) are connected to the individual’s natural form if the item of clothing is tailor-made, but the invention of sizing requires bodies to conform to standard numbers (dress). x The degree of wear might mean something for the individual (dressing), but it becomes a matter of fashion (dress) if assigned as

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vintage, or when worn or torn on purpose. x Untidiness or dirt (dressing) might also refer to forms of antifashion and urban tribalism, as with hippies and punks (dress). x A lack of clothes (dressing) might also be a marker of the collective use of garments, such as the political meaning of the bras burned by feminists in the 1960s. x Lack of use (dressing) refers directly to some everyday fashions (dress), like the habit of buttoning jackets in an unusual way, wearing long sleeves down to the fingertips, or the habit of intentionally showing unironed items of clothing, as adopted by haute couture. x Gestures related to how to wear a specific item of clothing are usually a form of socially produced behavior, for example, within younger groups, or induced by fashion requirements, as in the case of tight skirts, which force one to sit in certain ways, or high heels which force one to walk in a particular way. A close relationship exists between clothes and identity as a sociocultural construction through which the world and others can recognize us. The sign value that a specific garment or a decoration has depends on its location on the body and its relationship to other bodies. Every sign assumes a social value and meaning according to its relationship with other signs. If the social subject acknowledges and masters the network of meanings conveying information on their status through their bodily signs, a strong sense and certainty is established in relation to the idea of identity. According to Jurji Lotman, fashion introduces a dynamic principle into everyday areas. On the one hand, traditional costumes tend to keep these areas unchanged over time, yet, on the other, fashion introduces characters opposed to daily life, by which it is usually defined: whimsicality, fickleness, weirdness, arbitrariness, lack of motivation, etc. In this sense, fashion becomes part of an image of the world turned upside-down: a picture that registers the constant tension in society between the stability of the everyday and the desire for novelty and extravagance. Fashion is a system of signs through which our exterior identity performs in a visible and understandable way. Fashion is used to express individual and social traits, drawing on elements like gender, taste, ethnicity, sexuality, sense of belonging to a social group or, vice versa, not belonging. Fashion, or fashions, are devices used to organize the signs of the clad body within time and space and, at the same time, represent the possibility of mixing up its reference codes, building hybrids by using different cultural signs. Through fashion, gender identity plays with what

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is considered to be the stereotyped and established forms of representation of the masculine and feminine and challenges the order of the dominant discourse conveyed by bodily signs.

Fashion and language: fashion as language The Fashion System by Roland Barthes lays the foundation for fashion theory as social discourse. In this book, Barthes does not deal with real fashion, but with the fashion described in specialized magazines: clothes are converted into language and even the accompanying pictures are transposed into words. Fashion can exist through the devices, the technology and the communication systems that construct its meaning. According to Barthes, it is specialized journalism that constructs the fundamental context for the discourse of fashion and the recipient of fashion (the woman reader) to articulate. The fashion system is conceived by Barthes as the possibility to translate an item of clothing into a language made up of captions, titles, and texts in fashion magazines. All these signs are able to create an imaginary world that is the real world of fashion. In this textual form, the body exists, as it is told by the fashion description. The body of the Fashion System is that of a woman, who is also the reader of the magazine—she is the one who receives the sense and incorporates the ideological content of written fashion. Some examples of the encounters between the body and the language of fashion include: x The project Multiple Clothing by Stephen Willats, which started in the mid-1960s and has continued up to today with live performances. Bodies are clothed with letters or words that can be transformed by the person wearing them or by those interacting with the performer. The audience is invited to put letters and whole words written on labels on the model-bodies, or to write directly on the clothing with a marker. In this way, the garment becomes the depositary of a collective linguistic memory made up of concepts describing the human condition. x Contemporary fashion designers Victor & Rolf followed two semiotic strategies in their collection of 2012. The first one implied the insertion of text onto the item of clothing transposing the garment into a word, for example, in a coat that changes shape at breast level in order to compose the word “DREAM” or in a fur cape ripped open at the breast with the word “WOW.” The second strategy used traditional inscription of the word on the garment, as

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is usually the case with T-shirts, accompanied by the duplication of the text in writing that was in direct contact with the body, as was the case with “NO” reproduced both on a sweater and on the model’s eye. x The Italian brand Momaboma manufactures bags and other accessories by recycling old materials. The first material was made from pages of illustrated magazines from the 1950s and 1960s, which were covered in resin and treated with polypropylene. Each bag is unique and with their slightly naïf patina they tell old stories. Another material was made up of tailors’ tape measures, which filled old ladies’ sewing baskets. Finally, they used authentic old texts written on protocol sheets. In this way, Momaboma not only creates an alternative to paper pulping in order to support sustainability, but also creates an unofficial archive of texts to read. In this way, language and fashion are related to memory and time, making up a slow fashion that ponders its own origins and communication procedures. Covers, garments and decorations on the skin create the body and forge its being in the world. The clothed body is a combination of signs, including garments, hair-style, make-up, tattoos, and decoration— everything that makes the body a cultural element and not simply a natural element. The clothed body represents a device through which social meanings are conveyed. Fashion is based on the dialectics between distinction and imitation and it is a system of meaning through which collective and individual representations of the body and identity are created. There is a close relationship between the word, the body and clothes that let us think of fashion as a language.

Fashion journalism Fashion journalism can now be considered a fully fledged genre of professional journalism. Journalists and well-known magazine directors are sought after by fashion brands as potential popularizers of their products and philosophy to a wider audience. As with areas like sport, show business, economics, and tourism, fashion is part of the news and the subject of specialized articles in daily newspapers and periodicals on current affairs. The editorial staff of the most important fashion magazines have an unwavering power to approve or disapprove of high-couture and prêt-a-porter collections.

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In the movie The Devil Wears Prada (2006), today’s fashion journalism is ironically, but ruthlessly, represented through the story of a young intern in the biggest fashion magazine in New York (Runway, a clear disguise for Vogue). The movie is based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Lauren Weisberger, and it is effective in representing, above all, the character of the magazine’s director—Miranda, paritally inspired by Anna Wintour, director of Vogue America, and partially by Diana Vreeland. In The Devil Wears Prada, there is moment in which the director explains to her team how, from a 2002 fashion collection by Oscar de la Renta that chose sky-blue as its favorite color, this shade of blue was then copied by other designers, and later used in the stock of ready-made fashion in department stores and, eventually arrived at the corner shop where it was bought by the young intern: “You believe you are out of the fashion industry,” says Miranda, “but you are actually wearing a sweater which was selected for you by the people who are in this room.” To sum up, Miranda explains the trickle-down system of highend fashion towards the masses—which comes from the sociological theories of the early twentieth century by Georg Simmel and Thorstein Veblen—combined with the Fashion System by Roland Barthes who attributed an essential role to specialized magazines in the creation of fashion. Today’s major international fashion magazines include: Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Marie-Claire, and Cosmopolitan. They are joined by more recent ones like Allure, Glamour, Lucky, and many others in several languages addressed to readers from different countries. Many of these magazines have multiplied their specializations at both the geographical and thematic levels—men, children, jewels, brides, etc— with independent editorial staffs and several target readerships. Fashion magazines are focusing more and more on culture and current affairs, and becoming much less specialized. Furthermore, a distinction between popular magazines and élite magazines has been established. The first type are aim at a wide variety of low and middle-low culture readers interested in fashion as a form of daily life, often with content on celebrity gossip and pop culture as well. Whereas, the second type of magazine addresses a more select and cultured readership, with interests in several fields, like design, cinema, and literature. Starting in the 1990s, daily newspapers and periodicals have created their own online versions, aware of the need to adapt to editorial transformations and the drastic decrease in hard copies sold. The print crisis arose as web-based information started to take the place of daily and weekly newspapers. The reasons for this crisis are manifold—social,

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technological, and editorial—but one reason is the change in reader habits. Rapid communication makes readers search for real-time news, which makes hard copy versions of daily and periodical newspapers generally obsolete—they necessarily depend on longer time periods compared to instant communication through the web. Today, online versions supply both the typical services offered by international press agencies and indepth analysis of the news; they also often give readers the chance to comment on the news. This change has also happened to fashion magazines, and, more generally, to the way in which fashion information is spread by means of digital journalism. Nowadays, fashion bloggers are one of the primary means of communicating fashions. The world of blogs is mainly populated by members of the “digital native” generation—they author, read, or comment on blogs. The blog is now is a strong competitor to hard-copy in the fashion sector. Because fashion has become a full discourse, blogs seem to be the most suitable means to host the plurality and contradictions of the sense of taste in today’s complex societies. Someone who wishes to follow fashion for inspiration in a blog, as well as in traditional magazines, will not find one single answer. They will find many options and the chance to express their own opinion. Blogs often take their pictures from the “streets,” and not from catwalk collections, and have become the driving force of fashion change and the source of new inspirations. In other words, had the mini-skirt been invented in London today, it would have been the web and not Mary Quant who invented it. Some examples: x The first and best-known fashion blog was launched in 2005 by Scott Schuman, an ex-professional of the fashion market who decided walk around the streets of Manhattan with the aim of photographing everyday people as long as they “looked great” and publishing these pictures online with a caption related to the place and moment of the picture. In this way, the Sartorialist was created, which, over the years has increased the number of cities where pictures are taken—from Manhattan to Milan, Paris and Florence during their own fashion weeks, and recently also to Berlin, Stockholm, and Bari, which was considered by the Sartorialist to have a refined street-style. The Sartorialist is addressed at a privileged and not particularly young audience and Schuman himself is a middle aged man. Models in his pictures are random individuals of any age, sometimes old, portrayed in the street because of a detail that makes them stand out from the crowd, a

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kind of street dandyism. x In 2011, the most famous arbiter elegantiae was 13 years old: the American teenager Tavi Gevinson, started a fashion blog at age 11—Style Rookie (www.thestylerookie.com)—which, in a very short time, became so popular that it was reviewed by Vogue and was turned into an online magazine itself. In her original blog, Gevinson published pictures, which she had sometimes taken herself or were of herself. At other times, they were taken from reports and magazines and showed, in her opinion, clothes and styles worth mentioning, either for positive or negative reasons. She accompanied these pictures with her opinions, thoughts and notes. Male and female readers could comment—blogs do not limit information along a single path, but build an active community of people who have a say. Online communities regularly spring up around fashion blogs. x The world of fashion blogs does not lack critical voices, able to match irony with aesthetic opinion, and information on the most interesting “street” trends, together with fashion culture. One of these blogs was the Italian “Le malvestite” (The badly dressed: www.malvestite.net), which lasted from 2006 to 2010. The blog talked about “all those ugly, stupid and ridiculous things, which pretend not to be so, but are enthusiastic and very proud of their own pompous pretentiousness.” Sarcastic comments and mockery against impossible tattoos, inappropriate leopard-pring clothes, and stupidity sold as fashion were characteristic. x Other interesting cases of fashion blogs are those connected to places and cities. For example, Berlin’s StylesReportBerlin (www.stylesreportberlin.com) (until 2012) and Stilinberlin (http://www.stilinberlin.de). The first blog was a project on the city’s avant-garde movements and allowed one to access the neverending possibilities of online shopping and buy products made in Berlin online; whereas, the second blog is like a constantly updated gallery with pictures of Berlin’s dressing style photographed in the street. x The British blog The Face Hunter (http://www.facehunter.org) collects travel and fashion photographs shot around Europe, creating a kind of map of the trends and bodies met along the way—a “fashion geo-localization” conveyed through the web in writing and pictures.

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Sometimes, the role of social networks is to support existing blogs. A more widespread function is that of amplifying and creating fashions through social network tools, like Facebook or Instagram, on behalf of single users, or agencies and companies that use these websites as their favored communication channels. Nowadays, among the digital native generation, information is often acquired through social networks.

Conclusions The current model of disseminating fashion pursues a “horizontal” course across society, sometimes taking its cue from segments of the population, anti-establishment groups or cultural avant-gardes, and often relying on generational affinities and the experience of everyday life. In this sense, the semiotic network model has entirely replaced the trickledown model—social mobility, the blending of different sign systems, opportunities for encounters between cultures, and the diffuse translatability of signs that “travel” around the globe are all elements that determine the pace and mechanisms of the present-day dissemination of fashion. Today, fashion theory works on subjects like: sustainability; ethics; the role of fashion in the construction of multiple identities; the relationship between fashion and ICTs; fashion and mass media; and the cultural and economic role of luxury in our age. These key factors of our age shape the unpredictable, chaotic, and sometimes contagious dynamics of fashion.

References Barthes, Roland. 1967. Systéme de la Mode. Paris: Seuil. Eng. Trans. 1983. The Fashion System. New York: Hill & Wang. —. 2006. The Language of Fashion. Oxford: Berg. Benjamin, Walter. 1921. “The Task of the Translator.” In Selected Writings 1913-1926. Cambridge (Mass.)–London: The Belknap press of Harvard University Press. 2002. Bogatyrëv, Pëtr. 1971. The Functions of Folk Costume in Moravian Slovakia. The Hague–Paris: Mouton. Calefato, Patrizia. 2004. The Clothed Body. Oxford: Berg. Foucault, Michel. 1970. “L’ordre du discourse.” Eng. Transl. In Untying the Text, A Post-structuralist Reader, edited by R. Young and P. Kegan (1981). London: Routledge. Lotman, Jurij. 2004. Culture and Explosion. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Simmel, Georg. 1904. “Fashion.” International Quarterly 10: 130–55.

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—. 1905. “Philosophie der Mode.” In Reihe Moderne Zeitfragen. Hrsg. Hans Landsberg, No 11. o.J. Berlin: Pan-Verlag. Spivak, G. 1999. A Critique of Postcolonial Reason. Cambridge (Mass.)– London: Harvard University Press. Veblen, Thorstein. 2007. The Theory of the Leisure Class. Teddington, Middlesex: The Echo Library.

C. GARVE AND N. ELIAS: TWO INTERPRETATIONS OF FASHION AND COSTUME ANNA MARIA CURCIO

A question immediately comes to mind when reading the title of this paper: why put two scholars that are so far apart from each other, in time (about two centuries) and origin together? Christian Garve (1742–98) was a German philosopher; in some ways he was also a sociologist, even though this role did not exist yet (it was coined by Comte), while Norbert Elias (1897–1990) was a fully-fledged sociologist. They have both , albeit with different approaches, analyzed society through customs, rituals, and particularly the imitative forms manifested in them: “This imitation, Garve writes in his essay On fashions of 1792, is partially unintentional, as people who regularly see each other begin to adapt to one another without realizing it. So these people eventually come to a point where the cultural traits that determine the uses of each society blend together” (Garve 1987).

Garve was an admirer and follower of Kantian thought, which he so admired in Über die Moden. He was always ready to claim a continuity between the existence of the “sensible subject” and its entry into the ethical sphere. Of course, the presence of a giant such as Kant is felt throughout his work. Kant himself says, “novelty is what makes you love fashion” in Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View (1798); he also says that “it’s still better to be mad according to fashion than outside of it” (Dolci and Gallerani 2014, 89). On the other hand, Garve writes that the inventive spirit of fashion becomes more active when it employs people of various countries (as in today’s globalized society).

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Certainly the most significant aspect of Garve’s thought is the influence that fashion has on society’s cultural processes—geographical proximity, especially in European countries, affects imitation through the spread of fashion, thus we have a center for each state, province, city and class. In each group of people, there are certain people who organize and set the tone, and whose choices are accepted by others, or whose example, drives imitation (Garve 1987) (today we call them opinion leaders). Similarly the domain of fashion does not have a steady base, and its changes have never been as frequent as in Europe and at times when many nations have looked at a single figure as a guide and template of taste. Garve translated his modern vision of fashion (modus hodiernus) not solely as a vestimentary phenomenon, but in all cultural aspects. Fashions and their history show us what impact the relationships among nations, societies, and cultures have on the individual and what the consequences are for the private citizen’s social life. A society isolated from the others is almost always immutable in its habits. “In every nation, no model is so sublime and so loved as to be able to establish itself with a new invention against the worshipers of antiquity. The novelty shines from afar with an even clearer splendor, and imitation is cheaper for our vanity when the model is known only to us” (Garve 1987).

There are imitators, who are few and bold, and conservatives, who are hostile to change—resistance to change is known to be a feature of all societies, even the most modern ones. Fashions do not only relate to the impression of the things that we wear or by which we are surrounded, but also regulate some of our actions. Therefore, fashions become part of our social, cultural and emotional behaviors. The closeness between nations, of which those more advanced in following the dictates of fashion, social behavior, and compliance with manners (e.g. ways of eating, a certain upbringing dictated by good taste) positively influence others that are more backward and retain their primitive traditions and customs, indoctrinating them and giving them the chance to adapt. Fashion is, in Garve’s opinion, a factor of social evolution, acculturation, innovation, education to good taste, and of belonging to higher classes and ranks (see Tarde and Veblen). However, Garve also focused on the concepts of the beautiful and useful. The beautiful engages both imagination and intellect, the latter being in unity and harmony with the first and with pleasant, easy and

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joyful activity. And then there is happiness: a more noble-sounding word, which is the sum of all that is pleasant and beautiful that a person enjoys in their life—the union of all this, so to speak, in a single body. Happiness is a concept we only obtain by experience: and experience belongs to the world of phenomena—it is useful for their explanation, being, in some ways, an epiphenomenon. But the concept of happiness is fluctuating, as is that of pleasure. Every man has his own concept: what makes one happy is, for another one, part of a boring and unhappy life: “after all, happiness is made of sensible impressions … it cannot be the ultimate goal or the first impulse of his actions” (Garve 1988, 130). There is a law about the revolutions in human affairs that can generally be abstracted from fashions. The law is part of these fashions, and, as with the stars, there are times when fashion’s mutability itself seems to stop, while at others it moves very rapidly (Garve 1988). The history of fashion teaches us about the direction that novelties take when they manage to fit with a society and supersede older things. First, they stand out and spark contrasts; that which is unknown and unusual is often disturbing to a large part of mankind. Another part of mankind disapproves of such vanity, which attracts attention to it in its everchanging forms; yet another has complied so much with older fashions, finding them well-suited to its particular needs and requirements, that it does not to want it removed, since it is a part of a vested set of comforts (the inflexible conservatives). It seems superfluous to point out the relevance of Garve’s statements, which do not leave out any aspect of fashion’s variability and tyranny, against which only die-hard creatures of habit, resistant to any change or novelty, stand. However, Garve does not dwell on the shallower and more visible features of fashion: he believes there is an analogy between the changes in fashion and progress in politics, science and customs. Differences between men arise in their opinions, which cannot be proved and have no necessary physical evidence, and from customs, which have no immutable reason to be set, nor any criterion of absolute irreproachability. These differences create parties that will hate or make fun of each other. In religion, philosophy, politics, morals, and finally in fashion, men have always been divided into factions, contrasting, in one way or another, themselves from each other (Garve 1988). Fashions, therefore, cause thoughts, lifestyles, preferences or cultural attitudes to change; they display a penetrating power that alters behaviors,

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the pleasure of life, the joy of being in the company of others, and their thoughts and feelings: “Lastly, since the reason why we follow fashion is simply because we want to maintain uniformity between ourselves and others, as it promotes confidential relationships, it is clear that we reach most of the final purpose of fashion when we orient ourselves according to the habits of intelligent and moderate people of our same level. But, then, these people care at all times about their inner self, as the most important thing, rather than the outward appearance, thus we can’t help but follow their fashion, neglecting ‘gallantry’ a little” (Garve 1988).

In conclusion, Garve does recommend imitation, but also difference, in order for one to feel less alone and more equal. The freedom, then, to be the way we want to be. Norbert Elias was a German politician and scholar of morals and social behavior1 who paid particular attention to all the external forms of etiquette, especially in aristocratic and complex societies. Among his scientific texts, which include On Power and Civilization, The Society of Individuals, The Symbol Theory, Involvement and Detachment, and lastly, The Loneliness of the Dying; The Court Society stands out and will be the subject of our analysis. In The Court Society (2006) Elias describes, as if describing a fresco, the myriad behaviours and gestures dictated by court etiquette (the protagonist is the palace of Versailles during the rule of Louis XIV) in the madness of its rigid formalism, without adjustment to which you could not live with the other characters that were part of it, and primarily, the king, who oversaw, more or less, absolute compliance to his power. According to Elias, ceremonial is not just a form of social expediency, but a sort of passport to full membership of a hyper-hierarchical micro1

(1897–1990). He first emigrated to France and then to England, where he remained virtually unknown even though he worked in the field of adult education and practiced psychotherapy for a long time before finally working at the University of Leicester. He published several essays in English sociological magazines, but his major works remained virtually unknown until the seventies. Among the most significant ones are counted: Power and Civilization (1983), Loneliness of the Dying (1985), An Essay on Time (1986), Humana Conditio (1987), Involvement and Detachment (1988), On the Process of Civilization (1938), The Society of Individuals (1990), Mozart (1991), The Symbol Theory (1997), The Established and the Outsiders (with L. Scolson 2004), and the posthumous The Genesis of the Naval Profession (2010). Later, he returned to Amsterdam and Bielefeld, where he died, having never integrated into any of the societies in which he happened to live, always considering himself an outsider.

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society in which every small gesture, greeting, aphorism, carriage, bow, and dress is a necessity to advance up the social ladder. This complex system of relationships, held firmly in the hands of the king, kept the people of the court strongly connected to him, and by maneuvering through this maze of rivalry with the expertise of a puppeteer, he maintained his absolute power and ruled the country: “Since the Renaissance, in almost all European countries, says Elias, the court acquired increasing importance; and although the French court, and in particular that of Louis XIV, represented to a considerable extent a template for the organization of XVII and XVIII century European courts, this century’s court expressed a well-defined social structure...” (Elias 2006, 24)

What has been said about the society of the court facilitates an understanding of the relationship between power, society and value judgments (Elias 2006). Our value scale is nothing more than one link in a chain of social constraints that controls us. The bed chamber ceremonies involving kings and queens have been described countless times and presented through cinema as a curiosity, a dusty object in a historical museum, and a sort of secular relic. But it is only through these descriptions that one can understand the organization and function of court ceremonies. Many characters take part in them in a hierarchy that includes: the first servant who sleeps at the foot of the royal bed (valet de chambre); the pages that open the door and warn the “grand chambellan”; the court cuisine; and a page that stands at the door of the royal chamber to let entitled gentlemen in. There were several groups who had this privilege: the family; princesses and princes of royal blood; the first physician and chief surgeon; the first servant and the first page. Then there was the second “entrée,” which was reserved for the great officers of the room and wardrobe, for the nobles on whom the king had bestowed this honor, and all the other “officiers de chamber”—the grand chaplain, ministers, state councilors, and the marshals of France—not all together of course, but each one according to a strict division. Finally the children, including illegitimate ones, along with their families entered from a side door. Everything was meticulously adjusted (the dressing; the quietlywhispered prayers; eventually the entire court awaited the king in the large gallery behind the bed chamber, which occupied the width of the main building on the first floor of the palace) by the king himself. It is clear that this etiquette had a symbolic function of great importance in the structure of this society and this form of government:

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C. Garve and N. Elias: Two Interpretations of Fashion and Costume “But the legacy of the court society, in the transition to the bourgeois one, has undergone a peculiar and elusive transformation. Indeed, in the new mass society that heritage has vulgarized, losing its original meaning …” (Elias 2006, 142).

However, Elias says, even in the nineteenth and twentieth century several elements that the court society provided to its members survive in the things with which they have surrounded themselves, be it furniture, paintings, clothing, forms of greeting, theater, poetry or houses (Bordieu 1984). We must therefore: “question the appearances respecting their own specific language. Because there is a need to express the sense of nobility precisely through colors, ornaments, gestures and formal codes ... and what mysterious harmony links society’s internal structure, its order or status system to a style system. And ultimately, what it is that unites the techniques by which literature, painting, architecture, sculpture, and even music manage to ennoble sensible reality and that full-fledged art of society’s symbolic construction” (Carnivali 2012, 124).

This is a large pirandellian stage where all the players act out their roles according to a fixed order that follows a predetermined interdependence: “Men bind to each other and all together set certain specific dynamic formations. We can only find an answer to this problem by determining the interdependencies among men” (Elias 2006, 286).

Elias wonders whether it is worth the effort to delve deeper into the sharing of power and the nobles’ dependency in the court of Louis XIV, given that social positions of this kind have now lost much of their value and appear to be a marginal phenomenon in more developed societies. But the task of sociology is to make the bonds and interdependencies between human beings, between individuals at a certain stage of social development, understandable to ourselves, as well as the other relevant components of any group; all of this helps to clarify the evolution of the formation that itself produced our network of interdependencies and helps us recognize that the objects of the research are men and women like us. The concept of interdependence is emphasized by Elias in its various meanings. If it is true that the king’s court was a stage where everyone played their role, it is also true that all these interpreters were bound by a mutual interdependence. They were dependent on each other in preserving

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their own uniqueness and diversity; yet it is possible to “recognize them at the same time as the men whose experience and situations you can identify with: men like us to whom we are ultimately tied by the common identity of men” (Elias 2006, 208). In mundane events, conversations, books and entertainments, the court society idealized social convention; a bit like the representations of rural and bucolic life that gladdened the king, but had nothing to do with the real, arduous and often miserable life of shepherds. These are symbols that have no value in themselves; rather, they are instruments of superiority and social authority over the lower classes. The difference between statuses, classes and social groups was meticulously performed in a sometimes paroxysmal and paradoxical manner, to the point that the nobility, despite having lost many of its traditional functions, gained a new function, or more precisely, another function. The king assumed great importance, while having no function for the nation, that is, for civil society. The nobles needed the king because only life at the king’s court allowed them to access the economic opportunities and prestige that made possible their existence as nobles. In turn, the king needed the nobles, as a director needs actors, they were an irreplaceable element in the balance of tensions between the classes: “actually, the dependence of each individual member of the nobility on the king was remarkably higher than that of the king on each of the nobles” (Elias 2006, 278). If a nobleman fell out of favor with the king, there was a “reserve army” of noblemen, from which the king could draw at will. It was this balance of interdependencies that gave the court its specific character and organization. Everyone depended on, and was in competition with, each other; all depended on the king. A brief overview of the formation and the dynamics of the court gives a hint of what the social structure of the court meant. This courtlyaristocratic society was replaced by a professional-urban-industrial one. The civilization and culture of the bourgeois-urban-professional society developed further and at a sidereal rate, becoming a globalized, hypermodern society, in the words of Bauman a “liquid society,” which is elusive and evasive in all its aspects.

Bibliography Bourdieu, Pierre, 1984. Distinction. Translated by Richard Nice. London: Routledge. Carnivali, Barbara. 2012. Le apparenze sociali. Bologna: Il Mulino.

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Dolci, Debora, and Francesca Gallerani. 2014. Glamoursofia. Genoa: Il Melangolo. Elias, Norbert. 2006. The court society. Dublin: UCD Press. Garve, Christian. 1987. Sulle mode (Über die Moden). Booklet reissued in 1988, Frankfurt: Insel Verlag a/M. Translated from the original text by Tiziana Gentili (Revised by me). —. 1988. La dottrina dei costumi. Translated by Massimo Venturi Ferriolo. Milan: Angelo Guerrini e Associati s.r.l. Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor Books.

HOW IS FASHION POSSIBLE? A RELATIONAL ANALYSIS OF FASHION AS A FORM OF SOCIAL LIFE DAVIDE RUGGIERI

The American sociologist Jeffrey Alexander once claimed: “social science discoveries are textually mediated by classics.” I guess that this fits the purpose of my paper, since I will try to demonstrate how deep and fruitful Simmel’s contribution to the contemporary analysis of fashion as a social and cultural subject is. I then demonstrate why Simmel’s theory accords with Pierpaolo Donati’s relational paradigm (that is relational sociology)—he defined Simmel as the first sociological turning point in the definition of the sociological relational program. The epistemological frame of my argument is the emergentist-relational theory proposed by Donati, who considers the “relation” as the emergent phenomenon sui generis arising from interaction between individuals. The use of the term form is fundamental to understanding fashion through a sociological lens and through cultural studies. Simmel is usually defined as a “formal” sociologist, since he spent his time analyzing social facts as “forms” of Vergesellschaftung (association) (Simmel 1992, 2009). Wechselwirkung (interaction) is, according to Simmel, the key-concept and core of social life and the sociologist should investigate the forms of social life emerging from reciprocity or interaction betweem individuals. Donati addresses form in terms of “relational structure,” which organizes elements from single actions and combines them to give a relational asset with causal properties (Donati 2010). “How is fashion possible?” is a paraphrase of the well-known title in Simmel’s masterpiece, Sociology (1908), which provided an answer to the fundamental question: “how is society possible?”1 I consider the first 1

This title is suggestive and recalls typical (neo)Kantian argumentation considering the age of this writing: in 1981 Niklas Luhmann published the volume Wie ist soziale Ordnung möglich? giving a systemic interpretation of Simmel’s social theory (Luhmann 1981).

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chapter of Sociology to be a manifesto of Simmel’s social theory; it is a technical improvement on the previous version of that essay entitled Das Problem der Soziologie and published in 1894. In both these editions, the thesis is that society arises from interaction (Wechselwirkung) between individuals. This plural reciprocity embraces individual means and ends, and structures particular forms (Form der Vergesellschaftung), which survive outside individual interaction (Simmel 1992). During his life Simmel argued in different essays on Wechselwirkung, and it became a theory that explained the pathways and dynamics of modernity. Birgitta Nedelmann (developing some of Levine’s intuitions) discovered and described four fundamental meanings—interpreted by Simmel—of these forms of interaction (Wechselwirkung). The four forms that she traced in Simmel’s writings, which can be referred to as forms of Wechselwirkung, include: 1. elementary processes; 2. institutions; 3. autonomous “forms of play”; 4. social worlds (or spheres), including art, religion, politics, economy and so on (Nedelmann 1988, 2–25; Levine 1971, XXIV–XXVII). The “fashion world” (or “sphere”) falls under the fourth field of this classification. For Simmel, fashion meant a primary form of interaction in which the typical dimensions of modernity emerge. He wrote a systematic essay on fashion in 1895 (Zur Psychologie der Mode), which was then republished in 1905 and 1910 (in 1910 the chapter on fashion flowed directly into Philosophische Kultur2). He previously argued in Philosophie des Geldes (1900) for fashion as a particular “social configuration” matching the fascination of difference and change with the need for equality and the cohesion of any person. He then explicitly corroborated this thesis in the 1905 edition of his fashion essay by claiming that fashion makes “social obedience” and “individual differentiation” possible at the same time: “fashion is one of those social forms which combines, to a particular degree, the attraction of differentiation and change with that of similarity and conformity” (Simmel 2011, 500). In this famous essay, Simmel comes close to a statement that: “the tendency towards imitation characterizes a stage of development in which the desire for expedient personal activity is present, but from which the capacity for possessing the individual acquirements is absent … Fashion is the imitation of a given example and satisfies the demand for social adaptation” (Simmel 1957, 543). According to Simmel fashion is a (primary) form of “vital” social 2

In 1904, Simmel published an English version of the fashion essay for the International Quarterly: this edition is different in style and content to the former (1895); this is interesting because in this edition he emphasised the topic of fashion as a fundamental form of modern (social) life.

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mechanisms. In the same pages, he points out that vital conditions determine—above social classes and the dynamics of differentiation—the social phenomenon of fashion.3 Scott Lash recently published an essay entitled Lebenssoziologie. Georg Simmel and the information age, in which he interprets Simmel through the lens of what he claims to be the “sociology of life”4: “… Simmel addresses life in terms of social life. This is the originality of his vitalism. For other vitalists, the relations between things or between subjects and things are primary. Relations of perception are primary. For Simmel life is already social. For Simmel social life is literally social life (Lash 2005, 10). This attempt tries not to reduce Simmel’s theory to Bergsonian vitalism; according to Lash, it is possible to see in Simmel the first sociologist constructing a modern sociology of life, which finds similarities to Latour’s ANT theory, in Beck and Luhmann. Simmel’s fashion essay represents a good example of what he considered the sociology of life. In the initial lines of this essay, Simmel explicitly suggests that “human life” develops as a dialectics between “… a pair of forces, each of one of which, in striving to go behind the initial point, has resolved the infinity of the other by mutual impingement into mere tension and desire” (Simmel 1957, 541). If we trace back to Simmel the sociological analysis of fashion as a matter of culture, we might then treat fashion as a cultural form. Donald Levine has recently underlined—in the preface to the 2010 edition—how the main characteristics of this topic clearly emerge in Simmel’s The view of life, published in 1918. According to Levine’s interpretation, it is possible to claim that: 1) Cultural forms arise within the process of life; 2) Cultural forms become autonomous and objectified, independent of adaptive needs; 3

“… Social life”—writes Simmel—“represents a battleground, of which every inch is stubbornly contested, and social institutions may be looked upon as the peace-treaties, in which the constant antagonism of both principles has been reduced externally to a form of cooperation. The vital conditions of fashion as a universal phenomenon in the history of our race are circumscribed by these conditions” (Simmel 1957, 543). 4 According to Lash, the contemporary “sociology of life” has these main properties: 1). Movement or stream (globalization as form of de-territorialization); 2. Not-linearity or self-organization (informatization process); 3. Monism (no ontological difference between human and not-human; simple different degree in the self-organization process).

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3) Culturally objective cultural forms serve to advance cultivation, or “subjective culture” through processes by which they become incorporated into an individual’s personal development; 4) Objectified forms come into conflict with ongoing life processes; 5) In the condition of late modernity, the pressures of the life process come to exert dominance over cultural forms (Levine 2010, XXI). In this paper, we treat fashion as a “cultural form of social life” with a relational meaning. I refer to the relational paradigm in sociology advanced by Donati (2010, 2015), which is a radical and relational reformulation of Parsons’ social theory (particularly his AGIL scheme) (Figure 1). I suggest that Donati be read alongside these four patterns as a dynamic, relational interaction (that is Wechselwirkung) in order to “form” social events. A (Adaptation)

G (Goal-attainment)

Means Economy

Goals Politics

I (Integration)

L (Latency)

Norms Societal Community

Values Transcendental sphere

Figure 1.

According to Donati’s scheme, we can interpret the social relation as the emergent result of actions linked by structures (under the axis religo), oriented to each other in a shared symbolic context (under the axis refero). I do not assume the four pattern AGIL scheme as a Kantian a priori, which “make possible” fashion as a sociological fact in a relational manner: despite Simmel’s a priori, the four patterns here interact with each other under epistemological conditions and to form a new kind of “emergent” reality (they play an ontological role too). They interact to constitute fashion as a social object (social reality). I propose that fashion, according to Simmel’s notion of the form of relation, may be considered a “relational issue,” in the form of reciprocal action among the four patterns mentioned. I refer here to his indications in the essay Das Problem der Sociologie, published in 1894, then mentioned in the first chapter on Soziologie in 1908 (Figure 2):

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Figure 2.

Using a “relational approach” (Donati 2015) I assume that fashion is the result of interaction between “structure” and “culture”: namely, I extend the original meaning given by Simmel—fashion as a social double impulse of “imitation” and “differentiation”5—to macro-analysis of the social structure (the frame of reference in the case of the reproduction of given styles, i.e. “imitation”) and culture (the individual tool-kit used to claim identity in social spaces, i.e. “differentiation”). This first dimension can embrace the organizational and productive system (Hirsch, PetersonBerger, Di Maggio), whereas the second contains vital instances, Lebenswelten, and value orientations (Alexander, Habermas, phenomenological sociologies).

Figure 3.

Structure and culture might be considered different and separate and I substantially agree with Peter Blau’s claim that “social structure is not culture.” It is appropriate to consider social facts under the dual interaction 5

“Fashion,” writes Simmel, “is the imitation of a given example and satisfies the demand for social adaptation; it leads the individual upon the road which all travel, it furnishes a general condition, which resolves the conduct of every individual into a mere example. At the same time it satisfies in no less degree the need of differentiation, the tendency towards dissimilarity, the desire for change and contrast …” (Simmel 2010, 543).

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and mutual constitution of systems and practices—as recently stated by Wilhelm Sewell Jr. Using Donati’s perspective, we can assert that fashion as a social relation is the intersection between the religo axis (structural dimension, projected on the axis A-I and stressing the relation between instruments/resources and norms) and refero axis (referential dimension, projected on the axis L-G; stressing the relation between goals and basic values). In contrast to the relational proposal on interpreting the fashion subject offered by Aspers and Godart (inspired substantially by Harrison White and Charles Tilly’s relational sociology), I suggest a reading of fashion under a different relational light, at least different to what they mean by “relational.” Their idea of interpreting network analysis through the phenomenological-communicational approach is stimulating and highlights vital aspects of social events. But they mainly consider networks as privileged sociological subjects, instead of social relations, in the emergent order of interaction between individuals. I believe that fashion should be considered as a relational matter, determined by four patterns (the AGIL scheme) and placed into the “time” category. If we follow the morphogenetic schema—characterized by the time factor and the relational frame—adopted by Donati (2010), we can apply it to fashion:

Figure 4.

If the relational manner of interpreting fashion refers to Donati’s relational paradigm, the main reference is to those classical authors I consider fundamental. In the construction of the relational frame of fashion analysis they are: a) Georg Simmel (sociology as an enquiry into the “forms” of social life) b) Erving Goffman (social life as “symbolic interaction” and frame category)

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c) Peter Berger (society as “vital experience”) Authors Georg Simmel Erving Goffman

Peter Berger

Theories Sociology as a survey of “forms” of social life Social life as “symbolic interaction” and the frame category Society as “vital experience”

Impact for social analysis Relational frame Grammatical-symbolic frame Phenomenological frame

Figure 5.

Three different semantic areas can be seen: “relational,” “grammatical” and “phenomenological.” Relational in that fashion is a sociological issue due to its “interactional” nature (Wechselwirkung): it involves at least two performers (and four patterns). Grammatical in that we assume fashion to be a “set of rules” with practical and symbolic meaning. Individuals share fashion codes as performance forms with precise codes of appearance and manner, in Goffman’s words. Phenomenological, expressing the narrative aspect of fashion as a form of “self-telling”: using determined symbolic codes of dress involves telling something about one’s life and personal tastes. One can find traces of these three classifications in contemporary “cultural studies” and the sociology of culture in relational sociology— Paul Di Maggio’s (1997) and Howard Becker’s (Becker-Pessin 2006) recent contributions and particularly the “meaning of culture” according to Jeffrey Alexander (2003). In Simmel’s essay, Fashion, the author affirms that “we have seen that in fashion the different dimensions of life, so to speak, acquire a peculiar convergence, that fashion is a complex structure in which all the antithetical tendencies of the soul are represented in one way or another” (Simmel 1957, 555; italics mine). This assertion is largely shared by Peter Berger and Erving Goffman in their interpretation of sociality primarily as a form (representation/symbolization) of life. Analyzing Simmel’s assertion in detail, we may say that fashion is a complex structure in which different dimensions of life emerge and representing the antithetical tendencies of the soul. We find here three key ideas that help to understand fashion as a social fact: it encompasses an interaction among living beings as a structure arising from interaction and determining social agency—the double impulse of social action (imitation/differentiation).

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As regards the under-evaluation of fashion as a simple fact of “clothing,” I agree with Kawamura, who argues that fashion is a complex “symbolic cultural product” (Kawamura 2005). The expression of a social individual self arises through symbolic transactions that are mediated structurally and culturally. What is unacceptable to me in Kawamura’s position is the reduction of the complex semantics of fashion as social reality to a simple consideration of the “fashion industry”—this is a widespread opinion in cultural studies, starting with Hirsch in the 1970s on the “organizational perspective.” Such a viewpoint reduces fashion to a simple matter of the market: the uncertainty of demand; use of technology; and the excesses of cultural creators. Jeffrey Alexander’s model of socio-cultural analysis emphasizes the narrative and hermeneutic dimensions and looks at cultural objects as inserted into a plurality of narrative and discursive structures and the codes that organize the comprehension and explanation of social life (Alexander 2003). This point of view is close to that of Fuhse’s relational sociology (Fuhse 2009; Fuhse 2015),6 who holds that relations operate through structures of meaning and the regularities of communicative events. As demonstrated in his studies on lifestyle in Germany, it is possible to determine the semantic social networks that operate through communicative events (substantially similar to White’s cultural turn in social network analysis). What does it mean to say that fashion is a sociological issue in the form of a relation? We may follow Simmel on the idea of sociality. Individual interactions generate new orders of reality (relations), which “emerge” from among them and through them, but are never wholly reducible to the individual dimension. Wechselwirkung is the “motor” of society that is shaped and crystalized under forms.7 We learn from Simmel that fashion is a peculiar form of (modern) society: the more society engages in processes of differentiation, the more complex the logic of fashion as a form of social identity.

6

Fuhse suggests reading social facts under “relational frames,” as “cultural models for defining interpersonal relationships” (Fuhse 2013, 192). He is inspired by Goffman’s concept of “frame,” as a principle of the organization of communication, and by Tilly’s structure of meaning in relations (stories as “narrative accounts of the relationship”) (Tilly 2005). 7 Two aspects of social phenomenon that a sociologist must observe: form and matter. This Kantian division sees the latter as material causes (that is psychological, educational, juridical, economic etc.), determining the construction of the former.

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In the excursus of the first chapter of Soziologie, “How is society possible?” Simmel argues that sociologists should treat social facts while observing three sociological a priori: alterity, furtherness (let me use this neologism) and social position (profession as vocation). a) Alterity means that we are social subjects due to our being other. Our identity is determined by other subjects, that is, we cannot grasp our framed identity until it is returned from (“the look of” in Simmel’s metaphor) other people who interact with us; b) Furtherness is the nonyet-social reserve (Simmel uses the term Außerdem) that determines the social sphere: the fact of “being-associated” depends on our “not-beingassociated.” This simply means that not every aspect of our life is a part of social transactions; c) The third point is similar to Weber’s argument on our fate in society and the secularization of the concept of vocation. We feel our social and economic position as a necessity under the religious category of vocation. Simmel also maintained that interaction in society is possible due to our individual “reciprocal position.”8 The only dualism we may accept is the one pointed to by Simmel: he argued for two fundamental “natures” of human life in social context and explicitly talks about “two tendencies in the individual soul as well as in society” (Simmel 1957, 542). He maintains that “man has ever a dualistic nature,” which is the necessity to distinguish, to emerge, and to differentiate between the many individuals in society (the bigger the society, the more complex the process of differentiation); the latter deals with the necessity of imitation and membership of a group. Imitation may represent social integration—conformation to a specific style, for instance, a “uniform,” fulfils the need to share a symbolic code of membership. At the same time, this may represent a need to distinguish, a need for difference, and a need for “social redemption.” We can designate fashion as an emergent form of social interaction: a third element that emerges from interaction between individuals. Individuals may recognize social power due to its symbolic elements, representing the four patterns of relations (AGIL scheme). 8

Lipovetsky’s theory on the form of fashion cannot be considered exhaustive— even if I adore his incipit in Empire of Fashion: “The question of fashion is not a fashionable one among intellectuals”—since he maintains three main characteristics in the sociological analysis of fashion: “the principle of the ephemeral”, “the principle of the marginal differentiation of individuals”, and “the principle of seduction” (Lipovetsky 1987). This implies a logic of rapid renewal in the light of differentiation and stylization of models. It traces fashion back to economic, market and productive structures, denying any form of agency. A relational survey on fashion might consider structure and agency as intertwined.

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In the style of dress, in the choice of sunglasses, of our favorite band or a new smartphone, one may recognize an instrumental dimension (A of Adaptation), that highlights how strong the market index and economic frame dealing with class differentiation is in the logic of imitation/distinction (according to Simmel and especially Blumer). Simmel stressed that fashion is a matter of social class for the recognition of social space. We may agree with Aspers and Godart who describe fashion as an industry in market terms, claiming that “… a market is constituted by multiple networks that connect an upstream of suppliers to a downstream of costumers through a market interface made of producers” (Aspers and Godart 2013, 181). But we cannot restrict our view of fashion exclusively to its economic and consumer aspects. In his masterpiece, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman suggests that performance involves three key concepts that we can apply to the world of fashion: 1) Situation; 2) Expectation; 3) Reaction. In other words, we communicate on two levels: the intentional (communication level) and the behavioral (theatrical and contextual). We communicate with other people in a situation in order to engender reactions according to the expectations of our “code” of play, our script. Goffman argues that this situation involves a mechanism of “face to face.” He explicitly says: it is “… the reciprocal influence of individuals upon one another’s actions when in one another’s immediate physical presence” (Goffman 1959, 8). Then we have a “performance”: “... all the activity of a given participant on a given occasion which serves to influence in any way any of the other participants” and, then, the “part” or “routine” (“The pre-established pattern of action which is unfolded during a performance.”) In his Lebenssoziologie essay on Simmel, Lash argues that: “Vitalism, in contrast to mechanism, is non-linear, presupposing not external but selfcausality, what Georg Simmel, like his disciple Gyorgy Lukács, following Aristotle, called «teleology». These are self-producing or self-organizing systems” (Lash 2005, 2). This is a distorted interpretation of Simmel’s sociology. Lash’s frame of reference is Latour’s ANT theory, the notion of Beck’s reflexive modernity and Luhmann’s self-reproductive systems. This interpretation does not fit Simmel’s concept of social life, which is well expressed in the final chapter of Philosophy of Money, where he discusses the style of life. Modernity operates on personality: it requires that individuals abandon their personal sphere to gain access to the transactions available in social and cultural interaction. He focuses on the aspect of values sphere (the L of Latency in the relational AGIL scheme): to render individuals free to interact in a more and more complex world; it is necessary for them to be willing to negotiate, to compromise, and to trade.

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In contrast to Lash’s monistic conception of social life (reduced to a system), I suggest reading, instead, a fundamental ontological difference between the human (vital core of social interaction and original intentionality) and the not-human (system). My conviction is grounded on the concept of life as self-conscious perception under the category of reflexivity as a demarcation principle that puts the emphasis on what may and may not be considered society. I mean that society can only build on “human” issues—vital, self-conscious and reflexive processes: the Relational subject of Margaret Archer and Pierpaolo Donati (2015). Reflexivity means that human beings must be able to reflect on what their existing social structure of reference is and to socially act according to the force of the principle of reflexive relationality.

Bibliography Alexander, Jeffrey. The Meanings of Social Life: A Cultural Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archer, Margaret, and Pierpaolo Donati. The Relational Subject. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Aspers, Patrick, and Friedrich Godart. 2013. “Sociology of fashion: order and change.” Annual Review of Sociology 39: 171–92. Becker, Gary S., and Kevin M. Murphy. 2000. Social Economics: Market Behavior in a Social Environment. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Blumer, Herbert. 1969. “Fashion: From Class Differentiation to Collective Selection.” Sociological Quarterly 10: 111–35. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1979. La distinction. Critique social du jugement. Paris: Editions du Minuit. Di Maggio, Paul. 1997. “Culture and cognition.” Annual Review of Sociology 23/I: 263–87. Donati, Pierpaolo. 2010. Relational Sociology. A new paradigm for the social sciences. London: Routledge. —. 2015. “Manifesto for a critical realist relational sociology.” International Revue of Sociology 25/I: 86–109. Fuhse, Jan. 2009. “The meaning structure of social analysis.” Sociological Theory 27: 51–73. —. 2013. “Social Relationships between Communication, Network Structure, and Culture.” In Applying Relational Sociology, edited by François Dépelteau and Christian Powell, 181–206. London: Palgrave Macmillan. —. 2015. “Theorizing Social Networks: the Relational Sociology of and

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around Harrison White.” International Review of Sociology (Special Issue «The Challenges of Relational Sociology»): 15–44. Godart, Friedrich. 2012. Unveiling Fashion: Business, Culture, and Identity in the Most Glamorous Industry. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor Books. Kawamura, Yuniya. 2004. The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion. New York: Berg. —. 2005. Fashion-ology. An Introduction to Fashion Studies. New York: Berg. —.2011. Doing Research in Fashion and Dress: An Introduction to Qualitative Methods. New York: Berg. —. 2012. Fashioning Japanese Subcultures. New York: Berg. Lash, Scott. 2005. “Lebenssoziologie. Georg Simmel in the Information Age.” Theory, Culture & Society 22 (III): 1–23. Levine, Donald. 2010. Introduction to The View of Life by Georg Simmel, I-XXXII. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Nedelmann, Birgitta. 1988. “»Psychologismus« oder Soziologie der Emotionen? Max Weber Kritik an der Soziologie Georg Simmels.” In Simmel und die frühen Soziologien. Nähe und Distanz zu Durkheim, Tönnies und Max Weber, edited by O. Rammstedt, 11–35. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. Postrel, Virginia. 2004. The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness. New York: HarperCollins. Simmel, Georg. 1957. “Fashion (1904).” The American Journal of Sociology 62/VI: 541–58. —. 1992. “Das Problem der Sociologie (1894).” In Aufsätze und Abhandlungen, GSG 5, 52–61. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. —. 2009. Sociology: Inquiries into the Construction of Social Forms (2 vols.). Leiden: Brill. —. 2011. Philosophy of Money. London: Routledge. Sombart, Werner. 1987. Der moderne Kapitalismus: Historischsystematische Darstellung des gesamteuropäischen Wirtschaftslebens von seinen Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (1916, second edition). München: DTV. Tilly, Charles. 2005. Identities, Boundaries & Social Ties. London: Paradigm Publishers. White, Harrison. 2002. Markets from Networks: Socioeconomic Models of Production. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

THE CONTEMPORARY FASHION SYSTEM BIANCA TERRACCIANO

Why “contemporary” When Roland Barthes wrote The Fashion System, he sought to analyze the products of written civilization—fashion magazines, their photo captions, as makers of social mythology and fashion sense. Fifty years on, the written dress codes have changed—they do not hark back to the memory of “teas at Juan-les-Pins”; they no longer offer clear expressions of meaning. In fact, they list, in an almost mechanical way, meaningful content (i.e. trench), materials (i.e. cotton), and brand (i.e. Burberry). Visual texts have changed: they have passed from a “neat” representation of dress, which is complete and detailed, to a syncretic photo requiring a continuous interpretative effort, helped by the captions that become clues to reconstructing shapes and labels. Sometimes the main subject is not the model themself, but the scenery and its objects, which, for the most part, do not communicate anything about the social background of the dress. The discussion of fashion has found its way onto websites and social networks, changing their communicative style. The present-day system of fashion is different to that described by Barthes. It differs to previous decades, too, and as such it is time to re-analyze it. My purpose is to look at changes in the fashion system from Barthes onwards, through an analysis of fashion magazines, websites, and blogs, etc. The corpus of my research stretches from the 1960s to today. The key concept in understanding the “new” fashion system is the body—its changing proportions in fashion mirror the cultural and identitymaking metamorphoses of society. Studying fashion is not limited to studying dresses. It involves examining the way they are worn, the ways bodies are hidden or enhanced, and the movements, gestures and attitudes typical of an age.

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The supremacy of visual texts My starting hypothesis is motivated by an assumption that images introduce a surplus of meaning beyond the verbal text. I base my reinterpretation of The Fashion System on the assumption that garments may have meanings without textual description in their visual aspects. Interpretation of that which is signified in the system/outfit primarily relies on the visual text, while verbal texts are useful in informing about the components of the system. According to Barthes, human language underlies the meaning and the word of fashion spreads it, establishing its reality. When speaking of fashion, such a position remained valid until the late 1970s—the verbal text dominated the visual. In contemporary society, fashion relies on visual communication. In my opinion, focusing on the semantics of written fashion, or considering it as the primary pathway of meaning was, already at the time of Barthes, insufficient to describe the system of fashion; this choice originated from Barthes’ methodological and disciplinary orientation and due to the poorly developed visual semiotics of the time. In the corpus analyzed in my doctoral thesis (Terracciano 2013), which included magazines published from the 1960s onwards and web-based materials, I noticed that fashion is not subject to sudden extreme changes, but the lines and silhouettes of reference remain the same in the long- or mid-term and are manipulated to construct a given axiologic structure. This is not a simple process of stereotyping, but of image construction practices aimed at the /having-to-be/ of a body in a culture. The changes to styles and silhouettes happen gradually, starting from the introduction of minor differences that go almost unnoticed at the beginning. What creates semioticity and meaning is the constant presence of an audience to be engaged—fashion has to hit, to explode, and to dynamize motionless daily spheres and to assert its creativity. The images of fashion have the task of educating the reader, especially from the point of view of new and pleasing visual forms. Firstly, people cry abomination, then they start to be convinced by the authoritativeness of fashion. In this case Barthes is right when saying that fashion magazines are surrounded by an aura of sacredness. According to Barthes, verbal text helps the reader to grasp the essence of garments by making “discrete” concepts concrete, and “it endows the garment with a system of functional oppositions (for example, fantasy/classic), which the real or photographed garment is not able to

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manifest in as clear a manner” (Barthes 1967, 14). Barthes considered the real or photographed garment to be a poor medium for the transfer of meaning, but I believe that it more effectively expresses information on the alternation of variants and invariants in fashion, on characteristic features of periods and styles, and on taxonomies of the relationship between the body and the garment. With the passing of time, the verbal text of the fashion shoot has become reduced, sometimes almost nonexistent, emphasizing the impact of the visual text. The verbal text of journals, as well as their artistic license, have lead to virtuous circles of knowledge about the system of fashion and has created a crowd of well informed and educated fashion consumers. Visual texts, except in some cases like Vogue that used artistic photos, in Barthes’ image corpus were too simple, with poses and locations that could not match the emphatic syntax of their verbal counterparts and the meaning they generated. Furthermore, the images could mislead the naive reader, who ran the risk of misinterpreting the message conveyed. According to Barthes, the function of language not only gives information on materials and on particular “fashion changes,” but invigorates “certain vestimentary features,” based on aesthetic values and usually to direct the reading of an image as if it were an itinerary: “the proper aim of description is to direct the immediate and diffuse knowledge of image-clothing through a mediated and specific knowledge of Fashion” (Barthes 1967, 17). For Barthes, the written garment is meaningful because it does not involve any “noise”: it is an abstract garment rendered concrete through words. The signifiers of fashion are dominated by this model. Through images “fashion keeps its distance with regard to its own lexicon” (Barthes 1967, 303) by triggering a process of apparent falsification of meaning to generate its signifier. In other words, everything that is not fashion is a surplus of meaning because it is part of a signified world; but the pictures show exaggerated and fictional scenes in which the only real and plausible element is the garment. The garments worn by the models are influenced by their bodily individuality, which affects the institutional value of fashion, dissolving the main objective of the communicative contract. In this regard, Barthes distinguishes between the real garment, that is the structural institutional form of the garment corresponding to a formulation in line with Saussurean language, and the used garment, the dress that is actualized, individualized, and worn, which is associated to speech.

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The institutional figure of the cover-girl is an embodiment of fashion and becomes a secondary emphatic meaning: only the verbal text can concretize the abstract. Barthes’ position is anachronistic because in the contemporary age, what is more important is fashion worn by famous people, which, thanks to them, contributes to actualize what is in vogue and what others would like to wear. Barthes contradicts himself because the showing of the “garment in act” corresponds to the garment that is worn: the photo set is unreal, given the situation, but these elements are equivalent to a verbal text. The statement “prints are winning at the races” combines with the visual text showing a model at the races to indicate the meaning and to produce incisive, meaningful impact. The pose can be exaggerated and not canonical, but it also derives from the nature of the dress.

The body as signified In “The body as signified” (Barthes 1967, 260), Barthes starts from Hegel in referring to an assumption that considers the body as pure sentience, and therefore incapable of meaning—it is only thanks to the garment that it makes itself meaningful. Hegel considers clothes as an instrument to overcome shame and above all to resolve the issues of “spirit” and “body”: that which is signified resides in the freedom of expression of the spirit, or subjectivity, while the body coincides with the “inertia of the flesh” (Galimberti 1993, 202, my translation) and then structures its relationship with the world on shame. This is a Judeo-Christian perspective that sees the dress as divine punishment penalizing original sin, but it may also apply in a society where dressing oneself concerns strategies of appearance, the negotiation of identity, and the expression of social differences between individuals. Hegel’s scholastic legacy privileges the “hiding” over the “showing” that is, in my opinion, the true purpose of fashion—it provides valuable tools for humans to adapt their bodies to the world and its events. On the other hand, “by varying the garment to the body, wearing it makes the world change” (Galimberti 1993, 203). This coincides with the “youthquake” of the 1960s and the hippy movement of the 1970s, or even the power suit of the 1980s; clothing and outfits have characterized social revolutions and body patterns with impacts on dietary habits and body care. Certainly, the fashion system has contributed to making local cultures poorer by taking the place of ethnic fashion systems, but it has also meant that, due to creolization of elements of other cultures, different semiospheres meet and coexist in different collections. Returning to Barthes, the question on

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“which body is the fashion garment to signify” (Barthes 1967, 258) is meaningful—he repeats the problem of the relationship between Language and Speech and that the institution can be contaminated by the individuality of the “garment in act.” At first glance, everything can be solved in the institutional body of the cover-girl, which can never become a formal structure, leaving the garment to express meaning in visual texts “in situation”—as such “the event threatens the structure” (Barthes 1967, 259). Barthes insists on the issue event/structure as referring to “fashionable bodies” in a given period of time and to the impact of clothing on the volumes of the body scheme. In my opinion, the cover-girl, seen as a discursive configuration of “somatic behavior” (Greimas and Courtés 1979, 118), is apparent because as much it may be de-individualized it remains the subject of an action. In addition, the cover-girl coincides with the fashionable body, as an institution, and in her case the structure corresponds to the event. Besides, the fashionable body is inextricably bound to the body transformed by garments. Structure and event do not have to be opposed because only their union creates meaning. Certainly, not all bodies will be fashionable or transformed, but, in one way or another, fashion exercises an unlimited power in signification. The obsession with a fashionable body is justified by the hegemony of visual texts dominated by the cover-girl and by the vast numbers of articles and tutorials, off and online, and TV shows like Ma come ti vesti?!. These have developed the relationship between the fashionable body and transformed body in the firmest terms of agreement with the enunciatee. The body manifests its intentions and reflects the Zeitgeist through the garment. The body sets up a level of expression (Violi 2008, 107) and therefore it renders as necessary a series of gestures, movements, postures, facial expressions, and glances, and considers them as elements of the level of expression by assigning them signified meanings. The body is both the operator and formulator of this level of expression and acts in intersubjective space. The body spreads its signified meanings and increases their comprehension, setting up a climate of interaction. According to Patrizia Violi this is “the totality of an enuncianting body that is directly in charge of passionate enunciation” (2008, 109, my translation). The body is not only a logical operator of transformation, nor a discursive figure, but its role in the process of the production of meaning is set in discursive practices and cultures that define it according to the complex configurations of meaning that the body produces in discourse. The poses and postures of the models are, therefore, figurative canons

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semanticizing the dresses worn; they facilitate a passage from praxis to gestural communication that establishes symbolic or semi-symbolic relationships between expression and the content of gestural communication to produce meaning. Gestural expressiveness, as social gesture, is endowed with a capacity to modalize bodies and dresses. Each pose assumes a different rhetorical function according to the context of the image, the typology of the dress, and the historical moment. Every movement of the body or expression of the face expresses the contract set up between the enunciator and enunciatee and of their passionate trajectory. Poses can express messages towards an addressee or internal emotional states that render meaningful fashion and its contexts of use. Gestural signification spreads emotional meanings that are understood thanks to a reciprocity between the one gesturing and the one interpreting it: “What matters is how people of different cultures make use of their bodies, of the very wide range of psychosomatic possibilities that they offer to shape, emotionally, their bodies and their world. ... it is the human body itself that performs a sort of act of transcendence, evident in the figurative meaning that physical gestures, including voice, can take. In order to express this, the body must ultimately become the thought or intention that it signifies to us. Then, it is the body that shows; it is the body that speaks” (Pezzini 2007, 90–92, my translation).

Poses and gestures are a simulacrum of face to face communication, of a hic et nunc, and of the context and situation of use: the bodies of models show what dresses signify and transmits what one feels in relation to them. Gestural expressiveness represented in fashion reportage has a fundamentally rhetorical role in the persuasive communication of texts; it ensures a passionate engagement between addresser and addressee. Gestures and poses are correlated to the typology of the dress, its functionality, and its aesthetic improvement, contributing to an enhancement of the morphological relationship between dress and conveying the meaning of this to the enunciatee. There are collections of female poses that models and photographers must know how to master to give value to a dress and magnify its qualities. Poses are useful in emphasizing the physical characteristics of the models and minimizing their defects. A photo-shoot is constructed according to a product or one of its details, and the model’s pose conveys the enunciatee’s eyes towards what they wish to promote. The model’s pose is never left to chance, nor is her position, lighting, make up and hair styling. Fashion reportage is not a simple accompaniment to a visual text,

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or an essential recording of the garments being worn, but a declaration of a determined state of things, of its axiologies and, above all, it is enunciation. The traits of the photo-shoot relate to the dresses, accessories, and backgrounds, both from a plastic and a figurative point of view. During the shooting process, the photographer foreshadows the context of how the images will be used; as the Western reader orientates their visual field from left to right, the photographer will start looking at the photo from the bottom left, and then directing their attention towards the most luminous element of the image—the area in which contrast is greatest (Peagram 2008, 17). The composition of lines, shapes, colors and tones must be projected according to this aim so as to regulate the enunciatee’s trajectory of enunciation. The phtographer directs their visual field utilizing the position of the model’s body as a compass, now following the line of a leg, passing across her body and reaching her head, or starting from her trunk and then sliding across to her hand that holds a Croco hobo-bag. The elements that guide the enunciatee’s eyes include: lines; curves; composition; perspective; and colors. Straight lines organize the picture and are used to give an imperious atmosphere. Diagonals carry dynamism, while vertical and horizontal lines are used to give the image solidity, which is often in opposition to curves. The curved lines connote elegance and softness and can follow the shape of a “C” or “S”: the body assumes the “C” shape when lying down and relaxed; the “S” curve is considered as the female body’s most pleasing, offering an air of sensuality. One should highlight the existence of a pre-arranged set of poses for fashion images and point out the correlation between each pose and type of dress, presuming that the postures and the direction of body—front, profile, back—are chosen according to the type of clothing. In this regard, we must consider that the clothes have a direct physical link to the body. Length, volume, and amplitude all depend on the course of seasons and collections, and on the physical contact established between body and garment. Moreover, the garments modalize those who wear them according to a /being-able-to-be/being-able-to-do/ frame—the meaning in which I intend to frame the stylistic revolution of the 1960s that affirmed a new culture of the individual and the body. The body parts uncovered by this liberation were the breast, waist and hip. The breast was trapped in constrictive bras and in ready-to-wear jackets with lines that ill-fitted many body types. The waist was liberated from the “trapezoid” line and legs were uncovered by miniskirts. The change in the silhouette, the supporting points of clothes, and of body parts covered/uncovered coincided with the phenomenon defined by

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Vogue as a “youthquake,” which, with juvenile protest, contributed to a consideration of the body liberated from constraints and a need for harmony between body shapes and garment lines. The revolution of the body changed the style of visual rhetoric of the magazines of the 1960s, which went from written and mannequin fashion to that of prêt-a-porter. I would like to offer, as a solution to Barthes’ question, the body according to the fashion of the collections in the period 2011–2013 and the many references to the styles of the 1920s and 1930s, reinvigorated because they have in common with the contemporary age a historical background of global economic crisis. Regarding 1920s style, I wish to cite the a la garçonne style; in contrast, the 1930s reiterated a length below the knees, padding on the shoulders, and inserts in fur (nowadays often in faux fur). Fashion captures the demands of the context, it is not always arbitrary in choosing the ideal silhouette and its imperious will is softened by the skin in which it lives. The fashionable body incorporates the concepts of “being of fashion” and “being fashionable,” describable as the difference between being and Dasein in Heidegger. The first being is intended as a transcendental a priori to which we tend, and which is established and legislated, while Dasein describes a possibility, a search for a way to be fashionable. Being fashionable is to seek signified meanings and take possession of their contents; it represents a passion that is expressed and asserts itself figuratively as a way of being; the being of fashion “does not belong to the signifier, but to the signified, to be before there is, before it finds its appearance, its territoriality, its there-being. Fashion is the effect of an inner cause, it is the only content that is given to us to touch—coming into the open—from the inside of our emotions” (Abruzzese 2011, 55, my translation). The fashionable body becomes a sociable body because its shape is built by the “scientific community” of reference, according to Thomas Kuhn, and only its contract establishes a given form of the body; in the case of the fashion system, this is represented by the changing of seasons and times. This is not the place to make value judgments on the appropriateness of somatic imperatives, the only thing I can say is that “designing” and divulging a given form of the human body does not mean engaging in morphological terrorism, but committing a creative act that derives from a current of thought defined by a given time period. It is the enunciatee who comes to a conclusion and decides whether to set a constitutive relationship with the body-agent.

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The contemporary fashion system has undergone radical changes with the rise of e-commerce and social networks, like Instagram, that, in turn, have also influenced the enunciative style of the fashion press. The traits and motifs of the fashion system are enclosed in visual texts that have made the representation of being-in-fashion visible and accessible to everyone, tying the signification of the fashionable body and its production of meaning to an exponential sharing via social networks that ensures the effectiveness of its contents and the perpetuation of a new genre of fashion discourse. Fashion images are now the best way to communicate the fashion-body: they infuse audiences and are the real base of the contemporary fashion system.

Bibliography Barthes, Roland. 1990. The Fashion System. Translated by Matthew Ward and Richard Howard. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Galimberti, Umberto. 1993. Il corpo. Milano: Feltrinelli. Greimas, Algirdas, and Joseph Courtés. 1979. Sémiotique. Dictionnaire raisonné de la théorie du langage. Paris: Hachette. Peagram, Billy. 2008. Posing Techniques for Photographing Model Portfolios. Buffalo: Amherst Media. Pezzini, Isabella. 2007. Il testo galeotto. La lettura come pratica efficace. Roma: Meltemi. Terracciano, Bianca. 2013. “Dai corpi sociali ai corpi mediali. La moda 1960-2012”. PhD diss., SUM, University of Bologna. Violi, Maria Patrizia. 2008. “Corporeità e sostanza vocale nell’enunciazione in atto”. Versus 106: 105-119.

FASHION AS “SCIENTIFIC POEM”: THE SEMIOTIC STUDIES OF GREIMAS AND BARTHES ISABELLA PEZZINI

Greimas and fashion in 1830 In this paper, I intend to present a case in which the history of fashion and the history of linguistic-semiotic studies interconnected in a significant way: the field of fashion was identified by two of the founding fathers of present-day semiotics—Algirdas Julien Greimas and Roland Barthes—as a subject deserving close study and at the crossroads of diachrony and synchrony; history and the system. Two important works testify to this: La mode en 1830. Essai de description du vocabulaire vestimentaire d’après les journaux de l’époque by Greimas (2000) and the much better known Système de la mode by Barthes (1990). It is very likely that it was Greimas—a linguist of Lithuanian origin who had immigrated to France—who suggested fashion as a doctoral thesis topic to Barthes, leading to the writing of his book. The two had met in Alexandria in 1949 where both were working at a French institution; they shared an important period in their formative years, reading and thinking together about the work of the Genevan linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, author of Cours de linguistique générale (1916), which would prove to be fundamental to the development of structuralism and, in particular, of semiology. At that time, Greimas had just defended his doctoral thesis on French fashion vocabulary in 1830, supervised by Charles Bruneau, while Barthes was still searching for a topic and a mentor who would agree to supervise his own. Upon their return to Paris, Greimas accompanied Barthes in some of his frustrated peregrinations (Samoyault 2014, 290–91). For both scholars, fashion presented itself as a novel subject of study and, as we shall see, as a tenacious one as well, capable of suggesting and, at the same, time calling into question the most innovative procedural hypotheses of the new structural methodology. It is also interesting to note that both scholars severely criticised their own work, considering it as “surpassed” by further

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developments in their fields of study. Today, on the other hand, it is recognized as being fundamental in many respects. Let us begin with Greimas’ book, only published after his death and in an edition of 2000 edited by Thomas F. Broden, to whom we are indebted for much of the information referred to in this paper. It consists of two doctoral theses and collected the fruits of several years of research. It is a significant testimony to the initial phase of Greimas’ research as it developed from a historical-social study of French vocabulary to one of historicist-structuralism, before finally developing into a work on structural semantics that was to become a crucial reference point in the contemporary study of meaning (Greimas 1956; Greimas 1968). Its main thesis reconstructs the vocabulary of Romantic fashion, starting from an abundance of original documentation, which is closely examined. It proceeds with a systematic sifting through half a dozen fashion magazines, numerous manuals on the arts (embroidery, hairstyles, braiding and trimming, couture, ties/cravats, lifestyle, etc.), novels, memoirs and travel journals. The preferred source is Lamésangère’s Journal de dames, a weekly periodical that was launched in 1797 and published until 1839, whose columns and tables describe in great detail the richness and evolution of fashion during the Restoration period. The conclusion of Greimas’ work includes a wide-ranging survey of the different linguistic procedures used in the formation of the fashion words identified in the study and the indices include an inventory of: 348 names of colours found in the corpus; 271 species of flowers used in trimmings; 468 types of textiles; and 29 embroidery stitches. The bibliography reviews the 17 language dictionaries consulted and includes as many as six manuals on hairstyles and a dozen on Anglomania and Anglicisms, without neglecting two studies on the giraffe that the pasha of Egypt presented as a gift to Charles X in 1827 and which inspired an impressive number of fashion novelties (Broden 2000, XXVIII–XIX). Starting from this same vocabulary, in his complementary thesis Greimas seeks to identify “some reflection of the social life in 1830” in the context of the new socio-economic conditions. Industrial advancement led to the development of commerce and the birth of a new social organization and the spread and affirmation of a particular collective mood through clothing and daily behavior, connected to the spread of romanticism, with its characteristic traits of exhibitionism and a predilection for elsewhere— from a temporal point of view, for the Middle Ages (an ante litteram taste for vintage, we would say today) and in a spatial sense, for oriental exoticism. Finally, Greimas identified the strong English influence on France during that period. There was a real mania for all things English, in

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terms of dress, as well as attitudes and mannerisms, exemplified in the figure and lifestyle of the dandy. On the whole, compared to studies that depict a universalist and autonomous vision of fashion, for which its evolution would be independent of history and a function of internal permutations due to the constituent criteria of its system (Kroeber 1940), Greimas’ work advances the idea that the diversity of the toilettes, and the discourse extolling them, were closely connected to history and culture. This was both as concerns material culture and the establishment of specific types and modes of taste and sensibility, which could all be documented in the fashion lexicon. Thus, for example, the proliferation of fabrics with an ever greater variety of printed patterns testifies to the invention and, above all, the spread of new innovations in weaving—the textile sector was one of the first to be transformed by the industrial revolution, bringing about a significant democratization of fashion—just as the use of different flowers in the toilette pointed towards the development of horticulture and greenhouses in France and the growth of an artificial flower industry (Broden 2000, XXX). The choice of this time period also points to the fact that within the history of clothing, male and female fashions during the Restoration are perhaps the first to foreshadow modern Western dress, as indicated in contemporary publications of various kinds, including Balzac’s Traité de la vie élégante, published in 1830 and of particular literary significance. As regards methodology, in planning out his work Greimas shared the particular concern of Georges Matoré—with whom he worked closely— for the renewal of lexical study. The study is an in-depth historical analysis of the vocabulary and particular attention is devoted to the social, rather than individual, use of lexis, as was usually done for the most part with texts by writers. Within this perspective, the appearance, disappearance and transformation of particular lexical elements is indicative of social and cultural changes. Furthermore, the fashion lexicon was thought of not as a collection of words, but as an organic whole—like the field of clothing to which it refers—in a “semiological” turn, which was then to find confirmation in Barthes’s interpretation. In fact, Greimas writes: “notre étude étant consacrée à la description des habits de l’homme civilisé à une époque déterminée, ces vêtements ne se présentent pas comme un mélange accidentel d’éléments hétérogènes, mais bien plutôt comme une unité organique où les diverses parties de l’habillement s’harmonisent entre elles” (Greimas 2000, 19).

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Barthes, fashion and its system The possibility of analyzing social mechanisms starting from a discussion of fashion attracted Roland Barthes as well, who ended up devoting what was perhaps the most rigorous book of his career to the subject—The Fashion System (Barthes 1990). This is the book on which he worked most, over a period of many years (from 1957 to 1963, by his own report), producing successive versions, thus making this study the prototype of the semiological approach with which he was by then experimenting in various fields and continuing, in a different way, the endeavour he had begun with Mythologies (1957). In this book, he denounced, in often brilliant writing, the forms through which the new consumer society was surreptitiously spreading its ideology, creating and establishing a real mythology of contemporaneity concealed in daily manifestations that appeared extremely innocent. In addition, in the linguistic model of the overlapping systems of denotation, connotation and meta-language (Hjelmslev 1943) he found an explanation for the mystification of these constructed meanings that were presented as “natural.” Now, advertising and design, urban planning and medicine, and literature and food became the subject of a more systematic study in his teaching and research at the École pratique des hautes études in Paris. Barthes aimed to analyze mass society through its various means of communication and the production of meaning, in line with the more general trend towards the study of the “everyday” in the new human sciences. Why devote such labour to fashion, an apparently futile subject? Barthes came to it gradually, after close examination of the methods and results used to study it previously, which, in many aspects, he found sporadic and dissatisfying. In the article “Histoire et sociologie du vêtement” (Barthes 1957), for example, he observes how often no clear distinction had been made between the internal characteristics of the clothing system—the constrictions, prohibitions, indulgences, aberrations, fantasies, congruencies and exclusions that characterized the combination of elements—and the external influences connected to the various periods, countries, social classes, and contingencies. In his opinion, two different stories existed that did not necessarily follow the same rhythm—fashion had its own relatively independent internal rhythm with an infinite number of archetypal forms following one another in a partial cycle. It is at this point that the models adopted by Saussurian linguistics appeared to him as a more rigorous descriptive method in the parallels that can be observed between language and clothing. Fashion is intuitively a

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system that functions fully within society; that is, it is something of which everyone is acutely aware and which they practice continuously, by dressing themselves, even though they do not explicitly understand its rules; this is precisely what happens with language. In his words, fashion is “a language spoken by everyone and at the same time unknown to everyone” (Barthes 1967a, my translation). Moreover, like language, fashion is a complex, multiform and slippery object, and therefore seems the ideal terrain on which to test the theoretical hypothesis formulated by Saussure and to elaborate a broader semiology and a general theory of signs that includes linguistics as a component. Like the dialectic between langue and parole, for example, in the field of clothing one can set custom in opposition to clothing, where the former is a social reality, independent of the individual, and a systematic, normative repository, whereas the latter indicates an individual reality, the act of dressing, through which the individual actualizes upon themself the general institution of custom. Custom becomes the primary object of study, and in turn becomes the fashion system. After starting from a sociological analysis dealing with real clothing, Barthes came to a decision to work only on written fashion, the fashion described in fashion magazines, excluding the photographed garment, convinced as he was that it would not be possible to describe in the same analytical procedure the “mixed systems” that characterized the entire field of fashion: “an object in which manufacturing techniques, images (in the form of photographs) and written words all come together at once” (Barthes 1967a, my translation). He considered it necessary, instead, to separate the analysis from the different sets, which were the object of analysis, according to their particular substance: “‘Real’ clothing,” writes Barthes, “is burdened with practical considerations (protection, modesty, adornment); these finalities disappear from ‘represented’ clothing, which no longer serves to protect, to cover, or to adorn, but at most to signify protection, modesty, or adornment; but imageclothing retains one set of values which risks complicating its analysis considerably, i.e., its plastic quality; only written clothing has no practical or aesthetic function: it is entirely constituted with a view to signification: if the magazine describes a certain article of clothing verbally, it does so solely to convey a message whose content is: Fashion” (Barthes 1990, 8).

Of course, there are connections between these different totalities, and Barthes stops to consider the possibility of defining them precisely: the passage from the real garment to the written garment, mediated by the photographed garment, is effected through operators, or convertors, whose

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function is to transpose one structure into the other—to pass “from one code to the other.” The translation from the technological code, which characterizes the real garment, to the iconic code is made possible by the dress pattern; the translation from the technological code to the verbal code is enabled through a kind of “recipe” or sewing programme. Take a women’s tweed suit: insofar as it is worn, it is a real piece of clothing. The “pattern” makes it possible to go from the fashion design to the photo, but a “recipe” is what will lead us to the written garment: “above the knee tweed suit for the weekend.” It is not a question of finding in the written garment a subsystem of language, as was the case in Greimas, but rather to find in it a signifying system consigned to language, but prior to it (Calvet 1990). Ultimately, the langue of fashion, its true system, is derived from written fashion. Having established this, Barthes focused on a corpus of Parisian fashion magazines, mainly Elle and Jardin de mode, from June 1958 to June 1959. His study deals with the verbal description of the clothes independently of other systems, particularly that of the image: “description has no rapport with viewing/...it is/ in the order of pure intelligibility,” and “writing is a system that is sufficient unto itself” (Barthes 1967a, my translation). This decision leads to a conviction in the inescapable centrality of language, and of writing in particular, in approaching all the other systems of signification, which leads him to formulate a famous reversal of the Saussurian aim: semiology is not conceived as the most general science of signs, but rather a translinguistics would build a general framework for the analysis of different yet specific systems. The main theoretical-methodological reference in Barthes’ analysis is now the systemization of the Saussurian theory carried out by the Danish linguist Luis Hjelmslev, who offered the possibility of a semiological organization of multiple levels and a raising of the planes of signification: the “real” dress code lies at the basis of the construction, as the denotation of a terminological system of which the rhetorical system constitutes the connotation and on which, finally, the analyst’s meta-language is placed. Thus, an apparently simple syntagm like Prints Triumph at the Races can reveal a complex layering. In the scheme that follows, the “real” print dresses are positioned in the fashion discourse as signifiers of a real, social situation—the races. The written dress code vectors this content and it is on this linguistic translation that the connotations of the rhetorical system specific to fashion hinge.

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This approach makes possible a process of de-substantialization of fashion, which, in the end, appears to be first and foremost a play of signifiers. This results in a classification in the first instance freed of meaning that in the end turns out to be rather poor—ultimately being reduced to an opposition between being in or out of fashion. Fashion: “is thus redeemed by an ‘intelligent’ construction of the signifier which receives the essence of the semantic power and enters into almost no relation with its signifieds … it thus appears essentially … as a system of signifiers, a classificatory activity, much more a semiological than a semantic order” (Barthes 1990, 280).

Expressed more precisely: “Fashion thus proposes the precious paradox of a semantic system whose only goal is to disappoint the meaning it luxuriantly elaborates” (Barthes 1990, 287).

A markedly logical system, a taxonomy, when conveyed by the popular press, is charged with meanings that tend to naturalize it and the discourse of these magazines is “rich in fragments of the world transformed into dreams of use”; when it is practised by a more sophisticated press, it comes closer to pure fashion, freed of all ideological foundation. Once again, Barthes emphasizes the dual movement of the “semiological paradox,” which seems to characterize mass society: on the one hand an extraordinary effort is made to penetrate the real with signification, to convert things into signs and the sensible into signifier; on the other, an equally meticulous effort is made to conceal the preceding one and to reconvert the semantic rapport into a natural or rational one. Barthes concludes, “it seems … to be a particular characteristic of our societies to

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naturalize or rationalize the sign through the original process described here under the name of connotation; this explains why the cultural objects elaborated by our society are arbitrary (as systems of signs) and yet wellfounded (as rational processes)” (Barthes 1990, 286). Thus, “the fashionable garment of mass society acquires all the more value, and is all the more fashionable, the less it exhibits its meaning” (Barthes 1990, 286)—that is, the more it conceals the effort that was necessary to make it fashionable. In the conclusion to his book, Barthes reaffirms the character of an autonomous cultural object that has been taken on by fashion through language and its revelation of new and different functions compared to those normally attributed to it in a sociological approach. Above all, through language fashion becomes a narration; as such, its possible functions seem to him comparable to those of literature, albeit a minor one compared to the literature recognized and consecrated by the great writers. It is likely that Barthes made this statement thinking of Mallarmé and his magazine, La dernière mode, which clearly inspired him, but which remains particularly significant today as well. What is important for Barthes is ultimately the very “invention” of fashion, as a new object produced by the movement of analysis itself, appearing in the end as sort of true “scientific poem.” As he stated in an interview: “my book is an itinerary, a patient journey, almost meticulous, carried out by a naïve man who is trying to see how meaning is constructed, how people construct it, in this case the meaning of fashionable dressing: a discovery of places is thus established, an itinerary of the topics of meaning. And yet this itinerary does not appear as a personal journey, but rather as a grammar, a description of the levels of signification, of unities and their rules of combination, in short, as a kind of syntax of description” (Barthes 1967a, my translation).

Although Barthes considered The Fashion System to be an effort he had to “leave behind” in his research journey, it remains an inexhaustible reference point for all those who recognize in fashion a fundamental mechanism for producing meaning in contemporary societies. Even when he decided not to deal with a specific aspect of it, as in the case of fashion photography, Barthes made fundamental observations and suggestions on the subject, which made it possible for others to develop suitable analytical tools. As Gianfranco Marrone observes, today Barthesian semiology is more useful for the results it has generated as a study of different types of discourse circulating in society than for the weight of its stated theoretical

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options; among these discourses, fashion retains a particular place. Thus, what is most important in his work is the fact that he demonstrated that “fashion uses language as its material of expression to construct a seconddegree semiotic system (...) within which forms of life, values, plastic organizations, rhetorical procedures and so on are situated” (Marrone 2006, XII, my translation). Finally, it is perhaps worthwhile underlining how The Fashion System, and in particular Part II, devoted to “The Rhetorical System,” is one of the texts in which Barthes reflects more deeply on the female world and on the ways in which mass culture constructs stereotypical and contradictory images of women, offering at once an obsessive and pedagogical vision: “Such is the Woman ordinarily signified by the rhetoric of Fashion. … An executive secretary, her work does not keep her from being present at every festive occasion throughout the year or the day; she leaves the city every weekend and travels constantly, to Capri, to the Canary Islands, to Tahiti, and each time she travels she goes to the South; she stays only in mild climates, and she likes everything all at once, from Pascal to cool-jazz. (…) the Woman of Fashion is simultaneously what the reader is and what she dreams of being” (Barthes 1990, 260–61).

A great deal has changed, one might say, when observing these early attempts to confer on fashion the dignity of a valid object of study. And yet, they have achieved their aim, which was to establish a platform of theoretical-methodological reference, from which to measure the development of new acquisitions.

Bibliography Arrivé, Michel. 2000. “Préface mêlée de souvenirs sur la préhistoire de la sémiotique”. Greimas 2000, XI-XXV. Barthes, Roland. 1957. Mythologies. Paris: Seuil. —. 1957, “Histoire et sociologie du vêtement.” Annales 3. —. 1990. The Fashion System. Translated by Matthew Ward and Richard Howard. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. —. 1967a. “À propos du Système de la mode”, interview by Raymond Bellour. Les Lettres nouvelles, March 1967. —. 2006. Il senso della moda. Forme e significati dell’abbigliamento. Edited by Gianfranco Marrone. Turin: Einaudi. Broden, Thomas F. 2000. “Avant-dire: A.J: Greimas e la linguistique française”. Greimas 2000, XXVII-XLIV. Calefato, Patrizia. 2003. “‘…con una seconda nascita, la scienza di tutti gli

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universi immaginati’: il Sistema della Moda di Roland Barthes”. Semiotica. Testi esemplari, edited by Gianfranco Marrone and Paolo Bertetti. Turin: testo&immagine. Calvet, Jean-Louis. 1990. Roland Barthes 1915-1980. Paris: Flammarion. Greimas, Algirdas Julien. 2000. La mode en 1830. Langage et société: écrits de jeunesse. Texte établi par Thomas F. Broden, Préface de Michel Arrivé. Paris: PUF. Greimas, Algirdas Julien. 1968. Sémantique structurale. Recherche de méthode. Paris: Larousse. Hjelmslev, Louis. 1943. Omkring Sprogteoriens Grundlaeggelse. Copenaghen: Ejnar Munksgaard. Richardson, Jane and Alfred Louis Kroeber. 1940. Three Centuries of Women’s Fashions, a quantitative Analysis. Berkeley, Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press. Marrone, Gianfranco. 2006. “Introduzione”. Barthes 2006, VIII-XXVI. Pezzini, Isabella. 2014. Introduzione a Barthes. Bari-Rome: Laterza. Samoyault, Tiphaine. 2014. Roland Barthes. Biographie. Paris: Seuil. Saussure, Ferdinand de. 1916. Cours de linguistique générale. Paris: Payot.

WHEN CRISIS IS FASHIONABLE: ETHNICITY, PAUPERISM AND ENVIRONMENTALISM AS VALUE EMANUELA FERRERI

“Dans l’œil du flâneur” This paper aims to define fashion as the context of a particular form of social production. The relationship between the “cultural models” and “structural conditions” of global society is shaped through fashion and is invested with symbolic values—constructs of meaning and actions that are commonly identifiable, negotiable, and treatable as products and as incitements to produce, consume, and live. The most pressing questions of our time—those of ecology, universal rights, cultural differences, and the social heterogeneity of the world— emerge forcefully from the professional environment of fashion, as though constituting within it a perfect and empirical primacy to demonstrate, affirm, or to save. The phenomena of fashion are both widely generalized and highly specific and the historic cultural identification of styles and products has become, at the same time, something that is for both the masses and a select few. It is this basic contradiction that demands anthropological reflection upon the structural importance of both the cultural meanings which proliferate and succeed one another and the incisive, repetitive conditions of the constitutive social environment. Fashion, then, intervenes between the identification of individuals with their possible and desired relationships and the institutionalization of society and of various historical societies. In this sense, fashion is called upon to say its piece among cultures and societies. Culturally specific visions of fashion, the European sociology of fashion, or the sociology of consumption, in the work of the classical authors (Simmel 1985; Veblen 1969; Bourdieu 2001) are interpretations and explanations of the modern world that intervene in an ideological configuration of global society; a configuration that contemporaneity

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continues to challenge—or rather, which the global crisis of our time requires us to comprehend analytically and to continue to interpret and to explain (Friedman 1996; Ferreri 2013). The starting point for our reasoning is the idea that “of fashion one asks the impossible, and fashion does it.” Contemporary society assigns to fashion—or rather, to the refined world of high fashion (haute couture)— the ephemeral, tangible, symbolic and concrete resolution of unsolvable contradictions and paradoxes in the order of intercultural relations between the North and South, and East and West, of the world. These paradoxes are highlighted in the asymmetrical structural conditions between the production of wealth and of poverty; between the domains of political subordination and hegemony; and between the development and exploitation of entire continental areas and demographic masses. In an age of evident declining political hegemony—of the transformation of the general economic dynamics between the centers and peripheries of the planet—fashion attempts a symbolic overturning of strong traditional hierarchies—those of the West and the rest of the world—and seeks to exploit the dynamics of globalization, of which it is itself part. By this, we mean that the representation of the importance of fashion today aims to embody the time and place of special production. First we must ask ourselves, what is it that gives fashion the right to do what it does? The principal reference points for this work include not only case studies and academic essays, but also mainstream film, articles from the mass media, and texts aimed at a broad audience. All of these serve to highlight the importance of working through a comparison of opinions, shared experiences, specialist knowledge, and the exercise of critical cultural reflection. Let us start by considering a slogan currently in vogue. To provide didactic reinforcement to the highly refined graphic composition of its advertising, the famous fashion house Hermes added the unambiguous phrase Dans l’oeil du flâneur. Those who follow the specialist literature, will know just how dense this statement actually is: it offers the quintessence of the sociology and anthropology of modern society. But even those who are free of such disciplinary input will invariably notice a kind of magnificent nostalgia for modernity and luxury. Even more so, a tenacious nostalgia for the specific target of the high fashion lover and consumer: a citizen who is educated, wealthy, ambitious and curious—a true “replicant” of that modern individual and social environment that the sociology of the early twentieth century gave us as an ideal type and nuclear model of the system that generated modernity.

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The great classics of anthropology have delivered to modernity the representation of other societies, including: ethno-economies; the production of non-economic goods; exotic circuits of gift and ritual exchange (Mauss 2010; Shalins 1992; Firth 1977); right up to the current criticism of the complex social life of things and of commodities in a cultural perspective (Appadurai 1986). The lexicon of fashion has drawn upon a constant and immediate source—as with the term “ethnic,” which is used to define fabrics, styles, methods of working or simply geographical origins in original locations or niches of culture and history. Which brings us back to the individualized figure of the untiring hunter for authentic products and hybrids to accumulate, sell or wear in order to highlight their “otherness” in an unconcealed game of contrasting identification and easily managed and inverted asymmetries. The worldly man, the cosmopolitan citizen, the designer, artist, connoisseur, the promoter and the consumer of fashion are all related to a typical “figure” of the modern individual—that of the flâneur in all his coquetry (Curcio 2009). With the phrase Dans l’oeil du flâneur, the advert lends itself to portraying and reviving a classic ideological hierarchy between the West and the rest of the world—between the modern individual and the various traditional individuals, subjects, and environments of other societies and cultures (Dumont 1993). Or, to put it another way, the experienced observer, a sociologist or anthropologist, cannot help but see an advert that plays at reviving this stereotype. It is precisely this stereotype that forces us to rethink everything we continue to call the implicit cultural difference of subjects (identity) and everything that we continue to call established and overlying diversity in various societies (Ferreri 2011)—all this for a high-fashion garment or accessory (La Cecla 2007). Let us now reflect briefly upon the power of advertising. It amounts to an attempt to universalize a particular aspect—one as ephemeral and perishable as the object advertised, the person who might desire and buy it, and the use that can be made of it. The advertising of fashion is fashion itself. The history and success of European fashion has produced a kind of sociology and anthropology intrinsic to the discourse of fashion and its institutionalization in the world system of production and distribution of consumer goods. The products of the fashion subsystem are special ones and are so primarily by virtue of the universalization of particular aspects—a mechanism which fashion invariably manages and implements. We can only hint at the anthropological question of the human body in fashion. In its two sexed aspects, female and male, the biological body is

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to be dressed and transformed in appearance and in use of clothing through the creation, adaptation and application of modular units of ideal dress, and factors of the garment itself that are, for fashion, real material elements and “archetypes” of the social and cultural personification of the body and of the human psyche (Garufi 1994). Here again we must reflect upon the power of the promotional statements of the professional fashion world in today’s mass media.

The real cost of fashion On April 24, 2015, Orange Fiber, a website dedicated to the professional world of fashion, published a post commemorating the tragedy in Dhaka in Bangladesh on April 24, 2013. This was the collapse of an entire building used as a “multinational factory” by various suppliers for well-known international textile and designer clothing brands. The collapse of the eight-storey Rana Plaza—sudden, but not unexpected—caused the death of 1,113 people and injured 2,500 more. It bankrupted the families of employees, who were already the object of ruthless exploitation. The the page linked to previews of the film, The True Cost, by Andrew Morgan, a documentary about the terrible event that also attempted an ethical analysis of the enormous social cost of the global system of clothing and fashion production (Google 2015a). There were further links to initiatives encouraging social mobilization for a new ethical vision of international production, all helmed and promoted by influential names in the fashion industry. What interests us here is the juxtaposition of the information and the comments on the web pages that displays a genuine communication paradox regarding fashion. The above links were followed by detailed information on the meagre wages, unsanitary conditions, and unstable employment conditions that still prevail in a significant portion of Bangladesh’s national productivity. This topic was the heart of a post primarily concerned with the ideology of exploitation and consumption in globalization. By ideological consumption, we mean the way that contemporary societies continue to be used and abused in persistent structural asymmetries of production and trade. Immoderate ideological consumption is eroding not only the common and shared possibility of new ideological visions of society, but the general understanding and awareness of global processes. In the online discussions on this page, there was a desire to protest against the exploitation and erosion of social resources that constitute the true cost of fashion. The criticism triggered a second stage of communication:

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the ethical mobilization of high fashion. For this communicative aim, the texts on the website traced the micro story of a Fashion Revolution that seemed to have already begun. The most celebrated example concerned the 2009 campaign by Livia Firth known as the Green Carpet Challenge. Its aim was to produce haute couture, certified as 100 per cent sustainable, for the stars of the “red carpet” at events like international film festivals. Here the attention of the reader and the web user was channeled towards the existence of a different kind of production—one that is aware and sustainable and which is not simply mass consumer fashion produced under horrendous conditions, but rather high fashion created in particular locations and with special products. Clothes and accessories produced like this are presented as possessing an intrinsic cultural and ethical value. At the heart of this, however, the ethical display depends on a garment by garment, product by product, and atelier by atelier quality certification. It declares that the certification is more important than the brand itself: wear sustainable clothes, not a label. What we should be wearing, then, is the price—the proper price for this garment that, though ethically correct, is only accessible to a select few. The initiative circulated among celebrities and VIPs who enthusiastically supported the proper price of production and those who purchased a certificate of good conscience together with their special garment. We feel that this example shows the strange “ecologism,” “pauperism” and “ethnicity-vogue” of high fashion—the ostentatious desire to create unique and original pieces, with particular values attached, original and emblematic, for the cause of sustainable development and support of some of the poorest people in non-Western societies. Now let us ask ourselves what the analytical and explanatory link between the luxury production of clothes for gala events and the fate of Bangladesh’s GDP might be? The answer is none. This is why we face a paradox of communication, offering an ethical option of abstract, imaginative and ideological value. At most we can consider it a profession of good intentions by which the richest and most famous attempt to save something, at least in principle, with the help of skilful, diligent, creative, and honest entrepreneurs. In effect, the chain of good intentions appears as a globalization of ethical principles—a positive and redeeming delocalization. But what does it really propose as a suitable place and time for the production of sustainable apparel? That which is implicit in the traditional contextualization of high fashion in the ateliers of the great couturiers: micro-entrepreneurial excellence combined with genius, exclusivity and style. The form and the spirit of an economic and cultural institution that the logic and practice of globalised production has

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marginalized and, on occasion, destroyed for over a century—the same century in which that form and spirit first emerged.

Narcissism and symbolic accumulation Let us now propose another comparison between content and image—a bold attempt to bring together an example of ethnographic study and anthropological analysis of the phenomena of fashion through an artistic interpretation. We attempt to connect The Political Economy of Elegance, an essay by Jonathan Friedman on the cult of clothing of the Congolese sape in Central Africa, with The Bling Ring (USA, 2013), a film by Sophia Coppola loosely based on real events. As a traditional institution the sape, or Societe des Ambienceurs et Personnes Elégante, is a network of individuals who are organized into hierarchies of rank on the basis of their appearance and their frequenting of city nightclubs. The internet is currently full of pictures of and comments regarding the Congolese sape (Google 2015b). Web pages present photographs of men wearing extravagant clothing and authentic high fashion accessories in contexts that may render such luxury wholly inappropriate. But it is exactly in this contrast between nothingness and appearance—between poverty and wealth—that their power, the power of the sapeurs, lies. This is an extremely complex phenomenon, with its roots in the history of Congolese and colonial society, and that of the relationship between Paris and Brazzaville, as below: “The sape is a ritual program for the transformation of ordinary unranked youth into great men. It begins and ends in Bacongo, with a ‘liminal’ phase in Paris. It consists in the continual build up of a wardrobe and ritual display at organized parties and dance bars” (Friedman 2005, 95). “For the ultimate paradox of the entire project is that it begins and ends in consumption, yet generates no steady income” (Friedman 2005, 98).

What the sapeurs and their duels of elegance in the most exclusive nightclubs constitute is nothing more than clientelism: opportunities for business that are informal and profitable for a few, as part of a ring of often illicit relations that may touch upon political power and if they do, only for the purposes of corruption. Images and reviews of The Bling Ring can be found easily enough on the internet and its director is on record as stating that she was first drawn to the story of these events, which involved the robbery of showbiz personalities, after reading an article in Vanity Fair. A group of seven

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people, all young adults, were charged with having burgled the homes of many celebrities between October 2008 and August 2009, for a total haul of three million dollars in cash and personal effects (jewelry, clothes and designer accessories). This led to the film, which is full of references to the actual actors and members of the jet set who were robbed and their luxurious, never-quite-guarded residences: people who are not much older than the criminals responsible for the thefts and who the general public also suspects of harboring immoral vices and disturbing psychological inclinations, as in the case of Paris Hilton, iconic of spoiled, ultra-rich, unstable youth (Google 2015c). Both “cases,” in reality and through the mediation of reality by the social scientist and the director (the second being an exercise in artistic transposition unsuited to scientific writing), focus upon young fashion fanatics. These individuals are obsessed with fashion to the point of suffering from compulsive disorders, or of adopting as normal deviant, delinquent, behaviors simply in order to acquire luxury goods and enter environments that cosntruct an image of well-being and personal fulfillment. The parties attended by sapeurs and the inhabitants of Hollywood are like amusement park rides, crazed but perfectlyorchestrated, upon which these stars rise and glitter: “Sapeurs often describe their state as drugged or enchanted. They participate in an all encompassing project that absorbs them completely. ‘I am the happiest man in the world. I am driven by a superiority complex’” (Friedman 2005, 99). “Their statements surprised me. All they seemed to care about was the celebrity they obtained thanks to the robberies [taken from a comment by the director]. The attention of the Bling Ring’s protagonists is focused on the media circus, not the related legal proceedings. The tagline of the film reads: They didn’t just want to meet the celebrities; they wanted to live like them” (Google, 2015c).1

What might look like unbridled individualism and selfishness is actually a fragmentation of the Ego and the construction of a false Self— symptomatic, in fact, of a pathological narcissism. It is a phenomenon universalizable as a pathology of the person, but in context and in the exploration of real cases, profound differences are revealed between the specific social environments of cultural reference—between the various 1

Translation from an Italian article of which no English language source version was found.

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processes of identification of the subjects and the structuring of the communities that contain them, orient them, and even predetermine them. The definition of youth “gangsterism” may seem appropriate in both cases of luxury-driven madness and delinquency, but the cases are, in many ways, very distinct from one another, being, as they are, part of specific socio-cultural contexts. In our view, the public knowability, the reflections available upon these two distinct phenomena, the elements of judgment that may unite them, and, above all, the pathological link between the attraction of fashion and rampant consumerism, can lead us to an interesting conclusion. The juxtaposition of the Congolese sapeurs and the unusual Californian dream house thieves highlights a socially relevant phenomenon that is of interest to all: the symbolic reversal of hierarchies of power and, especially, the disturbance of the accumulation of those assets with which power is identified: “In this logic, the sapeur’s reply to the accusation of delinquency is simply, ‘we are no different than you even if our methods are less violent.’ Thus, in some deeper sense La Sape is all there is” (Friedman, 2005, 103).

The attitude of the Hollywood thieves is summed up by the question: why should the acquisition of valuables, which have been accumulated so rapidly and in such excessive amounts as to negate any plausible justification for them, be considered criminal? Through expressions of public opinion on such events, however, an unmasking and revelation of the deeper dynamics, latent in the individual stories, takes place. The evidence offered by public comment is that of a nuclear mechanism of power: the accumulation of wealth, moral corruption and the inherent psychological or material violence that supports strategies of affirmation in the public arenas, in politics just as in other parallel or substitute forms of success. The paradoxes and contradictions that contemporary societies show us through the phenomena of fashion and globalised catastrophes, force us to rethink how to salvage what we can of large-scale industrial production and craftsmanship, the craftsmanship of the atelier, from worldwide globalization and local production; from growth and economic decline; and from the ecological and socio-cultural sustainability of diverse contemporary social environments. Fashion cannot square the circle of the global crisis, but it continues to make us want a world of “things” anyway: things that provide us with the semblance of owning the world.

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Fashion builds concrete and symbolic products that continue to instigate relationships between individuals and communities. Fashion provides a place and time for a game that is both anthropological and sociological: the connection between the processes of identification and individualization of the social person.

Bibliography Appadurai, Arjun, ed. 1986. The Social Life of Things. Commodities in Cultural Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bourdieu, Pierre. 2001. La distinzione. Critica sociale del gusto. Bologna: Il Mulino. Curcio, Anna Maria. 2009. “La civetteria nel pensiero di Georg Simmel.” Eidos. Cinema psiche e arti visive14 (March-June): 62–63. Dumont, Louis. 1993. Saggi sull’individualismo. Milan: Adelphi. Ferreri, Emanuela. 2011. “Identity and Diversity Today.” In Understanding Diversity in Development Processes. International Course on Applied Anthropology, edited by P. Palmeri, 51–70. Rome: Nuova Cultura. —. 2013. “La ‘crisi’ al tempo della crisi. Soggetti, strutture, istituzioni.” Rivista Trimestrale di Scienza dell’Amministrazione 3: 129–39. DOI: 10.3280/SA2013-003009. Ferreri, Emanuela. 2015. “Crisis at the age of crisis.” Presented at the 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association. ESA 2015. “Differences, Inequalities and the Sociological Imagination.” Prague August 25–28. Firth, Raymond. 1977. I simboli e le mode. Bari: Laterza. Friedman, Jonathan. 2005. La quotidianità del sistema globale. Milan: Mondadori. Friedman, Jonathan. 1996. “The implosion of modernity.” In: Clausen, Lars (Ed.); Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS). (Ed.): Gesellschaften im Umbruch: Verhandlungen des 27. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie. Halle an der Saale 1995. Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verl., 1996. ISBN 3-593-35437-3, 348371. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-140611 Garufi, Bianca. 1994. “La moda come relazione corpo psyche.” Archivio della Rivista di Psicologia Analitica di Roma. Milan: Vivarium Editore, www.VIVARIUM.NET. Google 2015a. http://www.orangefiber.it/qual-e-il-vero-costo-della-moda/. Accessed 24th April.

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Google 2015b. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Sape Google 2015c. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bling_Ring La Cecla, Franco. 2007. La moda rende felici (per mezz’ora almeno). Milan: Ponte alle Grazie. MAUSS. 2010. REVUE DU MAUSS. Marcel Mauss vivant. N. 36, second semestre 2010. Paris: La Découverte. Simmel, Georg. 1976. Il conflitto della cultura moderna. Roma: Bulzoni. —. 1985. La moda e altri saggi di cultura filosofica. Milan: Longanesi. Sahlins, Marshal. 1992. Storie d’Altri. Naples: Guida. Veblen, Thorstein. 1969. La teoria della classe agiata. In: Opere, Torino: Einaudi.

FASHION AND MODERNITY: THE MIXTURE OF LOVE AND LUXURY IN WERNER SOMBART ROBERTA IANNONE

Introduction The binomial relationship of fashion and modernity is difficult to refute (Lipovetsky 1989). This may be one of the most documented assumptions in the literature, despite the different explanations provided as to “when” and “how” this combination originated. The first aspect (“when”) concerns the problem of the origins of fashion (Motta 2015). We wonder when “fashion” arose and how has modernity been central to this process of formation. The problem of “where” to place this in time becomes a crucial question. Some believe that fashion arose with modernity (Steele 1988), while others believe that fashion has always existed and its origins can be traced back long before the modern era (Descamps 1981). In both cases, however, it is difficult, if not impossible, to ignore the close constitutive interdependence between fashion and modernity—modernity gave birth to fashion, or at least saw it grow. The second aspect (“how”) looks at the points through which this relationship between fashion and modernity has passed. The main areas of investigation include culture and economy. In the first case, attention focuses on the cultural characteristics common to fashion and modernity, such as the need for differentiation in spite of homogenization, the swiftness of change, and concentration on the “now” (Marchetti 2011). In the second case, however, analysis focuses on the constitutive economic system of fashion, capitalism (Fransoni 1982, 123), and on the economic dynamics of production and mass consumption (Baudillard 1976; Fabris 1995). Here, the analysis of “fashion and modernity” starts from different assumptions ascribable to the relation between love and luxury. These assumptions are based on an analysis of the topic by Werner Sombart, a well-known sociologist who lived from the mid-1800s until the mid-

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1900s, in his work Luxury and Capitalism of 1913. In this work, the author offers endless suggestions and even identifies some genuine theorems or general trends of fashion (and of luxury) through modernity, maintaining the centrality of the relationship between love and luxury.

The social relations between the sexes and the role of women The theoretical combination of love and luxury refers to the social relations between the sexes as a fundamental object of sociological research that is able to bridge micro and macro phenomena. “I know of no event,” writes Sombart, “of greater importance for the formation of medieval and modern society than the transformation of the relations between the sexes which occurred during the Middle Ages and through the eighteenth century. In particular, comprehension of the genesis of modern capitalism is closely bound up with a correct appreciation of the basic changes in this most important domain of human activity” (Stehr and Grundmann 2001). What is the relationship between love and luxury? How did feelings, like love, and the social relations between the sexes forge fashion in modern times? The turning point can be traced to the changing identity of women. It is constituted through the triumph of femininity and its most important outward expressions of identity. The conceptual logic is one that goes from love to the social relations between the sexes (rather than being confined to the feeling itself) and from these relations to the image of women and to the triumph of femininity as a bridge between “fashion and modernity.” The key phenomena are: 1. the secularization of every domain of existence and in particular the secularization of love; 2. the social acceptance of illegitimate love, namely the principle of illegality; 3. the increase of the consumption of luxury due to a hedonistic background. In fact, fashion appears to the author as a “necessary manifestation of the process of secularization of the conduct of life, accompanied by the increasing consumption of luxury due to a hedonistic background” (Sombart 1978, 228).

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It was no coincidence that the first people to embrace luxury through fashion were the maîtresses of the king of France. Soon, Sombart writes, “the rise of the elegant courtesan contributed to the formation of the taste of the honest woman” (Sombart 1982, 80), so that the courtesan became a model for all women. In this way, the honest woman had to compete with the cocotte unless she wanted to be completely ousted from society: “this implies certain cultural minimal conditions that the lady of the society must meet, in all her honesty” (Sombart 1982, 81). It is in this way that, for example, “the femme honnête, stimulated by the courtesan, had to wash herself” (Sombart 1982, 81). The true leaders in fashion, coquetry, taste, and luxury in quantity and of quality were the courtesans. They taught the honest women to love the most refined pleasures, richly adorned clothes, the cult of the new, and domestic luxury (Baldini 2008, 45). The intersexual transformation Sombart had in mind was accomplished between the Middle Ages and the Rococo era when there was a “victory of the principle of illegitimacy.” This is the period in which: —through lyric poems and the German songs of the minnesänger, seen as the natural beginning of modern love, an “eroticism of puberty that defies the beloved, languishes and sighs and runs out in devotion and imagination” began (Sombart 1982, 65); —Boccaccio’s Decameron appeared, considered a reaction of sensuality against extreme idealism; —paintings soaked in flesh and blood, such as those by Jacopo Della Quercia, Ghiberti and Masaccio, flourished; —the fight for love and women in the paintings of Perugino and Botticelli is seen as a struggle between love and chastity. Botticelli’s Primavera and the Birth of Venus portray the triumph of love for women; —the Treaty on female pleasure and beauty by Lorenzo Valla appears (1431); —the century of Tiziano takes place. This is a century when the soul and the senses find a harmony hitherto unknown. Pietro Bembo, in his Asolani, puts love at the origin of all things and wise men agree that love is nothing but a “desire for beauty.” A process that Sombart calls the “secularization of love,” which is also the secularization of existence in each domain, started in the eleventh century. However, according to Sombart, it was from the fourteenth century onwards that a “hedonistic-aesthetic conception of women,” as

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well as of the love for the women, challenged the idea of sanctified love and of the bond created by the sacrament of marriage. It was the time of “the emancipation of the flesh,” which started timidly, but became a period of a heated sensuality where the concept of “free love” developed and was finally expressed through refinement, moral relaxation, vices, and, in some cases, aberration. This was the victory of the principle of illegitimacy because “the reality to which this kind of love can not adapt is the institutional form of marriage” (Sombart 1982, 70). According to Sombart, “the legal limits may neither contain the universal instinct of love nor the delight of refined love; these are by their very nature illegitimate or rather a-legitimate. And the feminine qualities of beauty and kindness do not gain or lose in power for being enveloped within the form of a human social institution such as marriage” (Sombart 1982, 70).1

From women to luxury Given this universe of meaning, how did the upheaval in the relations between the sexes, in the roles attributed to love, beauty and women, become the source of luxury? According to Sombart, this happened between the thirteenth and the nineteenth century, when luxury underwent transformations strictly geared towards the participation of women, including: 1. A tendency towards internalization instead of externalization. Almost all luxury in the Middle Ages was public. During the Renaissance it was manifested through tournaments, parades, pageantry. Now it became private. The luxury was installed at home and managed by women. 2. The tendency towards the objectification of luxury instead of idiosyncracy. Before the Middle Ages, luxury was especially manifested in the number of people in one’s entourage. Now, the number of servants was nothing more than a phenomenon concomitant with the increasing consumption of luxury items. This is the “objectification” that women were interested in: they were less interested in the number of people in their entourages than they were in sumptuous carriages, fabrics, decorations for the house, and 1

In these pages the concept of “human” as an attribute of assets and institutions recurs. On this concept, see Sombart’s work of 1938, Vom Menchen. See Iannone, Roberta. 2013. Umano, ancora umano. Per un’analisi dell’opera “Sull’Uomo” di Werner Sombart, Roma: Bonanno.

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jewelry.2 This is a very important transformation. Adam Smith would consider it a transition from unproductive luxury to productive luxury in the capitalist sense. 3. The tendency towards sensuality and refinement. Luxury was not needed so much for idealized values, such as those found in art, but for one’s “baser animal instincts.” For Sombart, this was a characteristic of the transition from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, i.e. the triumph of Rococo over the Baroque, which he bluntly considers to be a complete victory of women and the feminine style in all spheres of culture. The ornamental columns, cushions of Lyon, beds of blue silk with white canopies of tulle, clear blue silk skirts, gray silk stockings, and laces of Brabant were all real “symphonies of society’s gatherings” where the woman was the Rococo protagonist. Luxury engages the senses and it is in a direct relationship to sophistication. Sophistication sees an increase in the expense of life and the labor necessary for the production of objects that are more highly crafted. This aspect further extended capitalist industry and trade. 4. The tendency towards condensing in time. The production of luxury developed rapidly and certain elements of luxury became permanent; luxurious goods came to be rapidly produced and consumed. In the Middle Ages, manufacturing times were very long and there was no urgency to finish. People’s lives were conducted within a given complex (the church, the cloister, the municipality, the lineage), reproduced through countless generations (an “amalgam of generations”); when individuals began to free themselves from this community definition, they also began to consider the duration of life as a measure of enjoyment. As Sombart writes, when women took possession of all this, the pace of production of luxurious items had to increase. 5. Other trends affected domestic luxury, which we can distinguish as luxury in eating and housing. Concerning nutrition, Sombart writes that before the fifteenth and sixteenth century when the culinary arts began to flourish, the only luxury was to devour. At the end of the sixteenth century, this enjoyment became refined and quality replaced quantity. He asks: “was the woman the one who produced 2

On the trade of luxury items and on the role played in this respect by the Jews, see Sombart, Werner. 1980. Gli Ebrei e la vita economica. Translated by Renato Licandro. Padova: Ar. (book I, Chapter III).

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this refinement, the luxury in feeding?” (Sombart 1982, 126). It is true that we often place eroticism3 in opposition to gourmandise and we have even divided a good life into three elements—love, ambition, and good food—for these reasons we find few erotic men like Kant who were also great gourmets. It is clear that: a. the culinary arts and the art of love have always been combined; b. this relation is beyond any doubt—that is to say between the consumption of sweets and the predominance of women among the “old style feminism” (Sombart 1982, 127) and sugar as a fundamental link between history and economy. Sombart even drew the frontiers of the illegitimate woman. This was a frontier separating countries with good food and pastries from those where the produce of the kitchen and the pastry could be said to be scarce. He puts Italy, Austria, France and Poland among the countries in which there were delicious desserts, only leaving to northern Germany recognition of the Flammeri (a sweet made with sugar and eggs) and to England that of the Albert Cake (a sweet made of cocoa, butter and biscuits). This relation between “old style feminism” and sugar is identified and documented by Sombart as a fundamental relation in the history of economics. Once women began to exercise their dominance, in the first period of capitalism, there was a rapid and general diffusion of sugar, which in turn meant an increase in the consumption of stimulants such as coffee, cocoa and tea, throughout Europe. With regard to the luxury of the home, this was intimately connected to the development of the big cities. Starting with the Renaissance, and especially at the end of the seventeenth century when the key word was “exaggeration,” the great city fed the desire for luxury with furniture (Sombart 1982, 129). As he writes: “who drove man to such magnificence? There is no need to rack our brains. The house in which the high society of the ancien régime lived is the nest the female builds with great care and attention in order to keep the male subjected” (Sombart 1982, 130). For Sombart, this is clearly shown in the history of furniture. It is the history of an increase in the comfort and elegance of soft beds, with rich carpets, and an increasingly abundant and delicate linen. This was “the work of the woman, or rather of the courtesan!” (Sombart 1982, 130).

3

In The Bourgeois, Sombart distinguishes the erotic temperament from the sensual and the non-sensual. For more details see Sombart, Werner. 1983. Il Borghese. Translated by Franco Ferrarotti. Milano: Longanesi.

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Conclusions Given this description, the close connection between seemingly unrelated phenomena, such as love, luxury, fashion and modernity, becomes clear. According to Sombart, after the Crusades the sex ratio began to change and it is here in social relations and relationships of love that we may track down the well-spring of modernity. The changing social relationship between the sexes changed the way of life of the ruling classes and therefore changed the social conditions of the economic system. When we passed from consecrated and conjugal love in God’s service to an erotic love that was free, illegal, illegitimate and an end in itself (the secularization of love), a change in life-practices was triggered. More and more extreme demands led to increasing luxury, with a desire to spend beyond what was necessary. In turn, even luxury acted upon love, in illicit love, selfish sophistication, and the wasteful pleasures of the five senses in luxurious things. The erotic/sensual life rapidly grew to be one dominated by luxury and vice versa—it became clear that a life dominated by luxury could hardly exist without an erotic/sensual life. In all this, the woman’s role was primary. To be feminine became connected to luxury. An increasingly privatized, objectified and refined luxury according to the taste and the elegance of women was accelerated through constant demand. This was a luxury expressed through food, houses, and in the cities; it included fun, holidays, public places (theaters, concert halls, ball rooms, refined restaurants, hotels, and shops) and urbanization in general. The demands of new modes of consumption, induced by these new lifestyles, could be met only by the increasingly capitalist organization of industry, labor, and trade. Industrial growth was needed to produce more and more luxury items that had to be both precious and in sufficient quantities to satisfy demand. The labor needed increased because the activities required to produce these objects could no longer be confined to the workshop and large economic networks had to mesh with production to ensure the distribution of products through trade. In short, the standardization and massification of luxury consumption arose and the triumph of luxurious fashion directly and decisively led to capitalism. We should understand how much the role of women, in their engagement with luxury and fashion, led to the first major forms of the empowerment of women and how much their role contributed to the commodification of the relations typical of capitalism. It is difficult not to recognize the impact of the “courtesans” on capitalism—they acted as “entrepreneurs of themselves” and used their charm and intelligence to

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gain recognition in society. Having nothing to lose they were able to break with the economic tradition. This is the kind of woman who drove a man to increase expenditure on ostentation and luxury; she was also the kind of woman who was the object of male desire. Therefore, we may wonder (Fornari 2015, 88) whether these are the historical antecedents of “liquid love” (Baumann 2004) and of the capitalist commodification of love and “sex tourism” (Fornari 2015, 88). Similarly, it seems necessary to ask whether the tyranny of visibility and of “being visible” that “impose appearance’s supremacy and the obligation to offer ourselves to the gaze of others” (Aubert and Haroche 2013, 5) is actually rooted in the relations between the sexes and in women’s historical need for social recognition. Whatever the answers, the right questions had already been asked by Werner Sombart and he offers a sustained analysis of the thousands of pathways of modernity and capitalism.

Bibliography Aubert, Nicole and Claudine Haroche. 2013. La tirannia della visibilità nela società di oggi. Translated by Monica Miniati and Teresa Bertilotti. Firenze: Giunti. Baldini, Costanza. 2008. Sociologia della moda. Rome:Armando. Baumann, Zygmunt. 2004. Amore liquido. Rome-Bari: Laterza. Baudrillard, Jean. 1970. La société de consommation. Paris: Denoel. Descamps, Marc-Alain. 1981. Psicosociologia della moda. Roma: Editori Riuniti. Fabris, Giampaolo. 1995. Consumatore e mercato. Milan: Sperling & Kupfer. Fornari, Silvia. 2015. “Amore, lusso e capitalismo. Werner Sombart e la secolarizzazione dell’amore. Come la trasformazione dell’erotismo e del rapporto fra i sessi ha influenzato la nascita del nuovo spirito capitalistico borghese”, in Sombart’s thought revisited, DADA Rivista di Antropologia Postglobale, speciale 1. Fransoni, Francesco. 1982. Processo al Capitalismo: Werner Sombart. Padua: Editrice Il Corallo. Iannone, Roberta. 2013. Umano, ancora umano. Per un’analisi dell’opera “Sull’Uomo” di Werner Sombart. Rome: Bonanno. Lipovetsky, Gilles. 1989. L’impero dell’effimero. Translated by Sergio Atzeni. Milan: Garzanti. Marchetti, M. Cristina. 2011. La moda oltre le mode. Roma: Nuova Cultura.

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Motta, Giovanna. 2015. La Moda contiene la Storia e ce la racconta puntualmente. Rome: Edizioni Nuova Cultura. Sombart, Werner. 1980. Gli Ebrei e la vita economica. Translated by Renato Licandro. Padua: Ar. —. 1983. Il Borghese. Translated by Franco Ferrarotti. Milan: Longanesi. —. 2015. Guerra e Capitalismo. Translated by Roberta Iannone. Rome: Mimesis. —. 1982. Lusso e Capitalismo. Translated by Riccardo Frassinelli. Parma: Edizioni all’insegna del Veltro. —. 1978. Il Capitalismo moderno. Translated by Alessandro Cavalli. Turin: UTET. —. 2015. L’Avvenire del capitalismo. Translated by Roberta Iannone. Rome: Mimesis. Steele, Valerie. 1988. Paris Fashion. A Cultural History, New York: Oxford University Press. Stehr, Nico, and Reiner Grundmann. 2001. Economic Life in the Modern Age: Werner Sombart, New Brunswick (USA), London (UK): Transaction Publishers.

THE LAWS OF FASHION VICTOR AQUINO

Fashion is always subject to debate and this usually leads to more controversy than agreement. The topic has given rise to conclusions that are not always logical and which often induce people to think in opposite directions. This is all because it seduces and excites not only professionals and scholars, but anyone with an interest in this kind of subject. As an object of study, fashion engages sociology, history, art and the behavioral sciences, as well as the study of business and the market. Similarly, when fashion becomes an object of study that correlates to art, it simultaneously demands to be understood as a form of expression and as aesthetic content. A dense topic, sometimes packed with highly controversial content, it reaches many spheres of knowledge and, thus, demands a complex understanding of the phenomena that surround it. The only thing one cannot say about fashion is that “it is a subject of no interest to anyone”— because fashion always interests everyone. We have already had the opportunity to conceptualize fashion. We have already had occasion to define it and describe its nature, attributes, and characteristics. We have also spoken of its inclusion in the context of a conceptual universe, in which there are differences between fashion, clothing, and apparel. It is time, then, to go a little beyond the concept, the nature, the attributes, and the characteristics of fashion. We should now discuss another set of ideas. Ideas that are linked mainly to what can be called the “conceptual framework of fashion”—for it is these same ideas that, from a theoretical point of view, embody the concept itself. These ideas can also be understood as a set of immutable laws that give fashion its own, non-transferable meaning. Above all, these thirty-eight laws establish the reality of fashion. As laws, they are immutable, and this immutability is necessary to understanding fashion as it is expressed, produced, and presented. In this sense, the formulation of these laws— resulting from the observation of how fashion is expressed, produced, and presented—leads us to the conclusion that, in many aspects, fashion is a part of culture itself.

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Law number 1: Not all clothing is fashion, but all fashion is clothing. This is the main law of fashion. It is what determines the need to transform clothing into fashion. This is a process that, in turn, requires a sophisticated marketing strategy to turn all designs into fashion—fashion that can only justified by large-scale consumption. This is why we can say that, to be considered fashionable, clothes have to be desired and consumed immediately after being launched. Law number 2: Fashion moves along four different axes: the social, the cultural, the aesthetic, and the economic. When we say that fashion moves along these four axes, we are focusing on the use of clothing in a condition in which it occurs through references that—simultaneously or in isolation—match market demands, the individual tastes of users in the context of particular social groups, and the permanent predisposition to wear what is considered fashionable. It is not only the need for protection that determines choice of clothing. This choice is determined by what is worn in each situation and always conditioned to the model to be worn in each of them. The relationship between what is worn and what should be worn highlights, as a consequence or a result, a cultural component that guides the use of clothes. The social axis, in turn, directs this use in the context of one standard, one category, one genre, and one model of clothing. Fashion has become the main instrument in the clothing market precisely because of the relationship between the “speeds” at which the cultural and social axes move. It appears, then, that the faster the use and change of clothes occurs, the faster the economic axis of fashion also moves. Law number 3: The aesthetic conceptions of clothing derive from the greater or lesser incidence of movements that each of the four axes produce in terms of needs, fantasies, or business opportunities. This law highlights the fact that fashion can be created by the need for clothing and by the acceptance of a model by the market. Whoever creates it does not do so automatically: fashion professionals, including designers, publishers, fashion photographers, fashion journalists, fashion event organizers, and all those who are involved in the marketing that comes before launching a collection, work in related ways on the process of transforming clothes into fashion. However, this transformation always depends on the market, which is predisposed to carry out the elements that make up a fantasy, whatever it may be, through the use of certain clothing. Law 4: Fashion only changes, causes or modifies certain behaviors when the cultural content that makes up the aesthetic standards of clothing design is changed substantially. For example, if one were to say “the trend now is men wearing skirts” imagine what this would trigger in terms of the

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behavior of consumers and everyone else. Similarly, a historical case is the time when men stopped wearing hats. It is not hard to imagine when hats were practically outlawed as a “compulsory piece” of menswear. Of course, starting with the gestures and postures that were altered with this change of habit, everything else also changed. Gestures that were considered mandatory, such as public greetings and bowing, disappeared or were replaced by others. Law number 5: Fashion is the redundancy of a similar aesthetic standard of clothing. Redundancy involves repetition that, produced in an intermittent or random way, brings about two consequences: it ensures that something is easily remembered; it reduces any interest in what is now being harked back to. In other words, fashion, because it is something that must engage nostalgia for the past, faces the risk of being treated indifferently in the short term. As such, marketing projects are inseparable from each launch, as well as from other activities in all the sectors involved; they end up acting as a mechanism that shortens—through the intermittent action of repetition—the process of redundancy, which decreases the initial interest. Photo sessions, articles in the press, television shows, catwalk shows, and all the other events that are necessary to construct fashion end up making themselves redundant and reducing their importance. This is why, pressured by the whirlwind of events necessary for the process itself, fashion eventually becomes redundant. The first effect of this is felt in the way it is expressed: in copies and imitations that, at some point, end up abbreviating its concept. The aesthetic standard of clothes, which are transformed into fashion, is the first victim of this redundancy. What could be understood simply as a “law of repetition” becomes the executor of the process itself. Fashion releases, which have this gigantic distribution network at their disposal, also require action by the other sectors that support them. Law number 6: To become visually materialized, fashion always depends on people of expression or media notoriety, such as athletes, models, artists and those whom we call “famous.” Without the great number of people involved, fashion would lack public references. The participation of celebrities, who have their images associated with what is being launched or used, contributes to the easy and rapid assimilation of fashion. A large contingent of people participates in the consolidation of what can be called the image of fashion. The indicative reference conferred by these special users, because they are widely known, is a consolidating factor of both the image for and a stimulus to imitation. This stimulus to imitation can also result in further studies and analyses, so as

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to deepen the relationship between fashion and behavior—imitation is always present in the context of clothes. Law number 7: Fashion draws on one source of taste. For this reason it is impossible to admit that “fashion is not part of the common taste of those who desire it as fashion”—for fashion is only fashion because it is common. The explanation for this is at the root of a taste that is common to many people. Thus, when taste (expressing individual desires and preferences) comes from a source that is common to a given body of people, its expression becomes coincidental. In the case of fashion, it becomes coincidental, simultaneous, and repetitive. This brings us back to the law of redundancy—for both the coincidence of taste as well as its concurrence and the repetition with which it manifests itself in day-to-day life become redundant. This concurrence is, therefore, an identifier of the taste, of the desires and of the preferences of those who absorb fashion. To say “absorb fashion” means that, regardless of the corresponding consumption, fashion does not need to be consumed to be justified as fashion. Law number 8: Fashion results from the use of a single genre of clothing at a given moment of time. There is no fashion in an item of clothing that is unique, of a single design, and for a single user. This may sound foolish, but it is not. Fashion always requires the same “genre” or even “standard” of clothing to be used by a large number of users at the same moment in history and over the same period of time. Law number 9: Fashion corresponds to an aesthetic classification that is tacitly accepted—as to the presumption of being what it is and how it presents itself—in a socio-cultural sphere that uses the corresponding code to decipher it as fashion. Despite the diligent activity of “fashion journalism,” as well as of all that exists to inform, comment or criticize in fashion releases, there is one unquestionable fact: “fashion cannot be discussed.” Once launched, the corresponding design no longer brings about any discussion about its appropriateness or otherwise. Moreover, it is not controversial any more in its form, materials, colors, and so on. It may even become a market failure; but this now occurs outside the socalled “perimeter of interest.” In this sense, classification as “good” or “bad”; “beautiful” or “ugly”; or as “adequate” or “inadequate,” does not exist. There will always be those who do not like it, but whose opinion will have no influence or importance in the context in which fashion is presented and consolidated. In the socio-cultural sphere in which a certain fashion design circulates, there is a kind of “code” through which a corresponding interpretation takes place. Likewise, through this “code,”

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demonstrations of taste that positively accept what is being proposed align with it. Law number 10: Fashion is only fashion for those who hold the correct identification code for clothes. There is a huge difference between what fashion is and what people would like it to be. However, the desire to insert what was conceived out of context is not enough. When we say “fashion is only fashion for those who hold the code that classifies it as such,” we are making two statements. Firstly, that only those who hold this “code” may be capable of identifying it (as fashion). Secondly, that not everyone holds this code and that without it there is no way to identify what is perceived as fashion. We return to fashion journalists, fashion critics, fashion analysts, fashion photographers, fashion event organizers and the whole set of professionals who deal with the subject. Can anyone outside of this sphere of interest also hold the “code” of fashion identification? Yes, of course. Regular readers and people who are regularly present at fashion events, such as entrepreneurs, investors, and executives who “buy” and “sell” fashion may be able to “crack” the corresponding code. However, there is always the risk, given their lack of information, that false “interpretations” occur. Law number 11: Everyone wants to be beautiful and accepted. This is perhaps the most complex law. The reason behind its complexity is the nature of the concepts of “ugly” and “beautiful.” For what is ugly or beautiful to some may not be so to others. It is a matter of aesthetic controversy. Still, it is not the accuracy of the concept of “ugly” or “beautiful” that matters. What matters is the individual circumstances of this meaning to each person. Although the “beautiful” of some may seem otherwise to others, the circumstance of the meaning of “beautiful” is important to most people. We intuitively suppose acceptance of beauty is positive and appropriate to everyone else. Similarly, it would be like saying the opposite: “nobody wants to be ugly”—nobody wants to be an object of discomfort in the context to which they belong. Being an object of discomfort in this context means being somehow excluded by others. Fashion is precisely an “aligner” or “adjuster” of the individual to others and it has the function of matching or leveling people. Thus, if it makes people equal as desired, then it makes everyone beautiful. Law number 12: Fashion may even be ugly, but it is never considered so. Consequently, if everyone wants to be “beautiful,” or if no one wants to be “ugly,” and fashion is the “adjuster” of this, fashion will never be “ugly.” Or, in other words, it can be “ugly,” but it will never be considered so. Importantly, the complexity of the concepts of “ugly” and “beautiful” are not something to be considered since what matters are the ideas of

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people in the contexts to which they belong. This leads us to the conclusion that, although it is not necessarily “beautiful,” it often makes everyone think otherwise. Again, it is worth repeating that the concepts of “ugly” and “beautiful” do not matter here. What matters is whether, in the particular context in which the clothes are being worn, people “believe” that what they are wearing is “beautiful.” Or that the clothes make them “beautiful”—regardless of what is understood as “beautiful.” For example, someone may think: “these clothes are very ugly, I will never wear them” and then, after a while, when everyone is wearing these “ugly clothes,” they change their mind and wear them too. Law number 13: Fashion is an aesthetic idealization subject to three conditions: (a) age, (b) physical conditions, (c) financial conditions. This aesthetic idealization is necessarily subject to a user’s conditions. Firstly, to their age. This condition governs the acquisition and use of fashionable clothes according to a previously established standard—within an age limit. Secondly, to their physical condition. This condition governs the acquisition and use of clothes according to standards that are accepted in the contemporary world. That is, according to a standard of measurement defined by a user’s weight or body shape, which can never exceed certain limits. Thirdly, to their financial condition. This condition governs the acquisition and use of clothes according to purchasing power, i.e. having the money to buy what one wants to wear. As a matter of fact, this third condition is the one that the market focuses on. If users are not young, do not have adequate bodies and, especially, do not have enough money to buy, they are automatically excluded from fashion. Law number 14: A piece of clothing need not be necessarily expensive to be considered fashion. But fashion does. For fashion is not expressed by one single garment. In other words: it is not high prices that characterize fashionable clothes. When one connects wearing fashionable clothes to a user’s purchasing power, one is saying that they must have money to buy the clothes they want. It is not the price that makes certain clothes fashionable. Evidently though, fashion is a commodity and, as such, has a price. Thus priced, it demands purchasing power. Law number 15: Fashion is the result of alternating aesthetic standards of clothing, which, when cyclically processed, establish renewal. If fashion is transient because it always renews itself, this is because change makes it increasingly different from what it has been before. It is not hard to realize that the difference between clothes always depends on aesthetic standards. These aesthetic standards determine trends that predominate and last for some time.

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Law number 16: Fashion predominantly distinguishes two groups of people: 1) The group of people who want to have access to fashion and can do so; 2) The group of people who want to have access to fashion and cannot do so. The first group is made up of people who have the means to acquire and wear what has been created, launched and is considered fashionable. The second group is made up of people who, although they desire the same things, are not able to access and possess these clothes. The consequence of this difference is in the difference that groups make of wearing clothes. Imitations in this field, for example, are justified by the difference between the conditions of possession of one group and the other. Because they do not have the means to acquire the clothes that are considered “legitimate” in fashion, they choose the “copy”: the “imitation,” the “fake,” and the “reinvention.” Law number 17: Fashion, because it is fashion, prescribes the widespread use of certain clothing. Widespread use means the use of one type of clothing by a large number of people, as determined by its release and availability on the market. In turn, it is the generalization of this use that justifies the emergence and consolidation of fashion—fashion that, although transient, displays a specific model. Law number 18: Fashion, whilst it “differentiates” users and nonusers, also makes all users “equal”; this is why fashion is a social standard of visual identity in society. Deliberate inclusion in the context of fashion represents—for users—a one-sided act, in order to make them different to non-users. However, while earning this “difference,” users become equal to all other users. That is, at the same time as fashion differentiates users from non-users, it makes all users the same—by a “typology” of clothing all users make up a group that is characterized by its particular visual features. Fashion, accordingly, represents differentiation by clothing. This status is a subjective circumstance, but it is certainly visible in the context of clothing. However, fashion also provides a standard of similarity, equalizing all users. Law number 19: Fashion does not need planned and organized marketing actions. When we say that fashion cannot do without marketing that is objectively planned and targeted, we are stating that there is no fashion without marketing. If all fashion is clothing, but not all clothing is fashion, it is clear that clothing depends on external action to become fashionable. These external actions are nothing more than a set of measures, taken on the margins of or outside fashion itself, that give it visibility, make it desirable and, above all, make it accepted as fashion. For this reason, one cannot conceive of the existence of fashion without the intervention of marketing. Marketing is not just a tool of commercial

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utility in the clothing trade, it is also a tool for disseminating the elements that make clothing fashionable. The diffusion of these elements, which is encouraged by celebrities who wear certain clothes, and the presentation of this clothing in the media, especially through advertising, occur spontaneously, regardless of planning—this is still a result of marketing. Fashion photographs produced for a release, for example, end up becoming effective tools in the dissemination of fashion. They originate with marketing, but take on an autonomous function. These images begin to circulate beyond photographs after they are transformed into copies of clothes reproduced in other sources. In other words, marketing works both directly and indirectly to transform clothes into fashion. Law number 20: It is almost impossible to constantly follow fashion. It is almost impossible because the age of each user changes, classifying him or her outside one of the three conditions for their inclusion in the aesthetic standards of fashion. This is the same as saying that “the older a person, the more unlikely is their inclusion in fashion.” There is some sort of lifetime concerning fashion that, over time, makes it more difficult for individuals to enter and remain in it. Law number 21: A person who insists on being constantly fashionable ends up becoming a caricature of him or herself. Therefore, because of the previous law, it should be understood that insisting on remaining permanently in fashion ends up transforming users into caricatures of themselves. These caricatures are a result of the continued use of models that were previously fashionable. People allow themselves to become caricatures without realizing it. Law number 22: Obsession with fashion compromises rigor in the art of dressing. Another consequence of insisting on being a permanent part of fashion, is the risk of presenting oneself inappropriately in public. This is because dressing appropriately comprises the use of common clothes, whose appearance never differs from what people expect to see. Law number 23: Fashion enslaves and ultimately does not correspond to the pleasure of those who allow themselves to be subject to it. To submit to the aesthetic standards of prevailing fashion, in an obsession to constantly follow everything that derives from it, eventually becomes a form of subjugation. Law number 24: The older a person is, the easier it is to break free from being subject to fashion. This law is related to the law of the “three conditions” (age, physical and financial conditions). If it is a prerequisite to be of a proper age to be a part of fashion, age can also determine emancipation from it. The older a person is, the easier it is to rid themself of certain standards—including those that do not refer to fashion.

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Law number 25: Being different is not enough to make someone fashionable. If fashion apparently distinguishes those who meet the three conditions for access, it also encourages users to “experiment.” The use of new designs also induces and stimulates them towards “creation.” The risk, however, is in turning personal designs into aberrations, for the sole purpose of being different. Law number 26: The fame of a brand absurdly raises the price of clothing. In the process of transforming clothes into fashion, in which marketing is indispensable, it appears that fashion itself becomes a clothing price multiplier. However, the brand of clothes itself, regardless of whether it has or has not already been transformed into fashion, is also a price multiplier. Law number 27: It is not the brand of clothes that determines a certain fashion trend, but the opposite—because, when it turns into fashion, it also becomes a price multiplier. Brands, simply as brands, do not automatically make clothes become fashion. The process of designing is independent of the brand, even if the designer, or designers, work for the brand. When brand designs turn into fashion, they do not just alter clothes, but also the brand itself. Law number 28: Fashion is only limited by users’ financial conditions, a fact that can determine even the choice of other items outside the sphere of fashion. Fashion, as fashion itself, does not change, nor does it admit any limitations. The only possible limitations to fashion are users’ limitations, imposed by the lack of one of the three conditions for access: age, weight and money. Any of these limitations can lead users to opt for different items regardless of whether they are fashion items or not. Law number 29: Just as fashion has no boundaries, there is also no regional fashion. Fashion, because it is fashion, is independent of any geographical limitations, language barriers or cultural definitions. Fashion is always widespread, generalized and simultaneously accepted anywhere in the world. If there are no borders of any kind, regions are therefore nonexistent. According to this point of view, there is also no regional fashion—because what could be understood as regional fashion, identifying users based on certain clothing, can only be understood as apparel, or clothing that identifies specified groups, be they professional, religious, sporting, military and so on. Law number 30: No fashion excludes the use of clothing. No fashion excludes the use of clothes because—as we have seen—fashion requires a desire for the possession and consumption of clothing. This desire for possession and consumption justifies marketing actions. In this sense, any

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design that excludes the use of clothing, even when motivated by artistic expression, is not fashion. Law number 31: Certain apparel may correspond to specific fashion standards—but only for a short period of time. If apparel is certain clothing that identifies human groups, made up of people who are professionals, religious, in the military, sportsmen, artists, or whatever else, this characteristic in itself dismantles the meaning of fashion. Still, apparel designed by recognized designers may correspond to a certain standard of fashion, for as long as that standard lasts. It will do so for a short period of time. Law number 32: Apparel, due to its inherent characteristics, has aesthetic standards that change less than fashion standards. This is the law that gives apparel the condition of specific clothing that identifies a human group, but is not fashion. Usually, designs created for professional groups tend to remain in use beyond the “shelf life” of related fashion. Law number 33: Functionality and ergonomics are not indispensable ingredients of fashion. Usually, fashion—which stems from a process of design and human expression—is not known for its logic and objectivity. Therefore, ergonomics and functionality are not necessarily essential ingredients in this process. That is why it has been common to see collections that require an explanation or need to be justified for their lack of comfort and adjustability. Law number 34: Fashion, clothing and apparel last different periods of time. If apparel is independent of whoever designed it, its durability is greater than the durability of fashion. If the durability of clothes corresponds to the physical integrity of the materials with which they are produced, fashion’s durability is smaller than the physical integrity of the materials it is made of. Thus, since they are different from each other, fashion, clothes and apparel also have different durability. Law number 35: No fashion occurs without human intervention. All one can conclude about fashion, as an object of design, is that it only exists because of human intervention. Thus, it is unlikely that anyone would state that a particular fashion is the product of nature or of any other circumstance. Even if the inspiration for a certain design has its origins in some other field, fashion does not take place without human intervention. Law number 36: Copies reproduce the fashion standard. The pressure to have access to this standard, however, forces the appearance of copies, which, in turn, reduce the time the standard predominates, causing a fashion to quickly fade from view. Every fashion collection that is launched, due to its being well-known, points towards the pressures of demand and excludes a vast number of people. This exclusion brings about

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the production of copies to be consumed. This, in turn, determines a reduction in the period of time during which the fashion standard lasts. The greater the number of copies of an original design that are made available for simultaneous consumption, the shorter the time that the design will remain as fashion. Law number 37: Fashion is immeasurable, unquantifiable and unpredictable. From a cultural point of view, this renders it irrelevant. Fashion is only important in the sphere of fashion. Regardless of it being an aspect of economic development, a generator of jobs and of fame for designers, or for justifying the existence of fashion brands, fashion is only important in its own sphere and the dimension to which it belongs. From a cultural point of view, it is irrelevant, because it does not produce any substantial change in culture. Law number 38: No fashion lasts forever. There is no logic about the durability of fashion, but all fashions come to an end. Fashion always comes to an end because it is cyclical, renewable and requires this to be itself. The cycle disappears, but fashion goes on being fashion. The disappearance of a cycle, however, cannot be explained solely from the perspective of it becoming outdated. If the emergence of new forms, colors, and materials is part of a fashion design that cannot be explained— nor justified—by objective logic, one also cannot explain its disappearance. Most important, however, is the “law of finitude”: no fashion lasts forever.

Bibliography Agins, Teri. 1999. The end of fashion: the mass marketing of the clothing business. New York: William Morrow. Aquino, Victor. 2012. As leis da moda. Sao Paulo: INMOD. Correa, Tupa Gomes. 2002. “Ellementi di representazione della figura humana.” In Dal controllo alla codivizione (studi basiliani e italiani sulla comunicazione), Becheloni, G. & Lopes, M., org. Firenze, Mediascape, 214–21. Correa, Tupa Gomes. 2001. “Moda e construzione della figura humana.” In Communifashion (sulla moda della comunicazione). Abruzzese, A. & Barile, N.org. Roma, Luca Sosella, 183–93. Jaiser, Susan B. 2013. Fashion and cultural studies. London, Bloomsbury Academy. Rath, Patricia Mink, and Stefani Bay. 2014. The why of the buy: consumer behavior and fashion marketing. London Fairchild Books.

REAL CLOTHING AND PERFORMATIVITY: AN EXTENSION OF ROLAND BARTHES GABRIELA MUÑAGORRI MENDIOLA

Introduction The Chanel style and Courrèges fashion …. If we want to keep these two sides of the same sign together, and undifferentiated—that is, the sign of our times— then fashion will have been made into a truly poetic subject, constituted collectively, so that we are then presented with the profound spectacle of an ambiguity rather than that of us being spoiled by a pointless choice. (Barthes 2006 (1967), 103; Barthes 2003, 425)

The French philosopher Roland Barthes (1915–80) started investigating fashion as a system in 1957, before completing his PhD on this topic in 1963. Two weeks after it had been printed and published as Système de la Mode (1967),1 the French journalist Frédéric Gaussen conducted an interview with Barthes for the newspaper Le Monde, published on April 19, 1967 (cf. Gaussen 1967). In this interview, Barthes confessed his original intentions had been to analyze so-called Real Clothing as a reference to clothes as merely technological and functional objects. Due to a lack of existing methods, his original intentions were frustrated. Barthes finally limited his study to the textual descriptions of Real Clothing (cf. Barthes 2003, 11–15). He carried out his investigations from a semiotic perspective, conceiving of fashion as a language and showing how fashion is perceived through the acts of reading and describing. In his PhD thesis, Barthes focused on texts that were published in newspapers next to fashion photos in order to explain them. This so-called Written Clothing, which referred to texts dealing with clothes as physical objects, is based solely on 1

From here on abbreviated as SdM in contrast to Julia Kristeva who, for the first time in 1969, used S.M. as a short form for Systeme de la Mode (cf. Kristeva 1981, 77).

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words. Their function consists in describing the Real Clothing in fashion newspapers (cf. Barthes 2003, 20–22). In current research, there are very few contributions that concentrate on Barthes’ Real Clothing. It seems that in talking about fashion theory in general, one needs to refer to the SdM. In contrast, Barthes’ concept of Real Clothing has received little attention. One reason could be that the book remains a “libro, a seconda dei lettori, ‘difficile’ e ‘sùperato’” (Marrone 1995, 140). Besides being convinced that Real Clothing would become a key concept for any kind of fashion analysis, Barthes himself defined the SdM as a “piccolo delirio scientifico” (Marrone 1995, 139). This paper focuses on the opinion of the literary critic, writer and author of the last biography on Barthes, Tiphaine Samoyault, who identifies Barthes’ working method through a combination of fragments as a form of collage (cf. Berti 2015). In this sense, Barthes creates a kind of fashion narrative built up from different kinds of entangled discourses, which can be understood separately, but work together as one. The Spanish edition of the SdM comprises several other selected essays by Barthes about fashion (see Barthes 2003). Aside from the Italian and English editions of the SdM (see Barthes 1970; Barthes 1990), there are also French, English and Italian compilations that include other articles by Barthes on fashion, which have inspired different, often radically different, readings (see Barthes 1994; Barthes 2006a; Barthes 2006b). On the one hand, the SdM is a scientific text that presents semiotic reflections on Written Clothing. Barthes was forced to limit his approach in order to systematically analyze Real Clothing—redefined as something merely technological—from a semiotic perspective on the traces of its technical materialization. On the other hand, in talking about Barthes’ fashion theory one needs also to consider Barthes’ non-scientific writings (essay, articles) that describe and deepen our understanding of fashion and Real Clothing, without considering it at a purely technological level. Here Barthes studies the concept of Real Clothing without methodological boundaries in a radical and revolutionary way. Marrone underlines Barthes’ delving into the concept of “redressing”: “Se il corpo è rivestito, lo è nel senso letterale del termine, ossia vestito di nuovo” (Marrone 2006, xxiv). Marrone describes the SdM as a text that follows many possible directions and has to be considered in terms of its main purpose of building up a uniform type of semiotics (cf. Marrone 2006, xi-xiii). The English Barthes-specialist Andy Stafford has ultimately underlined the tendencies in post-Barthesian discourses on semiotics to forget the physical element of a “writing body”—a crucial part of Barthes’ work on fashion. Stafford points out the fact that “writing on fashion seems to percolate slowly, in fragmentary

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form, into fashion theory; it is regularly cited, incidentally here and there; and yet it is not treated as a body writing” (Stafford 2006, 120, quoted in Frykhamn 2013). This study is based on the assumption that the semiotic discourse of Barthes in the SdM should be extended to his other writings in which he deals with fashion phenomena and the issue of “real” clothes freed from strict scientific limits. Barthes’ other writings reflect his early intentions of an exclusive analysis of the original concept of Real Clothing. The focus is on Barthes’ idea of Real Clothing, i.e. on clothes as technological objects. In order to extend this concept, this study offers a compact analysis of Barthes’ early reflections in his essay Le match Chanel-Courrèges (cf. Barthes 2003, 421–25; Barthes 2006, 99–103; from here abbreviated MCC), which followed the SdM in 1967. the intention of this study is to offer a sufficient response to the question of whether Barthesian concepts, such as Real Clothing, can be applied to the innovative clothes of other fashion designers apart from Chanel and Courrèges. This investigation has two parts: the first part (1) describes the three types of clothing that make up the fashion system within the semiotic discourse of the SdM. Based on an analysis of the MCC, this part will also extend the Barthesian concept of Real Clothing. Furthermore, it adds a new key concept of “performativity” to the process of creating Real Clothing and its acceptance in fashion. The second part (2) applies extended Barthesian terminology to the two cases of Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–72) and Martín Margiela (1957–) in order to prove the validity of Barthesian terminology for the analysis and interpretation of recent developments in fashion. Finally, a short summary will recapitulate the results of this study.

1. Barthes’ fashion system 1.1. The three types of clothing in the SdM In 1960, Barthes asked Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009) to supervise his PhD thesis on fashion (cf. Marrone 1995, 138). Lévi-Strauss rejected him, insisting on the importance of the analysis of Written Clothing. The thesis that Barthes finally developed in the SdM converts fashion into a system of signification composed of three original subsystems ruled by entities and criteria derived from the systems of language, images, and technology (cf. Barthes 2003, 20–21). In writing the SdM, Barthes strictly limited his analysis to texts published in two newspapers over one year, not including advertisements. He chose Elle and Jardins des Modes,

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published between June 1958 and July 1959. It is important to underline that in the 1960s, fashion trends lasted for nearly a year, a period during which the purpose and the objects of photography and textual descriptions did not change. In the SdM, Barthes divided the fashion system into three systems of clothing: (A) The System of Image Clothing. This system consists exclusively of photos and painted clothing. The Image Clothing analyzed by Barthes is produced not only for, but also by fashion newspapers. A very different case is that of the advertising photos for fashion, which follow other rules. Image Clothing is complemented by Written Clothing and both are dominated by the superior language of Real Clothing. Image Clothing is represented through images. It has a plastic structure and, even though derived from a system of images, it has its own and very particular vocabulary and syntax. This kind of clothing makes up 50 percent of clothing in print. (B) The System of Written Clothing, also called “descriptive clothing.” It is verbal and composed of texts that rewrite the Image Clothing to which these texts are attached. As with Image Clothing, its aim consists in representing Real Clothing. It is the case for all written fashion that “the described garments encourage purchase” (Barthes 2003, 35; Barthes 1990, 17). It has the ability to direct all image-readings to its crucial elements and to block the possibility of an infinite reinterpretation of an image. Its structure derives from the system of language, which also has its very own vocabulary and syntax. Written Clothing makes up the other 50 percent of clothing in print. (C) The System of Real Clothing. Real Clothing engages the superior language of the entire fashion system and is the guiding model for the transcription of all the other languages. This clothing only has practical goals. It is a physical object or, in other words, a kind of clothing that has a certain technological structure and whose properties can only be the result of a specific technical process (cf. Barthes 2003, 21). Barthes considers the analysis of the traces of its manufacture to be necessary to analyze this clothing, distinguishing it systematically from semiotics.

1.2. Real clothes as technological objects, extended by Barthes Marrone underlines that, despite being out of date, the SdM remains a highly significant semiotic investigation (cf. Marrone 2006, vii-xxvi). This study presupposes that Barthes’ reflections on fashion embrace two concepts of Real Clothing: Firstly, (A) in a semiotic sense and, secondly (B), in an essayist’s way. (A) refers to Real Clothing as a technological

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object and (B) to the extensions Barthes introduces beyond the methodological limitations of his original semiotic approach. In this sense, Real Clothing is created in a revolutionary manner within the fashion system and its analysis can not strictly be reduced to its traces of manufacturing. In MCC, for instance, Barthes conceptually expands Real Clothing as a technological object through studying the work of Gabrielle Coco Chanel (1883–1971) and André Courrèges (1923–2016). Even though two kinds of real clothes exist, they are not just complementary, but also necessary in their coexistence for any kind of new fashion to arise. In the case of Chanel, one can see a conception of time that runs contrary to contemporary fashion. Her particular style of fashion consists in a continuous reinterpretation of traditional designs and ways of using them. All her clothes, materials, forms and colors constantly refer to the past (cf. Barthes 2003, 422). In fact, her work is based on traces of history: the “very thing that negates fashion, long life, Chanel makes into a precious quality” (Barthes 2003, 422; Barthes 2006, 100). On the contrary, the concept of time in the work of Courrèges2 is the same as that of contemporary fashion, seeking yearly innovations and creativity. This is the basis for all the new materials and colors, particularly the lighter ones, as well as the dresses, demonstrating a total lack of tradition and expressly designed for the purposes of innovation. These differences also continue with respect to the concept of the body. Chanel dresses the female body by strictly reinterpreting tradition. Very typical is her distinctive way of assigning a masculine identity through the tailored feminine suit. This suit embraces and relaxes the feminine body, transmitting the decisive message “that the women already has a life” (Barthes 2003, 423; Barthes 2006, 101). This means that some women have been able to achieve social independence and now need to dress in a way that tells of this new attitude in society. The case of Courrèges is exactly the opposite. He dresses up a new kind of being, defining clothes in every moment as a symbol of the female body (cf. Barthes 2003, 423). In MCC, Barthes traces a kind of fashion that is capable of considering both ways of clothing together, as being a sign of the present time. This is a type of fashion for men and women with a poetic identity and collective constitution (cf. Barthes 2003, 425).3 2

The case of André Courrèges, founded in 1961 by André and Coqueline Courrèges, is interesting in seeing how the brand evolved and on what basic influences, for instance the work of Balenciaga, was it constructed. 3 On the idea of fashion constituted collectively and with particular respect to the wish for the corset to disappear, shared by both women and men, at the beginning of the twentieth century, see Cerrillo (2008, 517–18).

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1.3. Extending Barthes: a performative Real Clothing In order to expand Barthes’ own extensions of Real Clothing to a performative understanding of clothing, this study refers to the concepts of “body,” “communication” and “motion.” The concept of performativity, in this sense, embraces performance as a temporary action that includes the physical presence of an audience engaged in producing a unique and unrepeatable event in alliance with the performer (cf. Giannone and Calefato 2007, 13). Real Clothing establishes a dialogue with the body that provokes not only a new state of being, but first and foremost a certain type of physical motion. This new clothing reveals the body in a different way, with a new silhouette. Fashion claims its acceptance by society in order to be a real sign of the present time. The acceptance of clothing as fashion requires a public action that demonstrates its identity as such. This is to say that the awareness of the performative goal of Real Clothing is an intrinsic element of all fashion and fashion designers. The performative goal of clothing and the way of dressing up come out in the case of one particular performance in art called Las sin sombrero from 1927 (cf. Bonilla 2007). The artists, Margarita Manso (1908–60) and Maruja Mallo (1902–95), walked while not wearing women’s hats on the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, enduring insults and attacks. During that time, it was prohibited for women to go out in public without a hat, and attempts at changing this social rule were rejected. This performative event shows how a simple performative act involving fashion in a public space can become a crucial element in fashion. It is not just through social acceptance as a result of interacting bodies that performative acts can be defined, but also the collectivity that is shown through designs due to the interaction of dressing and observing bodies.

2. Two applications of Barthes’ terminology 2.1. Cristóbal Balenciaga: Sack Dress (1957) In order to apply the extension of Barthes’ Real Clothing to Balenciaga, we refer now to his famous Sack Dress from 1957 and the associated cinematic document,4 which shows a blond, dressed-up woman, walking through streets full of people. From 1947 onwards, Balenciaga had been working on his tonneau line of half-fitted clothes inspired by the Japanese kimono (cf. Arzalluz 2010, 262–67). These particular clothes 4

As can be seen in the short clip El legado de un mito (2008), which is shown in the biographical hall at the Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga in Getaria (CBM).

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were characterized by the space between the textile and the body. Freeing the female body, the sack dress actually offered the maximum liberation possible (see Portocarrero-Venero 2008). Reactions to the sack dress are documented in the cinema piece: they are not violent, but include rejection, surprise, and amusement. The sack dress was a revolutionary piece of clothing that was well ahead of its time. It is considered ultramodern because of its silhouette and the relationship it established to the female body, especially in the motion it provokes. It seems that there were very different responses from the clients of Balenciaga (cf. Arzalluz 2010, 264). As the historian Catherine Join-Diéterlé points out, men rejected it because of its disappearance of the female body (see Portocarrero-Venero 2008). It took several years for the sack dress to become socially accepted, after which it became a sign of modern fashion. Since then, it has been constantly reinterpreted. Acceptance by society and appreciation by the fashion industry was extremely belated. The sack dress offered a unique style because of its revision of history and the use of a new female silhouette. The following discussion of filming endless performative acts in the streets of Paris clearly indicates the performative idea and goal of Real Clothing. Furthermore, it demonstrates the factual dependency and necessary interconnection between clothing, the body and motion. Following Catherine Join-Diéterlé, with this silhouette and space between the textile and body, Balenciaga provoked a tremendous shift in respect of the physical female body and motion (see Portocarrero-Venero 2008).

2.2. Martín Margiela: Spring-Summer 1997 In order to apply the extension of Barthes’ Real Clothing to Martín Margiela, we refer to another audiovisual source,5 which shows two women walking through the streets of Paris in unfinished clothes. This video was part of the press material released for the Spring/Summer 1997collection. The body-clothes represent transformations of the torso of a semi couture mannequin. In both cases, the inferior parts (the brunette woman with jeans and the blond woman with nothing) are simply attached to fabrics falling from the upper part. The video shows a lack of noticeable reactions to the two women walking in Paris. In fact, it seems that they are a natural part of the urban scenery, on which the video tends to focus. It is 5

This audiovisual document is part of a private collection in Bilbao. There is a copy accessible to the public in the FDModa-LCI in Barcelona. Martin Margiela also revolutionized fashion communication and marketing; this material is even harder to access.

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obvious that this document not only refers to Balenciaga in a sort of a conceptual homage, reanimating and updating scenes from forty years earlier, but also, on a secondary level, to Barthesian Real Clothing. The unfinished clothes clearly underline the importance of the manufacturing process. The particular style of Margiela is made up through a number of autoreferential signs to fashion history and dress-codes, which are part of the clothes (Debo 2008, 15).6 Martin Margiela contributed an essential innovation through the mixture and collage of female and masculine elements, especially in the making of jackets. Real Clothing and the silhouette projected by Margiela are radically modern and a sign of his time, both in a formal and conceptual sense. Their permanence becomes evident when observing the influence of Margiela on the present day fashion industry. All this indicates that the kind of real clothing Margiela realized closely corresponds to Barthes’ thinking at the end of his essay, MCC. Margiela’s construction is a synthesis of the revision of history, flawless technique, and the innovation and creation of new manufacturing processes. The video clearly shows how a performative idea of fashion emerged, establishing an almost poetic relationship between clothes, the body, and motion.

Summary Based on this analysis, the initial question of whether Barthesian concepts, such as Real Clothing, can be applied to the innovative clothes of fashion designers, other than Chanel and Courrèges, can be answered in the following way: 1. With respect to the extension of the concepts presented in MCC, Barthes admits the possibility of a poetic fashion that comprises style, as well as fashion and concepts of body and time. Recent sociological research on fashion, which use these basic concepts without referring to Barthes, could benefit from paying more attention to his semiotics and, particularly, the approach to fashion in his essays. 2. This study has underlined how performativity is compatible with the Barthesian semiotics of fashion, which regard fashion as a text, 6

Actually, the press material of the SS 1997 collection explains them expressly, for instance: “Jackets are cut to a man’s proportions. Once finished, the internal structure is removed and a second, feminine, shoulder line is added through the use of shoulder pads over which the original man’s shoulder line hangs.”

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and the extension of the body as a crucial category of interaction between writing and reading fashion (1.3). 3. To recapitulate the discussion in 2.1. and 2.2. Balenciaga and Margiela are indeed two excellent cases for applying an extended Barthesian terminology. The main difference between them consists in the fact that Balenciaga is a contemporary of Barthes, and so Barthesian concepts may be applicable only to some of Balenciaga’s works, while others may need to be considered in a non-Barthesian light. This is not the case for Margiela, whose work seems to be infused with Barthesian semiotics.

Bibliography Arzalluz, Miren. 2010. Cristóbal Balenciaga. La forja de un maestro (1895-1936). Donostia-San Sebastián: Editorial Nerea. Barthes, Roland. 1967. Système de la mode. Paris: Editions du Seuil. —. 1970. Sistema della Moda. La Moda nei giornalle femminili: un´analisi strutturale. Translated by Lidia Lonzi. Turin: Einaudi paperbacks 18. —. 1990. The Fashion System. Translated by Mathew Ward and Richard Howard, 1990. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press —. 1994. “Le match Chanel-Courrèges.” In Oeuvres Complètes, Tome II, 413–16. Paris: Editions Le Seuil. —. 2003. El sistema de la moda y otros escritos. Edited by Enrique Folch González. Translated by Carles Roche. Barcelona: Ediciones Paidós. —. 2006a. The Lenguage of Fashion. Edited by Andy Stafford and Michael Carter. Translated by Andy Stafford. London: Berg. —. 2006b. Roland Barthes. Il senso della moda. Forme e significati dell abbligiamento, edited by Gianfranco Marrone. Translated by Lidia Lonzi and Gianfranco Marrone. Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore. Berti, Eduardo. 2015. “Una revolución llamada Roland Barthes.” La Nación, May 15. http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1792811-una-revolucionllamada-roland-barthes. Bonilla, Juan. 2007. “Mujeres sin sombrero.” Diario Sur, February 23. www.diariosur.es/prensa/20070223/cultura/mujeressombrero_20070223.html/ Cerrillo, Lourdes. 2008. “Paul Poiret y Art Decó.” In Anales de la Historia del Arte. Volumen extraordinario. Universidad Complutense – Departamento de Historia del Arte. Madrid, 513–25. Debo, Kat. 2008. “Maison Martin Margiela ‘20’ The exhibition.”

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Exposition Catalog, Maison Martin Margiela. Antwerp: MoMu – Fashion Museum Province. Frykhamn, Gabriella. 2013. “Making a Case for a Re-reading Barthes.” In Vestoj. The journal of sartorial matters. Accessed March 25. http://vestoj.com/making-a-case-for-re-reading-barthes/ Gaussen, Fréderic. 1967. “Entrevista de R. Barthes por Frederic Gaussen.” Le Monde, 19 de abril. – Reedited in Barthes, Roland. Oeuvres Complètes, Tome II, 462-64. 1994. Paris: Editions du Seuil.—Online: “A l´ecoute de Roland Barthes.” No. 10. 1999. http://motspluriels.arts.uwa.edu.au/MP1099rb.html. Giannone, Antonella, and Patrizia Calefato. 2007. “La performance vestimentaria.” In Manuale di comunicazione, sociologica e cultura della moda-Volumen V/Performance. Edited by Antonella Giannone and Patrizia Calefato, 13. Rome: Meltemi editori. Kristeva, Julia. 1981. “El sentido y la moda.” In Semiótica I, 77. Translated by José Martin Arancibia. Madrid: Editorial Fundamentos. Marrone, Gianfranco. 1995. “Barthes: il proceso della moda.” In Regole e reppresentazioni. Il cambiamento, il sistema, la comunicazione. Edited by Giulia Ceriani and Roberto Grandi, 138–40. Milan: Franco Angeli. —. 2006. Introduction to Roland Barthes. Il senso della moda. Forme e significati dell abbligiamento, edited by Gianfranco Marrone, viii-xxiv. Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore. Portocarrero, Enrique, and Venero Josu. 2008. Documental El legado de un mito. Guión Gorostola Arancha. Bilbao: Signo Digital & C-5. Stafford, Andy, and Michael Carter. 2006. Roland Barthes. The Language of Fashion. Edited by Andy Stafford and Michael Carter. Translated by Andy Stafford, 120. UK: Bloomsbury.

CHAPTER NINE LANGUAGE, MEDIA AND ADVERTISEMENTS

COOL AND THE GANG: THE EVERLASTING FASHION OF AN UNFASHIONABLE WORD FABIANA GIACOMOTTI

“I’m leaving you all the furniture.” “Are you kidding?” “You picked out most of it anyway.” “Well, super.” “Nobody says super anymore.”

This dialogue between Stephanie Mangano and her former lover, who is leaving his apartment to her, is taken from Saturday Night Fever, a film and cultural phenomenon from the late 1970s. It is not one of the film’s most famous exchanges, most people are more likely to remember the scene with Tony Manero/John Travolta on the Verrazano Bridge, standing out as a real and metaphorical presence that looms over the lives of these second-generation Italian immigrants who are confined to a yet-to-be gentrified Brooklyn. Yet, this is probably the scene that offers the best interpretation of the true meaning of the film. In fact, unlike Tony Manero, Stephanie has economic and social aspirations: she talks about Manhattan non-stop and thinks it superior in every aspect. Her aim is not only to work there, as she already does, riding the subway every day, but to move there permanently. When this dialogue takes place, Stephanie Mangano—the aspiring heroine whose surname undeniably nails her to her origins—has almost made it: she has indeed “crossed the bridge” and has gone “from the wrong to the right side of the tracks.” She has the right job, the right house and a new wardrobe to suit her new life. But there is still something missing. The lexicon. She does not have the right vocabulary. In a fashionable context she would be relentlessly ridiculed and snubbed. Thus, with his rude remark, her former lover is not only giving her the keys to his apartment, he is also giving her the keys to the city and its social life. He is giving her the keys to be fashionable, or more specifically, to be “cool.”

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The language of fashion is not merely an expression of the way we dress. Its significance goes way beyond vocabulary. It is definitely much more than how we define a shirt, a skirt or a dress. The language of fashion affects fashion itself. More than that, it is a fashion in itself as a cultural phenomenon; it is a “signifying system of values, hopes, ideas and experiences, so it offers interesting insights and valuable clues to different social groups and their evolution” (Russell 2011, 43). The use of specific adverbs, adjectives or nouns taken from the world of fashion can help characterize a historical period or a novel just as precisely and sometimes even more profoundly than visual references. As is well known—historians and fashion journalists have diligently and somehow ironically taken note of this for centuries—every age and every social group has its own vocabulary, which it uses as a form of defense and of snobbery towards the uninitiated. One of the most famous historical examples of this attitude can be taken from the tone, affectation and “précieux” linguistic quirks surrounding the famous ruelle of the Marquise de Rambouillet, which left profound traces on the evolution of the French language. The same happened in Italy, accelerating from the mid-twentieth century on, when the expanding rich and affluent classes began affecting a special multilinguistic jargon with a heavily nasalized pronunciation and distorted vowels to mark its international standing and high class. This snobbish attitude was stigmatized by the reporter and writer Camilla Cederna, herself a social fixture, with her infamously wicked humor, in a famous article about the Italian “international set” and its obsessive use of suddenly-familiar English and French terms, carefully distorted by “a slight nasal intonation, even pretending to stutter elegantly, … and pronouncing words with a final “U”: “the poor thing she’s a bit alcolù” (instead of “alcoholic”) (Cederna 1969, 66). Comedians followed this path, notably her friend Franca Valeri1 with the still famous “Miss Posh” character. An expert in phonetics—like George Bernard Shaw’s character in Pygmalion, professor Henry Higgins—will always be able to determine, with a pretty good degree of accuracy, not only the geographical origin of the people around him, but also the school they went to, their job/profession and where exactly they live. In other words, “let me hear you speak and I’ll tell you who you are and, more importantly, where you come from.” But if, in contemporary society, vocabulary and intonation 1

Franca Valeri (Milan, 1920–), born Franca Maria Norsa, is an Italian legend of comedy and screenwriting. She worked for the theatre, cinema, television and is an award winning writer.

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have become much more of a social marker than luxury clothes, which are now accessible to a lot of people, what I would like to demonstrate is that the definition of what is fashionable, the nouns and phrases that define the behavior of being fashionable, not only cross places and social groups but—with a single and unique notable exception—is subject to the same dynamics as fashion, which are, of course, transient. The remark “nobody says super anymore” (which, when dubbed in Italian became the not very appropriate “fico”2) could be applied, decade after decade, sometimes year after year, to as many expressions that we have used or have heard spoken—and have subsequently adopted—by those who we admire and wished to emulate in order to feel “fashionable.” These are expressions that we have worn like an item of clothing; expressions that we have adapted to suit ourselves and sometimes cut to size, made to measure, and added our own style to. “Nobody says super anymore” because over the years, the people “in the know,” the cognoscenti, have dismissed many other words that seemed perfectly apt for the job. For example: “swell” (a typical expression of the Roaring Twenties; Cole Porter’s songs almost collapsed under the weight of “swells”!); “groovy” (a very popular word from the early 1970s), “gorgeous” (in style in the 1980s). In Italy, for a long time, the word for being posh was “divino/divine”: almost nobody says divine anymore, but if by chance it is used now it suggests—and in fact represents—a certain world of fashion that has definitely dated and is decidedly less divine than it once was, at least according to the standards of fashion that, in the words of twentieth century publisher Leo Longanesi, is actually one’s “youth.” So the question is: how did writers and musicians actually choose, and then promptly abandon, adjectives like “swell,” “divine,” “gorgeous,” and “hot”? How did they become fashionable and how did they go out of fashion? Most of all—why? In my research I decided to focus on a specific term, which has been around for a long time and has been used worldwide, but has not yet exhausted its centuries-old lifecycle and so lends itself to analysis better than any other. This term has had, and ultimately still has, a long and complex lifespan. It has only been partially replaced by other adjectives, acronyms or metaphors such as “awesome,” “hectic,” “K,” and “8.” It is still used in English-speaking countries (where it originated) and in Italy (where it has remained almost unchanged, in other words not 2

“Fico,” the Italian word for “fig” is clearly sexual in its symbolic reference to the fig leaves sculpted on Greek and Roman statues, hiding their genitalia. Over the centuries, it has taken on different meanings and finally became a popular synonym with “cool.”

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translated, except as “fico”). This adjective is COOL. What is coolness? Something neither too hot nor too cold. The word initially entered English and then international use from its Latin and Old Dutch cognates: *koluz (Middle Dutch), coel (Dutch), koel; Old High German kuoli, German kühl, “cool,”; Old Norse kala, “be cold,” from PIE root *gel-“cold, to freeze.” It appeared in the ninth century as col (Middle Dutch) when someone translated the poetry of the Roman philosopher Boethius from Latin (caulis) into English, and, for a long time, it was misspelled: “It toyed with coul, became coole, and even went through a koole phase. It finally found its definite form as cool, whilst still holding on to its sense of climatic moderation” (Vuolo 2013). The English (and Italian and French) language being thoroughly suffused with temperature metaphors—tempers get hot, blood runs cold, smiles and affection are warm—it is not hard to imagine the original word cool shifting from a literal to a non-literal meaning. This happened very rapidly when English was still “Old”: “whoever wrote Beowulf down, sometime between the X or XI century, knew that emotions can come in ‘waves’—now ‘boiling,’ but also growing ‘cooler’” (Vuolo 2013). It was not until much later, though, that cool began hinting at its full figurative potential. Hamlet, disheveled and ranting at the ghost of his dead father, frightens his mother, Gertrude, who cries out: “O gentle son/Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper/Sprinkle cool patience.” By the sixteenth century, the word had completed its evolution from an adjective of the surrounding atmosphere to one of an attribute suggesting rationality and calmness. The year 1728 marked a new stage in the meaning of the word cool: the term was used to describe large sums of money, accentuating the amazing amount (“it will cost you a cool million”). In 1732, the verse “cool as a cucumber” appeared in a poem by John Gay to describe a man’s unflappable demeanor.3 In 1825, it underwent another, but more modern, twist: the English dictionary started quoting its meaning as “calmly audacious.” It is almost impossible to determine exactly when and where cool became synonymous with an alluring mix of style, hipness, and poise, but an interesting clue comes from an article published in 1884 in Anglia, a German journal about the English language. In it, a professor at Washington and Lee University named James A. Harrison, published an article entitled “Negro English,” where—with racist condescension—he discusses the African-American dialect. The Negro, he writes, “deals in hyperbole, in rhythm, in picture-words, like the poet; the slang which is an ingrained part of his being, as deep-dyed as his skin, is, with him, not mere 3

“Pert as a pear-monger I’d be/If Molly were but kind/Cool as a cucumber could see/The rest of womankind” (Gay 1822, 173).

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word distortion; it is his verbal breath of life.” Among the many “Negroisms” that Harrison cites is the interjection “Dat’s cool!” In 1918, a Random House dictionary of slang defined it as a term already in vogue, but it was not until the 1930s, with growing AfroAmerican influence on music, that coolnes and being a “cool cat” became synonymous with “attitude” and the word cool triumphantly entered the universe of general slang. We can only guess as to why this happened, even if it is highly likely that the status achieved by African Americans, as innovators in music, entertainment, and some of the clothing in fashion in the 1930s, was one of the reasons for this added significance of meaning to a term that had already been long on the road to linguistic proliferation. By the end of the 1940s—more than six decades ago—the status of cool as an indicator of a metaphorical object or an attitude worthy of admiration, someone or something that “stands out,” was firmly codified; it was extremely popular in “bop” talk, originally in reference to a style of jazz (it is said to have been popularized in jazz circles by the tenor saxophonist Lester Young). By 2003, things had evolved further. Another dictionary, the “fashion” vocabulary of the international magazine Urban, which is extremely popular when clicking on Google, set a more colloquial, ironic, and at the same time, accurate definition: “Cool. The best way to say something is neat-o, awesome, or swell. The phrase ‘cool’ is very relaxed, never goes out of style, and people will never laugh at you for using it, very convenient for people like me who do not care about what’s ‘in’.” A long list of different meanings of the word cool followed. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

awesome; popular; like in a social hierarchy; used when a conversation goes silent; nice; wicked (new England style, NOT evil=wicked); good or great; not warm, but not cold; okay with each other, not mean to each other, but not necessarily nice.

It has lot of meanings and is quite confusing. In fact, not one of these meanings explains why cool has entered global slang as a synonym of having an attitude, or what it really means? In other words, what does it mean to be cool? Unlike many other words related to fashion—even the adjective “fashionable,” which has been used for four centuries—cool has

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a quality that relates it to and, at the same time, frees it from fashion and from simply “being fashionable.” What is more, being fashionable is not synonymous with being cool. This is why the adjective cool is so interesting: it is an adjective that both approaches and detaches itself from fashion, and even more so from being fashionable. And it is no coincidence that the adjective cool permanently entered Italian slang after the 1980s, a time when Italy entered a mature phase in both consumption and fashion. In many aspects, Italy has yet to undergo its “elegant” phase. Being cool, which in Italian is often translated as “essere fico” (it seems that Italians use this sexual reference for translating any adjective related to being “trendy”), also postulates aesthetic maturity, consumerism, and confidence in oneself and one’s abilities. These are characteristics that Italy acquired over time and that, let us say until the 1960s, identified an austere and para-aristocratic characteristic of coolness: distinction. So, what is the essence of cool? Some people, and some magazines too, use the word cool as if it was synonymous with being fashionable4—as if it was enough to be dressed fashionably and that to be acknowledged by the current dominant group in fashion was automatically to be defined as cool. In fact, if each of us associates a person who we think is cool with the term cool, or what is generally considered cool, we realize that clothing or attitude is just a small part of that special quality of coolness. I am pretty sure that no one would object if I defined completely different people from different historical periods, such as Marlene Dietrich, Serge Gainsbourg, Lauren Hutton and Jay Z, as cool; yet, no one would dream of calling Gainsbourg “fashionable” or Jay Z “elegant.” Being cool, like being fashionable, presumes a certain type of clothing or behavior. I would like to add another characteristic to it: the admiration of others. The cool guy is typically admired, at least by those who “are in the know,” and this is an important ground for social acceptance. What is more, cool people are definitely not slaves to fashion. Real cool types are able to break fashion molds, follow their own rules, and wear what they want, not only continuing to “look great and cool” while doing so, but even creating new styles, which very few can emulate. The cool person always seems not to be trying to be cool. She is not, as we say, a “try-hard,” or a “fashion victim.” She is a “natural.” Strictly speaking, one could say that the notion, the value and, ultimately, the continuing trend of the word cool is not linked to fashion, or in other 4

“The new cool. How to dress like a really sexy French woman.” Tatler, August 2015; “Adidas Stan Smith e i modelli più cool del momento” [Adidas Stan Smith and this season’s coolest shapes], Grazia, March 4, 2014.

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words to artifice, to variability and to volatility, but that it has a situation disconnected from fashion, or only partially linked to it. A constant and not fleeting condition: Marlene Dietrich and James Dean (the archetype of “contrarian cool”) are still considered cool decades after their deaths; yet a fashion “try-hard” is considered a “sfigato” (a “loser” in English; in Italian it means slavishly “uncool,” thus “not fico”) despite wearing the most sought-after and trendy clothes. Coolness, at least in appearance, is not forced, it is effortless, and those who are really cool apparently do not give a damn about being cool. However, if not caring too much is one of the hallmarks of cool people, the reverse is not true: “nerds” may not care about their appearance, but this does not make them cool. It took ages for Steve Jobs’ turtlenecks to become cool. And in any case, we are not entirely sure that cool people are not concerned with their appearance and about how they look in the eyes of others; maybe they strive to give that impression, but become easily depressed at the first hint of social disapproval that comes from not being bang on trend. So the notion, and the meaning, of cool skims the following paradox: to be really cool you must try not to be. Cool is effortless. But to show disinterest for your own coolness does not automatically make you cool. So it is possible that this special, intangible quality of coolness explains its massive popularity with an audience of all ages and social and economic statuses, and its more recent popularity in the Italian lexical and semantic fields as well. Coolness, as shown by its origins—and especially the manner of its assertion in the twentieth century—is democratic, according to a purely theoretical logic, in that it is accessible to all. It is not enough to be rich or to be educated to be cool. It is not even enough to be elegant. Indeed, elegance, in the classical formal sense, is often considered the antithesis of coolness, which stands for casual elegance or, as the French would say, décontracté. Therefore, certain aspects of coolness are similar to the Italian distinction, in its sense of “natural elegance” (Devoto and Oli 2014) with the accent placed on being a natural and possessing such qualities from birth—qualities that the average Italian still considers interesting and admirable traits in the people they meet, and as proof of good breeding. That is probably why the Italian, who has always loved and still loves, formality—formal high-end elegance which, not surprisingly, Italy is famous for—started to understand and then to accept the use of the word cool at the end of the 1980s, more than a decade after the adoption of other foreign words defining appearance that were more projected towards pure

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aesthetics. Prior to cool-coolness, the main word used in Italian magazines and conversation was “look.” Evidence can be found in any archive of the period: “Estate 1980: tourist look” (Summer 1980: tourist look) was, for example, the headline in Donna, one of the most innovative monthly magazines of the time, edited by Flavio Lucchini and Gisella Borioli.5 The “look,” not being cool, also touched upon the first expressions of avant-garde anti-fashion, like punk. But, whether official, consecrated fashion or iconoclastic fashion, the notion of coolness still lies far from the perception of the Italian public, which reluctantly assists in the dismantling of the concept of elegance (“Elegance is a dated word” declared the American millionaire-designer Perry Ellis a few years before his death in 1986, to such an extent that it is now unusual to hear it used by a twenty-year old, except ironically); the same can be said of “distinction,” obsolete to the point of having already changed meaning (the latest posts on the web on the subject date back five years ago and tend to confuse it with “a way to describe a stylish woman with hat and gloves,” accessories that are rarely used, especially together). More and more the concept of fashion—as an expression of clothing and conspicuous consumption—goes side by side with personal style; a style that is no longer the preserve of those who can afford to spend money on clothes—as was once the case—but of anyone who has personality and, with the introduction of style to the range of possibilities of those seeking social acceptance, the notion of coolness has crept in. Currently, even in Italy, coolness is in some ways the post-consumerist and democratic representation of the status symbol—the expression of a mature stage of consumerism. If you look up “cool fashion” on Google, you will find sixteen million seven hundred thousand references; if you look up “cool guy” you will find sixteen million five hundred thousand: the adjective cool defines hundreds of blogs and millions of articles. Yet, we are still unable to define it. In 2011, the tenth most-searched-for word on Google was “cool,” and the website “Linkiesta” offered this brief explanation: “it is a colloquial term that indicates something (or someone) who is trendy, stylish, ‘cool’.” Coolness is all these things, it is even the eternal ambivalence of “cool/figo.” It is highly democratic, not necessarily cheap, 5 “A new fashion exists—a fashion that is not sophisticated pret-à-porter, nor the spontaneous trends of young designers, nor the one invented by glossy magazines. A fashion that does not make you beautiful, or seductive or elegant. It’s a way of dressing that arises from certain fringes, from a certain frontline that seeks things that are strange rather than beautiful and declared themselves ready to follow this anti-fashion in each of its avant-garde forms.” “This is also fashion,” Donna, June 1980.

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but mostly elusive to the masses. It is the ultimate fashionable term. This is why “it never goes out of style” so “nobody will laugh at you if you use it.” This is a lot more than Stephanie bargained for when she arrived in Manhattan.

References Cederna, Camilla. 1969. Signore e signori. Milan: Longanesi. Devoto, Giacomo, and Oli, Gian Carlo. 2014. Dizionario della Lingua Italiana. Florence: Le Monnier. Gay, John. 1822. The Poems of John Gay. Chiswick: C. Whittingham. Russell, Luke. 2011. “Tryhards, fashion victims and effortless cool.” In Fashion. Philosophy for Everyone, edited by Jessica Wolfendale and Jeanette Kennett, 37–49. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. Vuolo, Mike. 2013. “The birth of cool.” Slate January 10. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/cool_story/2013/10/cool_the_etymol ogy_and_history_of_the_concept_of_coolness.html.

HABITS OF POWER IN PERIOD/ FANTASY TV SERIES LUISA VALERIANI

Representations of power are very successful in TV series. This research focuses on historically-based fiction and both realistic and fantastic plots are taken into consideration. My aim is to highlight the different relationships they succeed in establishing with their audiences apart from the technical differences in their production, distribution channels, and choices of content. I concentrate on the habits of power they show or sometimes inspire.

Introduction Let us begin with a topical point. 2015 has seen a revolution in the awards given in the Costume Design category at the Primetime Emmy Awards, the most prestigious awards given in the USA to primetime programs by the Academy of Television, Arts & Sciences. Costume awards for TV series had previously come under two categories: Series and Miniseries. The dramatic increase in TV productions set in the past, whether real or fantastic, together with their great success in recent years, had generated an imbalance in the evaluation of costumes to the detriment of contemporary styles. As a result, the Emmy management created two separate award categories: Period/Fantasy and Contemporary. More than production or distribution factors, what is important now seems to be the historical period that the costumes evoke. Why has there been so much interest in evoking the past, both historical and fantastic, in TV fiction? What can we infer from the trend of programs engaging ever more diverse audiences? Let us state a few facts. On the occasion of her official visit to Ireland in June 2014, Queen Elizabeth II made her way to the Belfast set of the cable broadcaster Home Box Office (HBO) during the filming of Game of Thrones. The series, winner of several international awards and among the best-loved worldwide, is adapted from George R. R. Martin’s best-selling saga A

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Song of Ice and Fire (1996–on-going) and has been broadcast via cable since April 2011. Certainly it has been a global blockbuster, but is this enough to warrant a visit by the most illustrious monarch in Europe, who found time to admire the set, meet the cast and converse with David Benioff and Dan D. Weiss, series creators and co-screenwriters with George R. R. Martin? In February 2015, an itinerant exhibition, organized by HBO in collaboration with Sky Atlantic opened in London; it was later shown around the world at various locations (Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Berlin, Amsterdam, San Diego) before ending in Paris in September 2015. It was a highly interactive exhibition and featured more than seventy original artifacts used over the first four seasons. The public entered into the struggles of the show’s warring families through role-play and embarked on a journey into virtual reality where, according to the poster, “many dangers await you.” Everything was perfectly in line with the rules of immersive exhibitions: amazing and interactive. But, I must stress again, the European capital chosen to launch this unusual Grand Tour was London. On March 18, 2015, the world premiere of the fifth season was held in London and the red carpet event took place at the Tower of London, a historic location; the Iron Throne from the original set was lifted inside by a gigantic crane. A screen was erected inside the fortress to showcase the first episode of season 5. For the occasion these were the words of Zai Bennett, director of Sky Atlantic in the UK: “during its millenary history the Tower of London has been a place of power for the English monarchy. I’m proud of adding our seat of power to the Tower’s long and rich history” (Manta 2015). These three episodes highlight the privileged relationship that Time Warner and the American producers of this series maintain with British history and culture. This is all the more impressive when we consider that this series is not the only one to have staged events evocative or reminiscent of British history. There has been a flourishing of TV drama, derived from original screenplays or adapted from novels, where crucial episodes from The War of the Roses, the Hundred Years’ War, and the lives of Mary Stuart and Henry VIII indicate a marked predilection on the part of audiences for interpretations of the past. How are we to interpret these revivals? Are they to be considered tributes to a neo-gothic trend rooted in our culture, combining the past with the present and familiar science fiction imagery? Are they tributes to a kind of feudalism deprived of its ruthlessness and reworked as a show? Or is it a reassuring return to tradition, at a time

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when kingdoms and signs of material power grow faint, in favor of powers more immaterial, amorphous and disturbing? The aim of this essay is to highlight the differences in meaning in these journeys through time, in particular by comparing the habits of power. Habits as actions as well as clothes and as customs as well as costumes.

The Tudors The period drama series The Tudors was a British-Canadian-American co-production broadcast from 2007 to 2010, distributed by Sony Pictures Television worldwide, and still available on both Web and traditional TV channels. The series was created and written by the British screenwriter and TV producer Michael Hirst, well known for his historical reconstructions and spectacular film adaptations, such as Elizabeth (1998 and 2007), and successful television series such as Vikings (2013) and Camelot (2011). Shot in studios and on location in Ireland, The Tudors comprised thirtyeight episodes spread over four seasons. Despite the title being in the plural, the series revolved exclusively around the figure of Henry VIII, whose heavily fictionalized story covered the whole period of his reign: his coming to power; the events surrounding the religious schism of the Reformation and the foundation of the Anglican Church; his six wives and numerous lovers; his difficult relationships with his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth; and his physical decay and death in 1547. The screenplay gives particular relevance to the intrigues of his life and court, especially the amorous ones, so as to appeal to the widest possible audience. In doing so, as described in a New York Times review (Bellafante 2008), the series “fails to live up to the great long-form dramas cable television has produced … because it radically reduces the era’s thematic conflicts to simplistic struggles over personal and erotic power.” Historical reliability does not necessarily involve total compliance with the historical record. There was, however, a special concern shown for the costumes, which were particularly spectacular, and the costume designer Joan Bergin won three Emmy Awards for her creations in this series. Not every costume was an original creation and in order to comply with the production’s demands and cope with the huge number of costumes required, Bergin often had to resort, at least for the secondary characters, to renting clothes used in other productions. She sourced them worldwide, limiting her intervention to adornment with pearls, embroidery and lace, in accordance with the Tudors’ obsessive taste for precious textiles. After winning one of her many Emmy Awards, she declared that she had tried to

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“Tudorize” her costumes, interpreting them with a modern sensibility and trying to safeguard at least a 70 percent of what would have been correct for the Tudor period (Rochlin 2009). For her original creations, Bergin researched the period’s taste in depth through direct evidence in original documents, like the dense correspondence of Eustace Chapuys, ambassador for Charles V to the English court from 1529 to 1545, where the minutest details of clothes seen at court are meticulously recorded. Using these data as a departure point, Bergin proceeded to study the biographies of the characters she wished to give personality to through their clothes. She recorded all the changes in taste, like the progressive elongation of the bodice into an inverted cone, its stiffening and the consequent lifting of the breast, or the slashing and swelling of the hanging sleeves. Quite a big difference is seen between the dress of Katherine Howard, whose youth and frivolity is emphasized, and that of Katherine Parr, which is mature, elegant, refined, and of exquisite quality. The bridal gown worn by Anne of Cleves may well have taken ninety hours to make, but it is with the wardrobe designed for Anne Boleyn that Bergin reached her highest point and thanks to a smart interpretation by the actress, Natalie Dormer, she ends up appearing like a “brave proto-feminist martyr.” Special attention was paid to King Henry VIII, here presented as a vaguely dandified fashion leader who matches his lust for power with a parallel obsession with the style of those allowed to address him as his clothes progressively gain in splendor and craftsmanship. The looting of monasteries and Catholic churches supplies his tailors with altar pieces, which are the source of most of the precious laces used to adorn cuffs and sleeves. What has been said in relation to Ann Boleyn applies to the king as well: the actor Jonathan Rhys Meyer appears to have been chosen not so much to recall historical reality (as immortalised in the portrait of Hans Holbein the Younger), but to respond to the taste of a broad audience, seeking toned muscles, sensuous lips and a perfect shave, as Bellafante suggests. Despite all the glitter, the overall result is rather boring. The need to actualize a story of great historical importance by winking at contemporary taste cannot but reduce—at the level of an implausibly trashy novel of beds and betrayals—the king’s momentous taking of a stand against the Catholic Church, perhaps the most powerful institution in all of European history. But there is no trace in the plot of the consequences that this schism provoked, nor what loss or gain was derived from it. Similarly, the many references to contemporary fashion trends made by these remarkable costumes do not stem from an acquisition or introjection of the principles governing these trends. The work carried out on each

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single garment shows no trace of an intimate connection with the present, however ostensibly related to the past. As noted by Joan Bergin, what we have here are formal influences, occasional tributes to Balenciaga or Galliano as both authors of collections “in the Tudor mode.” The opportunity to create what we might call “tributes to tributes” is therefore lost. To stand out is a source of satisfaction for the costume designer, having been upgraded to a stylist, rather than her appropriation of present fashion as a strategy to get back to and in-habit the eternal human tragedy. In other words her costumes live in linear, not in dialectical time.

The White Queen This British mini-series was a period drama drawing inspiration from the Wars of the Roses. It was produced by the BBC and by Starz (a pay channel and rival of Showtime and HBO). It was broadcast by BBC1 from June to August 2013 in ten episodes. Unlike The Tudors, The White Queen was not an original TV screenplay. It is based on some of the novels in the series The Cousins’ War by Philippa Gregory, a one-time lecturer at and the author of two series of historical novels on the Tudors and the Wars of the Roses. This last series consists of six novels, of which only The White Queen (2009), The Red Queen (2010) and The Kingmaker’s Daughter (2012) have been adapted by Gregory, who is also the executive producer of the TV mini-series. Shot in Belgium at an astronomical cost of twenty-five million pounds, this mini-series takes its cue from one of the most important events in British history—the bloody pursuit of the throne—and centers on three women: Elizabeth Woodville (the White Rose), Margaret Beaufort (the Red Rose), and Anne Neville (the future queen). What is new here, if we compare this series to The Tudors, is that the base of the plot is not derived from history, but from historical novels written by a scholar, and a woman scholar at that. The point of view in each of the novels, in the form of a voice-over, belongs to the female characters, removed from the obscurity of history written from a male point of view, converted into rounded personalities, and endowed with a post-feminist sensitivity. What is called into question here is not history’s objectivity, but rather the subjectivity of those who through history retrace lost threads and mysterious plots. According to this conception of the plot, even the recourse to magic, though ostensibly recreating a pre-Enlightenment world, becomes credible—a spell, prayer or charm strong enough to control one’s own universe, as in the Battle of Barnet, where Edward IV really disappears in the fog, perhaps created

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with the help of the magic practiced by Elizabeth and her mother, Jacquetta Woodville. Here are Philippa Gregory’s words, as they appear in the BBC TV blog about translating history into fiction (Gregory 2013): “I think anyone who really loves history, there’s always a sort of a hope that one day you’ll just slide through time, that it’s only a dimension and it’s not really substantial. And there are moments on location, filming, that I felt before with previous films that you just go, ‘I feel like I’m there now.’ It’s very powerful when it happens.”

What seems to count is the ability to revisit a situation of the past as if it were happening now, as if you were right inside it. Forget historical accuracy: the Battle of Bosworth was ingenuously staged as a cavalry charge in the middle of a forest. The fans will get upset, comparing the use of 3D computer graphics to such productions as The Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. Tom Sutcliffe in The Independent on June 17, 2010, judged the mini-series “less plausible from a historical point of view than Game of Thrones,” while Bernadette McNulty noted in the Daily Telegraph that it was “not serious enough for the scholars nor glitzy enough for Game of Thrones fans” (McNulty 2013). How does all this translate into costumes? Costume designer Nic Ede had never previously worked on recreating English styles of the fifteenth century, but became fascinated by the challenge and immersed himself in the study of the period. In his words, this was “the swan song of the romantic medieval era before the stiff and formalized Elizabethan era” took central stage. Understandably, particular attention was given to analysis of the period’s painting. Nic Ede was fascinated by the sophisticated textiles of the Elizabethan age still visible in museums, though not many of them have survived. With the help of these two guidelines, Ede designed about a hundred costumes: his intention was to facilitate the audience in recognizing familiarities and belongings. Each House was given a predominant color so that the palette could be used as a sort of personal design tool (Paradis 2014). Undoubtedly, here the medium is the message.

When fantasy processes realistic matters Further comparisons may be established, for instance with Reign, the period-fantasy-romance series produced and distributed by The CW (CBS Television + Warner Bros. Television), broadcast since 2013 and now in its third season. It tells of the exploits of Mary, Queen of Scots, beginning

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with her youth in France. What distinguishes this series from the others is its having been conceived by Stephanie SenGupta and Laurie McCarthy as a soap opera for teenagers where historical events are used as a background to the action. Conversely, what counts are problems of love, conflicts with paternal authority, the chatting among the very young ladies-in-waiting, and the embarrassingly up-to-date soundtrack. The same applies to the costumes created by Meredith Markworth Pollack, who ignores the ruffs, the characteristic Elizabethan stiffness, and any concern for authentic outfits, and prefers to create fashions that, in their female versions, are inspired by Free People’s bohemian mood for girls and by Alexander McQueen’s styles for historical characters. Pollack draws her male versions from Tirelli’s archives and theatre costume shops, mixing lace and leather to thrill the teen audience. More than a mix of historical styles and contemporary realities, here we find a mix and match of Valentino’s, Marchesa’s, and Dolce & Gabbana’s current shop windows, budget permitting. In her interview on Tyranny of Style (Kucharski 2015), the costume designer defines herself as postmodern. Her search for innovation is too much mixed up with her own personal pleasure and intellectual divertissement for her to really be postmodern. But she has definitely caught the attention of teenagers if one considers the number of followers she has on her Instagram account. This case, more convincingly than the others, takes us back to our first question: what is the meaning of this revival of the Middle Ages, developed and shaped in so many different ways? In The Tudors and The White Queen, though they have different derivations (the former being original, the latter novel-based) and different production dimensions (series and mini-series respectively), the way events are presented aims to advertise the idea of a past that is important because it is seen as an origin story, with the function of confirming the present. The costumes are mirrors and tools of this function. Styles are highlighted to the extent that they can convey atmospheres to be integrated into what is already known. In Reign, this function is emphasized in the attempt to update, to the point of brutality, a past with no questions to be asked, which is interpreted as a sequence of universally valid situations that remain the same in each time and place. This is a past that can be reduced to a form of self-congratulation, like a jewel or a charm in the bracelet of a miniaturized regality, ready to “be translated into a series of post-produced self-quotations” (Colaiacomo 2015a, 37–38). The costumes, superficially inspired by present-day fashion, confirm this. Substantially, in these three cases, the re-enactment of the past betrays the desire to be there as a triumphalist self-celebration.

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In the case of Game of Thrones the situation is completely different, because here the past is strongly questioned. If there is a search for the roots, this is only to link them to what Paul Mason defines as “thinning”: the steady decline of the world (Mason 2009; Mason 2015). The relationship between period drama and fantasy is of little importance, since the crisis of feudalism evoked in George R. R. Martin’s parallel world is the mirror—a bit magical, a bit mythical, a bit heroic—of the current systemic crisis, and closely resembles the Coming Global Turn theorized by Charles A. Kupchan (2012). The aura of magic is expressed through the fantasy metaphors of dragons, direwolves, and songs of ice and fire, but behind them the magic of power and money comes to the surface so clearly that even the fairytale features cannot distract the viewer from this historical modernity—the present reality that they are watching. In the fourth season, the powerful Tywin Lannister reminds us, with gloomy concern, that the kingdom’s goldmines have been inactive for three years and that its supremacy only depends on the debt incurred to the Iron Bank of Braavos: “all of us live in its shadow, but none of us know it. You can’t run from them, you can’t cheat them and you can’t sway them with excuses. If you owe them money, and you don’t want to crumble, you pay it back.” These words closely recall the relationship between the Fugger family and Charles V, or the decline of the Chigi family, who were never paid back the money they lent to kings. But these words also find an echo in our everyday life, in the daily news, in the anxiety of this age of financial capitalism. And while “Winter is coming” perhaps alludes to the dark forces of the wights we saw prevailing in the memorable battle of Hardhome in S05E08, does not the allusion to a climate catastrophe remind us of a turning point that threatens everyone? But above all, there is the general tone. Hopeless cruelty, plot complexity, random deaths, including those of the main characters: all these things are redolent with political realism, not with fantasy fiction. Politics is nothing but a struggle for power, as Morgenthau (1948) taught us. Rather than literary sources, historical echoes, and chronological references, what really matters are the “worlds” Game of Thrones creates: an interconnection, economic and political, between societies far away from one another; a sense of the coexistence of different historical and cultural phases; an internal assonance between history and fiction; and, finally, the performative use of costumes. The award-winning costume designer, Michele Clapton, goes beyond the pre-fashion philology of heraldry, inaugurating an individualizing process that takes on excess as key to a syncretic imagery.

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A clear example of this can be traced through the changes in Daenerys Targaryen’s clothing styles throughout her storyline: from a Dothraki nomad to the Queen and, especially, to the “Mother of Dragons.” This is so much so that her clothes gradually become covered by small textures resembling dragon scales as a sort of transubstantiation, an assumption of identity occurring at a deep level. Examples of principium individuationis are also found in Michele Carragher’s embroideries on wedding dresses: Sansa’s in House Lannister presents the struggle of the embroidered direwolves, defeated by the Lion that stands out on the back of her neck. Margaery Tyrell’s dress for her first wedding to Renly Baratheon takes its inspiration from the dress Alexander McQueen designed for Björk. For her second wedding with Joffrey, she has a dress decorated with a cascade of “Tyrell” roses, whose thorns are intertwined with “Baratheon” stag antlers. Even from such a rapid overview as this one, the different quality of the relations that these period series succeed in establishing with their viewers stands out: on the one hand power is a dress to observe; on the other it is a dress to wear. It is not by chance that, as a testimony to the emotional impact on the consumer’s imagery, Game of Thrones triggers a lot of fan activity, such as fan fiction and ironic mixing and matching in fan outfits—the funniest are the pieces of fan art, such as the one of Sheldon Cooper, the main character of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, sitting on the Iron Throne as if it were his couch. His smart look says “It’s my spot.” (And who would deny it?)

References Bellafante, Ginia. 2008. “Nasty, but not So Brutish and Short.” New York Times, March 28. Accessed December 04, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/arts/television/28tudo.html Colaiacomo, Paola. 2015a. “Habits of Power in Macbeth.” PARADIGMI: 127–41. Accessed December 04, 2015. doi: 10.3280/PARA2015001009. —. 2015b. “Wearing a Crown.” Extravagances. Habits of Being 4: 27–55. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Gregory, Philippa. 2013. “The White Queen: Philippa Gregory on resurrecting history.” BBC TV blog, June 12. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/entries/350cdf08-ee38-3c34-bf0b7ee66afce8f3 Kucharski, Joe. 2015. “High-Fashion Historic Hybrid. The Costume Design of Reign.” Tyranny of Style, January 28. http://tyrannyofstyle.com/historic-hybrid-costume-design-reign

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Kupchan, Charles A. 2012. No One’s World. The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn. Council Foreign Relations: Oxford University Press. Manta, Emanuele. 2015. “Il Trono di Spade nei cieli di Londra per la premiere della quinta stagione.” Coming Soon.it. March 20. http://www.comingsoon.it/news/?source=tvseries&key=41307 Mason, Paul. 2009. Meltdown: The End of the Age of Greed. London: Verso Books. —. 2015. PostCapitalism: A Guide to our Future. London: Penguin. McNulty, Bernadette. 2013. “The White Queen, final episode, review.” The Telegraph, August 18. Accessed September 11. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10248161/The-WhiteQueen-final-episode-review.html Morgenthau, Hans Joachim. 1948. Politics Among Nations. The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York: A. A. Knopf. Paradis, Michelle. 2014. “Emmy Watch: Costume Designer Nic Ede, The White Queen.” Below the Line, June 2. http://www.btlnews.com/awards/contender-portfolios/emmy-watchcostume-designer-nic-ede-the-white-queen/ Rochlin, Margy. 2009. “The Emmys. Clothes make the show. Joan Bergin: The Tudors.” New York Times, June 5. Accessed December 04, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/arts/television/07berg.html?_r=0

POLITENESS AND IMPOLITENESS IN FASHION ADVERTISEMENTS IN SPANISH LAURA MARIOTTINI

This study deals with discourse strategies used in fashion advertisements in Spanish. Specifically, its aim is to analyze politeness and impoliteness as pragmalinguistic resources to convince the recipient to consume a product. Politeness is defined as a human strategy (Mariottini 2007) that tends to maintain the social equilibrium between a speaker’s face and a hearer’s face (Goffman 1981) in a specific communicative situation. Within this theoretical framework, my aim is to examine politeness and impoliteness strategies in a corpus of more than four hundred Spanish fashion advertisements. Only recently have researchers started to explore impoliteness (Culpeper 1996) as an intentional strategy to achieve a specific goal.

1. Introduction As a complex semiotic system, the advertising text has been an object of study from different theoretical perspectives, including semiotic and symbolic communication, rhetoric, and argumentation. In recent years, within the paradigm of argumentation, approached through the theoretical framework of discourse analysis, some researchers have started to pay attention to the relationship between advertising and (im)politeness. This study deals with discourse strategies used in fashion advertisements in Spanish. The aim is to analyze politeness and impoliteness as a pragmalinguistic resource employed to convince the receiver to consume a product. Advertising is a type of argumentative text: the producer provides evidence or arguments to guide the receiver to a specific conclusion. Images and words are employed on their own or combined to: makebelieve something explicitly (illocutionary constative act); or implicitly, to make-do something to the recipient (illocutionary directive act) (Márquez Guerrero 2007). The descriptive information is used to motivate, justify,

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explain, legitimate, test, and authorize information (cfr. Gutiérrez Ordóñez 1996), leading to a conclusion, which, in advertisements, has an instructional character (“buy it”). This conclusion can be reached by providing different types of evidence. Classical Aristotelian rhetoric distinguished between logic (reason), ethic (authorship) and pathetic (emotional). Nowadays, the rhetoric of advertising discourse has three key aspects: information, emotion and action. “Moving to action” is one of the most effective instruments to reach the desired perlocutionary effect and (im)politeness plays an important role in this. As Fuentes Rodríguez and Alcaide Lara (2008) explain, the very existence of the argument is linked to politeness—argument is a way of being polite to another as we justify what we want. The authors insist that the analysis of multimodal speech has to focus on the combination of all those mechanisms that, by their argumentative force, are co-oriented to the thesis put forward by the producer, both in polite and impolite statements. Moreover, as Prestigiacomo (2012) explains, advertising is an “unbalanced” (and hence potentially threatening) form of communication, since it involves a unidirectional discursive realization, without the interlocutor’s reaction, and a perlocutionary speech act without defence, in which an apparent informative speech acts as an effective instrument of seduction.

2. Theoretical basis Politeness is defined as a human strategy (Mariottini 2007) that tends to maintain the social equilibrium between a speaker and a hearer (Goffman 1981) involved in a specific communicative situation. The main concept on which this theory is based is that of “face”—the public image that each individual wishes to claim for themself (Brown and Levinson 1987). In the field of pragmalinguistics, studies in politeness begin with the theories of Lakoff (1973), Brown and Levinson (1987), and Leech (1983). Brown and Levinson presented the first complete theoretical model to observe and analyze the various communication processes in the development of cooperative and productive social interaction. According to them, the main function of politeness is “to minimise the imposition on the addressee arising from a verbal act and the consequent possibility of committing a face-threatening act” (Brown and Levinson 1987, 1). In addition to the face-threatening act (FTA), Kerbrat-Orecchioni adds the concept of face-flattering act, seeing politeness as “a set of strategies

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for the protection and enhancement of faces with the aim of preserving the interactive order” (Kerbrat-Orecchioni 2004, 45). Referring to the taxonomy proposed by Haverkate (1994), KerbratOrecchioni (2004), and Bernal (2007) and to the more recent revision proposed by Barros García (2011), it is possible to categorize (im)polite activities into three main groups: 1) Impolite acts: a total or partial absence of the politeness expected in a specific speech event, either by the express intention of the speaker, or by the acknowledgment of the patterns of interaction, or, finally, in the production of acts that aim to denigrate the other’s face. 2) No-polite acts: neutral, unmarked acts that do not have positive or negative effects on the speaker’s face. 3) Polite acts: they have a positive effect on communication and, for this reason, contribute to the harmonious development of a speech exchange. They also establish or strengthen interpersonal relationships beween interlocutors and, as a result, they selfenhance the speaker’s face. Within polite acts, we can distinguish: — idealization of the recipient; — mitigation acts, employed to protect or to repair a threat to the hearer’s face; — (direct and indirect) enhancement acts, to strengthen the other’s face and to express collaboration or cooperation. To this end, a set of resources, at all levels of communication (verbal and non-verbal) and language, are employed in order to avoid rejection by the interlocutor and to achieve the communicative purpose (Briz 2001). In this respect, politeness is a mask—a multimodal tool of persuasion. Nonetheless, the politeness function is not limited to the avoidance of face threats, as Helfrich (2013) has highlighted. There are contexts or speech situations in which the interlocutors do not seek to mitigate or repair a threatening act. In these cases, the dominant function is not to mitigate, but to provoke, so that impoliteness strategies attacking the other’s face are deliberately used to reach a specific purpose, such as to sell something (cfr. Alcaide Lara 2010). In recent years, interest has focused specifically on the appearance of impoliteness—see in this regard the work of Culpeper (1996) and studies

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concerning the Spanish EDICE group (www.edice.org, several volumes and articles have appeared on this subject). As defined by Culpeper (2005, 38), an important element of impoliteness is intention. There is impoliteness when: 1) the speaker intentionally expresses the attack to the hearer’s face; 2) the recipient interprets the speaker’s behavior as a deliberate attack to his/her face, or 3) a combination of (1) and (2). In summary, to induce the audience to undertake an action, it is possible to appeal to their positive feelings of solidarity, goodness, selfacceptance, etc., but also to cause the same perlocutionary effects through mobilizing feelings of fear, insecurity, rejection, etc. (Márquez Guerrero 2007). The receiver is not flattered, but pressured into action through a negative and threatening self-image caused by a lack of collaboration. Impoliteness, of course, has a “strategic” character, since it is not really intended to destroy the social face of the recipient, but is aimed at encouraging him/her to buy a product. As pointed out by Alcaide Lara (2010), the process seeks to destroy or affect the hearer’s face through impolite discourse, and, immediately, to show how virtual repair would (or could) come about once the product is acquired: destruction ĺ virtual repair ĺ performance (purchase, acquisition). In some cases, as I will show in the discussion, a warning is more effective than adulation because it breaks the foundation of the speech exchange, which is the principle of cooperation (Grice 1975) and politeness (Lakoff 1973; Leech 1983).

3. Corpus The total corpus is composed of 463 advertisements about fashion (collected by I. Hernández Toribio), published in Spain during the year 2014 in ten different magazines: Telva, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Magazine El Mundo, El País semanal, Glamour, Yo dona, XL semanal, S Moda, Mujer hoy. The corpus includes about 130 different brands1 and concerns six 1

Brand list: Tod’s, Rimowa, Dolce and Gabbana, Dior, Michael Kors, Long Champ, Thierry Mugler, Mary Paz, Cavalli, Carrera, Hoss, Carmen Steffens, Valentino, Chanel, Clarks, Prada, Coach, MaxMara, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Coo, Miu Miu, Salvatore Ferragamo, el corte inglés, Twin-Set, Liu-Jo, Loewe, Gucci, Kocca, Mango, Teria Yabar, Ermenegildo Zegna, Hackett, Hermès, Massimo Dutti, Armani, Pepe Jeans, H&M, Marella, Calzedonia, Intimissimi, Selmark, Lacoste, Juicy, Elie Saab, Chloè, ara, Moschino, Fendi, Flexx, Nike, Coolook, Patek Philippe, Breguet, Panerai, Longines, Tagheuer, Baume & Mercier, Hugo Boss, La Martina, Tommy Hilfiger, Desigual, Sandro, Escada, Steve Madden, Bimba y Lola,

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different categories of fashion: clothing; cosmetics and beauty treatments; perfumes; accessories (bags, shoes, sunglasses, etc.); underwear and bathing suits; and jewelry. jewellery 11% underwear & bathing suit 6% clothing 40% accesories 17%

clothing cosmetics & beauty treatments perfume accesories underwear & bathing suit jewellery

perfume 6% cosmetics & beauty treatments 20%

Graph 1. Data distribution by category.

4. Methodology Following Haverkate (1994), the first operative axis within communicative politeness is between linguistic and non-linguistic politeness. The latter is represented in the analysis by visual components and visual brand indicators. The polite strategy employed in these multimodal signs is one of “idealization,” which is a type of positive politeness that aims to build a specific identity by referring to definite social values: “advertising is the transmition of a ‘role model’ by its mere existence as a notion about ‘how we must be,’ behave, purchase, and so on, to be successful according to the social scale” (Díaz Soloaga and Muñiz Muriel 2008, 292). Fashion consumers heavily identify with their own purchases and even if the role of the image is built by multimodal components, the visual element has a predominant function (see in this respect, the survey carried Marina Rinaldi, Moncler, Missoni, United Colors of Benetton, Etrò, Maje, Ralph Lauren, DKNY, Blumarine, Burberry, Piel de Toro, IKKS, Herno, Ray-ban, Mac, Trussardi, EstƝe Lauder, Clinique, Rolex, Bulgari, BlancPain, Carrera y Carrera, Stroili, Glashütte, Calvin Klein, Tiffany & co., Cartier, Chocron, Rado, Damaso, OPI, Jo Malone, Rochas, Elisabetta Franchi, Sermoneta, Rebecca, Nero Giardini, Tom Ford, Aristocrazy, Jil Sander, Levi’s, Clarins, L’Occitane, Shiseido, Pantene, Nivea, Lancome, L’Oreal, Colgate, Vichy, Skeyndor, YSL, Talika, Lancaster, Biotherm, Caudalie, Germinol, Viviscal, Astor, Elizabeth Arden, Natura BisseƝ, Duran.

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out by Díaz Soloaga and Muñiz Muriel, 2008, which examines the most frequent values offered through women’s images in luxury print advertisements). For this reason, a considerable part of our corpus is occupied by nonverbal advertisements—186 (40.2 percent), compared to 277 (59.8 percent) classified as verbal advertisements. Both groups have been divided into the six categories mentioned above. The results of quantitative analysis are given in the following table and graphs. Verbal advs.

TOT Clothing

99

Cosmetics and beauty treatments 89

Perfumes

Accessories

11

36

Underwear and bathing suits 13

Jewelry

29

Nonverbal advs.

277 Tot

Clothing

87

Cosmetics and beauty treatments 6

Perfumes

Accessories

15

43

Underwear and bathing suits 14

Total advs.

Jewelry

22

186 463

Table 1. Data distribution. jewellery 12% underwear & bathing suit 7% clothing 47%

accesories 23%

perfume 8%

cosmetics & beauty treatments 3%

Graph 2. Non-verbal advertisements.

clothing cosmetics & beauty treatments perfume accesories underwear & bathing suit jewellery

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jewellery 10% underwear & bathing suit 5%

clothing 36%

accesories 13%

perfume 4%

clothing cosmetics & beauty treatments perfume accesories underwear & bathing suit jewellery

cosmetics & beauty treatments 32%

Graph 3. Verbal advertisements.

The percentages of advertisements at the macro level show a relevant difference in the use of texts in the following categories: clothing (NV: 47 percent; V: 36 percent); accessories (NV: 23 percent; V: 13 percent); cosmetics and beauty treatments (NV: 3 percent; V: 32 percent); perfumes (NV: 8 percent, V: 4 percent). Adverts for clothing, accessories and perfumes, appear to rely more heavily on images (image+brand). On the contrary, cosmetics and beauty treatments require text to inform, explain, suggest, and exhort the viewer to buy a particular product. Since the objective of this paper is to study discourse strategies referring to politeness and impoliteness, the primary focus is on verbal advertisements. Within this main group, in line with the theoretical framework, I distinguished different (im) polite strategies, according to which I categorized the advertisements. The main strategies are: mitigation, valorization and collaborative acts to communicate politeness; constative acts to express no-politeness; directed acts and negative impoliteness to express impoliteness.

5. Data Analysis 5.1. Quantitative analysis Graph 4 presents the results of the distribution of advertisements according to the three main strategies employed: politeness, impoliteness, and no-politeness.

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jewellery

underwear & bathing suit

accesories no-politeness impoliteness politeness

perfume

cosmetics & beauty treatments

clothing

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Graph 4. (Im)polite strategies.

As is evident, no-politeness is the prevalent strategy, especially for clothing, accessories and jewelry. This tendency changes drastically for cosmetics and beauty treatments, where the two preferred strategies are politeness and impoliteness, with very little difference between them.

5.2. Discussion From a qualitative analysis of the data, it emerges that the politeness strategies used are: 1) Mitigation acts, which operate on the deictic origo (ego, hic, nunc) of the speech event. Among them, I could distinguish the following linguistic realizations: nominalization; depersonalization; quotation, testimonial; expression of objective data (percentage); triangulation on the product (direct description of its benefits). 2) Valorization acts, which tend to enhance the recipient’s and/or the speaker’s face. The recipient’s valorization acts include compliments, adulation, etc.; the speaker’s valorization acts include being recognized as socially useful or committed. 3) Collaborative acts, which are employed to construct a common ground (a typical strategy is the use of inclusive deictics “we,” “our,” etc.).

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No-politeness is reflected and realized in constative acts (objective description of the product, without triangulation; exhortative acts, expressed, for example, by imperatives; suggestions, recommendations, etc.). Impoliteness is represented by direct FTAs, which violate the positive and negative face. The positive face refers to one’s self-esteem, while the negative face refers to one’s freedom to act. Specifically: 1) Direct FTAs oriented to threaten the recipient’s positive face (the need to be recognized as a relevant, valuable person—“the positive consistent self-image or ‘personality,’ crucially including the desire that this self-image be appreciated and approved of, claimed by interactants” (Brown and Levinson 1978, 61)) include: denigration, the presentation of the recipient as deficient, ugly, age-old, etc. 2) Direct FTAs oriented to threaten the recipient’s negative face (the need to express and to maintain his/her autonomy; “the want of every ‘competent adult member’ that his actions be unimpeded by others,” or “the basic claim to territories, personal preserves, rights to non-distraction, i.e. the freedom of action and freedom from imposition” (Brown and Levinson 1978, 62) are directive acts like orders or instructions. 3) Indirect FTAs: negative presuppositions and implicatures, in which the threat is not expressed directly, but contained in the presupposition or inference. 5.2.1. Politeness strategies: examples and analysis 5.2.1.1. Cosmetics and beauty treatments: L’Oreal Text Type and extension Strategy Communicative devices Function

“Yo no soy infalible, mi maquillaje lo es por mí” Polyphonic/Short. Mitigation act: quotation of a testimonial, Laetitia Casta. Deictics “yo,” “mi,” “mí.” Direct quotation produces distance between the producer and the text; using the quote of a famous person removes direct responsibility and lays the foundation for a (positive) identification and conclusion.

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5.2.1.2. Cosmetics and beauty treatments: Clarins Text

Type and extension Strategy

Communicative Devices Function

Nos lo habéis dicho vosotras… “Tengo la seguridad de estar comprando tratamientos que me funcionan y están indicados para mi piel”—Marta. Murcia. 31 años. “Tienen productos muy eficaces y el hecho de que los personalicen me parece ideal, porque no todas tenemos las mismas necesidades”—Montse. Cuenca. 58 años. “¡Cumple lo que promete! Noté los primeros resultados a la mañana siguiente de aplicármelo”— Celia. Oviedo. 45 años. Sois millones en contar con Clarins. Gracias. Polyphonic and dialogic narrative/Long. Mitigation acts through quotes of real people who have used the product; intensification of the number; valorization of the act of thanking. Attestation of evidence/“millones”/“gracias.” Takes responsibility away/to be the recipient of a huge number of valorization acts and give back a positive feedback/it follows Leech’s politeness principle in minimizing its ego and maximizing the recipient’s one.

5.2.1.3. Cosmetics and beauty treatments: EstƝe Lauder Text

Tan avanzada, que intuye lo que su piel necesita. Revitilizing Supreme Crema Anti-edad Global Multi-acción. La primera crema con Tecnología IntuiGen que sabe lo que su piel necesita. Esta fórmula multiacción de alto rendimiento, inspirada en un “activador maestro” genético de la piel, reduce de forma espectacular la apariencia de múltiples signos del envejecimiento. Para una piel más firme, flexible y profundamente revitalizada. Testado y probado: en solo 4 semanas el 92% de las mujeres mostró una piel significativamente más firme.

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Type and extension Strategy

Communicative Devices

Function

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Ahora, compre su contorno de ojos Revitilizing Supreme en set de belleza con 3 regalos de tratamiento para una semana. 12 patentes internacionales. Descriptive text/long. Mitigation act through triangulation on the product; direct description of the positive aspects and benefits of the product, objective data and evidence (“12 patentes internacionales,” “el 92% de las mujeres”). Graphic devices: underlining key-words; intensification: “reduce de forma espectacular la apariencia de múltiples signos del envejecimiento”; personification of the product: “la crema sabe, intuye.” To inform about positive effects and to present something as objectively good. To suggest that the product is a living object that can act and have major impact on reality.

5.2.1.4. Cosmetics and beauty treatments: Natura BisseƝ Text

Type and extension Strategy

Communicative Devices Function

High Density Lift. El primer dermal filler de uso tópico con factor de crecimiento derivado de plaquetas de origen biotecnológico y doble ácido hialurónico. 100% piel más hidratada y elástica. 95% piel más firme y redensificada. 90% mayor efecto lifting y tensor. 90% piel visiblemente rejuvenecida. Descriptive text/short. Mitigation act through the employment of technical lexicon, objective data (percentages) and nominalization (there are no verbs). Use of English terminology; focus on numbers. To present something as an objective conclusion, with no possibility of replying.

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5.2.1.5. Clothing: Ralph Lauren Text

Type and extension Strategy Communicative Devices Function

Ralph Lauren Pink Pony. “Cuando algún ser querido padece cáncer, todos nos vemos afectados: maridos, mujeres, padres, hermanos y amigos. Pink Pony es el símbolo de nuestro esfuerzo en la lucha contra el cáncer, para marcar la diferencia en todo el mundo.” Ralph Lauren. Quotation/Short. Valorization acts, which tend to enhance the speaker’s face. Focus on the color (pink), which is used as the color of the campaign against breast cancer; the pony, which is the symbol of the brand. To be recognized as socially useful or committed.

5.2.1.6. Underwear and bathing suits: Calzedonia Text Type and extension Strategy Communicative devices

Function

Women’s secret. Guapa, Cómoda & Sexy. Expressive of women’s desires/Short. Valorization acts, which tend to enhance the recipient’s face. To focus on women’s desires: to have secrets, to be mysterious and to feel, at the same time, beautiful, comfortable and sexy. The use of English to highlight the character of mystery and the use of nominalizations and adjectivization. To express a compliment within the identification.

5.2.1.7. Cosmetics and beauty treatments: Clinique Text

Cada Mañana, el mejor comienzo para su piel. Nueva Superdefense. Hidratación, antioxidantes y SPF…todo en nuestra Hidratante Avanzada para una Defensa Diaria con SPF20. Usted sabe lo que su cuerpo necesita cada mañana. Ahora, la nueva hidratante Superdefense SPF20 le

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Function

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ayudará a que su piel esté lista para afrontar el día. Hidratación de la mañana a la noche. Antioxidantes para protegerla del daño medioambiental e irritantes externos. Y además, protección solar diaria para prevenir líneas, arrugas y otros signos del envejecimiento. Todo en una fórmula tan ligera y sedosa, que es un pacer usarla. Es nuestra protección diaria más completa. Superdefense: la hidratante N°1 en España. Encuéntrela también en nuestra tienda online Clinique.es Descriptive/Long. Collaborative acts, employed to build a common ground. The use of inclusive deictics “we,” “our”; the use of verbs or terms that express collaboration, help, alliance against external attacks. To underline the name of the cream: super defense. To point to the need for external help to prevent attacks and to maintain the freshness of the skin.

5.2.2. No-politeness acts: examples and analysis 5.2.2.1. Jewelry: Duran Text

Type and extension Strategy

No dejes de brillar. ¿Te gusta este colgante? Es obra de la firma de joyería Durán, que ha creado este collar para aportar luz a cualquier look. Realizado en oro blanco y amarillo con forma de óvalo, recorren su interior unas olas sinuosas, en los dos tonos de oro, repletas de diamantes. Su brillo espectacular te ayudará a triunfar en cualquier ocasión. A very short recommendation and a longer descriptive text/recipient direct implication. A negative imperative expresses a suggestion/ recommendation for the recipient. It represents the preoccupation of the producer with the recipient. So, the character of the imposition of the imperative is mitigated by the implication of the producer on the recipient’s state.

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Communicative Devices Function

Negative imperative: “no dejes de brillar” Direct question: ¿te gusta este colgante? To recommend and, at the same time, express preoccupation with the recipient’s state.

5.2.2.2. Jewelry: Breguet Text

Type and extension Strategy Communicative devices Function

Breguet, creador. Alta frecuencia y alta precisión. Auténtico concentrado de innovaciones, el modelo Classique-Chronométrie 7727 y su volante provisto de pivotes magnéticos con una cadencia de 10 Hz ofrece una marcha media de -1 a +3 segundos al día. Este nuevo hito en el campo de la alta precisión en relojería mecánica, gracias a un total dominio de las propiedades del silicio y del magnetismo, viene a coronar hoy este espíritu innovador tan preciado para Abraham-Louis Breguet. La historia continúa… Informative, descriptive/essential. Objective description of the product, without triangulation. Technical characteristics (alta frecuencia y alta precisión, pivotes magnéticos, cadencia de 10 Hz, etc.). To inform about technical characteristics.

5.2.3. Impoliteness strategies: examples and analysis Impoliteness strategies that include direct FTAs oriented towards the recipient’s positive face involve denigration—the presentation of the recipient as deficient, ugly, old, etc. The construction of a negative image of the recipient is achieved through the specific lexicon and use of figures, which link the representation of the body in its natural state with a flawed, imperfect and fragile reality, as shown in the following examples, in which, respectively, old age, deficiency and emotions considered socially negative, such as fear, are employed. Cosmetics and beauty treatments: Mary Paz “Vuelve a lucir una piel joven.”

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Cosmetics and beauty treatments: Germinol “Estás a esto (indicating with fingers how she fails to reach the goal) de verte deslumbrante.” Cosmetics and beauty treatments: Innosense ¡Tíñete sin miedo! Thus, the negative presentation of the body in its natural state as lacking, which is a state characterized by failure and unhappiness, directs the subject to a series of actions that lead to his/her transformation. This strategy presents a negative image of the hearer through its lexicon and use of metaphors concerning attacks, wars, destruction, and even death, to generate feelings of inadequacy, and thus, rejection (see, in this respect, Márquez Guerrero 2007). Consequently, the recipient acts according to the desired perlocutionary effect: seeking an artificial transformation of their natural inadequacy through purchase of the product. Direct FTAs oriented towards threatening the recipient’s negative face are directive acts, such as orders and instructions. Advice, offers, proposals, etc., are employed according to a basic principle of advertisements—“advertising does not try to be polite, but convincing.” Thus, the verbal expressions chosen are imperative in overcoming visual and textual limits to create the illusion of a dialogic communication based on the direct implication of the receiver. Cosmetics and beauty treatments: Nicout “Conseguir este aspecto (a beautiful face) es muy sencillo.” “Sigue fumando” (an ugly face). “Rompe con el tabaco.” The first imperative form “Sigue fumando” leads to an identification with the ugly part of the face. The only possibility of achieving an improved aspect is to quit tobacco. Thus, “Rompe con el tabaco” is an imperative form that offers no alternative to the recipient. Indirect FTAs are those in which the threat is not expressed directly, but is contained in the presupposition or inference, as in the following advertisement: “Where chic people shop” (Clothing. La Roca Village) in which the implicature is “If I do not buy here, I am not a chic person.”

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References Alcaide Lara, Esperanza. 2010. “La descortesía (también) vende: acercamiento al estudio de estrategias descorteses en el discurso publicitario.” In (Des)cortesía en español. Espacios teóricos y metodológicos para su studio, edited by Franca Orletti and Laura Mariottini, 221௅40. Rome/Stockholm: Università degli Studi Roma Tre/Edice. Barros García, María Jesús. 2011. La cortesía valorizadora en la conversación coloquial española: estudio pragmalingüístico. Granada: Editorial de la Universidad de Granada. Bernal, María. 2007. Categorización sociopragmática de la cortesía y de la descortesía. Un estudio de la conversación coloquial española. Stockholm: Stockholm University. Briz, Antonio. 2001. El español coloquial en la conversación. Barcelona: Ariel. Brown, Penelope, and Stephen Levinson. 1978. “Universals in language usage. Politeness phenomena.” In Questions and Politeness. Strategies in Social Interaction, edited by Esther Goody, 56௅311. New York: Cambridge University Press. Brown, Penelope, and Stephen Levinson. 1987. Politeness. Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Culpeper, Jonathan. 1996. “Towards an anatomy of impoliteness.” Journal of Pragmatics 25:349–67. —. 2005. “Impoliteness and entertainment in the television quiz show: ‘The Weakest Link’.” Journal of Politeness Research 1:35–72. Díaz Soloaga, Paloma, and Carlos Muñiz Muriel. 2008. “Women Stereotypes Portrayed in Print Ads by Luxury Fashion Brands. A Content Analysis from 2002 to 2005.” Observatorio (OBS) Journal 4:291–305. Fuentes Rodríguez, Catalina, and Esperanza Alcaide Lara. 2008. (Des)cortesía, agresividad y violencia verbal en la sociedad actual. Seville: Universidad Internacional de Andalucía. Goffman, Erving. 1981. Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Grice, Paul. 1975. “Logic and conversation.” In Syntax and Semantics Vol. 3: Speech Acts, edited by Peter Cole and Jerry Morgan, 41–58. New York: Academic Press. Gutiérrez Ordóñez, Salvador. 1996. “Sobre la argumentación.” In Actas III Jornadas de metodología y Didáctica de la lengua y literatura

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españolas: Lingüística del texto y pragmática, edited by José Manuel González Calvo and Jesús Terrón González, 91–119. Cáceres: Universidad de Extremadura. Haverkate, Henk. 1994. La cortesía verbal. Madrid: Gredos. Helfrich, Uta. 2013. “La descortesía como estrategia mediática de entretenimiento o ¿no sabes quién descubrió América?” In Estudios de lingüística: investigaciones, propuestas y aplicaciones, edited by Adrián Cabedo Nebot, Manuel José Aguilar Ruiz and Elena LópezNavarro Vidal, 75–86. Valencia: Universidad de Valencia. Kerbrat-Orecchioni, Catherine. 2004. “¿Es universal la cortesía?” In Pragmática sociocultural. Estudios sobre el discurso de cortesía en español, edited by Diana Bravo and Antonio Briz, 39–53. Barcelona: Ariel. Lakoff, Robin. 1973. “The logic of politeness: Or minding your P’s and Q’s.” In Papers from the 9th Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, edited by Claudia Corum, T. Cedric Smith-Stark and Ann Weiser, 292–305. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. Leech, Geoffrey. 1983. Principles of Pragmatics. London: Logman. Mariottini, Laura. 2007. La cortesia. Rome: Carocci. Márquez Guerrero, María. 2007. “Estrategias de descortesía al servicio de la persuasión en publicidad”. Tonos Digital 13. Accessed December 30, 2015. https://www.um.es/tonosdigital/znum13/portada/monotonos/monotono s.htm Prestigiacomo, Carla. 2012. “Persuasión, manipulación y (des)cortesía en los anuncios de televenta.” Discurso & Sociedad 6, 4:782–814.

SLOW MOTION: IMAGES OF WOMEN IN VOGUE ITALIA’S FASHION ADVERTISEMENTS OVER THE LAST FIFTY YEARS PAOLA PANARESE

Introduction Fashion magazines are a form of mass media, focused on the representation of aesthetic standards and lifestyles: photo shoots and advertisements reproduce idealized images of women (and increasingly of men) for a large public audience, and texts complement these images with suggestions, admonitions and practical advice on ways to achieve the presented ideals. In particular, fashion advertisements disseminate a concentrated set of attitudes, expectations, cultural orientations and behaviors, as well as the desire to purchase; they play an important role in the production and reproduction of gender identities (Pollock 1988) as a product of social interaction, which creates normative expectations about how men and women perceive both themselves and others (Goffman 1976; Goffman 1979). Not surprisingly, gender media studies have identified fashion advertisements as a crucial actor in the creation and maintenance of gender ideologies (Gill 2006; Bordo 1993; Wolf 1991). Male and female representation in these magazines has been a central theme in gender studies since the early 1970s. This chapter examines the relationship between fashion, gender and advertising, and presents research on the evolution of images of women in Vogue Italia’s fashion advertisements, from 1964 to 2013.

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Literature review Over the past forty years, a significant body of research about gender and advertising has been accumulated. Many studies have been conducted within various disciplines, such as sociology (Goffman 1976), mass communications (Busby 1975), feminist theory (Barthel 1988), marketing (Belkaoui and Belkaoui 1976), and critical theory (Williamson 1978). They have been carried out especially in the United States, but also in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Spain, and Italy, and have come to similar conclusions. In particular, they have revealed the small number of poor quality and limited roles afforded to female characters in the media, in comparison to male characters (Barthel 1988; Belkaoui and Belkaoui 1976; Courtney, Whipple 1974; McArthur and Resko 1975). They have found that men are numerically overrepresented, are well-informed about the product advertised, and are shown in independent roles in professional settings (Furnham and Bitar 1993). Women, instead, are depicted as young, pretty, married, less informed about the products being advertised, in secondary and dependent roles, and within domestic settings as unemployed or in “pink collar” jobs (McArthur and Resko 1975). Even when men and women are similarly represented, differences emerge in the types of products promoted: women are associated with health and beauty or cleaning products (Furnham and Mak 1999); men are connected to leisure and technological products, such as those relevant to sports, alcohol, cars and consumer electronics (Furnham and Faragher 2000). One of the main sociological texts on the relationship between gender and print advertising is Gender Advertisements by Erving Goffman, a monograph written in 1979 and based on an article published three years before that in Studies in the Anthropology of Visual Communication. The essay presented an analysis of 827 adverts, selected from various magazines without any systematic sampling, with the aim of identifying the semiotic resources (the angle of perspective, the plan of the composition and the look of the characters) that constructed gender stereotypes. The study presented neither a traditional content analysis (because its categories were not mutually exclusive), nor a semiotic investigation. It consisted of a visual study, referred to as a frame analysis, rooted in the anthropological tradition (particularly in the work of Bateson and Mead), and focused on subtle clues that provided important messages about gender relations—its coding system concentrated on hands, eyes, knees, facial expressions, head posture, relative sizes, positioning, placing, head-eye aversion, and finger biting or sucking.

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The hypothesis tested and validated by Goffman was that the representation of gender in advertising was heavily skewed in favor of men. In particular, he highlighted the systematic way in which men were portrayed in dominant and powerful positions in comparison to women through the exaggeration of ritualized forms of difference, which he called hyper-ritualizations. He also found that gender stereotyping in advertisements occurred primarily in ways that could be separated into the following categories: relative size, function ranking, feminine touch, ritualization of subordination, and licensed withdrawal. Relative size saw men being presented as taller and taking up more space than women, as a way of suggesting their superiority. Function ranking related to those images depicting women in less prestigious occupations than men or controlled by men. Feminine touch referred to women touching themselves gently or caressing objects, whereas men used their hands to manipulate and grasp things. Ritualization of subordination occurred when women adopted postures indicating submission to others: they physically lowered themselves and lay down at inappropriate times, while men often maintained an erect position. Licensed withdrawal related to those images in which women’s attention drifted away as they gazed into the distance and appeared to be disoriented and dependent on the guidance of others. Goffman argued that these categories were indicative of genderisms— gender differences in “social weight,” social power, inuence, and the relative authority of men and women. Many studies have replicated Goffman’s work. Kang (1997), for example, collected advertisements that featured human subjects in popular magazines from 1979 and 1991 and analyzed them using Goffman’s categories for coding behavior, with the addition of two other items: body display and independence/self-assertiveness. He found that women’s portrayals in 1991 did not significantly differ from the images in 1979 adverts, but the distribution or dispersion of stereotypical images did change. In the categories of licensed withdrawal and body display, for example, adverts from 1991 showed more stereotyping of women than those from 1979, while relative size and function ranking were no longer prevalent. Lindner (2004) examined the portrayal of women in advertisements in a general interest magazine (Time) and a women’s fashion magazine (Vogue) from 1955 to 2002 using Goffman’s coding scheme. The study found that advertisements in Vogue depicted women more stereotypically than those in Time, and only a slight decrease in stereotypical images of women was found over time.

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Many other studies on gender representation have highlighted the same points: males and females have been represented, in different countries, in stereotypical ways that emphasize gendered differences in roles, ideals of beauty, and social status. The point is interesting considering how gender relations and equality between men and women have improved since the 1970s. The consequences are not irrelevant if, as Goffman pointed out, many advertisements portrayed women in contexts, poses and attitudes indicating social inferiority.

Method In order to see how gendered images in print advertisements have changed since Goffman’s study and to examine the evolution of the representation of women and men in Italy over time, we focused on female portrayals in fashion magazine advertisements over the last fifty years. To overcome some of the limitations of Goffman’s method (especially his sampling technique)1 and to get a better understanding of the kind and extent of changes that have occurred over a longer period of time than in previous studies, we carried out new research to examine the portrayals of women in Vogue Italia’s advertisements from 1964 to 2013. We focused on women because gendered advertising has historically favored them and female characters have a special relationship with commercial communication and fashion magazines: they are both the main target and the most frequent protagonists of adverts. We chose a fashion magazine because it reproduces idealized images of women to influence the imaginary of its readers. In particular, we took into consideration Vogue magazine because it is one of the oldest fashion magazines in the world2 and the most widely read and influential fashion and style magazine in Italy (according to its website), declaring itself addressed to the emancipated and professionally active “modern woman.” We considered the last fifty years because Vogue Italia was first published in 1964.3 Thus, the sample consisted of all the January and June 1

Goffman’s methodology has been criticized because he chose advertisements from newspapers and magazines that showed gender differences, representing his preconceptions, instead of randomly selecting advertisements. 2 The Parisian magazine, Les Modes, founded in 1901, was the first publication dedicated to fashion photography, immediately followed by the American and French editions of Vogue. 3 The Italian edition of Vogue was first published in 1964 after Condé Nast acquired the Italian fashion, décor and style magazine Novità. In 1965, the new owners called the magazine Vogue & Novità, before it became Vogue in 1966.

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issues of the magazine between 1964 and 2013.4 The months of January and June were selected to avoid a bias in the sample based on the time of the year when the advertisements were published. It could be expected, for example, that adverts in summer issues include more instances of body display. We only selected advertisements about fashion, cosmetics, and jewels. In particular, fashion included all types of male and female clothing, shoes and accessories. Cosmetics consisted of both makeup products, such as lipstick, eye shadow or foundation, and body care products, such as face or body lotions, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, etc. Jewels included clocks and all valuable products, such as rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. As a methodology, we used content analysis, which can be considered a combination of Berelson’s (1952) “classical” approach and analysis as investigation. Despite the limitations of this method, which is restricted to frequency counts of role portrayals and returns rather superficial and selfevident inferences (Artz and Venkatesh 1991), we decided to use it to compare new and old findings and provide general results from which to direct further research. As such, we built a search tool containing an ordered sequence of questions with which the adverts were assessed. Each survey item corresponded to a variable constituting the operational definition of a characteristic. The coding scheme used for the analysis was based on Goffman’s schemes, enlarged with new coding categories, including body display (Kang 1997), movement (Umiker-Sebeok 1996), and objectication (Lindner 2004). Body display refers to the presence of nudity (unclothed women, including those in translucent under apparel and lingerie; models clothed in nothing but a towel; or models depicted with no clothing) or body-revealing clothes (i.e. mini-skirts, tight skirts, “short” shorts, “see-through” clothes, halter dress, or bathing suits). Stereotyping in terms of movement relates to the portrayal of women as inhibited in their ability to control space or move in space. Objectication occurs in those depictions that suggest the major function of the model (or a part of her body, generally far from the face—the locus of individuality) is to be looked at. We also recorded general advertisement features (advertiser, brand nationality, object of the ad, setting, color/black and white, claim, number of characters), characters’ socio-demographic and aesthetic attributes, and additional information (presence of cases to be analyzed in depth). 4

For 1964, we considered the months of October and December, because the magazine was released for the first time after the summer.

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We coded only those adverts featuring one or more woman, either in the presence or absence of men. Two different researchers analyzed each advertisement. Non-objective features, such as physique (coded as masculine, curvy, average, overweight, thin, very thin, athletic/muscled), were considered coincidentally . In rare cases, in which the two codings did not match, we classified the data as undetectable.

Results A total of 1,356 advertisements were coded for this study, containing 1,933 models. With regard to the general results, we found that: advertisers were mainly Italian and French; the brands with the most adverts in the sample included Dolce & Gabbana (fifty-six adverts), Blumarine (fifty-three), Valentino (forty-five), Armani and Versace (both with forty-four); clothing and accessories were the prevailing market sectors, constituting 70 percent of the sample; and three-quarters of the adverts were in color and set in a photo set. In over 70 percent of the advertisements there was only one model, and in about 20 percent there were two models. Ninety percent of the 1,933 models analyzed were women. Considering the most frequent aesthetic features and postures, the prevailing female figure was young, beautiful, slim or skinny, with long hair, blue eyes, generally framed with wide and mid shots, depicted standing and looking at the reader with a serious or sexy expression. These findings reveal an apparent shift from those found in past research. In most cases, the female figure was placed in the foreground and presented alone, valorized in her subjectivity, as an autonomous woman, detached from family and traditional roles. Indeed, few images portrayed her as a mother or in a couple. Her serious face expression denoted confidence and determination. Her gaze was intense and often facing the reader. However, most of the depicted women had a lean, young, and often eroticized body. In many cases, they were photographed in suggestive and provocative poses, lying on a couch or on the floor, with a languid look, and slightly open lips or legs. In terms of Goffman’s genderisms, we found that almost 40 percent of the sample contained cases of feminine touch, 28 percent showed a high degree of nudity, 15 percent were cases of licensed withdrawal, ritualization of subordination appeared in 14 percent of the sample, objectification in 9 percent, and 8 percent of the models were limited in their movements. There were few cases of gender stereotyping in terms of

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relative size (2.3 percent) and function ranking (2.4 percent), probably because there was only a small number of adverts with both men and women (Figure 1). Overall, the study showed that 40 percent of the advertisements portrayed women stereotypically with regard to at least one of the coding categories. Thus, despite the fact that Vogue’s readership is primarily made up of women from the upper middle-classes with a medium-high cultural/educational level, the magazine showed weak images of women, depicting them in decontextualized environments in which no purposeful activity was possible; tracing the outline of an object or caressing its surface instead of using their hands to manipulate space; wearing revealing, hardly any, or no clothes at all; lowering themselves physically, sitting or lying on the ground; mentally drifting from the situation or withdrawing their gaze from the scene; or as objects, where their only purpose was to be looked at.

Figure 1. Presence of genderisms (N = 1,356).

In addition, some relevant changes were found over time (Figure 2). The evolution of genderisms from the 1960s revealed rather similar trends for different categories, with a few exceptions. Most of Goffman’s genderisms were concentrated in the 1970s and decreased in the following decades, denoting the possible influence of the feminist movement and a gradual increase in attention on less stereotypical figures. However, there were two exceptions: body display, which steadily

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grew from the 1960s ownards, and feminine touch, which after a peak in the 1970s, decreased over two decades, but increased rapidly in the new millennium.

Figure 2. Genderisms over decades (N = 1,356).

Relative size, limited movements and functional ranking were present in a limited number of cases over time, probably because the number of adverts in which women were accompanied by men was limited. However, increasing up to the 1970s, these genderisms steadily decreased and now stand at lower rates compared to that decade, but are higher in number than in the 1980s and 1990s. Licensed withdrawal and ritualization of subordination also saw a higher number of cases in the 1970s, which decreased in the following decades and has increased in recent years. Thus, after a heavy concentration of stereotypical images in Vogue’s advertisements during the 1970s, there was a radical turnaround in the following decades, until the end of the second millennium. Recent years, however, revealed not only a large portion of stereotyped female portrayals (in some cases much higher than in the past), but also a much more frequent number of distortions related to body display and feminine touch than in any other decade. The association of the categories analyzed with other variables provided insights into the reasons for this change.

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Feminine touch, for example, often appeared in association with body display, licensed withdrawal, and ritualization of subordination, building an overall image of women exposed to the eye of the reader, mentally distracted, subordinating themselves, or caressing their bodies or objects, with an erotic function. In effect, if in the 1970s the feminine touch seemed rather neutral and spontaneous, in the 2000s it was often associated with sexy poses and expressions, reinforcing the image of the woman as the center of pleasure and calling attention to her body. Moreover, if in the 1960s and the 1970s body display was relegated to cosmetics adverts, in the 2000s it was widely used in every kind of advertisement and frequently associated with feminine touch, ritualization of subordination and sexy expressions. A shift towards a greater sexualization of female portrayals in advertisements was recorded in the later years of the sample. Finally, there were positive correlations between objectication and all the other categories (with the exception of movement), but these correlations changed over time. In the 1960s and the 1970s, there was a frequent association between objectification and functional ranking or ritualization of subordination; in the 2000s, this association was with feminine touch and body display. In the first two decades analyzed, women were objectified and depicted as subject to male control and treated as another’s property without full autonomy. The woman of the 2000s, instead, appeared as more independent, bold, self-confident, but also used as a body, undressed and exposed to the male gaze.

Conclusions Despite some apparent shifts in the portrayals of women since the 1970s, there seems to be no serious trend towards the reduction of genderisms. Only a slight decrease in some of the stereotypical depictions of women (i.e. functional ranking and relative size) was found over time, but a new kind of stereotyping, based on a stronger display of the body and its instrumental use as an addressee of looks and a (sexual) object, seems to characterize these images. Despite the apparent greater autonomy of the “modern woman,” less dependent on male figures in advertising from the 1980s onwards, the representation of her body is so pervasive that it overshadows all other qualities and features. This trend is consistent with the rise of the presence of young, slender and hypersexualized women in the Italian media in

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recent decades.5 This process of “resexualization” of female bodies (Gill 2003) probably derives from a strong cultural backlash against women aimed at calling into question the achievements of the feminist movement: “The notion of women-as-objects suggests the reduction of women to ‘mere’ bodies, when actually what’s going on is often far more disturbing than that, involving the depiction of regressive ideals of feminine behavior and attitudes that go much deeper than appearance” (Bordo 1997, 124).

Thus, women’s progress in gaining social power has been counteracted by disempowering them in visually subtle ways. If the first images of modern women in the 1980s emphasized masculine features, such as strength, determination and competitiveness in the workplace, and portrayed androgynous and unisex bodies, evocative of the concept of gender equality, in the following decades, the media has now built a new “modern woman,” whose features are boldness and self-confidence in the game of seduction, narcissism and sex appeal (Capecchi 2011). This coincides with the growth in the sectors of cosmetics, fashion, fitness and aesthetic surgery as attention on the body has increased and media portrayals have stressed the need for women to be thin, young and sexy. Taking advantage of and trivializing feminist assumptions (like “Free and beautiful” or “Because I’m worth it”), advertising has persuaded women to aspire to an ideal of beauty that leads them to objectify and expose the body. Additionally, the portrayal of women as imperfect and in need of appreciation is a necessity for a fashion magazine, which is primarily a means for advertising and selling products that are suggested as “cures” for women’s feelings of inferiority and inappropriateness. The difference compared to the image of the “woman-object” widespread in the 1970s is that the performance of the eroticized body is presented as the choice of the “modern woman”—a form of power, which can lead to improve women’s “value” in the emotional, occupational, or political “market” (Capecchi 2011). Thus, the “modern woman” promoted by Italian fashion advertising spreads ambivalent messages related to “femininity”: she is depicted as a “woman-subject,” self-affirmative and self-confident, but her main power is to catch the eye and seduce. This seduction takes place primarily through her body, which has to be “forever” young and attractive (through the use of the products advertised in magazines). In this construct, the 5

The objectification of the female body is no longer limited to specific figures of women (in entertainment or advertising), but covers almost all women who appear in the media, from journalists to politicians.

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body is the main, if not the only, means of empowering women, and the ideology of beauty blends inextricably with instances of emancipation. In effect, the examined adverts suggest that those who cannot or do not “freely” choose to adapt to prevailing beauty standards risk being unappreciated, appearing out of date and being socially isolated. Of course, the readership can interpret the advertising images in an independent and critical way, but it is hard to dispute such a message when it is hidden by the instrumental use of the female body as freedom of choice. The image of the modern woman built and disseminated by Vogue Italia is only superficially linked to greater autonomy and increased social power. The process of change in advertising images detected by our analysis is faster and greater than in any other past research. But actually, it reflects a slow shift, as in slow motion: “only superficial cultural alterations are transferred to advertisements, while the underlying ideological foundation remains untouched” (Umiker-Sebeok 1981, 210).

References Artz, Nancy, and Venkatesh Alladi. 1991. “Gender Representation in Advertising.” In Advances in Consumer Research. Vol. 18, edited by Rebecca H. Holman and Michael R. Solomon, 729–35. Provo: Association for Consumer Research. Barthel, Diane. 1988. Putting on Appearances: Gender and Advertising. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Belkaoui, Ahmed, and Janice M. Belkaoui. 1976. “A Comparative Analysis of the Roles Portrayed by Women in Print Advertisements: 1958, 1970, 1972.” Journal of Marketing Research XIII: 168–72. Berelson, Bernard. 1952. Content Analysis in Communication Research. Glencoe: Free Press. Bordo, Susan. 1997. Twilight Zones: The Hidden Life of Cultural Images from Plato to O.J. Berkeley: University of California Press. Busby, Linda J. 1975. “Sex-role Research on the Mass Media.” Journal of Communication 25: 107–31. Capecchi, Saveria. 2011. “Il corpo erotizzato delle donne negli spot pubblicitari e nelle riviste di moda femminile.” POLIS 3: 393–417. Courtney, Alice E., Whipple, Thomas W. 1998. Sex Stereotyping in Advertising. Lexington: Lexington Books. Furnham, Adrian, and Nadine Bitar. 1993. “The Stereotyped Portrayals of Men and Women in British Television Advertisements.” Sex Roles, 29: 297–310.

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Furnham, Adrian, and Twiggy Mak. 1999. “Sex-Role Stereotyping in Television Commercials: A Review and Comparison of Fourteen Studies Done on Five Continents over 25 Years.” Sex Roles 41: 413– 37. Furnham, Adrian, and E. Faragher. 2000. “A Cross-Cultural Content Analysis of Sex-Role Stereotyping In Television Advertisements: A Comparison Between Great Britain and New Zealand.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 44: 415–36. Gill, Rosalind. 2003. “From Sexual Objectification to Sexual Subjectification: The Resexualisation of Women’s Bodies in the Media.” Feminist Media Studies 3: 100–106. —. 2006. Gender and the Media. Cambridge: Polity Press. Goffman, Erving. 1976. “Gender Advertisements.” Studies in the Anthropology of Visual Communication 3: 69–154. —. 1979. Gender Advertisements. New York: Harper & Raw. Kang, Mee-Eu. 1997. “The portrayal of women’s images in magazine advertisements: Goffman’s gender analysis revisited.” Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 37, 11/12: 979–96. Lindner, Katharina. 2004. “Images of women in general interest and fashion magazine advertisements from 1955 to 2002.” Sex Roles 51: 409–21. McArthur, Leslie Zebrowitz, and Beth Gabrielle Resko. 1975. “The Portrayal of Men and Women in American Television Commercials.” The Journal of Social Psychology 97: 209–20. Pollock, Griselda. 1988. Vision and Difference: Femininity, Feminism, and Histories of Art. New York: Routledge. Umiker-Sebeok, Jean. 1981. “The Seven Ages of Woman: A View from American Magazine Advertisements.” In Gender and Nonverbal Behavior, edited by Clara Mayo and Nancy M. Henley, 209–52. New York: Springer-Verlag. Williamson, Judith. 1978. Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising. London: Marion Boyars. Wolf, Naomi. 1991. The beauty myth: How images of beauty are used against women. New York: W. Morrow.

FASHION BRAND SEARCHABILITY: FROM TV SERIES TO AUDIENCE ONLINE INTERACTION ROMANA ANDÒ

Introduction This article analyzes the relationship between the central role of fashion brands in high quality TV series and the increasing ability of the audience to acquire such branded items, both materially and/or symbolically, on the web. In this analysis, I make reference to two phenomena that appear to be evolving simultaneously, although not necessarily as a result of coordinated action. They represent a fortuitous and conveniently arbitrary combination of advanced TV marketing strategies, from product placement to branded content in TV programs, and the logic of fandom, which has been enabled by technological advances and online platforms. We are thus faced with TV products, like high quality TV series, which enhance brand visibility, especially with respect to fashion brands. Clothes and accessories assume central roles in telling the story and act as distinctive and defining elements of the whole TV product. Outfits worn by the main figures in television series serve to define the imagery of the narrative and, at the same time, constitute a sort of touchpoint for audiences and TV content. Viewers’ desires to connect and interact with media content takes advantage of brand recognition, which is facilitated both by its online searchability and by technologies that let viewers constantly engage in fandom activities, such as detection, searching and acquisition. Curiosity and desire for more information, inspired by a particular element of a TV program, may be instantly gratified by accessing an extremely wide range of information, made available by official brands, media coverage, and social media in a hybrid media system. From a fashion marketing perspective, the appearance of fashion brands in high quality television programs is an extraordinary opportunity

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to increase brand visibility and amplify touchpoints with consumers. The serial format, more than any other TV form, generates high engagement and fandom activities that expand the consumer experience. Audiences are able to satisfy their desire for a relationship with the content because of the emotional proximity they develop to TV characters. Some viewers chat with others online, sharing images of character outfits on social media, and even imitating them by purchasing clothes and accessories online. Such viewer activity becomes a sort of cooperation with a brand, in terms of its visibility, circulation and impact on purchasing and consumption. Online platforms, like Polyvore and Pinterest, both of which were created as hubs of information and interaction, become de facto marketing tools of fashion, co-managed by viewers and the market. Meanwhile, other online services have been created by fashion producers to facilitate greater viewer engagement (i.e. ACR applications for mobile devices). New, exciting and innovative dynamics emerge and their cultural as well as economic implications require further consideration and analysis.

Fandom detection and websearch ability The phenomenon I am discussing here comes from the convergence of two complementary dimensions. The first dimension involves fans who fall in love with a cult object and engage in detection, appropriation and textual poaching practices (Jenkins 1992). Within fan culture, especially with respect to cult media, content is not simply consumed, but taken apart, analyzed, appropriated and sometimes reproduced to extend the pleasure found in consumption over time. The second dimension consists of enabling technologies and, especially, mobile devices that allow audiences to always be connected and to increase their inclination to search for information, even while watching TV content (the “multi-screening phenomenon”). As far as the nature of fandom goes, I focus on practices that constitute the development and modernization of typical fandom activities (Booth 2015). Fan dedication and loyalty to cult content has not changed, but today fans make use of the web and, more specifically, of non-stop accessibility to information, guaranteed by both collective (Lévy 1997) and connective intelligence dynamics and the phenomenon of searchability. Within the convergent cultural frame described by Jenkins (2008), technological infrastructure allows individuals to feel active and involved in building a shared culture based on widespread knowledge; this is a “common knowledge” sourced from individuals, and is constantly accessed, scrutinized and rewritten. Moreover, the introduction of search

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engines has revolutionized the ways information can be accessed. The web search has become a commonplace activity among internet users (Boyd 2010) who can now access information anywhere and at anytime, thanks to their connected mobile devices. Among fans, searching has acquired a crucial role in the contemporary viewer experience. Firstly, it satisfies the desire to appropriate TV content, through the non-stop activity of detection, which is aimed at identifying content elements that might boost the pleasure of consumption for an engaged viewer. Detection and searching are closely related to the degree of fan involvement in the product. Moreover, information retrieved from cult media content becomes a form of cultural capital (Fiske 1992), which is used by fans to achieve a prominent position in the internal hierarchies of fandom communities. Possessing special information and knowledge becomes a form of generating fan status and helps to mark distinction among fans in terms of their expertise and level of engagement. Within the social TV ecosystem, searching has become an integral part of the consumer experience. I consider social TV to be a set of audience practices born of the hybridization of TV and the web, along with the multi-screening phenomenon (Andò and Marinelli 2014). This encourages connected viewers to build ongoing relationships both with television content and other viewers, thereby expanding the consumer experience beyond the physical boundaries of each program. Although most studies of the social TV phenomenon focus on interactions between viewers on social network sites, searching seems to be the most significant audience activity. Second screen technology, or more specifically the availability and daily use of mobile devices while watching TV content, allows viewers to satisfy their curiosity stimulated by media content; they can explore specific features of the TV program, check content validity or truthfulness and instantly share knowledge on social media with others. Google describes these practices as micro-moments—people search Google to get answers, even while watching TV and “eighty four percent of smartphone and tablet owners in the US use their devices as a second screen while they watch: 12% of them are reading discussions about TV shows on social media, and more than double that, 29%, are searching for show-related information” (Gevelber 2015). Such practices, already prevalent in the offline fandom world, have increased with web 2.0, where knowledge production and accumulation, along with searchability, are key elements: “As users add new content, and new sites, it is bound in to the structure of the web by other users discovering the content and linking to it. Much as synapses form in the brain, with associations becoming stronger through

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repetition or intensity, the web of connections grows organically as an output of the collective activity of all web users” (O’Reilly 2007, 22).

In this technological and cultural context, therefore, viewers are involved at two different levels: as knowledge producers and as seekers of knowledge. In accordance with Jenkins’ idea of convergence culture (2008), everyone can access resources on the web and become content producers, thanks to the web’s low entry barriers and the high level of mentoring to support the collective creativity of individuals. However, even when viewers do not directly produce original content, searching activities often result in information sharing and in a multiplication of touchpoints with media content. From the perspective of the consumption experience, this means a multiplication of information sources that make it possible to access content of interest. In a hybrid media system (Chadwick 2013), searchability is improved by a continuous merging of official and user-generated content (UGC).

Product placement, social TV and searchability Part of the pleasure of consuming television content (and media in general) involves expanding the consumer experience beyond its boundaries. Enhanced TV consumption is often driven by viewer detection activities and sustained by viewer ability to recognize TV text features and elements that are more or less perceptible. In addition to being engaged in decoding fundamental clues to understand the TV text, the viewer/fan is particularly interested in identifying objects and cult elements in media content. Such objects are characteristic elements of storytelling and they help define both the context and the characters; in doing so they become coveted objects to collect, strengthening the relationship between fans and cult content. As Matt Hills remarks, “it is important to view fans as players in the sense that they become immersed in non-competitive and affective play” (Hills 2002, 112)—products placed in media content become tools to be appropriated and used by fans to identify characters. In this sense, it may be useful to look at the practice of cosplay (Booth and Kelly 2013). Fans become particularly engaged in rebuilding characters’ costumes, sifting through details offered by the text, and visually reshaping clothes and accessories through fan art to reproduce outfits in a performative affective play that infinitely expands the possibilities of media consumption. More generally, similar practices can be referred to when considering parasocial relationships (Giles 2002; Meyrowitz 1985) between viewers

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and media celebrities. The viewers try to acquire knowledge of characters, by vicariously participating in their lives and even shaping character consumption in terms of the products they use (Russell, Norman and Heckler 2004). These details, often linked to clothing and accessories placed in media texts, are now easily accessible on the web thanks to searching practices and the product placement strategies of media content producers. Product placement is an advertising strategy that involves the inclusion of a brand, or elements attributable to it, in a narrative context in a naturalistic manner. This means that the brand becomes part of the story and provides realism and credibility or elements of charm and attraction for the audience. At the same time, brands benefit from the connectedness and likeability of the program context and from the social learning impacts of product placement (Russell, Norman and Heckler 2004; Cowley and Barron 2008). In other words, when brands are included in narrative contexts they present the cultural and social backdrop of everyday life (as in Apple’s episode of Modern Family, “Connection Lost” aired on February 25, 2015; ABC 2009). From a marketing perspective, product placement is extremely interesting because it promotes visibility of a brand without invasively interrupting the viewing experience for media content users. Inserting the coherent brand in media texts makes it possible to hide or mask the commercial purpose of the placement. This gives the brand the opportunity to take advantage of the relationship between viewers and the narrative, of the immersive viewing experience and of the endorsement guaranteed by being linked to particularly famous celebrities (Verhellen, Dens and De Pelsmacker 2013). Not all brands placed in media content are the result of a definite product placement commercial strategy. In many cases brands are used as symbolic materials to depict the accurate creation of both characters and context; in such cases there is no economic agreement between TV production and the brand itself. Viewers are therefore able to recognize the socio-cultural context and the prevalent ideology, by viewing characters interaction with each other and with commercial brands. In media content, “the prominence of consumption is reflected in the importance of products such as clothing, makeup, home furnishing, food, and beverages to the characters” (Russell and Stern 2006, 9). Although product placement is almost exclusively studied in the fields of marketing, psychology and the sociology of consumption, there are significant implications of this commercial strategy with respect to the cultural definition of contemporary audience consumption practices. In

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social TV, the engaged viewer’s predisposition to perform detection and searching activities, along with the availability of second screen technologies that immediately satisfy a viewer’s needs for information, represent the ideal conditions for successful product placement strategies. These activities may generate two different, even complementary, goals. On the one hand, a brand consistently placed in a television text counts on viewer engagement with a text that is perceived to be familiar. In this case, the brand reinforces the media content, fostering an emotional bond with the narrative and characters and amplifying the consumer experience through the symbolic appropriation of the brand (recognizability, searchability, textual poaching online). On the other hand, the brand benefits from the audience’s engagement with a particular piece of TV content and exploits the viewer’s desire to appropriate and collect (Fiske). The desire to identify with characters and celebrities encourages the material appropriation and purchase of brands seen on TV (i.e. clothes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer on eBay) (Stenger 2006). The practice of multi-screening and the contemporary development of sophisticated applications for the second screen, such as automatic content recognition (ACR) and advanced systems for e-commerce, simplify these processes. These conditions make it possible to seek out and identify information about brands seen on screen and, if necessary, to purchase them (“shop while you watch”). In other words, the web complements product placement, which is a low information practice, by providing extensive information without interfering in the consumer’s viewing experience (Balasubramanian, Karrh and Patwardhan 2006). Through social TV, product placement can also rely on a significant and efficient contraction of time (i.e. when compared to product placement in films), since visualization of the product can immediately be translated into searching for more information and consequent consumption.

Fashion brands, TV series and searchability on social media Fashion brands utilize product placement and encourage searchability and fandom practices, and recent TV series have provided impetus for these phenomena. In recent years, TV series have often acquire cult followings, with respect to the high quality of production and consumption practices (Jancovich and Lyons 2003; Scaglioni 2006). This kind of TV content is particularly capable of engaging connected audiences by involving them in innovative practices made possible by the web and new technologies. In

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the most successful serial productions of the last fifteen years (from Sex and the City, Mad Men, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, Scandal, House of Cards, Suits, etc.), fashion has become an essential element in defining characters, situations and narrative contexts, often becoming a primary subject of storytelling (Mascio 2012): “the presence of products is perhaps the most defining element of the lifestyle community, with products serving as significant objects in the consumption scenarios that pervade the genre” (Russell and Stern 2006, 9). Fashion brands embedded in storylines act as stimuli for viewer attention and encourage loyalty and participation. Fashion brands constitute ideal touchpoints with media content to facilitate the expansion of media consumption experiences beyond visual consumption. Stars’ outfits, dresses and accessories become symbolic materials to be identified and searched for online, with the direct or indirect aim of symbolic or material appropriation. Fashion brands seen on TV can turn into fetishized items for viewers who consequently seek to appropriate them; fashion brands can also become transitional objects (Hills 2002) to manage engagement and loyalty with a TV product and its stars. At the same time, the outfits presented on TV feed into an emulative desire that viewers may cultivate in their relationships with characters (“wanting to be like her/him”), providing audiences with symbolic materials that may be used in everyday life. Whether they are the result of clever product placement strategies with business goals, a narrative choice that exploits a brand’s communication power, or whether products are intentionally or coincidentally placed, fashion brands in TV series take advantage of the serialization of routine habits. The TV genre acts as a guide with respect to the expectationsof the production of meaning—in particular with respect to characters who are depicted with a remarkable narrative longevity and an inevitable degree of stereotyping (such as in sitcoms) (Russell and Stern 2006; Andò and Valeriani 2015). A brand positioned within media content also takes advantage of the endorsement that celebrity, in this case the television character, provides the brand and that the endorsement of the brand provides the TV character. A congruence between the character’s schema (and its specific expertise or personality) and the brand’s schema emerges, strengthening viewer devotion (Meyers-Levy and Tybout 1989). Moreover, the parasocial relationship with TV personalities and consequent attachment to them as influencers can not be underestimated in the success of product placement strategies (Russell 2002; Russell and Stern 2006).

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Another aspect to consider is that of brand prominence on screen in terms of narrative relevance and its ability to activate a network of meaningful associations (Verhellen, Dens and De Pelsmacker 2013, 290). It is worth highlighting that, in terms of cult television, viewers/fans are equally engaged in searching for less visible and/or complementary brands. The ability to detect and, subsequently, the possibility of accumulating knowledge capital gives way to a fundamental opportunity to achieve positions in fandom hierarchies. Moreover, brand prominence must be handled with great care in TV series that are closely followed by fans. The passion for a cult TV program may lead to a rejection of brand placement if it is considered to be intrusive and, therefore, detrimental to the perceived quality of a TV product (Cowley and Barron 2008). The web acts on several levels. On the one hand, it is a space of searchability, acting as both an intelligent repository of knowledge, collectively produced and archived (tag), and as a set of tools that support searching activities. On the other hand, it provides spaces of interaction that allow viewers to share their knowledge. The symbolic materials extracted from media texts are creatively reworked by viewers (DeSouza 2013) and used to build and maintain their identities and social relations through online platforms. There are several online platforms where fashion brands that have been placed in television series can increase their attraction to viewers. These include traditional media or fashion bloggers who exploit the novelty of TV characters’ outfits to produce stylish and fashionable editorial content. Furthermore, TV producers can exploit a TV character’s style as a marketing strategy, using analysis of costume designs: for example ABC gives its fans insight into the clothing of Scandal’s main character (ABC 2012) through the Olivia Pope Style board on Pinterest, where fans can track down garment pieces. Brand websites also give visibility to clothes and accessories found on TV. However, I wish to explore online spaces that are managed or co-managed by viewers. Such sites range from sites or forums where fans discuss every aspect of television content, including fashion, to visual social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest where viewers share outfits seen on TV. These also include sharing platforms like Polyvore where outfits are recreated by viewers and made available through online shopping, either through a brand’s official website or e-commerce aggregator sites. Sites like Pinterest and Polyvore are worthy of analysis for several reasons. Pinterest is well suited to searching for and poaching fashion brands. It is a place for desires and aspirations that support audience engagement with the characters of TV series. Both Polyvore and Pinterest

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are online platforms that have a lot of potential for social TV and for the implementation of enhanced product placement. Pinterest and Polyvore accommodate fan/viewer practices of poaching, searching and collecting fashion products that have been placed in media content (Andò 2015; Donatelle 2014). They allow viewers to share information about the online and offline traceability of clothes or brands and describe where and how to buy a particular commodity, or provide information on recreating these outfits in low cost forms. These platforms complement the transition from searching and poaching activities to a culture of cutting and remixing. Viewers creatively re-work outfits that require skill and an expression of clear, even if temporary, identity choice. The images of outfits that have been recreated by viewers circulate on the web through its culture of sharing, become fanproduced commodities that can and will be searched for and consumed by other viewers. Polyvore and Pinterest seem to anticipate the future development of social TV and product placement. By acting as a repository of fashion brands and complete outfits extracted from TV series, these online platforms work as a sounding board for fashion content placed on TV and simplify the audience activity of searching. Moreover, the development of this grassroots production, which has emerged as a response to an immediate need for information expressed by viewers while watching TV, has encouraged the production of second screen applications for automatic content recognition (ACR) and product placement strategies that are part of social TV.

Conclusions When discussing the innovative practices of online platforms, it is worth considering that the boundary between audience creativity and the purpose of brand marketing is quite thin. When Polyvore users assemble an entire outfit, which may be as glamorous as those found in a fashion magazine on a user-friendly platform, by playing with clothes and accessories stored and cataloged by dress categories and linked to direct ecommerce transactions, this apparently grassroots activity may be read as a form of exploitation of viewer engagement. In other words, we are faced with a transformation of audience engagement into audience labor with respect to media content and fashion brands. In social media, viewer exploitation and de-alienation are dialectically linked. From a Marxist perspective, high levels of participation and user generated content production on social network sites can be seen as a form of audience labor.

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Viewers are encouraged to produce, but at the same time they can be seen as engaging in self-expression—the audience’s de-alienation is promoted. When it comes to producing and circulating brand information on social media, this issue becomes more problematic and complex. Communication between social media users “generates a plethora of personal and social information about users, information which is becoming increasingly valuable for companies in virtually all consumer industries, and which is eagerly sought after by advertising, public relations, and marketing professionals” (Fisher 2012, 176). The value of these social interactions increases even more if this performative and associational information (Fisher 2012, 177) is related to fashion brands seen on TV and explicitly reported by the audience as a premise for consumption, as occurs on Polyvore and Pinterest. As such, it is clear that the practices described in this article should be interpreted with respect to the implicit agreement that allows companies to commodify the froms of communication produced by viewers in exchange for control over the process of communicating (Fisher 2012). But the effects of this agreement are even more interesting. From a perspective that takes into account audience studies, product placement, fandom practices and searchability, the number of viewers interested in brands seen on TV and reachable through intelligent advertising has the potential to expand significantly. These same conditions, however, end up thwarting the pleasure associated with both fandom detection practices—aimed at the identification of fashion brands worn by TV characters—and the replication of entire outfits as costumes for cosplay practices.

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