Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

When we think of Italian fashion, Gucci, Max Mara and the meteoric rise of Prada immediately spring to mind. But Italian fashion has a dark history that has not previously been explored. The Fascism of 1930s Italy dominated more than just politics - it spilled over into modes of dress. Fashion under Fascism is the first book to consider this link in detail.Fashion often functions as a tacit means of making a social statement, but under Mussolini it vividly reflected political tyranny. Ones allegiance to the regime was choreographed by the dictatorship with the intent of creating a new national consciousness. Women in particular were manipulated through fashion ideals to create an authentic Italian femininity. Paulicelli explores the subtle yet sinister changes to the seemingly innocuous practices of everyday dress and shows why they were such a concern for the state. Importantly, she also demonstrates how these developments impacted on the global dominance of Italian fashion today.This fascinating book includes interviews with major designers, such as Fernanda Gattinoni and Micol Fontana, and sheds new light on the complicated relationship between style and politics.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Fashion, Gender and Power in Interwar Italy
• Disciplining the Body, Language and Style
• Dress, Style and the National Brand
• Nationalizing the Fashion Industry?
• Beyond the Black Shirt--Resisting the Code
• Appendices
• Interviews with Fernanda Gattinoni and Micol Fontana

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Complementing Nicola White's Reconstructing Italian Fashion (CH, Jul'01, 38-6277), Paulicelli (comparative literature, CUNY) provides well-documented explanations of how the pre-WW II Italian government co-opted the creativity of fashion designers through regulations applied to domestic manufacture; control of commercial materials, including imports; marketing strategies; use of icons to create a glamorous personal mode associated with national identity; and, particularly, modification of language. In the 1930s the Mussolini regime wanted to delete foreign references and phrases (especially French) from fashion publications, periodicals, newsprint, newsreels, and commercial films. The goal was to manipulate Italian minds through continuous references to Italy's 15th-century Renaissance cultural greatness, thereby stimulating appreciation for things Italian, including the current administration. A dictionary of style, which introduced new Italian fashion vocabulary, and nationalization of the textile industry served as tools. Italian clothing, the sign of power and status tied to international events, expanded to colonial markets in Libya and, after the invasion, into Ethiopia. With the historic 1936 Rome-Berlin Pact, economic, political, and cultural relations opened with Germany, resulting in advertisements depicting blonde Germans with dark-haired Italians. Despite losing the war, Italy was ready for a postwar fashion industry rebirth financed by the US Marshall Plan and redirected at ready-to-wear markets in Europe and the US. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. B. B. Chico Regis University