Italy: Fashion, Style and National Identityshows the famous Italian film star in a relatively simple gown of figured
satin, with no surface decoration, but a carefully constructed swathed cut
which fully emphasizes the star’s celebrated physique. The accompanying
article reported on 250 gowns in her wardrobe, saying that ‘Lollobrigida’s
clothes, which she had all made in Italy, most of them by Rome’s Emilio
Schuberth, and are made with an eye on Gina’s figure, rather than on the
season’s new silhouettes’. They are made of luxurious stuffs, such as velvet
and satin, and many of the designs involve considerable surface decoration.
Lollobrigida’s clothes can be seen to epitomize a valuable sector of Italian
high fashion which was created for Hollywood stars from the late 1940s
and which can be described as figure-hugging, glamourous and above all,
sexy.
Although Italian couture became increasingly well known for its evening
wear, formal day dress was always produced and sold successfully in the US.
Broadly, like the eveningwear, daywear followed the Paris “New Look” line,
which can be seen in a tailored black and grey stripe suit by Paris couturier
Jean Dessès, featured in a Linea Italiana editorial in Spring 1951.^26 However,
another Spring 1951 tailored suit, this time in maroon rayon by the Italian
Baruffaldi, is a softer, more wearable garment than the more extreme French
style of the same date, and this is typical of the stylistic development of Italian
daywear.^27
Few examples of Italian couture daywear survive in museum collections,
partly because donors and curators did not feel them worthy of collection
and partly because they tended to be more frequently worn.Probably the
most memorable day outfit in a museum collection is a dress-suit by Fabiani,
circa 1965, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum.^28 The suit is in a very
heavy woven wool, with navy and red horizontal stripes. It consists of a
double-breasted unfitted jacket, with a rounded collar, and a shift-dress with
a high waist. The suit is visually striking because of the juxtaposition of
strong colours with simple shape. It is these very factors which seem to link
the surviving examples of Italian couture daywear and which distinguishes
much of Italian style of this date from the sharper French look.
The daywear featured in contemporary press coverage further emphasizes
these factors. For example, in 1961 US Vogue typically chose to emphasize
Italian use of colour, at the spring collections.^29 The article prosaically
explained that ‘there were apricots in every shade of ripeness, pinks in every
26.Linea Italiana, Spring 1951, p. 58.
27.Linea Italiana, Spring 1951, p. 61.- Victoria and Albert Museum, London, number T322.78. Label reads ‘Fabiani Roma’.
- ‘The Good Word on Italy and Italian Fashion’, US Vogue, 1.4.61, p. 135.