Fashion under Fascism: Beyond the Black Shirt
Looking at the dark history of Italian fashion by focusing on the impact of 1930s Fascism, this is the second edition of Eugenia Paulicelli's classic text.

In Fashion under Fascism, 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. Alongside interviews with major designers, such as Fernanda Gattinoni and Micol Fontana, this newly expanded revised edition includes updated material on gender and masculinity, the role of uniforms in standardizing individuality, race and colonial Italy, and the reception of 1930s cinema. It sheds new light on the complicated relationship between style and politics and is an essential read for all those interested in the history of fashion, politics, national identity and the culture of fascism.

1111957351
Fashion under Fascism: Beyond the Black Shirt
Looking at the dark history of Italian fashion by focusing on the impact of 1930s Fascism, this is the second edition of Eugenia Paulicelli's classic text.

In Fashion under Fascism, 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. Alongside interviews with major designers, such as Fernanda Gattinoni and Micol Fontana, this newly expanded revised edition includes updated material on gender and masculinity, the role of uniforms in standardizing individuality, race and colonial Italy, and the reception of 1930s cinema. It sheds new light on the complicated relationship between style and politics and is an essential read for all those interested in the history of fashion, politics, national identity and the culture of fascism.

39.95 In Stock
Fashion under Fascism: Beyond the Black Shirt

Fashion under Fascism: Beyond the Black Shirt

Fashion under Fascism: Beyond the Black Shirt

Fashion under Fascism: Beyond the Black Shirt

Paperback(2nd ed.)

$39.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    In stock. Ships in 3-7 days. Typically arrives in 3 weeks.
  • PICK UP IN STORE

    Your local store may have stock of this item.

Related collections and offers


Overview

Looking at the dark history of Italian fashion by focusing on the impact of 1930s Fascism, this is the second edition of Eugenia Paulicelli's classic text.

In Fashion under Fascism, 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. Alongside interviews with major designers, such as Fernanda Gattinoni and Micol Fontana, this newly expanded revised edition includes updated material on gender and masculinity, the role of uniforms in standardizing individuality, race and colonial Italy, and the reception of 1930s cinema. It sheds new light on the complicated relationship between style and politics and is an essential read for all those interested in the history of fashion, politics, national identity and the culture of fascism.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781350353350
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 05/01/2025
Series: Dress, Body, Culture
Edition description: 2nd ed.
Pages: 336
Product dimensions: 6.25(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Eugenia Paulicelli is Professor of Italian, Comparative Literature and Women's Studies at Queens College and The Graduate Center, The City University of New York (CUNY), USA. At The Graduate Center she directs Fashion Studies in the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) and the PhD Concentration. Among her books: Moda e Moderno (editor, 2006); The Fabric of Cultures: Fashion, Identity, Globalization (co-editor, 2009); Writing Fashion in Early Modern Italy (2014); Rosa Genoni: Fashion is a Serious Business (2015). Visit her website at www.eugeniapaulicelli.com.

Joanne B. Eicher is Regents Professor Emerita at the University of Minnesota. Joanne is Editor-in-Chief, Encyclopedia of Dress and Fashion (Bloomsbury and OUP); Series Editor, Dress, Body, Culture (Bloomsbury) and Dress and Fashion Research (Bloomsbury); Editor, Global Trade and Cultural Authentication: The Kalabari of the Niger Delta; and Co-Author, The Visible Self, (Fairchild); Dress and Gender (Berg); Dress and Ethnicity (Berg); Beads and Beadmakers (Berg); Mother, Daughter, Sister, Bride (National Geographic); and a wide variety of published articles in professional journals and chapters in books.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Preface: Fashion/Fascism: Odd bedfellows?

Chapter 1: Introduction: Fashion/Fascism

Fashion and historiography

Methodology. Thinking Fashion, Rhythm and Spatializing Time

Object and Intersectionalities

Beyond the Black Shirt: Continuity and Change

La moda è una cosa seria. Fashion is a Serious Business

Gianna Manzini and her Approach to Fashion

Structure and Sources

Chapter 2 Fashion/Fascism: Why and How it Matters

Origins of Italian Fashion?

Fashion and totalitarianism

Uniforms and Fashion under Fascism

“Read my Pins”

Chapter 3 Per una moda italiana: From the Interwar Years to Fascism

Imagining an Italian Style: Between Modernity and Tradition

Regional Dress and Fashion during Fascism

Rosa Genoni: Fashion and Feminism in 1910s

Performing Dress and Gender: Futurist Avant-gardes between Nationalism and Revolution

From Balla to Thayhat: Transgressing Gender and Genres in the New Language of Dress

The Fascist “New Woman.” Lydia De Liguoro and the Project for an Italian Fashion

“An Italian Fashion does not exist yet. We must create it”

Chapter 4 The Language of Fashion: Narratives, Style and Women's Voices under Fascism

The Discourse on Fashion under the Fascist Regime: the 1936 Italian Commentary Dictionary of Fashion by Cesare Meano

Restless Voices. Femininity, Motherhood and Gender in Women's Writing in the Fashion Magazine Bellezza

Dress, Style and the National Brand: Meano's Commentary on Nationalism

Sport, Gender and Models of Femininity in Meano's Commentary

Chapter 5 Cinemoda and Cinelandia under Fascism

The Istituto LUCE Fashion Film: Education, Entertainment, Propaganda

Fashion, Film and the Politics of the Regime

From Hollywood to France and then to Italy: Alta Moda in Alessandro Blasetti's Contessa di Parma (1937)

Grandi Magazzini, Department Stores and Standardization

Dressing the Mass Market: I Grandi Magazzini (1939) by Mario Camerini

Chapter 6 Nationalizing the Fashion Industry?

The Intelligent Fibers: Between Innovation and Autarchy

Fashion and Fascism for Export: Race, Colonialism, Empire. From Ethiopia to New York

Italy at War. Autarchic Textiles and Clothing at the 1941 Venice Exhibition

Looking Back: The National Conference on “Clothing and Autarchy.” Turin, June 1940. Italian Fashion between Alta Moda and Confezione (Ready to Wear)

Chapter 7 Conclusions

Fashion and Fascism after Fascism

Interrogating the Past. Fashion between History and Memory:

Appendices:

Interview with Micol Fontana by Eugenia Paulicelli (June 2000)

Gianna Manzini, “Fashion is a Serious Business”

Alba De Céspedes, “Eve and the Feathers”

Illustrations from the fashion magazine Bellezza

Notes

Bibliography

Index

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews