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Cherry Ji
History of Italian Fashion
Professor Lenox
November 27, 2014
The Florentine Palette: Fashions and Styles of Florence
It is usually easy to define the palette of a citythree looks around and your mind picks
up on the basic colors: New Yorkcement gray, taxi-cab yellow, fashionista black, Beijingfog
or smog metallic (who really knows these days), muted office glass blue, Milanduomo marble
white, terracotta shingle red, and Florencesoft brick wall yellow, botanic green, and the
soothing off-orange of the duomo set against the the stark cool-white of the marble, cobblestone
grays melting through the streets. At sunset, everything dripping with a layer of molten gold, the
entire city is warm and mellow, a gem of history preserved in amber through the centuries so that
walking through the streets feels like taking a time capsule back to the Renaissance. The people,
set against this city draped in history, dress accordingly: neutrals and muted colors, and it is
usually quite easy to spot the difference between a local Florentine and a masquerading tourist.
The fashion of Florence, while a bit unexpected1, is still intensely unique, dynamic, and
interesting to watch as it blooms through the seasons, fall being the most intense of all. It most
definitely speaks of a silent hierarchy, tells stories of a persons background and views, their
current situation, and projects a sense of self that they wish they could embody in more ways
than just through the clothes on their backs, and of course, of the rich, deep-rooted history of the
city itself, the artistic aura of the past running thick through the streets even centuries later.
1 Because when people usually think of Italian fashion, they think more Milan or perhaps even
Rome, where the streets are wider, the people more chic and modern, blacks and silks more
prominent among the crowds as opposed to the sofer Florentine colors

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August is one of those months when then city is filled to the brim with tourists from all
different countries, and I suppose that is also a part of the fashion2 of the city because it becomes
so diverse in terms of dress. There are bright pops of floral from the American students, decked
out in their denim shorts and brilliantly colored crop tops, contrasting the blinding pastels of the
Asian tourists, all miniskirts and kitten heels and monogrammed backpacks, the macchiaioliesque3dots of dark that the other Europeans bring along, covered with a fine sheen of black or
gray satin even in the heart of summer, eyes shaded over by dark classes and large felt hats.
August is a conglomeration of colors stirring through the Piazza del Duomo; it is crowds of
people shuffling after brightly colored umbrellas, pausing to snap pictures of the ancient
buildings, trying to grasp at a strand of the history. It is the local Florentines feeding into the
floral and flowy dresses of the tourists, although they do forgo the sandals most of the time. It is
difficult to pinpoint a certain style that is distinctly Florentine, at least during the summer
months, when the tourism overruns the city and dilutes everything in a babble of different
languages, bits and pieces of every single culture possible gathering to admire a place that has
perhaps been changed more by their very presence than the city itself likes to admit.
During the summer, it is too hot and humid to see the subtle differences in dress for local
Italians and it is not till the sun dips below the horizon and the sky begins to cool off that a
certain pace settles around the city, around Piazza della Santa Croce, the youth of the city gathers
to chat and smoke over huge slices of pizza and cups of gelato, glass bottles of beer with thinknit cardigans in muted colors. Set against the brilliant white of the old church, under the washed
2 Fashion as in the fleeting, ever-changing eccentricities of clothing
3 The macchiaioli are a group of artists who some argue is forefront of the Impressionist
movementthey are known for the dark patches in their artwork and the hurried yet steady
quality of their brushstrokes

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out lights surrounding the square, everyone looks like cut-out figures in a pop out story book,
almost like a fairy tail, the ends of sentences twisting up in spires of cigarette smoke. It is almost
fantastical to watch, a reel in a surrealist film, with the sound muted out, shot a decade ago, set in
current times. And really, the entirety of Florence could be distilled down to this particular
feeling, a feeling of a magical kind of isolation, both beautiful and terrifying.4
The first signs of a concrete style emerge when the temperature dips at the tail end of
August, the beginning of September, when the concept of layering is once more socially
acceptable and the city of Florence experiences an epidemic of scarves, huge printed scarves in
every color, shape, and size, draped, wrapped, tied and tousledover shoulders and neck, across
arms, arranged into bows on handbags as decoration. Every single way you have ever dreamed
of wearing a scarf can be seen in the streets of Florence, and it has become one of the defining
factors in Florentine fashion and Florentine style. And the menswearwhat a sight. There are
impeccably coordinated outfits, from shirt to suit to pocketsquare to shoes, in every single
pattern imaginable, all very well cut, all put together in an effortless elegance true to the core of
the spezzatura of Italian style. And the fact that clothing, while now predominantly taken as a
manner of conserving modesty, primarily was for ornamentation is underlined by this great shift
during the fall to winter months. In fact, the very way that the local Florentines dress bring forth
the questions of just how much fashion and style are innate to the human psyche of how people
perceive and how they wish to be perceived (Simmel).

4 Beautiful becauseit would be incorrect to define Florence as anything other than picturesque,
but terrifying because theres an almost too solid sense of impossibility, trapping you to the
historic city walls that, although they have been knocked down for years and years, still feel
ominously real.

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It is through these scarves and suits, these ornaments, that we begin to see an emerging
class system. The older generations tend to be more well-seated in their neutrals and tend to layer
up more; they go for the subtletiesa bright touch of color on their handbags or a pocketsquare
that is sapphire instead of navy. The bright pop of color seems to be a kind of reminder to the fact
that they too dress to impress. It is a subtle hint of showing off, a look here without being too
overt, and usually, if you do give their outfits a good look, it is detailed down to the jewelry
never too much, only ever a pair of earrings or a ring or twoand accessoriesmen with their
watches flashing, always in either gold or silver, with a look of renewed antiquity reflecting off
their surfaces in a way that makes you wonder just how much it must have cost. It is this kind of
subtlety that hangs among the older, more well off generations in Florence, and they showcase a
pride that they wear, maybe not on their sleeves, but tucked away into their pockets and
handbags, peaking out at the world to make sure that people still know, still have respect, out of
the sight but never quite out of mind. Their styles shows, more than anything else, how unafraid
they are of aging, and how much they embrace that age with dignified class.
The clothing itself also reflects a certain level of socioeconomic standing. The women
wear fine fabrics, thick wools and silk scarves, coupled with a Ferragamo heel in perfectly
maintained suede, the men wear well dyed tweed and aged leather. It is the loose yet well-fitted
style of the clothing that tells us just how much care was put into getting dressed and how much
care was put into picking the said outfit in the first place. It speaks to the attention to detail that
Florentines are perhaps not known for in current times, but runs through the history of Florence,
back to the times of the artisans and skilled workers who could weave gold thread a million
times through a dress for one single flower and sew thousands of tiny jewels and beads to fabrics
by hand. It speaks to the made in Italy tag that most clothes still have in boutiques and shops,

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though astronomically priced, and it shows, even on the buses and at crowded train stations, that
Italian style, and specifically Florentine style is still every much alive.
Then we have the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the men and women hang their
fear of aging on their shoulders, people who insist on wearing platform heels and leopard print
dresses even in October, walking over cobblestone, or a t-shirt with slacks and sneakers that are
three shades too bright to be looked at under direct sunlight. It is not that they are badly dressed
per se5, only that their style is drastically different from the aforementioned. They had a tad of
jazz to the entire city that would otherwise be a swirling pool of dark browns and blacks. They
give a shock of color to the city just by standing at a bus stop and it is the way that people double
back to take another look that really gives these people their satisfaction. Because at the heart of
this particular style is the wish to be noticed, to be looked at once more. You can tell from the
bright of their lipsticks, the tightness of their clothing, the casual but not so casual way some
men lean against the wall to drag on a cigarette with the box still in his hand like an open
invitation for someone to come ask to bum one off him. But they deserve some credit to their
faultless imaginations because sometimes the chaotic mass of three different prints all layered
over one another has quite a charming outcome, sometimes there is beauty and elegance to be
found in the mesh and tights and quality leather boots, even if they are studded and draped in
chains.
This particular crowd is usually less reserved, more easily excited and angered. Through
their clothes, they show that they are unafraid to be bold and daring against a city that has been
trained to be much less so. They wear bright reds that most people forgo because wearing fire5 Although I cant say I would ever sympathize with any kind of animal print in such large
quantities

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hydrant red in Florence is tantamount to wearing a small tiara in public. It begs for attention and
gets it too. It represents how these people view the world and how they wish the world to view
them, as younger at heart, just as colorful as the rest of the world. It exemplifies their youth,
sometimes to an extraordinary level in terms of the fabrics and prints they chose, and shows off
an eccentricity that probably only works for this specific age group, as paradoxical as that is. It is
because of their age that they are able to pull off such amazingly clashing colors and patterns
while if it were someone younger wearing the exact same thing, they would tread the border
between fashionable and ludicrous. However, it also showcases a kind of insecurity that their
confidence masks, that behind the astonishing faux fur vests and tight nylon dresses, the torn up
jeans and too-new-scuffed tennis shoes, there is someone who constantly puts themselves out for
show, whether consciously or not. For them, putting on their clothes is like sipping from the
Fountain of Youth, and through its reflection, they can see an image of themselves that they have
perhaps already lost but are still very much alive.
The younger generations seem to dress more homogeneously, especially the local
Florentines. There is the standard black boot that most girls and sometimes even boys opt for
during fall seasons, and a hundred variations thereof. There are cardigans in off-whites and
beiges and deep burgundies. Ox-blood becomes a crowd favorite in terms of color and overall,
the colors are soft and deep and warm, much like the city itself. Many students like to jazz up
their outfit with a dark lip or a large hat, others with a huge statement scarf that once again goes
back to that self-same concept of casual elegance and thoughtless luxury. Here, the Florentine
youth look more similar to their cousins in Milan, who are all about the dark and sleek and sexy,
except in Florence, things are always a bit less straight-edged, and a bit more artistic. Here we
see the youth expressing their own brand of casual dressed-up-edness in the leather backpacks

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and fur-lined coats, the large hook-ended umbrellas that hang off their arms, and the custommade satchels the young men carry over their loose-fitted suit jackets, usually rolled up at the
sleeves.
But no matter which specific age group or economic stratum, it is actually quite easy to
tell the local Florentines apart from wandering tourists, or even long-term residents that do not
quite fit the mold of those who are born and raised here. There is a way of carrying the body that
looks more effortless, like they simply threw on whatever they had in the closet and walked out
the door but everyone knows that that could not be farther from the truth. The way that women
match their bags to their shoes or the scarves to their bags, or the way the men match their socks
to their pocketsquares and their glasses to their watches all show a kind of, maybe subconscious,
eye for fashion and style that many people who are not from here lack. And even if they did
indeed throw on whatever they had in their closets, I firmly believe that more than half the time,
the locals would still look more presentable than if an American teenager did the same thing. It is
so deeply ingrained that perhaps they no longer need to actively think about what looks good
with what because just being a part of the city makes a person more artistic. Being surrounded by
so much beautiful, classical art, such amazing feats of architecture breeds a culturedness that is
not so easily imitated.
This again goes back to the Florentine style of attention to detailthe knowledge and
awareness that one single piece and bring together an entire outfit, that one singular item,
whether it be a hat or a bag or a rolled up sleeve, can make the outfit not only cohesive but
unique. And whether it is inherent or not, it is predominant in the city of Florence, and always
with a certain elegant subtlety. It is something that you do not notice until you notice that you
have. It is so deeply ingrained into both the fashion and style of the city that sometimes, I wonder

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if the locals themselves even notice anymore. Or, if it just becomes a habit, something that is
done effortlessly. And the question of that remains at the heart of the Florentine style, dating all
the way back to the 1500s when The Book of the Courtier by Castiglione was written. It states
the self-same goal of the Italian spezzaturathe casual, effortless elegance, that might not be so
effortless as it looks to be, but in fact very actively and thoughtfully pieced together with the
endless attention to detail and patience that Italian artisans have been known for for centuries.
When comparing Florence to its perhaps more commercial and modern cousins of Milan
and Rome, we have to keep in mind that when people think of Italian Fashion, they most often
think of those bigger cities. Milan has been the heart of the worldwide fashion scene since the
1950s when Milan became one of the leading industrial cities in Italy, with fashion exports that
amounted to more than $700 million USD and by 1955, that number had grown to about $2.5
billion (Gnoli). Rome is the capital of Italy and is the most populated city in Italy, as well as the
fourth most populated city in the European Union. Given those statistics, it is easy to see why
people would most often turn to places like Rome and Milan when talking about Italian fashion,
but in terms of Italian style, Florence remains more true to the Renaissance-esque colors of dark
blues and reds, and the almost rustic feeling in its earthy tones (Semeghini). The same color
scheme found on the backs of Florentines can also be found in most famous paintings from the
Renaissance periodfor instance in Madonna del Prato (Madonna of the Meadow) by Raphael,
the predominant colors are a rusted, deep maroon, and a thick dark blue, set against a backdrop
of the pastel sky and the soft gold of the meadows. There are no harsh angles or lines, only soft
curves and gradual sweeping planes of color. In Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese, even
though there is a huge crowd of people, their clothing remains somewhat uniform in the earthy

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reds and yellows, with the occasional pop of gold thread on what looks like green velvet
(Ingersoll).
This shows a certain timeless reverence for the old arts and a reminiscence for the
Renaissance. The city itself has been so influenced by the era, becoming a cultural capital in
terms of art and Renaissance ideals under the rule of the Medici family. So much so that the
paintings created during this era are still at the forefront of conversation when discussing art of
any kindit has permeated every single facet of the city, right down to the way people dress, the
way they choose colors and fabrics. The style of the city is still centered around certain
Renaissance ideals of beauty, from the flowing scarves to the muted tones, all going back to the
heart of an Italian style that stems from the art and artisans Florence was known for. People also
tend to shop less frivolously6 than say in New York City, where there are a plethora of
consignment and vintage thrift stores for people looking for cheap buys. Clothing in Florence is
still held a quite a high standard and there are leather shops by the dozen, even the open-air
markets have a sense of craftsmanship that many other cities tend to lack. There is a touch of the
homemade in literally everything, even if it is a large brand store. Therefore, fashion in Florence
reflects the same warmth and and locality seen in the store windows.
People tend to wear the same timeless pieces over and overa camel jacket or a dark
navy pea coat, beige raincoats over a scarf tucked in and a great pair of well-worn shoes. They
gravitate towards the loose-fitted lines of a cardigan or even a well knitted poncho, maybe furlined, in grays and browns and terracotta reds because against the backdrop of the city, they both
blend in and stand out like the cynosure of a Renaissance portrait nameless yet eye-catchingly
elegant. It is almost as if the lack of predominant brands in the clothing people wear is an ode to
6 Although fashion is by definition frivolous, there are still varying degrees

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the custom-made quality of clothes back in the days, when almost everyone had clothes made for
them, cut and tailored to their specific tastes. And even in those who chose to be more bold with
their choices, they find a balance between the clashing prints for an outlandish cohesiveness: a
dark jacket over gold-printed t-shirts or a large muffler that covers that bright greens and reds of
their jacket. There is a definite and distinct style that pervades the city of Florence and it is most
definitely true and loyal to the heart of Italian art, the center of Italian culture.
Whether it be the well-aged men and women all buttoned up and proper with their silklined suits and cashmere sweaters, or the middle aged who print themselves with patterns that
should not look right but do in an endless search for youth, or the young students who carry
themselves with a timeless kind of chic not found most other cities, the fact that there is fashion,
even a style, that is unique to Florence is incontestable. Even though it is not as modern and sleek
as perhaps Milan or Rome, the Florentine style is much more true to the history of the city and
the country itself. The clothing that local Florentines put on their backs paint stories about their
persons, just as artists and painters during the Renaissance painted peoples stories into portraits,
their backgrounds and socioeconomic standing, how they see the world and how they wish the
world to see them, and most of all, how the concept of Italian artisanship is far from antiquated
or dead. In fact, it is very much alive and people wear it with an inborn pride that is native to the
people here, in a way that cannot be replicated by visitors or tourists passing through the city.
They are all artists in their own right, and the outfits they wear, the images they paint for
themselvesthe art. Because when it really comes down to distinguishing between the two, the
only difference between the art and the artist is where they draw the line.

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Works Cited
Gnoli, Sofia, and Sofia Gnoli. The Origins of Italian Fashion: 1900-45. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Ingersoll, Richard J. "Modern Movements in Italian Art." Lecture.
Raphael. Madonna Del Prato. 1506. Oil on board. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
Semeghini, Marco. "Global Italian Fashion." Lecture.
Simmel, Georg. "Fashion." American Journal of Sociology 62.6 (1957): 541. Web.
Veronese, Paolo. The Wedding at Cana. 1563. Oil on canvas. Muse Du Louvre, Paris.