Fashion, the Politics of Style and National Identity in Pre–Fascist and Fascist Italy

Abstract

An Istituto Luce documentary entitled La Grande adunata delle forze femminili (Great parade of female forces) illustrates the ambivalent policy of the fascist regime towards the roles and images of women and reveals links between fashion, the policy that governed it and political culture during the fascist regime. 1 The documentary describes a rally that took place in Rome on 28 May 1939, chronicling a massive female parade organised by Mussolini himself. This national gathering of women from all over Italy that celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Fasci giovanili di combattimento was an occasion to display women as an integral part of the national body politic through their uniforms, and their roles in the family and society. The film shows women from the Red Cross, students, athletes from the Orvieto Academy representing a wide range of sports, women from the countryside and others, all gathered at the Circo Massimo before going on to parade to Piazza Venezia for the welcome salute and speech by Mussolini and other gerarchi. Three distinct moments of the documentary juxtapose shots of women wearing sports uniforms with shots of the women from the countryside wearing regional costumes. These stills (Figures 1, 2 and 3) illustrate the sharp contrast between the military-like uniformity of the athletes and the women in traditional regional costumes, but also the differences in dress within the latter group of women. Those in regional costume wear accessories such as necklaces, earrings, shawls, lace collars, ornaments and headgear. Their body postures differ from the women wearing the regime-sponsored or sports uniforms: they look as if they are out taking a walk rather than marching. For the majority of these women, the differences in ornamentation were signs of their sense of belonging to strong local traditions of fine artisan craftsmanship, something that

Fashion Consumption of Naturally Dyed Products: A Cross-Cultural Study of the Consumption of Blue-Dyed Apparel Between China and Japan

“…In individualistic cultures, one's selfconcept is considered more important, whereas in collectivist cultures, people's values and attitudes are based on the social system in which they live and the need to maintain a social image [51]. In an individualistic culture, attitude has the strongest influence on consumption intentions, whereas in collectivist culture, the influence of subjective norms is stronger than attitude [52].…”

“Bello e Ben Fatto”—The Protection of Fashion “Made in Italy”

“…"Bello e ben fatto" 553 This newly founded Agency had the task of promoting Italian fashion industry and of organizing two major biannual exhibitions and fashion shows in order to enhance the idea of finding a truly Italian way to fashion independent from foreign influences. 40 In 1935, the Agency took on the supervisory duty of the whole sector with the possibility of awarding a specific hallmark, called marca d'oro (Golden Mark). 41 The campaign for self-sufficient consumption and Italian fashion also involved the media, especially the women's press, which had developed considerably in the inter-war period.…”