Pitti Palace

I really enjoyed visiting the Pitti Palace in part due to its largesse and extensive art collection, but also due to the amazing fashion collection! Not only was the collection fulled with antiquities, but it was also filled with historical symbols of Italian fashion. One of the first rooms we went into housed two dresses, severely contrasted, but with similar styles of the robe a la francaise. The first was a dress from 1775-1780 that was titled as "manifattura siciliana", that was a much more historical version. The second was a dress by Gianfranco Ferre from 1989 in Milan that was a modern day interpretation of the French period styles that looked like something a haute couture, French ballerina would wear. It was a classical black tank top (dress?) with a cape-like, huge, feathered (taffeta) skirt that tied at the front. Both featured the "French enlightenment rose," which was created just for Marie Antoinette in the 15th century.

I particularly enjoyed the pieces by Fortuny and Ferre. Fortuny really seemed to be inspired by the fabulous Greek goddesses, as he titled two of the featured dresses as "Peplos tea gown" from 1934, and "Delphos tea gown" from 1911. They both were inspired by the idea of liberation of women's bodies, which was shown in the weightless, gauzy looking fabric that was used in both dresses. The Ferre dresses had such extravagant bustiers and intricate decoration. Most of the items were evening dresses and were extraordinarily structural - keeping with the architectural trend he is so well known for. However, there was one dress he had that had draped raffia on the bodice that I really did not like. It looked like limp noodles.

I'm pretty sure this dress was in the collection. Either way it's a great example of draping that is consistent with following the lines of the body from the 1930s.

And these were also featured: one is a wedding dress from the mid to late 1900s and the other is a "day dress" from the early 1900s