TYPICAL ITALIAN CLOTHING - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The typical clothing of Italy has evolved during the course of history and experienced its greatest growth during the Renaissance. In fact, it was during this period that Italy broke away from the French fashion trend and developed its own style, becoming one of the most important exponents of clothing in Europe.

During the Middle Ages, the typical dress of Italy was very similar to that of its contiguous countries. However, when new fabrics began to be produced within the Italian territory, new and colorful styles of clothing emerged that came to represent the country historically.

Today, Italy is the home of the most important clothing brands worldwide, and its designers are synonymous with quality anywhere in the world. This is the consequence of years of textile tradition, whose origin can be identified in cities such as Florence, at the beginning of the Renaissance period.

characteristics

During the Renaissance, art, music and other cultural currents were affected by a sudden growth in much of Europe. Italy was not only the place where most things changed with the Renaissance movement, but it was also the cradle where most of these changes arose.

Fashion had a sudden evolution in this period. Cities like Venice, Milan and Rome began to produce high quality fabrics and silk.

The quality of Italian clothing began to be recognized throughout the Old Continent; large numbers of people began to wear Italian clothing in many parts of Europe.

One of the cultural changes that caused a change in dress in Italy were the works of the most important painters of the Renaissance.

People dressed very similar to the way Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci depicted women and men in their works. This made the Italian dress a bit extravagant.

At this time it was customary to use very expensive accessories. Jewelry and velvet were part of the daily clothing of many of the Italian inhabitants, but particularly of women.

Traditional Renaissance clothing for men

The Renaissance clothing of Italy is what inspires the traditional costumes that are used today in various commemorations and celebrations. It was during this time that the famous men's suits called Giornea were created.

La Giornea was a suit that consisted of a vest fitted to the chest with two traditional shoulder pads. The waist part was a fairly wide coat style, as were the sleeves. Traditionally, they were made of cotton.

From this time on, overcoats became known as typical clothing of the country; many men dressed this way.

Long stockings were often worn with black or brown shoes. In addition, a coating line with a color different from that of the rest of the clothing began to be used, which characterized Italian clothing at this time.

The changes made to the style of clothing in Italy during the Renaissance are the main influences on the country's traditional clothing.

In fact, Renaissance clothing is what is identified today as traditional clothing in the country, given its historical characteristics and significance for the country's population in ancient times.

Traditional Renaissance dress on women

The women wore tight garments, which were placed under a belted dress. This was the female version of the male Giornea, which bore the same name as its counterpart.

However, the lower part of the clothing reached the floor in the case of women, while for men it remained higher.

The skirts they used were quite tight at the waist, while the lower part of the dress was divided by several pleats. Women also used to wear an additional dress under their giornea, which had the ability to detach their sleeves.

That dress worn by women was called Camicia, and it was nothing more than a simple dress made of linen.

Wearing headgear

Although women never used to wear accessories on the head, for men it became a fundamental element of their clothing.

Bonnets and hats were heavily worn by men during the Renaissance period, which made these accessories a traditional part of the country's clothing.

Usually, the bonnets were small, round hats made of velvet. They used to be used in red or black.

There were several variations of this type of hat according to social class and the profession that each person occupied, but they were never adorned with accessories. They were flat and simple in design.

Berets also became popular clothing accessories during the 1500s. Many were made from fairly expensive materials, such as silk.

Sleeves

One of the most emblematic characteristics of typical Italian clothing was the ability of clothing in general to exchange sleeves between different suits.

Most chest garments, for both men and women, could have their sleeves uncoupled, allowing people to interchange one sleeve with another.

Traditionally, the wealthiest people owned many pairs of sleeves, which they used among all their different clothes to always maintain a different appearance.

Modern Italian fashion

Fashion in Italy had a significant decline during the 17th century, following the emergence of new fashion styles in Europe that became more popular throughout the continent. However, in the mid-20th century Italy once again became a global clothing powerhouse.

It was during the last century that the great Italian designers emerged, who brought a new touch to the country's fashion and popularized the use of their clothing throughout the world. One of the first and most important design houses to reestablish the use of Italian fashion worldwide was Gucci.

References

1. How Italian Traditions Work, E. Grabianowski for How Stuff Works, (nd). Taken from howstuffworks.com
2. Italian Typical Costume, Web of Typical Costumes of the World, (nd). Taken from trajestipicos.com
3. What Makes Italy so Stylish ?, BBC Article, (nd). Taken from bbc.co.uk
4. History of Italian Fashion, IPFS, 2018. Taken from ipfs.org
5. Journade, Wikipedia in English, 2015. Taken from Wikipedia.org