History of Italian Fashion
The period after 11th century was development and domination of Italian fashion. The development of art was as its peak. Great Italian artists such as Leonardo da Vinci gave one of their best masterpieces. The Italian fashion was also influenced by the art during that period. Great attention was paid to the extravagant dresses. The rich merchants with large amount of money at their disposal were ready to spend lavishly on the expensive clothing. They showed their power and status by competing by dressing extravagantly. Intricate designs with complex fashions were made. Just like modern fashion, no rich tradesman would wear dresses that were out of fashion.
There was increased consumption of highly fashionable cloths with greater stress to the quality of textile cloths. The demand in high quality cloth materials led to manufacture of fine fabrics.
The fabrics worn were patterned and had extremely expensive cloth materials such velvets and brocades. The men's garments were short and wide with long robes decorated with ribbons and jewels. Richly decorated hats of different shapes matched their costumes.
Till 1970s the fashion was especially for rich and famous people. With change in time, the Italian fashion concentrated and designed cloths for common man. In 1970s to 1980s, Milan became a fashion landmark and created current trends such as blue jeans and mini skirts which were affordable for common people. The most stylish and trendy dresses were available to common man at a low price.
Making Your Own Italian Fashion Statement
We see fashionable clothes and make up styles evolving through the years. Each year, the fashion industry wants to make a statement setting that year apart from the previous year. The year 1970 was probably the first moment in time that allowed women to decide for themselves as to what they want and what makes them comfortable.
Hot pants, maxi skirts and, especially miniskirts are the staples of a woman's closet and she can choose what she wants to wear when she wants to wear them. During a night out in town, you can see women wearing halter tops paired off with evening trousers or with a maxi skirt or other interesting clothing pieces. You can see empire line dresses in knee length or mini skirt style.