10448 - History of Fashion and Costume

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student knows the main issues of discipline from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. By overcoming descriptivism and rigidly chronological setting, the student learns to deal with some critical nodes in a critical manner, he can understand the merit and the sense of the changes happened over the centuries and he is able to understand the revival and the reasons for them. He acquires methods and tools to deal with issues and subjects, he is able to reconstruct both the phases of fashion history, identifying its characteristic features and the history of individual objects.

Course contents

During the lessons some topics will be focused crossing cronological and tematical approach.
The topics will be:
- Naissance/naissances of the fashion
- Italian communes and fashion: shops, awareness of the phenomenon., iconographic evidence
- Fashion, luxory and its rules
- tailors
- Fashion and differences  of place and status (the evidence of Vecellio)
- Fashion and art
- Orientalisms
- Hidden, sacrificed and free bodies
- Revivals
- History of the objects (cases: shoes, hats, bags)
- Fashion and Fascism
- Technologies and fashion districts
- Made in Italy

Readings/Bibliography

you have to:
A) the knowledge of the a manual is required (Manuale di storia del costume e della moda ( di V.Maugeri, Storia della moda e del costume, Bologna 2005 o di S.Piccolo Paci, Parliamo di moda, 3 voll., Bologna 2004)
plus the study of:

B) M.G.Muzzarelli, Breve storia della moda in Italia, Bologna 2011

C) you must choose one book among these :

-  M.G.Muzzarelli, A capo coperto. Storie di donne e di veli, Bologna, iul Mulino 2016.
- M.G. Muzzarelli, Guardaroba medievale. Vesti e società dal XIII al XVI secolo, Bologna 1999
- S. Grandi - A. Vaccari, Vestire il Ventennio, Bologna 2004 C.M. Belfanti, Civiltà della moda, Bologna 2008 
- E. Tosi Brandi, Artisti del quotidiano. Sarti e sartorie storiche in Emilia-Romagna, Bologna 2009 più saggio di D.Davanzo Poli, Il sarto, in La moda, Annali 19, Storia d'Italia, Torino 2003

-M.Belfanti, Civiltà della moda, Bologna 2008

-E.Morini, Storia della moda. XVIII-XXI secolo, Milano, Sklira 2010
-A Vaccari, La moda nei discorsi dei designer, Bologna, Clueb 2012

During the lessons will suggest possible readings in English

Non-attending students are required to study the papers of R. Orsi Landini, E. Morato, E. Merlo (totally 3 papers) in La moda, Annali 19, Storia d'Italia Einaudi, Torino 2003.

 

Teaching methods

A selection of documentary, literary and iconographic sources will be introduced and they will be ordered  chronologically. A laboratory will be devoted to the experience of tissues and the deep study of some specific topic.

Assessment methods

Oral examination: a good skill about specificities of Fashion in the Middle Ages is required. Will be asked questions about facts and historical characters related to the subject and will be proposed images to be recognized and commented upon.

Non-attending students will have to take an oral final exam about the themes treated in the program's texts.

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the sources and material in the exam bibliography and his ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;

- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;

- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.

Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

During the lectures will be presented topics deeped by using written sources and iconographic sources. Teaching materials are available on line distinct for ages and themes.

Office hours

See the website of Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli