Italian Women ' s trends from the 1800s : La Castiglione Vs Michelina De Cesare
In the mid-1800s Italian tailoring houses were creating designs that mixed the latest fashion trends from France and England . The results of this combination were rather elegant and the tailor made designs were sold to the upper classes , from the rich bourgeoisie to the aristocracy . There are two images from those times that document women ’ s fashion , but also they show different roles women had in the Italian society . The first one portrays the Countess of Castiglione in an evening dress with her child in the background ( 1864 ); the second image shows bandit Michelina De Cesare in 1865 . Accessories such as handkerchiefs were also important , in fact during the middle ages this accessory was used as a head covering , but when Europeans began to use them to wipe their runny noses or sweaty foreheads , they were distinguished from the head covering kerchiefs by being called “ hand-kerchiefs ”. The Countess , born Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Carlotta Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoini , is wearing in this image an evening dress characterized by a corset decorated with a sort of beaded net and a rather ample skirt supported by rigid crinolines and decorated with a beaded motif . Her dress looks rather heavy , almost monumental and , because of it , the Countess seems to occupy the entire picture . Virginia Oldoini was considered at the time one of the most beautiful Italian women . She was the cousin of Camillo Benso , Count of Cavour , who sent her to Napoleon III ’ s court to seduce him and convince him to strike an alliance with Piedmont . . The second picture portrays a rebel woman , Michelina De Cesare . Born in Caspoli in 1841 from a poor family , Michelina married when she was twenty but became a widow just a year after . She soon became the partner of an ex-Borbonic army soldier , Francesco Guerra , who had joined a group of Briganti ( bandits ). The so-called " Brigantaggio " was a social-political peasant rebellion concentrated in southern Italy and suppressed by the government by military force . With this two other images , Michelina she is wearing her regional costume and carries a gun and a rifle that show her status of Brigantessa .
Women from the lower classes didn ’ t wear crinolines at the time , but ample yet soft skirts in woolen fabrics . Their dresses were usually completed by various headdresses . In Michelina ’ s case she is wearing a sort of regional costume that includes a woolen top , a pinafore dress with an apron on top , a folded towel-like headdress and flat slippers with straps that criss-cross around the ankle ( this style was very popular in the central and southern part of Italy ). These images rather interesting not only because they show two different trends in women swear in the 1800s , but also because they portray two strong and beautiful women who entered history and left their mark upon it .
( by class 4 A LL )