Rosita Levi Pisetzky

It's funny how the mind works. For months I've been searching for biographical information on Rosita Levi Pisetzky always turning up empty. I finally decided to post what I had, believing that I couldn't find out any more without visiting some Italian archives, perhaps in Milan.

I received a comment from a reader this morning that said she had spoken with a descendant of Rosita Levi Pisetzky about 10 years ago on the phone in Milan. Sitting down at my computer after work today, I suddenly decided on a different set of search words and bam! I finally discovered something. Not searching in the field of textiles at all, but searching in the history of Milan.

On the website Storia di Milano, the death (in Milan) of Rosita Levi Pisetzky is listed as an event on the 18th of January, 1985. Inputting the event sentence as written on the Storia di Milano website into Google produced a link to the bookseller Maremagnum which had a rather informed bit of information on the author of the encyclopedia set that I told you about yesterday including her birthdate of 1898. This means she published the history of costume in Italy encyclopedia set when she was about 66 years old... and the book that I have, Il costume e la moda nella società italiana when she was 80!

Further searches brought me to the source of this information on Google Books which comes from an entry in the Dizionario della Moda [Dictionary of Fashion] by Guido Vergani, 2010. Here is a translation:

Levi Pisetzky, Rosita (1898-1985) Clothing historian. An intellectual from the Milanese upper-middle class, she was defined as "The Lady of Italian Costume" by Guido Lopez in an article written after her death in 1985. A self-taught historian with a life passed in studying archives, literary texts and iconographic sources, she published the most important treatises on the history of costume in Italy. Her first studies came out between 1937 and '38 in various women's magazines and journals. The articles on the history of the lace of that period remain notable for their careful research.

Between 1954 and '62 she wrote about the history of costume in the various epochs for the "History of Milan" published by Treccani in 16 volumes. These studies were expanded and then printed in a work of five volumes edited by the Italian Editorial Institute under the title "Storia del costume in Italia" between 1964 and '68. In 1978 Einaudi published "Il costume e la moda nella società italiana", further development and updating of her historical research. She was the first to treat the subject in a serious way, studying dress as a means of communication and social document. 

In her later years, she donated her own specialized library to the Collection of Bertarelli Prints of Milan, and her collection of vintage clothes to the Civic Collections of Applied Art of Milan, both located in the Castello Sforzesco, where they are still accessible today.

After her death, her wardrobe was donated by her family to the Bertarelli. It is an interesting collection of tailored garments of Milanese manufacture from the 1950s and '60s.

-- Virginia Hill 

Now isn't that a treasure trove of leads to follow up? I've been to the Castello Sforzesco in Milan too, and obviously didn't understand what I was looking at or missed it completely! I'll have to go back!

Castello Sforzesco in Milan. Image from Wikipedia.

I hope this gives those who are interested some more to go on. I'll post again when I've got more info.

The literary works of Rosita Levi Pisetzky

If I had some extra money to spend, I would hunt down a series of encyclopedias on the History of Costumes in Italy [Storia del costume in Italia] published between 1964 and 1969 by Treccani, written by Rosita Levi Pisetzky. There are, I believe, five volumes which are broken down as follows:

Volume I: The history of costume after the fall of the Western Empire
Volume II: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
Volume III: The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
Volume IV: The eighteenth century
Volume V: The nineteenth century

Every once in awhile a complete collection comes up for sale on ebay like this leather-bound edition:

In the Burlington Magazine Vol. 112, No. 807, June 1970 there is an enthusiastic and extensive review (in English) of the encyclopedia set by E. H. Ramsden.

While I can't get my hands on this body of work, I did find another book by Rosita Levi Pisetzky called Il Costume e La Moda nella Società Italiana [Costume and Fashion in Italian Society], 1978 Giulio Einaudi Editore.

It totals 383 pages and includes a detailed index. The book is divided into two sections, Le forme della moda [The Shapes of Fashion] and Il costume nella storia [Costume in History]. Each section is then further divided into subsections covering periods from Roman times up to 1900.

I like that it is specifically about Italy and Italian fashion and clothing and it makes me want the series of encyclopedias I mentioned above all the more.

In the single volume that I have is a middle section of mostly black and white photos of statues and painted works of mostly Italian examples of clothing and accessories throughout the period covered by the text.

It is full of interesting topics like the symbolism of colour, the origins and names of fabrics and particular attention is paid to accessories. Very useful for those who are recreating period costumes.

I have been completely unsuccessful at finding out anything about the author herself. On the back cover flap of the book that I have it says: She devoted constant attention and passion to the problems of the history of fashion and costume in her Milan and Italy. Among her numerous works are: La Storia del Costume in Italia, Il Gusto Barocco nell'Abbigliamento, Storia del Fazzoletto, Come vestivano i Milanesi. [...] She died in 1985.

I also accessed an online edition of a magazine called "Quaderni grigionitaliani", Volume 16, 1946-47, which has a five poems by Rosita Levi Pisetzky. The footnote after her name says she was an italian refugee and passed many years in Roverado di Mesolcina (Switzerland?) and that she had already contributed poems and tales to the magazine. A quick search of the database however produced no results for her name at all, not even the one in Volume 16.

I'm thinking that her name suggests she may have been Jewish and if she was from Milan, she will have had to flee during WWII but I will have to do more research as this is only a theory. I would love to know the story of her life and what led her to produce this amazing body of work on Italian fashion and costume. If you know anything further I'd love to hear from you!

Sardinian Traditional Costumes

Sardinia has a long and interesting history. It is a place that fascinated me as a child. The rocky terrain and the incredible colour of the sea surrounding it enchanted my imagination and whenever my friends and I played "Prince Valiant", I was always a princess from the Kingdom of Sardinia dressed in native traditional costume. Don't ask me where I got these ideas or why they sparked my interest, all I know is, it has always been a place I have wanted to visit. So far I have never been able to organize a trip, but I am determined to get there eventually.

On Sardinia there are many religious festivals which involve traditional costumes. Needlework plays a big part in these costumes: silk embroidery on shawls...


...white embroidery on the netting of veils...


...gold embroidery on bodices, skirt flounces, sleeves, whitework on shirts and blouses - its everywhere!


You can see some traditional costumes here during a parade in Sant'Antioco, Sardinia in 2007. A feast is held 15 days after Easter and people arrive from all over the island. It is a great chance to see many traditional costumes which vary from place to place.

You can download a book on Sardinia's traditional costumes at the Sardinian Digital Library website. While the text is in Italian, it is loaded with photos and art depicting the costumes of the island.

For more information and lots of pictures, go to Tuttoricamo and look under the "Techniques" heading and the "Travels" heading.

Thanks to Renata for the pictures!

Venetian Beadwork

Over the Accademia Bridge and just a little ways from the Church of Santo Stefano in Venice there is a little shop, Le Burle Veneziane in the Piscina San Samuele no. 3436, which sells hand-made beaded jewelry and accessories.

Monica Burcovich is the artist, and she makes some incredible things out of Conteria Veneziana crystals, pearls and tiny glass beads made only on the nearby island of Murano. Taking inspiration from antique Venetian jewelry, Monica keeps this artisan Venetian beadwork technique alive. Every piece she creates is unique and exquisite.

Last year I had the task of finding that perfect graduation gift for my daughter. While on tour with Vima deMarchi Micheli, I told her I was thinking about getting some Italian jewelry to match my daughter's graduation dress - a lovely silk taffeta sleeveless full-length gown in cranberry red. Vima said she knew just the place to find something beautiful and original. She knows her stuff!

Sitting in the display window of the shop on the way in this necklace caught my eye:


I glanced briefly at it thinking "oh look! A perfect colour match. It can't be this easy, I'll have a look around". The shop is tiny but there are many, many beautiful pieces to look at and I had to go around the room a dozen times before I was satisfied that I'd seen everything.

Monica showed us her worktable (located right there in the shop) and the incredibly fine and long needles that she uses to string the beads together. Really the needles look like fine hair they are so thin! How she threads them without going crazy, I don't know!

An added delight to learn was that the owner of the shop, Grazia Leone was a costume designer! There was a period costume on a mannequin in one corner. Designing and producing everything from evening wear, to theatre costumes, carnival costumes and even wedding dresses – Grazia's specialty is styles from the periods between 1500 to 1900. The two ladies' artisan activities go hand in hand very well! As I understand it, the shop is well known as a place to rent costumes for balls during Carnevale.

As we were leaving I asked Monica about the necklace in the window and said that it was the perfect gift I was looking for but as we had only just started our vacation, I wanted to look around a bit. It still seemed too easy, I really had expected this quest to occupy most of the shopping during the trip.

Well two days later on our last day in Venice I still had not found anything to compare. Monica's necklace was made of tiny gold beads with garnet crystals and had a pearl clasp. I could just imagine in laying beautifully on the collarbone of my daughter, perfectly accenting her gown.

On our last afternoon I raced back to the shop to arrive just before Monica was closing for lunch. Closing for lunch in Italy can mean anywhere from 2 hours or the rest of the day depending on the merchant. I told Monica that I couldn't stop thinking about the necklace and that the only thing bothering me was that I'd never be able to find earrings that would go with it. As if it were no trouble at all, she said she could make me some over her lunch break. I explained that I had to leave to go to a farewell dinner at 5:30 pm (it was now 1 pm). She told me not to worry and to come back at 5 pm.

I was back at the shop at 5 pm and Monica was ready with two stunning earrings to match the necklace. I did not have enough cash however and had to have her draw me a map to the closest bank machine where I ran to get more euros and ran back to the shop. It was almost 5:30 pm and I still had to race back to the hotel to meet the group otherwise I'd miss the farewell dinner as I didn't know where we were eating. Sweating profusely now, I tried my best to quickly and correctly express my appreciation for the beauty of her work and say goodbye to Monica. She begged me to email her a picture of my daughter in her dress with the jewelry on which I promised to do and ran out. Gasping I arrived at the meeting point and enthusiastically told everyone that I had the perfect graduation gift.

You can see some of Monica's creations at her website, but only a very few, there is so much more in the shop! There are some more photos at this website along with some pictures of Grazia's costumes.

Siena - Palio costumes

Many people flock to Siena, Italy for the Palio horseraces each year. There is one on the 2nd of July and one on the 16th of August. The prize for winning is the Palio itself which is a painted banner. The right to parade the streets with this banner is the most coveted honour in the city. There is great excitement which builds all year long for these events and periodically throughout the streets of this walled city, you can observe boys in medieval-style costumes from the different Contradas parade, playing the drums and throwing flags in the air. Siena is composed of 17 Contradas [districts].


The costumes are very colourful and most have some kind of needlework on them. It is difficult to see this as the boys parade by and you can never stop them in their march so the only option for you is to go to the Contrada Museums. Each Contrada has it's own museum located within its district. They have strange hours and you are well advised to make an appointment to go through but it is worth the effort if you are into clothing or embroidery.


There are several key positions for parading and each position has its own Palio Costume. The alfieri [standard bearers] and the tamburini [drummer boys] are the ones you will notice the most as they are usually the ones in leading positions. The blue outfits seen here are from the Nicchio [Shell] Contrada and are modeled after designs made in 1928 by Umberto Giunti. The fabric is blue silk velvet lined with red silk satin, quilted in rows on the lower body. The tops of the sleeves, neckline, along the sleeve openings and above the hemline are all embroidered with gold thread. The crest is applied and was done in silk shading embroidery with silk threads on silk fabric.

There is a complex set of rules about who can parade when and where but you should be able to see at least one parade on these dates:
December 1
February 12
April 25
May 29
June 2, 23, 29
July 1, 2, 3
August 5, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
September 22
There are many other times that they will parade to mark different events in the city but the dates above are always fixed.

Of course, if you attend one of the two Palio races themselves, then you will see many different styles of costumes as there will be other positions represented and they all parade around the Piazza del Campo in the hours before the race. There are some tens of thousands of people crowded into the square however and you may not be able to see that much, this is why a trip to the Contrada Museums is such a good opportunity.

( photos were taken by Rachel and NOT by her mother. :-D )