Che Bella! curves and contours a journey through Italian ideals of fashionable beauty from the renaissance to today Isabella Campagnol ; edited by Joseph H. Hancock II

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Campagnol, Isabella, author.

Contributor:

Hancock, Joseph H., editor.

Series:

Fashion and Personal Style Studies, Gender Studies (Lived Places Publishing)

Fashion and Personal Style Studies, Gender Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fashion--Italy--History--16th century.

Fashion.

Fashion--Italy--History--17th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

First edition

Place of Publication:

New York, N.Y. : Lived Places Publishing 2026

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Has Italian fashion truly embraced curviness, or is it still caught in a cycle of trends? Che Bella! Curves and Contours by Isabella Campagnol explores how the ideal of curvy Italian beauty, embodied by 1950s movie stars like Sophia Loren, has evolved over time. Research on Italian fashion magazines from the 18th century to the 1920s shows that the slim look prevailed, with curviness almost absent. The Fascist regime shifted this perspective, linking curviness to fertility. The "soft" silhouette of the 1930s continued into the 1940s and 1950s, faded in the 1960s and 1970s, and made a comeback in the 1980s with supermodels like Monica Bellucci. Brands like Elena Mirò and Marina Rinaldi played a pivotal role in promoting curvy fashion, a trend recognized by Italian Vogue and other labels at fashion weeks. Despite progress toward inclusivity, "curvy-washing" still occurs. Ideal for students studying fashion, faculty teaching fashion, and especially those interested in understanding the evolution of beauty ideals, curviness in fashion, and the cultural and political influences on fashion trends

Contents:

Cover

Half-Title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Abstract

Table of Contents

Content warning

Introduction

Learning objectives

1 The concept of Italian beauty from the Renaissance to the Belle Époque

1.1 The Belle Donne of the Italian Renaissance

1.2 Shapes of beauty from the seventeenth century to the fin de siècle

1.3 Belle Époque belles

Notes

2 Bodies in transition: Shifting ideals of beauty from the 1920s to the 1970s

2.1 Angular beauties. Modernism and the aesthetics of the female body in the 1920s

2.2 "Beautiful women with strong arms"

Politicizing femininity and beauty ideals in fascist Italy (from the 1930s to the 1940s)

2.3 Paradigms of beauty in postwar Italy. Miss Italia and the Maggiorate

3 A contemporary Italian silhouette: Curves and diversity in twenty-first-century Italy

3.1 The curvy turn: Reframing Italian women's fashion through dedicated brands

3.2 Contemporary bodies. Rethinking beauty, diversity, and new aesthetics in twenty-first-century Italy

Recommended projects/assignments/discussion questions

References

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description based on Publisher's website, viewed July 07, 2026

Other Format:

Print version Che Bella! curves and contours : a journey through Italian ideals of fashionable beauty from the renaissance to today.

ISBN:

9781917566056

9781917566049

OCLC:

1599046184

Publisher Number:

10.62859/9781917566056 DOI