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Miscellaneous Dressing Renaissance Florence: Families, Fortunes, and Fine Clothing by Carole Collier Frick $25.00 / Johns Hopkins Univ. Press / 2005 This engaging book is a ticket to 15th-century Florence, where fashion and style carried the day for the ruling class. Using journals and tax reports, author Carole Frick takes readers to the shops of master tailors, into homes where weddings were orchestrated by the bride's betrothed, and into the marketplace. An associate professor of history at Southern Illinois University, Frick blends a wealth of information with a remarkably easy style. She first describes how every native Florentine knew where a man ranked in male-dominated Florence by the shade of red he wore. She then goes on to describe how weddings counted as one of Florence's premiere status events. In a chapter titled "The Making of Wedding Gowns," Frick follows the planning of a wedding, from the first public event in the marriage process —the espousal—to the ductio, when the bride, seated on a white horse, was paraded through the streets in her wedding gown. And what a gown this had to be! Citing the betrothal of Francesco Castellani to Lena Alamanni in 1448, Frick describes the construction of Lena's sumptuous, crimson cut-velvet overgown. Other chapters highlight the important role tailors played in Florentine society, sumptuary legislation and the "fashion police," and the clothes themselves. There is also a chapter devoted to craftspeople and an essay on clothing as it was depicted in the frescoes of the time. Many illustrations illuminate the lively text, and the book has a fine glossary, tables, appendixes, and a user-friendly index. Along with the engaging prose, the images sprinkled liberally throughout range from elaborate hair garlands and gown neckline ornaments to the modest dress of servants, artisans, and shopkeepers, making this a fine visual resource for both couples planning renaissance weddings and costumers. —Alana White

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