1.
Italian fashion
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Italy is one of the leading countries in fashion design, alongside others such as France, United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. Cities such as Palermo, Venice, Milan, Naples, Florence and Vicenza started to produce goods, hats, cosmetics, jewelry. Milan is generally considered to be one of the big four fashion capitals, along with New York City, Paris, and London, occasionally. Italian fashion can be connected to the most generalized concept of Made in Italy. Italian luxury goods are renowned for the quality of their own textiles. The non profit making association which disciplines, co-ordinates and promotes the development of Italian Fashion is the National Chamber of Italian Fashion and it was set up in 1958 in Rome and now is settled in Milan and represents all the highest cultural values of Italian Fashion. This association has pursued a policy of organisational support aimed at the knowledge, promotion and development of fashion through events with a highly intellectual image in Italy, a few Italian designers head some important fashion brands outside Italy. Among the newest labels or younger designers, the most prominent are Aquilano. Piccione, Andrea Pompilio, Fausto Puglisi, San Andres Milano, Francesco Scognamiglio, Vivetta and Alberto Zambelli. Italy also is home to fashion magazines, such as Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, Elle, Glamour, Grazia, Amica, Flair. Italian fashion reached its peak during the Renaissance, until the 1970s, Italian fashion was mainly designed for the rich and famous, more or less like the French Haute Couture. Yet, in the 1970s and 80s, Italian fashion started to concentrate on ready-to-wear clothes, such as coats, jackets, trousers, shirts, jeans, jumpers and miniskirts. Today, Milan and Rome are Italys fashion capitals, and are international centres for fashion design, competing with other cities such as Tokyo, Los Angeles, London, Paris. Also, other such as Venice, Florence, Naples, Vicenza, Bologna, Genoa. The countrys main shopping districts are the Via Montenapoleone fashion district and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Via dei Condotti, and Via de Tornabuoni. Italian fashion is dominated by Milan, Rome, and to an extent, Florence. Nonetheless, there are other cities which play an important role in Italian fashion. In 2009, Milan was regarded as the fashion capital, even surpassing New York, Paris, Rome. In 2011, Milan was ranked #4, behind London, New York, international fashion labels also operate shops in Milan, including an Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store which has become a main consumer attraction
2.
Lady with an Ermine
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Lady with an Ermine is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci from around 1489–1490. The subject of the portrait is Cecilia Gallerani, painted at a time when she was the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, and Leonardo was in the service of the duke. The painting is one of four portraits of women painted by Leonardo, the others being the Mona Lisa, the portrait of Ginevra de Benci. The small portrait generally called The Lady with the Ermine was painted in oils on wooden panel, at the time of its painting, the medium of oil paint was relatively new to Italy, having been introduced in the 1470s. The subject has been identified with certainty as Cecilia Gallerani. Cecilia Gallerani was a member of a family that was neither wealthy nor noble. Her father served for a time at the Dukes court, at the time her portrait was painted, she was about 16 years old and was renowned for her beauty, her scholarship, and her poetry. She was married at age six to a young nobleman of the house of Visconti, but she sued to annul the marriage in 1487 for undisclosed reasons. Cecilia became the mistress of the Duke and bore him a son, even after his marriage to another woman 11 years previously, Beatrice was promised to the Duke when she was only 5, and married him when she was 16 in 1491. After a few months, she discovered the Duke was still seeing Cecilla, the painting shows a half-length figure, the body of a woman turned at a three-quarter angle toward her right, but her face turned toward her left. Her gaze is directed neither straight ahead, nor toward the viewer, in her arms, Gallerani holds a small white-coated stoat, known as an ermine. Galleranis dress is comparatively simple, revealing that she is not a noblewoman and her coiffure, known as a coazone, confines her hair smoothly to her head with two bands of hair bound on either side of her face and a long plait at the back. Her hair is held in place by a gauze veil with a woven border of gold-wound threads, a black band. There are several interpretations of the significance of the ermine in her portrait, the ermine, a stoat in its winter coat, was a traditional symbol of purity because it was believed an ermine would face death rather than soil its white coat. He repeats this idea in another note, Moderation curbs all the vices, the ermine prefers to die rather than soil itself. Ermines were kept as pets by the aristocracy and their pelts were used to line or trim aristocratic garments. For Ludovico il Moro, the ermine had a personal significance in that he had been in the Order of the Ermine in 1488. The association of the ermine with Cecilia Gallerani could have intended to refer both to her purity and to make an association with her lover
3.
Leonardo da Vinci
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He has been variously called the father of palaeontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter and tank, many historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the prime exemplar of the Universal Genius or Renaissance Man, an individual of unquenchable curiosity and feverishly inventive imagination. Much of his working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, and he spent his last years in France at the home awarded to him by Francis I of France, Leonardo was, and is, renowned primarily as a painter. Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and most parodied portrait, Leonardos drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon, being reproduced on items as varied as the euro coin, textbooks, and T-shirts. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings have survived, Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised flying machines, a type of armoured fighting vehicle, concentrated power, an adding machine. Some of his inventions, however, such as an automated bobbin winder. A number of Leonardos most practical inventions are nowadays displayed as working models at the Museum of Vinci. He made substantial discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, geology, optics, and hydrodynamics, today, Leonardo is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived. Leonardo was born on 15 April 1452 at the hour of the night in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci. He was the son of the wealthy Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine legal notary, and Caterina. Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense – da Vinci simply meaning of Vinci, his birth name was Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci, meaning Leonardo. The inclusion of the title ser indicated that Leonardos father was a gentleman, little is known about Leonardos early life. He spent his first five years in the hamlet of Anchiano in the home of his mother and his father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera Amadori, who loved Leonardo but died young in 1465 without children. When Leonardo was sixteen, his father married again to twenty-year-old Francesca Lanfredini, pieros legitimate heirs were born from his third wife Margherita di Guglielmo and his fourth and final wife, Lucrezia Cortigiani. Leonardo received an education in Latin, geometry and mathematics. In later life, Leonardo recorded only two childhood incidents, one, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face
4.
Renaissance
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The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, the Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, the word Renaissance, literally meaning Rebirth in French, first appeared in English in the 1830s. The word also occurs in Jules Michelets 1855 work, Histoire de France, the word Renaissance has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century. The Renaissance was a movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism, however, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were back from Byzantium to Western Europe. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe life as it really was. Others see more competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand, Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia, silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa, unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity, Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Spain and Sicily and this work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history
5.
Venice
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Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and these are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site. In 2014,264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, with a total population of 2.6 million. PATREVE is a metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC, the city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the La Dominante, Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, City of Water, City of Masks, City of Bridges, The Floating City, and City of Canals. The City State of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center which gradually emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 14th century and this made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period, Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. Venice has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world as of 2016, the name Venetia, however, derives from the Roman name for the people known as the Veneti, and called by the Greeks Eneti. The meaning of the word is uncertain, although there are other Indo-European tribes with similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic Veneti, Baltic Veneti, and the Slavic Wends. Linguists suggest that the name is based on an Indo-European root *wen, so that *wenetoi would mean beloved, lovable, a connection with the Latin word venetus, meaning the color sea-blue, is also possible. The alternative obsolete form is Vinegia, some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incolae lacunae, the traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto — said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421. Beginning as early as AD166 to 168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the center in the area. The Roman defences were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores, the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the Lagoon, the traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor, Marcello Tegalliano, was Pauls magister militum. In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose in a rebellion over the controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory II
6.
Milan
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Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
7.
Florence
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Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
8.
Naples
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Naples is the capital of the Italian region Campania and the third-largest municipality in Italy, after Rome and Milan. In 2015, around 975,260 people lived within the administrative limits. The Metropolitan City of Naples had a population of 3,115,320, Naples is the 9th-most populous urban area in the European Union with a population of between 3 million and 3.7 million. About 4.4 million people live in the Naples metropolitan area, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Bronze Age Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, a larger colony – initially known as Parthenope, Παρθενόπη – developed on the Island of Megaride around the ninth century BC, at the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. Naples was the most-bombed Italian city during World War II, much of the citys 20th-century periphery was constructed under Benito Mussolinis fascist government, and during reconstruction efforts after World War II. The city has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, and unemployment levels in the city, however, Naples still suffers from political and economic corruption, and unemployment levels remain high. Naples has the fourth-largest urban economy in Italy, after Milan, Rome and it is the worlds 103rd-richest city by purchasing power, with an estimated 2011 GDP of US$83.6 billion. The port of Naples is one of the most important in Europe, numerous major Italian companies, such as MSC Cruises Italy S. p. A, are headquartered in Naples. The city also hosts NATOs Allied Joint Force Command Naples, the SRM Institution for Economic Research, Naples is a full member of the Eurocities network of European cities. The city was selected to become the headquarters of the European institution ACP/UE and was named a City of Literature by UNESCOs Creative Cities Network, the Villa Rosebery, one of the three official residences of the President of Italy, is located in the citys Posillipo district. Naples historic city centre is the largest in Europe, covering 1,700 hectares and enclosing 27 centuries of history, Naples has long been a major cultural centre with a global sphere of influence, particularly during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras. In the immediate vicinity of Naples are numerous culturally and historically significant sites, including the Palace of Caserta, culinarily, Naples is synonymous with pizza, which originated in the city. Neapolitan music has furthermore been highly influential, credited with the invention of the romantic guitar, according to CNN, the metro stop Toledo is the most beautiful in Europe and it won also the LEAF Award 2013 as Public building of the year. Naples is the Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, Naples sports scene is dominated by football and Serie A club S. S. C. Napoli, two-time Italian champions and winner of European trophies, who play at the San Paolo Stadium in the south-west of the city, the Phlegraean Fields around Naples has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The earliest Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, sailors from the Greek island of Rhodes established a small commercial port called Parthenope on the island of Megaride in the ninth century BC
9.
Vicenza
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Vicenza listen is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the base of the Monte Berico. Vicenza is approximately 60 kilometres west of Venice and 200 kilometres east of Milan, Vicenza is a thriving and cosmopolitan city, with a rich history and culture, and many museums, art galleries, piazzas, villas, churches and elegant Renaissance palazzi. With the Palladian Villas of the Veneto in the area, and his renowned Teatro Olimpico. In December 2008, Vicenza had an population of 115,927. Additionally, about one fifth of the gold and jewelry is made in Vicenza. Another important sector is the engineering/computer components industry, vicentia was settled by the Italic Euganei tribe and then by the Paleo-Veneti tribe in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. The Romans allied themselves with the Paleo-Veneti in their fight against the Celtic tribes that populated north-western Italy, the Roman presence in the area grew exponentially over time and the Paleo-Veneti were gradually assimilated. In 157 BC, the city was a de facto Roman centre and was given the name of Vicetia or Vincentia, the citizens of Vicetia received Roman citizenship and were inscribed into the Roman tribe Romilia in 49 BC. It was also an important Lombard city and then a Frankish center, numerous Benedictine monasteries were built in the Vicenza area, beginning in the 6th century. In 899, Vicenza was destroyed by Magyar raiders, in 1001, Otto III handed over the government of the city to the bishop, and its communal organization had an opportunity to develop, separating soon from the episcopal authority. When peace was restored, however, the old rivalry with Padua, Bassano, and other cities was renewed, besides there were the internal factions of the Vivaresi. The tyrannical Ezzelino III from Bassano drove the Guelphs out of Vicenza, the independent commune joined the Second Lombard League against Emperor Frederick II, and was sacked by that monarch, after which it was annexed to Ezzelinos dominions. Vicenza came under rule of Venice in 1404, and its subsequent history is that of Venice and it was besieged by the Emperor Sigismund, and Maximilian I held possession of it in 1509 and 1516. Vicenza was a candidate to host the Council of Trent, after 1797, under Napoleonic rule, it was made a duché grand-fief within Napoleons personal Kingdom of Italy for general Caulaincourt, also imperial Grand-Écuyer. After 1814, Vicenza passed to the Austrian Empire, in 1848, however, the populace rose against Austria, more violently than in any other Italian centre apart from Milan and Brescia. As a part of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, it was annexed to Italy after the Third War of Italian independence, after the end of the latter, what followed was a period of depression following the devasatation caused by two world wars. In the following years, the development grew vertiginously
10.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
11.
Velvet
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Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive feel. By extension, the word velvety means smooth like velvet, Velvet can be made from either synthetic or natural fibers. Velvet is woven on a loom that weaves two thicknesses of the material at the same time. The two pieces are cut apart to create the pile effect, and the two lengths of fabric are wound on separate take-up rolls. This complicated process meant that velvet was expensive to make before industrial power looms became available, Velvet is difficult to clean because of its pile, but modern dry cleaning methods make cleaning more feasible. Velvet pile is created by warp or vertical yarns and velveteen pile is created by weft or fill yarns, Velvet can be made from several different kinds of fibers, traditionally, the most expensive of which is silk. Much of the velvet sold today as silk velvet is actually a mix of rayon, Velvet made entirely from silk is rare and usually has market prices of several hundred US dollars per yard. Cotton is also used to make velvet, though this results in a less luxurious fabric. Velvet can also be made from such as linen, mohair. A cloth made by the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo from raffia is often referred to as Kuba velvet. More recently, synthetic velvets have been developed, mostly from polyester, nylon, viscose, acetate, a small percentage of spandex is sometimes added to give the final material a certain amount of stretch. Because of its softness and appearance as well as its high cost of production. Velvet was introduced to Baghdad during the rule of Harun al-Rashid by Kashmiri merchants, in the Mamluk era, Cairo was the worlds largest producer of velvet. Much of it was exported to Venice, Al-Andalus and the Mali Empire, musa I of Mali, the ruler of the Mali Empire, visited Cairo on his pilgrimage to Mecca. Many Arab velvet makers accompanied him back to Timbuktu, later Ibn Battuta mentions how Suleyman, the ruler of Mali, wore a locally produced complete crimson velvet caftan on Eid. During the reign of Mehmed II, assistant cooks wore blue-coloured dresses, conical hats, king Richard II of England directed in his will that his body should be clothed in velveto in 1399. Chiffon velvet, Very lightweight velvet on a silk or rayon chiffon base. Ciselé, Velvet where the pile uses cut and uncut loops to create a pattern, crushed, This type of velvet can be produced by pressing the fabric down in different directions
12.
Silk
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Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity, Silk is produced by several insects, but generally only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been research into other types of silk, which differ at the molecular level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis, Silk production also occurs in Hymenoptera, silverfish, mayflies, thrips, leafhoppers, beetles, lacewings, fleas, flies, and midges. Other types of arthropod produce silk, most notably various arachnids such as spiders, the word silk comes from Old English sioloc, from Greek σηρικός serikos, silken, ultimately from an Asian source. Several kinds of silk, which are produced by caterpillars other than the mulberry silkworm, have been known and used in China, South Asia. However, the scale of production was far smaller than for cultivated silks. Thus, the way to obtain silk suitable for spinning into textiles in areas where commercial silks are not cultivated was by tedious. Commercial silks originate from reared silkworm pupae, which are bred to produce a silk thread with no mineral on the surface. The pupae are killed by either dipping them in boiling water before the adult moths emerge or by piercing them with a needle. These factors all contribute to the ability of the cocoon to be unravelled as one continuous thread. Wild silks also tend to be difficult to dye than silk from the cultivated silkworm. Genetic modification of domesticated silkworms is used to facilitate the production of more types of silk. Silk fabric was first developed in ancient China, the earliest example of silk fabric is from 3630 BC, and it was used as wrapping for the body of a child from a Yangshao culture site in Qingtaicun at Xingyang, Henan. Legend gives credit for developing silk to a Chinese empress, Leizu, because of its texture and lustre, silk rapidly became a popular luxury fabric in the many areas accessible to Chinese merchants. Silk was in demand, and became a staple of pre-industrial international trade. In July 2007, archaeologists discovered intricately woven and dyed silk textiles in a tomb in Jiangxi province, Silk is described in a chapter on mulberry planting by Si Shengzhi of the Western Han
13.
Wool
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Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other animals, including cashmere and mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, angora from rabbits, and other types of wool from camelids. Wool has several qualities that distinguish it from hair or fur, it is crimped, Wool is produced by follicles which are small cells located in the skin. These follicles are located in the layer of the skin called the epidermis. Follicles can be classed as primary or secondary follicles. Primary follicles produce three types of fiber, Kemp, medullated fibers and true wool fibers, secondary follicles only produce true wool fibers. Medullated fibers share nearly identical characteristics to hair and are long but lack crimp, Kemp fibers are very coarse and shed out. Wools scaling and crimp make it easier to spin the fleece by helping the individual fibers attach to each other, because of the crimp, wool fabrics have greater bulk than other textiles, and they hold air, which causes the fabric to retain heat. Wool has a specific heat coefficient, so it impedes heat transfer in general. This effect has benefited desert peoples, as Bedouins and Tuaregs use wool clothes for insulation, felting of wool occurs upon hammering or other mechanical agitation as the microscopic barbs on the surface of wool fibers hook together. The amount of crimp corresponds to the fineness of the wool fibers, a fine wool like Merino may have up to 100 crimps per inch, while coarser wool like karakul may have as few as one or two. In contrast, hair has little if any scale and no crimp, on sheep, the hair part of the fleece is called kemp. Wool fibers readily absorb moisture, but are not hollow, Wool can absorb almost one-third of its own weight in water. Wool absorbs sound like many other fabrics and it is generally a creamy white color, although some breeds of sheep produce natural colors, such as black, brown, silver, and random mixes. Wool ignites at a higher temperature than cotton and some synthetic fibers, Wool carpets are specified for high safety environments, such as trains and aircraft. Wool is usually specified for garments for firefighters, soldiers, Wool is considered by the medical profession to be allergenic. Sheep shearing is the process by which the fleece of a sheep is cut off. After shearing, the wool is separated into four categories, fleece, broken, bellies. In Australia before being auctioned, all Merino fleece wool is objectively measured for micron, yield, staple length, staple strength, the sheep is given a dip in antiseptic solution after shearing, so as to cure the wounds caused during shearing
14.
House of Medici
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The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside, gradually rising until they were able to fund the Medici Bank. The bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century, the Medici produced three Popes of the Catholic Church—Pope Leo X, Pope Clement VII, and Pope Leo XI, two regent queens of France—Catherine de Medici and Marie de Medici. In 1531, the family became hereditary Dukes of Florence, in 1569, the duchy was elevated to a grand duchy after territorial expansion. They ruled the Grand Duchy of Tuscany from its inception until 1737, the grand duchy witnessed degrees of economic growth under the earlier grand dukes, but by the time of Cosimo III de Medici, Tuscany was fiscally bankrupt. Their wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Arte della Lana. They, along with families of Italy—such as the Visconti and Sforza of Milan, the Este of Ferrara. The Medici Bank was one of the most prosperous and most respected institutions in Europe, there are some estimates that the Medici family were the wealthiest family in Europe for a time. From this base, they acquired political power initially in Florence and later in wider Italy, a notable contribution to the profession of accounting was the improvement of the general ledger system through the development of the double-entry bookkeeping system for tracking credits and debits. The Medici family were among the earliest businesses to use the system, the Medici family came from the agricultural Mugello region, north of Florence, being mentioned for the first time in a document of 1230. The origin of the name is uncertain, Medici is the plural of medico, also written del medico or delmedigo, meaning, medical doctor. It has been suggested that the derived from one Medico di Potrone, a castellan of Potrone in the late 11th century. The dynasty began with the founding of the Medici Bank, until the late 14th century, prior to the Medici, the leading family of Florence was the House of Albizzi. In 1293 the Ordinances of Justice were enacted, which became the constitution of the republic of Florence throughout the Italian Renaissance. The citys numerous luxurious palazzi were becoming surrounded by townhouses, built by the ever prospering merchant class. In 1298, one of the leading banking families of Europe, the main challengers to the Albizzi family were the Medicis, first under Giovanni de Medici, later under his son Cosimo di Giovanni de Medici and great-grandson, Lorenzo de Medici. The Medici controlled the Medici bank—then Europes largest bank—and an array of other enterprises in Florence, in 1433, the Albizzi managed to have Cosimo exiled. The next year, however, a pro-Medici Signoria was elected, the Medici became the citys leading family, a position they would hold for the next three centuries. Cosimo and Lorenzo rarely held official posts but were the unquestioned leaders, some examples of these families include the Bardi, Salviati, Cavalcanti, and the Tornabuoni
15.
Catherine de' Medici
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Catherine de Medici, daughter of Lorenzo II de Medici and of Madeleine de La Tour dAuvergne, was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II. As the mother of three sons who became kings of France during her lifetime, she had extensive, if at times varying, for a time, she ruled France as its regent. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Caterina married Henry, second son of King Francis I, under the gallicised version of her name, Catherine de Médicis, she was Queen consort of France as the wife of King Henry II of France from 1547 to 1559. Throughout his reign, Henry excluded Catherine from participating in state affairs and instead showered favours on his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Henrys death thrust Catherine into the arena as mother of the frail fifteen-year-old King Francis II. When he died in 1560, she became regent on behalf of her ten-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers, after Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III. He dispensed with her only in the last months of her life. Catherines three sons reigned in an age of almost constant civil and religious war in France, the problems facing the monarchy were complex and daunting but Catherine was able to keep the monarchy and the state institutions functioning even at a minimum level. At first, Catherine compromised and made concessions to the rebelling Protestants, or Huguenots and she failed, however, to grasp the theological issues that drove their movement. Later she resorted, in frustration and anger, to hard-line policies against them, some historians have excused Catherine from blame for the worst decisions of the crown, though evidence for her ruthlessness can be found in her letters. In practice, her authority was limited by the effects of the civil wars. Without Catherine, it is unlikely that her sons would have remained in power, the years in which they reigned have been called the age of Catherine de Medici. According to Mark Strage, one of her biographers, Catherine was the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe. Catherine was born on 13 April 1519 in Florence, Republic of Florence, the child of Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino, and his wife, Madeleine de la Tour dAuvergne. The young couple had married the year before at Amboise as part of the alliance between King Francis I of France and Lorenzos uncle Pope Leo X against the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. According to a chronicler, when Catherine was born, her parents were as pleased as if it had been a boy. King Francis wanted Catherine to be raised at the French court, Catherine was first cared for by her paternal grandmother, Alfonsina Orsini. After Alfonsinas death in 1520, Catherine joined her cousins and was raised by her aunt, the death of Pope Leo in 1521 interrupted Medici power briefly, until Cardinal Giulio de Medici was elected Pope Clement VII in 1523
16.
Michelangelo
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Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Considered to be the greatest living artist during his lifetime, he has since described as one of the greatest artists of all time. A number of Michelangelos works of painting, sculpture, and architecture rank among the most famous in existence and he sculpted two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, before the age of thirty. As an architect, Michelangelo pioneered the Mannerist style at the Laurentian Library, at the age of 74, he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peters Basilica. Michelangelo transformed the plan so that the end was finished to his design, as was the dome, with some modification. Michelangelo was unique as the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was alive, in his lifetime he was often called Il Divino. One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, the attempts by subsequent artists to imitate Michelangelos impassioned and highly personal style resulted in Mannerism, the next major movement in Western art after the High Renaissance. Michelangelo was born on 6 March 1475 in Caprese near Arezzo, at the time of Michelangelos birth, his father was the Judicial administrator of the small town of Caprese and local administrator of Chiusi. Michelangelos mother was Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena, the Buonarrotis claimed to descend from the Countess Mathilde of Canossa, this claim remains unproven, but Michelangelo himself believed it. Several months after Michelangelos birth, the returned to Florence. There Michelangelo gained his love for marble, as Giorgio Vasari quotes him, If there is good in me. Along with the milk of my nurse I received the knack of handling chisel and hammer, as a young boy, Michelangelo was sent to Florence to study grammar under the Humanist Francesco da Urbino. The young artist, however, showed no interest in his schooling, preferring to copy paintings from churches, the city of Florence was at that time the greatest centre of the arts and learning in Italy. Art was sponsored by the Signoria, by the merchant guilds and by patrons such as the Medici. The Renaissance, a renewal of Classical scholarship and the arts, had its first flowering in Florence, the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti had laboured for fifty years to create the bronze doors of the Baptistry, which Michelangelo was to describe as The Gates of Paradise. The exterior niches of the Church of Orsanmichele contained a gallery of works by the most acclaimed sculptors of Florence – Donatello, Ghiberti, Andrea del Verrocchio, and Nanni di Banco. The interiors of the churches were covered with frescos, begun by Giotto. During Michelangelos childhood, a team of painters had been called from Florence to the Vatican, among them was Domenico Ghirlandaio, a master in fresco painting, perspective, figure drawing, and portraiture who had the largest workshop in Florence at that period
17.
Raphael
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Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running a large workshop and, despite his death at 37. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, the best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings and he was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region and his poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture, growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a humanistic education however, it is unclear how easily he read Latin. His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1,1494 by his father, Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven, his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master and he had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been a great help to his father. A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity and his fathers workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter, and Luca Signorelli, according to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice despite the tears of his mother. The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, an alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters, the Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a master, that is to say fully trained and his first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was named in the commission
18.
Sandro Botticelli
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Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, known as Sandro Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticellis posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, since then, among Botticellis best-known works are The Birth of Venus and Primavera. Botticelli was born in the city of Florence in a house in the Via Nuova, BorgOgnissanti, Vasari reported that Botticelli was initially trained as a goldsmith by his brother Antonio. By 1462 he was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi, many of his works have been attributed to the elder master. Influenced also by the monumentality of Masaccios painting, it was from Lippi that Botticelli learned a more intimate, by 1470, Botticelli had his own workshop. The Adoration of the Magi for Santa Maria Novella, contains the portraits of Cosimo de Medici, his sons Piero and Giovanni, the quality of the scene was hailed by Vasari as one of Botticellis pinnacles. In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV summoned Botticelli and other prominent Florentine, the iconological program was the supremacy of the Papacy. Sandros contribution included the Temptations of Christ, the Punishment of the Rebels, thus Vasari characterized the first printed Dante with Botticellis decorations, he could not imagine that the new art of printing might occupy an artist. Recent scholarship suggests otherwise, the Primavera was painted for Lorenzos townhouse in Florence, by 1499, both had been installed at Castello. In these works, the influence of Gothic realism is tempered by Botticellis study of the antique, but if the painterly means may be understood, the subjects themselves remain fascinating for their ambiguity. The complex meanings of these continue to receive widespread scholarly attention, mainly focusing on the poetry. The works do not illustrate particular texts, rather, each relies upon several texts for its significance, of their beauty, characterized by Vasari as exemplifying grace and by John Ruskin as possessing linear rhythm, there can be no doubt. The pictures feature Botticellis linear style emphasized by the soft continual contours, in 1491 he served on a committee to decide upon a façade for the Cathedral of Florence. For this reason, persisting in his attachment to that party, Botticelli biographer Ernst Steinmann searched for the artists psychological development through his Madonnas. In the deepening of insight and expression in the rendering of Marys physiognomy, Botticelli was already little employed in 1502. In 1504 he was a member of the appointed to decide where Michelangelos David would be placed. After his death, his reputation was eclipsed longer and more thoroughly than that of any other major European artist and his paintings remained in the churches and villas for which they had been created and his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel were upstaged by those of Michelangelo. The English collector William Young Ottley, however, had brought Botticellis The Mystical Nativity to London with him in 1799 after buying it in Italy, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood incorporated elements of his work into their own
19.
Journade
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Journade or Giornea is a sideless overgown or tabard. It was usually pleated and was hanging loose or belted. Young men wore short and older men wore them calf- or ankle-length. The Complete Costume Dictionary by Elizabeth J. Lewandowski describes the journade as a short, initially it had large, full sleeves and later it had long, slit sleeves. 1400–1500 in European fashion 1500–50 in Western European fashion
20.
Brocade
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Brocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and with or without gold and silver threads. Brocade is typically woven on a draw loom and it is a supplementary weft technique, that is, the ornamental brocading is produced by a supplementary, non-structural, weft in addition to the standard weft that holds the warp threads together. The purpose of this is to give the appearance that the weave was actually embroidered on, in Guatemala, brocade is the most popular technique used to decorate fabric woven by Maya weavers on backstrap looms. Ornamental features in brocade are emphasized and wrought as additions to the fabric, sometimes stiffening it. When the weft is floating on the back, this is known as a continuous brocade, the yarns are cut away in cutwork and broché. Also, a discontinuous brocade is where the yarn is only woven in the patterned areas. Dating back to the Middle Ages, brocade fabric was one of the few luxury fabrics worn by nobility throughout China, India, Greece, Japan, Korea, Woven by the Byzantines, brocades were an especially desirable fabric. From the 4th to the 6th centuries, production of silk was seemingly non-existent, as linen, during this period, there was no public knowledge of silk fabric production except for that which was kept secret by the Chinese. Over the years, knowledge of production became known among other cultures. As silk production became known to western cultures, trade from the east began to decrease and it was discovered by Byzantine historians that in the 6th century a pair of monks brought the secret of sericulture – silk production – to the Byzantine emperor. As a result, western cultures were able to learn how to breed, raise, during the Early Middle Ages, brocade fabrics were only available to the wealthiest of people as the Byzantine Emperor charged extreme prices for the fabric. The designs woven into brocade fabrics were often Persian in origin and it was also common to see Christian subjects depicted in the complex weaves of the fabric. When these luxurious fabrics were made into clothing or wall hangings, they were at times adorned with precious and semiprecious stones, small medallions of enamel, embroidery and/or appliqués. The life of a noble during the Late Middle Ages was filled with entertainment, riding and hunting, music and dancing, all of these activities became a stage for the display of fashion. Wealthy noblemen and noblewomen dressed in silk brocades from Italy, during the 14th and 15th centuries, the Court of Burgundy was made known for their continuous fashionable tastes and luxurious dress. Brocades were also an important fabric during the Renaissance, and especially the Italian Renaissance, the complexity and high quality of luxurious silk fabrics caused Italy to become the most important and superior manufacturer of the finest silk fabrics for all of Europe. The almost sculptural lines of the fashions during the Renaissance were paired perfectly with the beauty and elegance of brocade, damask. The motifs remained Chinese, Indian and Persian in origin and were a reflection of the trading between the Far East and Italy and it is said that some Renaissance painters designed and sketched textile designs for fabrics production as well as incorporation into their paintings
21.
Beret
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A beret is a soft, round, flat-crowned hat, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production began in 19th century France and Spain, countries with which it remains associated, Berets are worn as part of the uniform of many military and police units worldwide, as well as by other organisations. Such headgear has been popular among the nobility and artists across Europe throughout modern history, the commercial production of Basque-style berets began in the 17th century in the Oloron-Sainte-Marie area of Southern France. Originally a local craft, beret-making became industrialised in the 19th century, the first factory, Beatex-Laulhere, claims production records dating back to 1810. In Western fashion, men and women have worn the beret since the 1920s as sportswear, military berets were first adopted by the French Chasseurs Alpins in 1889. They were approved for use by King George V in 1924, the black RTR beret was made famous by Field Marshal Montgomery in the Second World War. The beret fits snugly around the head, and can be shaped in a variety of ways – in the Americas it is commonly worn pushed to one side. In Central and South America, local custom usually prescribes the manner of wearing the beret, there is no rule and older gentlemen usually wear it squared on the head. It can be worn by men and women. Military uniform berets feature a headband or sweatband attached to the wool, made either from leather, silk or cotton ribbon, the drawstrings are, according to custom, either tied and cut off or tucked in or else left to dangle. The beret is often adorned with a cap badge, either in cloth or metal, some berets have a piece of buckram or other stiffener in the position where the badge is intended to be worn. Berets are not usually lined, but many are lined with silk or satin. In military berets, the headband is worn on the outside, the traditional beret, usually has the sweatband folded inwardly. In such a case, these berets have only an inch or so of the same woollen material designed to be folded inwardly. Newer beret styles made of Polar fleece are also popular and they are very popular and common in the Basque Country. The colours adopted for folk costumes varied by region and purpose, black and blue are worn more frequently than red and white, the people of Aragon adopted red berets while the black beret became the common headgear of workers in France and Spain. A big commemorative black beret is the trophy in sport or bertso competitions, including Basque rural sports, the Basque portions of the Tour de France. It may bear sewn ornamental references to the achievement or contest, the black beret was once considered the national cap of France in Anglo-Saxon countries and is part of the stereotypical image of the Onion Johnny
22.
Hose (clothing)
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Hose are any of various styles of mens clothing for the legs and lower body, worn from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, when the term fell out of use in favor of breeches and stockings. The old plural form of hose was hosen, early wool hose were fitted to the leg, and 15th century hose were often made particolored or mi-parti, having each leg a different colour, or even one leg made of two colors. These early hose were footed, in the manner of modern tights, when very short doublets were in fashion, codpieces were added to cover the front opening. By the 16th century, hose had separated into two garments, upper hose or breeches and nether hose or stockings, from the mid-16th to early 17th centuries, a variety of styles of hose were in fashion. Popular styles included, Trunk hose or round hose, short padded hose, very short trunk hose were worn over cannions, fitted hose that ended above the knee. Slops or galligaskins, loose hose reaching just below the knee, Trunk hose and slops could be paned or pansied, with strips of fabric over a full inner layer or lining. Pansied slop is a round hose characterized by the addition of a layer of panes and these are commonly referred to as pumpkin pants. Pluderhosen, a Northern European form of pansied slops with a full inner layer pulled out between the panes and hanging below the knee. Originating in Germany, Pluderhosen soon spread to central and Eastern Europe, venetians, semi-fitted hose reaching just below the knee. 1500–1550 in fashion 1550–1600 in fashion Notes Bibliography Arnold, Janet, Patterns of Fashion, hose in the Middle Ages and Renaissance 13th–16th century hose, from illustrations and museums
23.
Houppelande
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A houppelande or houpelande is an outer garment, with a long, full body and flaring sleeves, that was worn by both men and women in Europe in the late Middle Ages. Sometimes the houppelande was lined with fur, the garment was later worn by professional classes, and has remained in Western civilization as the familiar academic and legal robes of today. The houppelande appeared around 1380 and was to remain well into the next century. It had its origins in the herigaut, a similar 13th-century garment with hanging sleeves, the edges of the houppelande were often dagged, or cut into decorative patterns such as scallops, embattled tabs or even leaf shapes
24.
Chemise
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The term chemise or shift can refer to the classic smock, or else can refer to certain modern types of womens undergarments and dresses. In the classical use it is a garment worn next to the skin to protect clothing from sweat and body oils. The English chemise evolved from French, the word is a cognate of the Italian word camicia, and the Spanish / Portuguese language word camisa, all deriving ultimately from the Latin camisia, itself coming from Celtic. The English called the same shirt a smock, in modern usage, a chemise is generally a womans garment that vaguely resembles the older shirts but is typically more delicate, and usually more revealing. Most commonly the term refers to a loose-fitting, sleeveless undergarment or type of lingerie which is unfitted at the waist and it can also refer to a short, sleeveless dress that hangs straight from the shoulders and fits loosely at the waist. A chemise typically does not have any buttons or other fasteners and is put on by either dropping it over the head or stepping into it, as lingerie, a chemise is similar to a babydoll, which is also a short, loose-fitting, sleeveless garment. Typically, though, babydolls are looser fitting at the hips, the chemise seems to have developed from the Roman tunica and first became popular in Europe in the Middle Ages. Women wore a shift or chemise under their gown or robe, while men wore a chemise with their trousers or braies, until the late 18th century, a chemise referred to an undergarment. It was the underwear worn until the end of Regency period in the 1820s. In the 1810s, the term also to be applied to an outergarment. Mens chemises may be said to have survived as the common T-shirt, the chemise also morphed into the smock-frock, a garment worn by English laborers until the early 20th century. Its loose cut and wide sleeves were well adapted to heavy labor, the name smock is nowadays still used for military combat jackets in the UK, whereas in the Belgian army the term has been corrupted to smoke-vest. A chemise, shift, or smock was usually sewn at home and it was assembled from rectangles and triangles cut from one piece of cloth so as to leave no waste. The poor would wear skimpy chemises pieced from a piece of rough cloth, while the rich might have voluminous chemises pieced from thin. Camisole Kirtle Shalwar kameez Slip Smock Cut My Cote, by Dorothy Burnham, a survey of shirt patterns over the ages, with diagrams. A Plain Linen Shift, Plain Sewing Makes the Most of Your Fabric, by Kathleen R. Smith, Threads Magazine, how to make an 18th-century chemise Womens smocks in the 13th-15th centuries 18th-century womens shifts
25.
Francis I of France
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Francis I was the first King of France from the Angoulême branch of the House of Valois, reigning from 1515 until his death. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and he succeeded his cousin and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a male heir. Francis reign saw important cultural changes with the rise of absolute monarchy in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. For his role in the development and promotion of a standardized French language, he became known as le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres. He was also known as François au Grand Nez, the Grand Colas, following the policy of his predecessors, Francis continued the Italian Wars. In his struggle against Imperial hegemony, he sought the support of Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. When this was unsuccessful, he formed a Franco-Ottoman alliance with the Muslim sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, a controversial move for a Christian king at the time. Francis was born on 12 September 1494 at the Château de Cognac in the town of Cognac, which at that time lay in the province of Saintonge, today the town lies in the department of Charente. Francis was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. His family was not expected to inherit the throne, as his third cousin King Charles VIII was still young at the time of his birth, as was his fathers cousin the Duke of Orléans, later King Louis XII. However, Charles VIII died childless in 1498 and was succeeded by Louis XII, the Salic Law prevailed in France, thus females were ineligible to inherit the throne. Therefore, the four-year-old Francis became the heir presumptive to the throne of France in 1498 and was vested with the title of Duke of Valois. In 1505, Louis XII, having fallen ill, ordered that his daughter Claude and Francis be married immediately, Claude was heiress to the Duchy of Brittany through her mother, Anne of Brittany. Following Annes death, the took place on 18 May 1514. Louis died shortly afterwards and Francis inherited the throne and he was crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Reims on 25 January 1515, with Claude as his queen consort. As Francis was receiving his education, ideas emerging from the Italian Renaissance were influential in France, some of his tutors, such as François Desmoulins de Rochefort and Christophe de Longueil, were attracted by these new ways of thinking and attempted to influence Francis. His academic education had been in arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, reading, spelling, Francis came to learn chivalry, dancing, and music and he loved archery, falconry, horseback riding, hunting, jousting, real tennis and wrestling. He ended up reading philosophy and theology and he was fascinated with art, literature, poetry and his mother, who had a high admiration for Italian Renaissance art, passed this interest on to her son
26.
Coif
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A coif /ˈkɔɪf/ is a close fitting cap worn by both men and women that covers the top, back, and sides of the head. Coifs date from the 10th century, but fell out of popularity with men in the 14th century, Coifs were worn by all classes in England and Scotland from the Middle Ages to the early seventeenth century. Tudor and earlier coifs are usually made of unadorned white linen, in the Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras, coifs were frequently decorated with blackwork embroidery and lace edging. Coifs were worn under gable hoods and hats of all sorts, Coifs were also worn by a now-defunct senior grade of English lawyer, the Serjeant-at-Law even after they became judges. A United States law school honor society, the Order of the Coif, is named after this use of the coif, a mail coif was a type of armour, made of mail, which covered the head, neck and shoulders. 1500–1550 in fashion 1550–1600 in fashion Oxford English Dictionary Digby, George Wingfield Elizabethan Embroidery, new York, Thomas Yoseloff Tudor and Elizabethan Coifs Medieval Mens Coifs Coif
27.
Pileus (hat)
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The pileus was a brimless, felt cap worn in Ancient Greece and surrounding regions, later also introduced in Ancient Rome. The Greek πιλίδιον and Latin pilleolus were smaller versions, similar to a skullcap, the pileus was especially associated with the manumission of slaves, who wore it upon their liberation. It became emblematic of liberty and freedom from bondage, the pileus, is very common in Albania and Kosovo even today. The pilos was a common conical travelling hat in Illyria and Ancient Greece, the pilos is the brimless version of the petasos. It could be made of felt or leather, pilos caps often identify the mythical twins, or Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, as represented in sculptures, bas-reliefs and on ancient ceramics. Their caps were supposedly the remnants of the egg from which they hatched, the pilos appears on votive figurines of boys at the sanctuary of the Cabeiri at Thebes, the Cabeirion. In warfare, the pilos helmet was often worn by the peltast light infantry, in conjunction with the exomis. The pilos helmet was made of bronze in the shape as the pilos which was presumably sometimes worn under the helmet for comfort. The first widespread adoption of the pilos helmet occurred in Sparta towards the end of the 5th century BC, in Ancient Rome, a slave was freed in a ceremony in which a praetor touched the slave with a rod called a vindicta and pronounced him to be free. The slaves head was shaved and a pileus was placed upon it, both the vindicta and the cap were considered symbols of Libertas, the goddess representing liberty. This was a form of extra-legal manumission considered less legally sound than manumission in a court of law, one 19th century dictionary of classical antiquity states that, Among the Romans the cap of felt was the emblem of liberty. When a slave obtained his freedom he had his head shaved, hence the phrase servos ad pileum vocare is a summons to liberty, by which slaves were frequently called upon to take up arms with a promise of liberty. The figure of Liberty on some of the coins of Antoninus Pius, struck A. D.145, holds this cap in the right hand. ISBN 1-85532-867-4 Institute of France – Greek Costume Antiquitas – Casque corinthien et pilos A Brief History of Greek Helmets by Jesse Obert – AncientPlanet Online Journal Vol.2,48 –59
28.
Biretta
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The biretta is a square cap with three or four peaks or horns, sometimes surmounted by a tuft. Traditionally the three peaked biretta is worn by Roman Catholic clergy and some Anglican and Lutheran clergy, the four peaked biretta is worn as academic dress by those holding a doctoral degree from a pontifical faculty or pontifical university. Occasionally the biretta is worn by advocates in law courts, for instance the advocates in the Channel Islands, the origins of the biretta are uncertain. It is mentioned as early as the tenth century, one possible origin is the academic cap of the high Middle Ages, which was soft and square. This is also the ancestor of the modern mortarboard used today in secular universities. The biretta seems to have become a widely used as an ecclesiastical vestment after the synod of Bergamo,1311. The tuft or pom sometimes seen on the biretta was added later, the biretta may be used by all ranks of the Latin clergy cardinals and other bishops to priests, deacons, and even seminarians. Those worn by cardinals are scarlet red and made of silk, after the Second Vatican Council the ceremony of giving the galero to cardinals was replaced with giving the biretta. The biretta of a bishop is amaranth in color, while those worn by priests, deacons, the pope does not make use of the biretta. It is often asserted that seminarians are only entitled to wear a biretta without a pom-pom, priests in monastic and mendicant religious orders that have their own habits do not generally wear birettas, in most circumstances, even liturgical, the monastic hood took the place of the biretta. Canons Regular generally do—for instance the canons of the Order of Prémontré wear a white biretta, clerks Regular generally wear a black biretta with no tuft. Other priests who belong to various forms of community life, as the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri for instance, generally wear birettas. The liturgical biretta has three peaks, with the peak-less corner worn on the side of the head. Its use is prevalent among bishops and cardinals, and less so among other clergy, some priests wear it during outdoor services such as burials or processions and, as is intended, during the celebration of Mass and other liturgical services. The biretta is worn by a priest, deacon, subdeacon. Birettas are also worn by Anglo-Catholic Anglican clergy, though is it generally considered a Romanism. Canons and deans could wear a black biretta with a purple pom, the Canterbury cap is of similar origin to the biretta, and, although seldom used since the early 20th century, has been considered a more authentically Anglican alternative to the biretta. The Canterbury cap has a soft, square top rather than the horns that developed on the biretta
29.
Bonnet (headgear)
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Bonnet is a term for a wide variety of styles of headgear for both sexes, but most often female, which has been in use from the Middle Ages to the present. However the term has also used, for example, for steel helmets. This was from Scotland, where the term has long been especially popular, Bonnet derives from the same word in French, where it originally indicated a type of material. In the 21st century, only a few kinds of headgear are still referred to as bonnets, most commonly worn by babies. The most common kind of bonnet worn today is a soft headcovering for babies and they are shaped similarly to the kind of bonnets women used to wear, that is they cover the hair and ears, but not the forehead. In the mid-17th and 18th century house bonnets worn by women and girls were generally brimless headcoverings which were secured by tying under the chin, and they were worn indoors, to keep the hair tidy, and outdoors, to keep dust out of the hair. From Waterloo, more structured fashionable bonnets made by milliners rapidly grew larger and this ornament is partially placed on one side, the edge of the bonnet finished by blond laid on strait. Straw was available again after 1815, the best straw bonnets came from Leghorn, as a bonnet developed a peak, it would extend from the entire front of the bonnet, from the chin over the forehead and down the other side of the face. Some styles of bonnets between ca 1817 and 1845 had a peak which effectively prevented women from looking right or left without turning their heads. Others had a peak which was angled out to frame the face. In the 1840s it might be crimped at the top to frame the face in a heart shape, as the bonnet became more complicated, under it might be worn a lace cornette to hold the hair in place. Bonnets remained one of the most common types of headgear worn by women throughout most of the 19th century, for a widow, a bonnet was de rigueur. Silk bonnets, elaborately pleated and ruched, were worn outdoors, or in places like shops, galleries, churches. Under the French Second Empire, parasols took the place of protection from sun, most middle-class women in the 19th century would have had at least two bonnets, one suitable for summer weather, often made from straw, and one made from heavier fabric for winter wear. This is where the tradition of an Easter bonnet originated, when women would switch from their winter bonnet to their summer bonnet, wealthier women would have many bonnets, suitable for different occasions. In some religious groups it has been customary for women to wear bonnets and this was the case among the Friends until well into the 20th century, and is still the case among the Old Order Mennonites and the Amish. Bonnets were adopted by The Salvation Army as part of regalia for women. Initially, bonnets were introduced as protection for women soldiers and were reinforced with black tar to turn them into helmets, later versions were smaller when there was no longer any need for protection
30.
Felt
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Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of fibers such as wool, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood pulp-based rayon. Felt from wool is considered to be the oldest known textile, many cultures have legends as to the origins of felt making. Sumerian legend claims that the secret of feltmaking was discovered by Urnamman of Lagash, the story of Saint Clement and Saint Christopher relates that while fleeing from persecution, the men packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters. At the end of their journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks, feltmaking is still practised by nomadic peoples in Central Asia, where rugs, tents and clothing are regularly made. Some of these are items, such as the classic yurt, while others are designed for the tourist market. Wrapping the properly arranged fiber in a sturdy, textured material, such as a mat or burlap. The felted material may be finished by fulling, only certain types of fiber can be wet felted successfully. Most types of fleece, such as those taken from the alpaca or the Merino sheep, one may also use mohair, angora, or hair from rodents such as beavers and muskrats. These types of fiber are covered in scales, similar to the scales found on a strand of human hair. Heat, motion, and moisture of the causes the scales to open, while agitating them causes them to latch onto each other. There is a theory that the fibers wind around each other during felting. Plant fibers and synthetic fibers will not wet felt, needle felting is a method of creating felted objects without using water. The special needles used to make 3D sculpture, jewelry, adornments and 2D art have notches along the shaft of the needle that catch fibers and tangle them with other fibers to produce felt. These notches are sometimes erroneously called barbs, but barbs are protrusion, there are many sizes and types of notched needles for different uses while working. Needle felting is used in processes as well as in individual crafting. Invented in the mid 17th century and used until the mid-20th centuries, beaver, rabbit or hare skins were treated with a dilute solution of the mercury compound mercuric nitrate. The skins were dried in an oven where the fur at the sides turned orange
31.
Social class
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Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, and social historians. However, there is not a consensus on the best definition of the class, the precise measurements of what determines social class in society has varied over time. According to philosopher Karl Marx, class is determined entirely by ones relationship to the means of production, the term class is etymologically derived from the Latin classis, which was used by census takers to categorize citizens by wealth, in order to determine military service obligations. In the late 18th century, the class began to replace classifications such as estates, rank. Historically social class and behavior was sometimes laid down in law, definitions of social classes reflect a number of sociological perspectives, informed by anthropology, economics, psychology, and sociology. The major perspectives historically have been Marxism and Structural functionalism, the common stratum model of class divides society into a simple hierarchy of working class, middle class and upper class. For Marx, class is a combination of objective and subjective factors, objectively, a class shares a common relationship to the means of production. Subjectively, the members will necessarily have some perception of their similarity, Class consciousness is not simply an awareness of ones own class interest but is also a set of shared views regarding how society should be organized legally, culturally, socially and politically. These class relations are reproduced through time and this is the fundamental economic structure of work and property, a state of inequality that is normalized and reproduced through cultural ideology. Marxists explain the history of civilized societies in terms of a war of classes between those who control production and those who produce the goods or services in society, in the Marxist view of capitalism, this is a conflict between capitalists and wage-workers. Furthermore, in countries where modern civilisation has become fully developed, an industrial army of workmen, under the command of a capitalist, requires, like a real army, officers and sergeants who, while the work is being done, command in the name of the capitalist. This would mark the beginning of a society in which human needs rather than profit would be motive for production. In a society with democratic control and production for use, there would be no class, no state and no need for financial and banking institutions and money. Max Weber formulated a three-component theory of stratification, that saw social class as emerging from an interplay between class, status and power. Weber believed that class position was determined by a relationship to the means of production. Weber derived many of his key concepts on social stratification by examining the structure of many countries. He noted that contrary to Marxs theories, stratification was based on more than simply ownership of capital, Weber pointed out that some members of the aristocracy lack economic wealth yet might nevertheless have political power. Likewise in Europe, many wealthy Jewish families in lack prestige and honor, Class, A persons economic position in a society
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Satin
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Satin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. The satin weave is characterized by four or more fill or weft yarns floating over a warp yarn or vice versa, four warp yarns floating over a single weft yarn. Floats are missed interfacings, where the yarn lies on top of the weft in a warp-faced satin. These floats explain the even sheen, as unlike in other weaves, the light reflecting is not scattered as much by the fibres, satin is usually a warp-faced weaving technique in which warp yarns are floated over weft yarns, although there are also weft-faced satins. If the yarns used are short-staple yarns such as cotton, the fabric formed is considered a sateen, a satin fabric tends to have a high luster due to the high number of floats on the fabric. Because of this it is used in making bed sheets, many variations can be made of the basic satin weave including a granite weave and a check weave. Satin weaves, twill weaves, and plain weaves are the three types of weaving by which the majority of woven products are formed. Satin is commonly used in apparel, satin baseball jackets, athletic shorts, womens lingerie, nightgowns, blouses, and evening gowns and it is also used in the production of pointe shoes for use in ballet. Other uses include interior furnishing fabrics, upholstery, and bed sheets, originally, during the Middle Ages, satin was made of silk, consequently it was very expensive, used only by the upper classes. Satin became famous in Europe during the twelfth century, the name derives its origin from the Chinese port city of Quanzhou, whose name in Arabic was Zayton. During the latter part of the Middle Ages, it was a shipping port of silk. In a satin weave, the fill yarn passes over multiple warp yarns before interlacing under one warp yarn, common satin weaves are, 4-harness satin weave, also called crowfoot satin, in which the fill yarn passes over three warp yarns and under one warp yarn. It is more pliable than a plain weave, 5-harness satin weave, the fill yarn passes over four warp yarns and then under one yarn. 8-harness satin weave, in which the fill yarn passes over 7 warp yarns and then 1 warp yarn, is the most pliable satin weave, antique satin is a type of satin-back shantung, woven with slubbed or unevenly spun weft yarns. Baronet or baronette has a back and a rayon or silk front. Charmeuse is a lightweight, draping satin-weave fabric with a dull reverse, double face satin is woven with a glossy surface on both sides. It is possible for both sides to have a different pattern, albeit using the same colors, duchess satin is a particularly luxurious, heavy, stiff satin. Farmers satin or Venetian cloth is made from mercerised cotton, gattar is satin made with a silk warp and a cotton weft
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Taffeta
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Taffeta is a crisp, smooth, plain woven fabric made from silk or cuprammonium rayons. The word is Persian in origin and means twisted woven and it is considered to be a high-end fabric, suitable for use in ball gowns, wedding dresses, and in interior decoration for curtains or wallcoverings. It is also used in the manufacture of corsets and corsetry. An extremely thin, crisp type of taffeta is called paper taffeta, there are two distinct types of silk taffeta, yarn-dyed and piece-dyed. Piece-dyed taffeta is often used in linings and is quite soft, yarn-dyed taffeta is much stiffer and is often used in evening dresses. Shot silk taffeta was one of the most sought-after forms of Byzantine silk, modern taffeta was first woven in Italy and France and until the 1950s in Japan. Warp-printed taffeta or chiné, mainly made in France from the century onwards, is sometimes called pompadour taffeta after Madame de Pompadour. Today most raw silk taffeta is produced in India and Pakistan, there, even in the modern period, handlooms were long widely used, but since the 1990s it has been produced on mechanical looms in the Bangalore area. From the 1970s until the 1990s, the Jiangsu province of China produced fine silk taffetas, these were less flexible than those from Indian mills, however, which continue to dominate production. Other countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East also produce silk taffeta, the most deluxe taffetas, however, are still woven in France, Italy, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Taffeta has seen use for other than clothing fabric, including the following, On November 4,1782, taffeta was used by Joseph Montgolfier of France to construct a small. This was the beginning of many experiments using taffeta balloons by the Montgolfier brothers, synthetic fibre forms of taffeta have been used to simulate the structure of blood vessels. Quote from the movie Young Frankenstein when Elizabeth and Frederick were saying goodbye to each other at the station, Elizabeth, Taffeta. New York, Fairchild Publishing Company,1915, p.184 Google Books edition of Dictionary of Textiles
34.
French fashion
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France is a leading country in the fashion design industry, along with Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States. Fashion is an important part of the cultural life and society. Haute couture and the prêt-à-porter, among other styles, remain part of French traditional life. French design became prominent during the 15th century through today, the fashion industry has been an important cultural export of France since the 17th century and the modern haute couture where originated in the 1860s. Paris acts as the center of the fashion industry. Along with New York City, London and Milan, it is considered a fashion capital. Paris is home to many fashion designers including Chanel, Pierre Cardin, Céline, Chloe, Dior, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Hermès, Lanvin, Rochas, Vuitton. Many French cities, including Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Lille, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Nantes and Rennes, host important luxury districts, in recent centuries, these cities have transformed into developed cities and are heavy producers and costumers of luxury goods. Over his lifetime, Louis commissioned numerous works of art to portray himself, the earliest portrayals of Louis already followed the pictorial conventions of the day in depicting the child king as the majestically royal incarnation of France. This idealisation of the monarch continued in works, which avoided depictions of the effect of the smallpox that Louis contracted in 1647. The depiction of the King in this manner focused on allegorical or mythological attributes, as Louis aged, so too did the manner in which he was depicted. Nonetheless, there was still a disparity between realistic representation and the demands of royal propaganda, Rigauds portrait exemplified the height of royal portraiture in Louiss reign. Although Rigaud crafted a likeness of Louis, the portrait was neither meant as an exercise in realism nor to explore Louiss personal character. Certainly, Rigaud was concerned with detail and depicted the Kings costume with great precision, however, Rigauds intention was to glorify the monarchy. Rigauds original, now housed in the Louvre, was meant as a gift to Louiss grandson. However, Louis was so pleased with the work that he kept the original and that became the first of many copies, both in full and half-length formats, to be made by Rigaud, often with the help of his assistants. The portrait also became a model for French royal and imperial portraiture down to the time of Charles X over a century later, Louis XIV notably introduced one of the most noticeable feature of the mens costume of the time, immense wigs of curled hair. A commonly held belief is that Louis XIV started to wear due to balding
35.
Phylloxera
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These almost microscopic, pale yellow sap-sucking insects, related to aphids, feed on the roots and leaves of grapevines. On Vitis vinifera L. the resulting deformations on roots and secondary infections can girdle roots, gradually cutting off the flow of nutrients. American vine species have evolved to have natural defenses against phylloxera. The roots of the American vines exude a sap that repels the nymph form when it tries to feed from the vine by clogging its mouth. Currently there is no cure for phylloxera and unlike other grape diseases such as powdery or downy mildew, the only successful means of controlling phylloxera has been the grafting of phylloxera resistant American rootstock to more susceptible European vinifera vines. The phylloxera aphid has a complex life-cycle of up to 18 stages, that can be divided into four forms, sexual form, leaf form, root form. The sexual form begins with male and female eggs laid on the underside of young grape leaves, the male and female at this stage lack a digestive system, and once hatched, they mate and then die. Before the female dies, she lays one egg in the bark of the vines trunk. This egg develops into the leaf form and this nymph, the fundatrix, climbs onto a leaf and lays eggs parthenogenetically in a leaf gall that she creates by injecting saliva into the leaf. The nymphs that hatch from these eggs may move to other leaves, in this form they perforate the root to find nourishment, infecting the root with a poisonous secretion that stops it from healing. This poison eventually kills the vine and this nymph reproduces by laying eggs for up to seven more generations each summer. These offspring spread to other roots of the vine, or to the roots of other vines through cracks in the soil, the generation of nymphs that hatch in the autumn hibernate in the roots and emerge next spring when the sap begins to rise. In humid areas, the nymphs develop into the winged form and these nymphs start the cycle again by either staying on the vine to lay male and female eggs on the bottom side of young grape leaves, or flying to an uninfected vine to do the same. In the late 19th century the phylloxera epidemic destroyed most of the vineyards for wine grapes in Europe, phylloxera was introduced to Europe when avid botanists in Victorian England collected specimens of American vines in the 1850s. Because phylloxera is native to North America, the grape species are at least partially resistant. By contrast, the European wine grape Vitis vinifera is very susceptible to the insect, the epidemic devastated vineyards in Britain and then moved to the European mainland, destroying most of the European grape growing industry. In 1863, the first vines began to deteriorate inexplicably in the southern Rhône region of France, the problem spread rapidly across the continent. In France alone, total wine production fell from 84.5 million hectolitres in 1875 to only 23.4 million hectolitres in 1889, some estimates hold that between two-thirds and nine-tenths of all European vineyards were destroyed
36.
Bulgari
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Bulgari is an Italian jewelry and luxury goods brand that produces and markets several product lines including jewelry, watches, fragrances, accessories, and hotels. The name Voulgaris itself contains the root word Βούλγαρ Greek for Bulgarian, furthermore in the companys native Italy the word Bulgari means Bulgarians or people of Bulgarian descent. Sotirios Boulgaris, born in an Aromanian village known as Kalarites began his career as a jeweller in his home village Paramythia, in 1877, he left for Corfu and then Naples. In 1881 he finally moved to Rome, where in 1884 he founded his company, the store in Via Sistina was then replaced by the current flagship store in Via dei Condotti opened in 1905 by Bulgari with the help of his two sons, Costantino and Giorgio. During the Second World War, Costantino Bulgari and his wife Laura hid three Jewish women in their own Roman home and they were strangers to them, the Bulgaris opened their doors out of outrage for the raid of the Roman ghetto in October 1943. For their generous action, on 31 December 2003, they were awarded the title of Righteous among the Nations at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, after Giorgios death in 1966, his son Gianni led the company as co-chief executive with his cousin Marina. As chairman and CEO of Bulgari in the early 1970s, Gianni initiated the internationalization of the company by opening shops in New York, Geneva, Monte-Carlo, for many years the company maintained a showroom in New Yorks The Pierre Hotel. In the late 1970s, Gianni led a complete overhaul of the company, establishing a new watch business, in 1985, Gianni resigned as CEO and in 1987, he left the family business after selling his one-third stake in the company to his brothers Nicola and Paolo. In 1984, Sotirios grandsons Paolo and Nicola Bulgari were named Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the company, trapanis goal to diversify the company was started in the early 1990s with the release of the Bulgari perfume line. Under his tenure the company has established itself as a luxury goods brand recognized throughout the world, in 1995, the company was listed on the Borsa Italiana. The company has seen 150% revenue growth between 1997 and 2003, under the deal, the Bulgari family sold their 50.4 per cent controlling stake in exchange for 3 per cent of LVMH, thereby becoming the second-biggest family shareholder behind the Arnaults in LVMH. The takeover doubled the size of LVMH’s watches and jewellery unit, the acquisition concluded on 4 October 2011 as Bulgari was delisted from the Borsa Italiana. Bulgari opened its first hotel in Milan in 2004, a resort in Bali in 2006, followed by a hotel in London in 2012, in 2011, Bulgari Bali has been chosen by the readers of Smart Travel Asia magazine as number-2 of top places to stay in Asia. Current locations include Milan, London, and Bali with restaurants in Osaka, future locations will include Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, and Moscow. Bulgari jewelry design is distinctive and often imitated, in the 1970s, many of the more expensive Bulgari pieces were characterized by instantly recognizable, bold, architectural designs combining large and weighty gold links with interlocking steel. Bulgari is also famous for colored stones, especially sapphires mixed in unique formats, genuine Bulgari watches have a unique serial number that is registered with the company. Bulgari relies on a network of about 300 stores, located in the most exclusive shopping areas in the world. The largest Bulgari store in the world is the 10-story Bulgari Ginza Tower in Tokyo,940 square meters of floor space, including a restaurant
37.
Prada
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Prada S. p. A. is an Italian luxury fashion house, specializing in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, perfumes and other fashion accessories, founded in 1913 by Mario Prada. The company was started in 1913 by Mario Prada and his brother Martino as a goods shop – Fratelli Prada – in Milan. Initially, the shop sold leather goods and imported English steamer trunks, Mario Prada did not believe that women should have a role in business, and so he prevented female family members from entering into his company. Ironically, Marios son harbored no interest in the business, so it was his daughter Luisa Prada who took the helm of Prada as his successor and her own daughter, Miuccia Prada, joined the company in 1970, eventually taking over for her mother in 1978. Miuccia began making waterproof backpacks out of Pocone and she met Patrizio Bertelli in 1977, an Italian who had begun his own leather goods business at the age of 17, and he joined the company soon after. He advised Miuccia—and she followed the advice—on better decisions for the Prada company and it was his advice to discontinue importing English goods and to change the existing luggage. Miuccia inherited the company in 1978 by which time sales were up to U. S. $450,000, with Bertelli alongside her as business manager, Miuccia was allowed time to implement her creativity in the companys designs. She would go on to incorporate her ideas into the house of Prada that would change it and she released her first set of backpacks and totes in 1979. They were made out of a tough military spec black nylon that her grandfather had used as coverings for steamer trunks. Initial success was not instant, as they were hard to sell due to the lack of advertising and high-prices, next, Miuccia and Bertelli sought out wholesale accounts for the bags in upscale department stores and boutiques worldwide. The next big release was a nylon tote and that same year, the house of Prada began expansion across continental Europe by opening locations in prominent shopping districts within Florence, Paris, Madrid, and New York City. A shoe line was released in 1984. In 1985, Miuccia released the classic Prada handbag that became an overnight sensation, although practical and sturdy, its sleek lines and craftsmanship exuded an offhand aura of luxury that has become the Prada signature. In 1987, Miuccia and Bertelli married, Prada launched its womens ready-to-wear collection in 1989, and the designs came to be known for their dropped waistlines and narrow belts. Pradas popularity skyrocketed when the world took notice of its clean lines, opulent fabrics. The logo for the label was not as obvious a design element as those on bags from other prominent luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and it tried to market its lack of prestigious appeal, including the apparel, was its image of anti-status or reverse snobbery. Pradas originality made it one of the most influential fashion houses, sales were reported at L70 billion, or US$31.7 million, in 1998. Partrizio di Marco took charge of the business in the United States after working for the house in Asia
38.
Gucci
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Gucci is an Italian luxury brand of fashion and leather goods, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by the French holding company Kering. Gucci was founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence in 1921, Gucci is also the biggest-selling Italian brand. Gucci operates about 278 directly operated stores worldwide as of September 2009, in the year 2013, the brand was valued at US$12.1 billion, with sales of US$4.7 billion. In the Forbes Worlds Most Valuable Brands list, Gucci is ranked the 38th most valuable brand, as of January 2015, the creative director is Alessandro Michele. With beginnings at the end of the 19th century, the Gucci company became one of the world’s most successful manufacturers of leather goods, clothing. As an immigrant hotel worker in Paris and later London, young Guccio Gucci was impressed with the luggage he saw urbane guests bring with them. Before leaving, he visited the manufacturer, H. J. Cave & Sons, upon returning to his birthplace of Florence, a city distinguished for high-quality materials and skilled artisans, he established a shop in 1920 that sold fine leather goods with classic styling. Although Gucci organized his workrooms for industrial methods of production, he maintained traditional aspects of fabrication, initially, Gucci employed skilled workers in basic Florentine leather crafts, attentive to finishing. With expansion, machine stitching was a method that supported construction. Together with three of his sons, Aldo Gucci, Vasco Gucci, and Rodolfo Gucci, Gucci expanded the company to include stores in Milan and Rome as well as additional shops in Florence. Guccis stores featured such finely crafted leather accessories as handbags, shoes, the company made handbags of cotton canvas rather than leather during World War II as a result of material shortages. The canvas, however, was distinguished by a signature double-G symbol combined with prominent red, after the war, the Gucci crest, which showed a shield and armored knight surrounded by a ribbon inscribed with the family name, became synonymous with the city of Florence. Aldo and Rodolfo Gucci further expanded the horizons in 1953 by establishing offices in New York City. Film stars and jet-set travelers to Italy during the 1950s and 1960s brought their glamour to Florence, movie stars posed in Guccis clothing, accessories, and footwear for lifestyle magazines around the world, contributing to the company’s growing reputation. Guccis distinctive lines made its products among the most frequently copied in the world in the early 2000s, pigskin, calf, and imported exotic animal skins were subjected to various methods of fabrication. Waterproof canvas and satin were used for evening bags, bamboo was first used to make handbag handles by a process of heating and molding in 1947, and purses made with a shoulder strap and snaffle-bit decoration were introduced in 1960. In 1964 Gucci’s lush butterfly pattern was custom-created for silk foulards, the original Gucci loafer was updated by a distinctive snaffle-bit ornament in 1966, while the Rolls-Royce luggage set was introduced in 1970. Watches, jewelry, ties, and eyewear were then added to the product lines
39.
Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A.
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Salvatore Ferragamo S. p. A. is an Italian luxury goods company, with headquarters in Florence, specializing in shoes, leather goods, and ready-to-wear for men and women. It is the parent company of the Ferragamo Group, the company also licences eyewear and watches. Salvatore Ferragamo emigrated from southern Italy to Boston and then California in 1914 and he opened the Hollywood Boot Shop in 1923, and made shoes for movie stars such as Joan Crawford and Gloria Swanson, as well as for films such as Cecil B. He returned to Italy and set up a shop in Florence in 1927. However, the modern shoemaking company regards 1928 as the date of its foundation, the company flourished after World War II, expanding the workforce to 700 craftsmen producing 350 pairs of hand-made shoes a day. The company is owned by the Ferragamo family, which in November 2006 included Salvatores widow Wanda, five children,23 grandchildren. There is a rule that only 3 members of the family can work at the company, however, as of January 2008, this plan may be on put on hold in the midst of the downturn in the financial market. If the listing on the stock market proceeds, the fund will be directed primarily towards building its positions in China, the company is holding its 80th birthday exhibition in Shanghai. In 2011 the company was listed on the stock exchange, for the fiscal year 2015, Salvatore Ferragamo reported preliminary consolidated revenues of 1,430 million euros. On August 2,2016 Eraldo Poletto was appointed as new CEO of the group, throughout its history, the company has been known for innovative designs and use of materials. Such ingenuity goes back to Salvatores time in California, when he studied anatomy to make shoes which were more comfortable, metal-reinforced stiletto heels were made famous by Marilyn Monroe. The company is known for the ‘Gancini’ decoration, the ‘Vara’ patent ballet pump, the Salvatore bag. It makes also eyewear and watches in partnership with Marchon and Timex Group, Salvatore worked with film stars and celebrities from his earliest days in Hollywood. Clients over the years included Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren and Greta Garbo, as well as Andy Warhol, Grace Mugabe and Diana, the company made Margaret Thatchers famous handbags and for King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck during the coronation on November 6,2008 in Thimpu, Bhutan. Wanda Ferragamo Miletti, has led the group since 1960, when her husband and founder of the company, Salvatore, ferruccio Ferragamo, currently Chairman of the Company. Eraldo Poletto, CEO of Salvatore Ferragamo S. p. A, giovanna Gentile Ferragamo, she is currently Vice President of Salvatore Ferragamo S. p. A. Leonardo Ferragamo, since 2000, he has served as CEO of Palazzo Feroni Finanziaria S. p. A, fulvia Visconti Ferragamo, has run the fashion label’s silk accessories division since the Seventies. She is currently Deputy Chairwoman of Ferragamo Finanziaria S. p. A
40.
Valentino (fashion designer)
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Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, best known as Valentino, is an Italian fashion designer and founder of the Valentino SpA brand and company. His main lines include Valentino, Valentino Garavani, Valentino Roma, Valentino was born in Voghera, in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. Valentino then moved to Paris to pursue this interest with the help of his mother Teresa de Biaggi, there he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. His first choice for an apprenticeship, in Paris, was Jacques Fath and he found an apprenticeship with Jean Dessès where he helped Countess Jacqueline de Ribes sketch her dress ideas. He then joined Guy Laroche for two years, at Jean Dessès, Valentino sketched furiously, between helping with window dressing and greeting clients for the daily 2,30 pm private showings. Most of his sketches were lost. After five years, Valentino left Jean Dessès over an incident about prolonging a vacation in Saint-Tropez that still makes him uncomfortable today, rescued by his friend Guy Laroche, he joined his tiny, tiny fashion house. After discussions with his parents, he decided to return to Italy, in 1960 Valentino left Paris and opened a fashion house in Rome on the posh Via Condotti with the backing of his father and an associate of his. Valentino became known for his red dresses, in the shade that became known in the fashion industry as Valentino red. On 31 July 1960, Valentino met Giancarlo Giammetti at the Café de Paris on the Via Veneto in Rome, one of three children, Giammetti was in his second year of architecture school, living at home with his parents in the haut bourgeois Parioli section of Northern Rome. That day Giammetti gave Valentino a lift home in his Fiat, the day after, Giammetti was to leave for Capri for vacation and, by coincidence, Valentino was also going there, so they met again on the island 10 days later. Giammetti would shortly thereafter abandon the University to become Valentinos business partner, Valentinos international debut took place in 1962 in Florence, the Italian fashion capital of the time. It made such an impression that Kennedy contacted Ms. Schiff to learn the name of the ensembles designer, in September 1964, Valentino was to be in the United States to present a collection of his work at a charity ball at New Yorks Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Mrs. Kennedy ordered six of his haute couture dresses, all in black and white, from then on, she was a devoted client and would become a friend. Valentino would later design the white Valentino Gown worn by Kennedy at her wedding to Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis, in 1966 he moved his shows from Florence to Rome where two years later he produced an all-white collection that became famous for the V logo he designed. 1990 marked the opening of the Accademia Valentino, designed by architect Tommaso Ziffer, the next year, encouraged by their friend Elizabeth Taylor, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti created L. I. F. E. An association for the support of AIDS-related patients, which benefits from the activities of the Accademia Valentino. In 2002, Valentino S. p. A. with revenues of more than $180 million, was sold by HdP to Marzotto Apparel, Maison Valentino is controlled since 2012 by Mayhoola for Investments S. P. C
41.
Audrey Hepburn
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Audrey Hepburn was a British actress, model, dancer and humanitarian. Recognized as a film and fashion icon, Hepburn was active during Hollywoods Golden Age and she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend in Golden Age Hollywood and was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Born in Ixelles, a district of Brussels, Hepburn spent her childhood between Belgium, England and the Netherlands, following minor appearances in several films, Hepburn starred in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi after being spotted by French novelist Colette, on whose work the play was based. She shot to stardom for playing the role in Roman Holiday, for which she was the first actress to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe. The same year Hepburn won a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in Ondine, Hepburn won a record three BAFTA Awards for Best British Actress in a Leading Role. In recognition of her career, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from BAFTA. DeMille Award, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award and the Special Tony Award and she remains one of the few people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards. Hepburn appeared in films as her life went on, devoting much of her later life to UNICEF. She had contributed to the organisation since 1954, then worked in some of the poorest communities of Africa, South America and she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in December 1992. A month later, Hepburn died of cancer at her home in Switzerland at the age of 63. Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston or Edda Kathleen Hepburn-Ruston on 4 May 1929 at number 48 Rue Keyenveld in Ixelles and her father, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, was a British subject born in Auschitz, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary. He was the son of Victor John George Ruston, of British and Austrian descent and Anna Wels, Hepburns mother, Ella van Heemstra, was a Dutch baroness. At age nineteen, Ella had married Jonkheer Hendrik Gustaaf Adolf Quarles van Ufford, an oil based in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. They had two sons, Jonkheer Arnoud Robert Alexander Quarles van Ufford and Jonkheer Ian Edgar Bruce Quarles van Ufford, Hepburns parents were married in Batavia in September 1926. At the time, Ruston worked for a company, but soon after the marriage, the couple relocated to Europe. After a year in London, they moved to Brussels, where he had assigned to open a branch office. After three years spent travelling between Brussels, Arnhem, The Hague and London, the family settled to the suburban Brussels municipality of Linkebeek in 1932, Hepburns early childhood was sheltered and privileged. In the mid-1930s, Hepburns parents recruited and collected donations for the British Union of Fascists, Joseph left the family abruptly in 1935, which Hepburn later professed was the most traumatic event of my life
42.
Grace Kelly
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Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who became Princess of Monaco after marrying Prince Rainier III, in April 1956. In October 1953, she gained stardom from her performance in the film Mogambo, which won her a Golden Globe Award, subsequently, she had leading roles in five films, including The Country Girl, for which her deglamorized performance earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. Kelly retired from acting at the age of 26 to marry Rainier and they had three children, Caroline, Albert II, and Stéphanie. Kelly retained her American roots, maintaining dual U. S. and she died on September 14,1982, a day after suffering a stroke while driving her car, which caused a crash. Kelly was born on November 12,1929, at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to an affluent and influential family. Her father, Irish-American John B. Kelly Sr. had won three Olympic gold medals for sculling and owned a successful brickwork contracting company that was well-known on the East Coast. A registered Democrat, he was nominated to be mayor of Philadelphia for the 1935 election, in later years, he served on the Fairmount Park Commission and, during World War II, was appointed by President Roosevelt as National Director of Physical Fitness. Kellys mother was Philadelphia native Margaret Katherine Majer, the daughter of German immigrants, Margaret had taught physical education at the University of Pennsylvania and had been the first woman to coach womens athletics at the institution. She was noted for her beauty and modeled for a time in her youth, after marrying John B. Kelly in 1924, Margaret focused on being a housewife until all her children were of school age, following which she began actively participating in various civic organizations. Kelly had two siblings, Margaret and John Jr. and a younger sister, Elizabeth. The children were raised in the Roman Catholic faith, while attending Ravenhill Academy, a prestigious Catholic girls school, Kelly modeled fashions at local social events with her mother and sisters. In 1942, at the age of 12, she played the lead in Dont Feed the Animals, before graduating in May 1947 from Stevens School, a socially prominent private institution on Walnut Lane in the Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood of Germantown, she acted and danced. Her graduation yearbook listed her favorite actress as Ingrid Bergman and her favorite actor as Joseph Cotten, written in the Stevens Prophecy section was, Miss Grace P. Kelly – a famous star of stage and screen. Owing to her low mathematics scores, Kelly was rejected by Bennington College in July 1947, despite her parents initial disapproval, Kelly decided to pursue her dreams of being an actress. John was particularly displeased with her decision, he viewed acting as a cut above streetwalker. To start her career, she auditioned for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, although the school had already met its semester quota, she obtained an interview with the admission officer, Emile Diestel, and was admitted through the influence of George. She began her first term the following October, while at school, she lived in Manhattans Barbizon Hotel for Women, a prestigious establishment which barred men from entering after 10 pm, and she worked as a model to support her studies. Kelly worked diligently and practiced her speech by using a tape recorder and her early acting pursuits led her to the stage, most notably a Broadway debut in Strindbergs The Father alongside Raymond Massey
43.
Peter Sellers
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Peter Sellers, CBE was an English film actor, comedian and singer. Born in Portsmouth, Sellers made his debut at the Kings Theatre, Southsea. He began accompanying his parents in a variety act that toured the provincial theatres and he first worked as a drummer and toured around England as a member of the Entertainments National Service Association. He developed his mimicry and improvisational skills during a spell in Ralph Readers wartime Gang Show entertainment troupe, which toured Britain, after the war, Sellers made his radio debut in ShowTime, and eventually became a regular performer on various BBC radio shows. During the early 1950s, Sellers, along with Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine, took part in the radio series The Goon Show. Sellers began his career during the 1950s. Although the bulk of his work was comedic, often parodying characters of authority such as officers or policemen. Films demonstrating his artistic range include Im All Right Jack, Stanley Kubricks Lolita and Dr. Strangelove, Whats New, Casino Royale, The Party, Being There and the five films of the Pink Panther series. Satire and black humour were major features of many of his films and he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role twice, for Im All Right Jack and for the original Pink Panther film, The Pink Panther and was nominated as Best Actor three times. In 1980 he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role in Being There, turner Classic Movies calls Sellers one of the most accomplished comic actors of the late 20th century. In his personal life, Sellers struggled with depression and insecurities, an enigmatic figure, he often claimed to have no identity outside the roles that he played. Sellers was married four times, and had three children from his first two marriages and he died as a result of a heart attack in 1980, aged 54. English filmmakers the Boulting brothers described Sellers as the greatest comic genius this country has produced since Charles Chaplin, Sellers was born on 8 September 1925, in Southsea, a suburb of Portsmouth. His parents were Yorkshire-born William Bill Sellers and Agnes Doreen Peg, both were variety entertainers, Peg was in the Ray Sisters troupe. Although christened Richard Henry, his parents called him Peter, after his elder stillborn brother, Peg Sellers was related to the pugilist Daniel Mendoza, whom Sellers greatly revered, and whose engraving later hung in his office. At one time Sellers planned to use Mendozas image for his companys logo. The family constantly toured, causing much upheaval and unhappiness in the young Sellerss life, Sellers maintained a very close relationship with his mother, which his friend Spike Milligan later considered unhealthy for a grown man. As an only child though, he spent much time alone, in 1935 the Sellers family moved to North London and settled in Muswell Hill
44.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
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Jacqueline Lee Jackie Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and First Lady of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Bouvier was the daughter of Wall Street stockbroker John Vernou Bouvier III. In 1951, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French literature from George Washington University, in 1952, Bouvier met Congressman John F. Kennedy at a dinner party. In November of that year, he was elected as a United States Senator from Massachusetts, and they had four children, two of whom died in infancy. As First Lady, she was known for her highly publicized restoration of the White House and her emphasis on arts, on November 22,1963, she was riding with the President in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, when he was assassinated. She and her children withdrew from view after his funeral. Following her second death in 1975, she had a career as a book editor for the final two decades of her life. She is remembered for her contributions to the arts and preservation of historic architecture, as well as for her style, elegance. She was an icon, and her famous ensemble of pink Chanel suit. She ranks as one of the most popular First Ladies and in 1999 was named on Gallups list of Most Admired Men and Women in 20th-century America. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on July 28,1929, at Southampton Hospital in Southampton, New York, to Wall Street stockbroker John Vernou Black Jack Bouvier III, Bouviers mother was of Irish descent, and her father had French, Scottish, and English ancestry. Named after her father, Bouvier was baptized at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in Manhattan and her younger sister Lee was born in 1933. Bouvier spent her childhood years in Manhattan and at Lasata. She idolized her father, who favored her over her sister. From an early age, Bouvier was an equestrienne and successfully competed in the sport. She also took lessons, was an avid reader, and excelled at learning languages. Bouvier enrolled in the Chapin School in Manhattan in 1935, which she attended for grades 1–6. She was a student but often misbehaved, one of her teachers described her as a darling child, the prettiest little girl, very clever, very artistic
45.
First Lady
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First Lady is an unofficial title used for the wife or hostess of a non-monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is used to describe a woman seen to be at the top of her profession or art. Collectively, the President of the United States and his spouse are known as the First Couple and, if they have children, they are usually referred to as the First Family. The term is used, primarily in the U. S. to refer to the spouse of other non-monarchical heads of state. Some other countries have a title, formal or informal, that is or can be translated as first lady, the title is not normally used for the wife of a head of government who is not also head of state. The term in the United States is also used to refer to wives of governors and, less formally, to wives of college and it has even been used in reference to female spouses of men who were chairmen of major corporations. While there has never been a spouse of a U. S. President. First Gentleman is the equivalent of the title in countries where the head of states husband has been a man. The designation First Lady seems to have originated in the United States, in the early days of the United States, there was no generally accepted title for the wife of the president. Many early first ladies expressed their own preference for how they were addressed, indulging in no indolence, she left the pillow at dawn, and after breakfast, retired to her chamber for an hour for the study of the scriptures and devotion. However, the term first lady would not come into use until the late 1800s. Harriet Lane, niece of bachelor President James Buchanan, was the first woman to be called first lady while actually serving in that position. The phrase appeared in Frank Leslies Illustrated Monthly in 1860, when he wrote, The Lady of the White House, and by courtesy, once Harriet Lane was called first lady, the term was applied retrospectively to her predecessors. The title first gained recognition in 1877, when Mary C. Ames wrote an article in the New York City newspaper The Independent describing the inauguration of President Rutherford B and she used the term to describe his wife, Lucy Webb Hayes. The current First Lady of the United States is Melania Trump, the entire family of the head of state may be known familiarly as the First Family. The spouse of the second-in-command may be known as the Second Lady, less frequently, the family would be known as the Second Family. The spouse of the governor of a U. S. state is referred to as the First Lady or First Gentleman of that state
46.
Aristotle Onassis
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Onassis was born in Smyrna and fled the city with his family to Greece in 1922 in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War. He moved to Argentina in 1923 and established himself as a trader and later a shipping owner during the Second World War. In the 1960s Onassis attempted to establish an investment contract, Project Omega, with the Greek military junta. Onassis was greatly affected by the death of his 24-year-old son, Alexander, in a crash in 1973. Onassis was born in Karataş, a suburb of the city of Smyrna in Anatolia to Socrates. Onassis had one full-sister, Artemis, and two half-sisters, Kalliroi and Merope, by his fathers second marriage following Penelopes death, Onassis became a successful shipping entrepreneur and was able to send his children to prestigious schools. When Aristotle Onassis graduated from the local Evangelical Greek School at the age of 16, he spoke four languages, Greek, Turkish, Spanish, and English. Smyrna was briefly administered by Greece in the aftermath of the Allied victory in World War I, the Onassis familys substantial property holdings were lost, causing them to become refugees fleeing to Greece after the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922. He went into business for himself and made a fortune importing tobacco to Argentina and he obtained the Argentine citizenship in 1929. Eventually he relocated to New York where he built up his shipping businesses, Onassis built up a fleet of freighters and tankers that eventually exceeded seventy vessels. Onassiss fleet had Panamanian flags and sailed tax-free while operating at low cost, because of this, Onassis could turn a profit in every transaction, even though he charged one of the lowest prices in the merchant navy market. Onassis moved his headquarters into the Old Sporting Club on Monacos Avenue dOstende shortly after taking control of the SBM. The SBM was a significant owner of property in Monaco, its assets included the Monte Carlo Casino, the Monaco Yacht Club, the Hôtel de Paris, Onassis and Rainier had differing visions for Monaco. Onassis wished the country to remain a resort for an exclusive clientele, Monaco had become less attractive as a tax haven in the wake of Frances actions, and Rainier urged Onassis to invest in the construction of hotels. Onassis was reluctant to invest in hotels without a guarantee from Rainier that no other competing hotel development would be permitted, but promised to build two hotels and an apartment block. Unwilling to give Onassis his guarantee, Rainier used his veto to cancel the entire hotel project, in the Supreme Court of Monaco the share creation was challenged by Onassis who claimed that it was unconstitutional, but the court found against him in March 1967. Following the ruling Onassis sold his holdings in SBM to the state of Monaco for $9.5 million, according to Frank Brady in Onassis, An Extravagant Life, Onassiss words about the issue were, We were gypped. During the oil boom of the 1950s Onassis was in discussions with the King of Saudi Arabia for securing a tanker transport deal
47.
Fashion capital
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It has also been noted that the status of a fashion capital has become increasingly linked to a citys domestic and international profile. Fashion capitals are also likely be part of a wider design scene, with schools, fashion magazines. Often the term capital is used to describe the cities that hold fashion weeks, most prominently Paris, Milan, London and New York. Also various other cities host notable fashion events and are influential in global fashion, historically, several cities have been, in turn, fashion capitals. Progressing into the century, with influence of the English Royal Court. Similarly, due to the power of Spain at the period, in the 17th century, as the Renaissance started to fade away, with the power of the French court under Louis XIV, Paris established itself as Europes main fashion centre. During the 19th century, with the powerful British Empire and a young Queen Victoria on the throne, during the Golden Twenties, Berlin was considered the vanguard fashion capital. During the 1950s Italy rose in prominence again, florence re-emerged as a leading city in fashion, although focus shifted to Milan from the 1970s on as leading design houses moved to the city. The fashion was radically different in both its use of textiles and in the way designers cut and draped, more recently, new fashion hubs have emerged worldwide, and the old order has faced challenges from all corners of the globe, including Africa, Australasia and South America. Since 2007, Berlin has again been highlighted as an important centre for global fashion trends. An annual ranking of the fashion capitals is produced by Global Language Monitor. The 2016 top-fifty six fashion capitals, according to its rankings, are listed below, fashion week, for a partial list of cities with fashion weeks
48.
Versace
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Gianni Versace S. p. A. usually referred to as Versace, is an Italian luxury fashion company and trade name founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The Versace logo is the head of Medusa, a Greek mythological figure, the logo came from the floor of ruins in Rome that the Versace siblings played in as children. Gianni Versace chose Medusa as the logo because she made people fall in love with her and he hoped his company would have the same effect on people. The Versace brand is known for having flashy prints and bright colors, in 1972, Gianni Versace designed his first collections for Callaghan, Genny, and Complice. In 1978, the company launched under the name Gianni Versace Donna, the first Versace boutique was opened in Milans Via della Spiga in 1978. Versace was one of the few independent designers who was in control of everything about the brand, in 1982, the company expanded into the accessory, jewelry, home furnishing, and china industries. In 1993, Donatella Versace created the Young Versace line as well as Versus, in 1994, the brand gained widespread international coverage due to the Black Versace dress of Elizabeth Hurley, referred to at the time as that dress. Versace was often described as the Rock n Roll designer because they designed for many clients, including Elton John, Michael Jackson. Versace designed the costumes and album cover costumes for Elton John in 1992. Versace has also designed clothing for the Princess of Wales and Princess Caroline of Monaco, the Versace company is known for using the same models in their ads as they do on the runway. After the murder of Gianni Versace in 1997, his sister Donatella Versace, formerly vice-president, took over as creative director, donatellas daughter Allegra Versace was left a 50 percent stake in the company, which she assumed control of on her eighteenth birthday. The companys profits were in decline in the early 2000s, Fabio Massimo Cacciatori was hired as interim CEO to reorganise, Cacciatori resigned in December 2003 due to disputes with the Versace family. From 2004 Giancarlo di Risio, from IT Holding, was CEO of the group until his resignation in 2009 due to disagreements with Donatella, since July 2009, Gian Giacomo Ferraris, previously of Jil Sander, has operated as CEO for the group. In February 2014 The Blackstone Group purchased a 20 percent stake in Versace for 210 million €, as of August 2013, more than 80 boutiques operate worldwide, the first boutique outside of Italy was opened in Glasgow, Scotland in 1991. In 2006, Gianni Versace S. p. A. entered into a partnership with Automobili Lamborghini S. p. A. to produce the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 VERSACE, the car had a Versace white satin interior with the Versace logo embroidered into the seats. The car was available in black and white, there were only ten units produced. The car was sold with a luggage set, luxury driving shoes. The Versace company teamed up with AgustaWestland in 2008 to create the AgustaWestland AW109 Grand Versace VIP luxury helicopter, the helicopter includes Versace leather interior and a design on the outside
