Moda a Firenze ...

I live! And yes, before you ask, I did finish my Darkfest fic, though I suspect I will be annoying the world's most patient mod by sending off a slightly revised ending before today is out, now that I have slept a little.

Since arriving in Italy I have seen more fashion from more time periods, than anyone in their right mind really needs. I have been inspired, annoyed, amazed and am now filled with twin desires to go home and begin sewing experimental clothing and to go home and write airport novels to pay for cultural heritage in Italy.

The annoyance has mostly been from seeing closely how yet another government expects to reap all the benefits of cultural tourism without giving any support to it. Italy has a thriving economy, but such entrenched levels of corruption and nepotism at the higher levels that the government is unable to fund essential services well, let alone historical conservation and interpretation.

The end result has been that I have been making lists of trashy Philippa Gregory-style novels that I can write to sell for loads of cash and use the money to help support some of the conservators work that is desperate for cash. Or the Stibbert Museum ...

The conference was BRILLIANT. One dud speaker from the whole lot. I have about 100 pages of notes, hundreds of photos and an absurd desire to do a degree in fashion history. Garments that I had a passing acquaintance with now feel like old friends and new ways of reading grave clothes are now immediately apparent.  Also, new ways of publishing reports on grave clothes so that scholars who are not able to visit them can gain the maximum information.

We discovered that the reason all Italian conservators are so slender is that no lab comes without 60 stairs (Oh! My aching knees!) and realised that Janet Arnold was a one-woman linchpin for a whole textile world, as so many disparate people loved working with her or were inspired by her work.

As part of the proceedings we had access to some of the Medici apartments that are normally off limits, including the washing room, with a ceiling of girls cleaning their hair and linens, my friend whispered that they would have laughed to see us all skip blithely past gold-encrusted jewels of ceilings, only to stand gaping and frantically sketching at their laundry scenes.

And we were allowed to rampage through the Stibbert Museum with its insane late-Victorian collecting ethos (I need one of those. Oh, bugger it, I need 50 of those ...) It had items I have never seen before in very good condition despite the fact they clearly have a budget of about three euro per annum. And the grounds were absolutely delicious. If you have any interest in the decorative arts or, more essentially, in armour and Eastern items, I thoroughly recommend the trip. And if limpy old me can walk up that hill with several aged dress historians, you can, too!

Must get dressed and find some food now, it's 10.30 and I have been faffing about since 8.45. I moved to a new hotel yesterday, and it is nowhere near as nice as my old one, though still perfectly serviceable and in the centre of things. I think that I will like it more once I dress and tell them the loo has no water for flushing, I just turned the bin into a bucket this morning, which worked perfectly, but I should probably find a more permanent solution ...

Moda a Firenze ...

I live! And yes, before you ask, I did finish my Darkfest fic, though I suspect I will be annoying the world's most patient mod by sending off a slightly revised ending before today is out, now that I have slept a little.

Since arriving in Italy I have seen more fashion from more time periods, than anyone in their right mind really needs. I have been inspired, annoyed, amazed and am now filled with twin desires to go home and begin sewing experimental clothing and to go home and write airport novels to pay for cultural heritage in Italy.

The annoyance has mostly been from seeing closely how yet another government expects to reap all the benefits of cultural tourism without giving any support to it. Italy has a thriving economy, but such entrenched levels of corruption and nepotism at the higher levels that the government is unable to fund essential services well, let alone historical conservation and interpretation.

The end result has been that I have been making lists of trashy Philippa Gregory-style novels that I can write to sell for loads of cash and use the money to help support some of the conservators work that is desperate for cash. Or the Stibbert Museum ...

The conference was BRILLIANT. One dud speaker from the whole lot. I have about 100 pages of notes, hundreds of photos and an absurd desire to do a degree in fashion history. Garments that I had a passing acquaintance with now feel like old friends and new ways of reading grave clothes are now immediately apparent.  Also, new ways of publishing reports on grave clothes so that scholars who are not able to visit them can gain the maximum information.

We discovered that the reason all Italian conservators are so slender is that no lab comes without 60 stairs (Oh! My aching knees!) and realised that Janet Arnold was a one-woman linchpin for a whole textile world, as so many disparate people loved working with her or were inspired by her work.

As part of the proceedings we had access to some of the Medici apartments that are normally off limits, including the washing room, with a ceiling of girls cleaning their hair and linens, my friend whispered that they would have laughed to see us all skip blithely past gold-encrusted jewels of ceilings, only to stand gaping and frantically sketching at their laundry scenes.

And we were allowed to rampage through the Stibbert Museum with its insane late-Victorian collecting ethos (I need one of those. Oh, bugger it, I need 50 of those ...) It had items I have never seen before in very good condition despite the fact they clearly have a budget of about three euro per annum. And the grounds were absolutely delicious. If you have any interest in the decorative arts or, more essentially, in armour and Eastern items, I thoroughly recommend the trip. And if limpy old me can walk up that hill with several aged dress historians, you can, too!

Must get dressed and find some food now, it's 10.30 and I have been faffing about since 8.45. I moved to a new hotel yesterday, and it is nowhere near as nice as my old one, though still perfectly serviceable and in the centre of things. I think that I will like it more once I dress and tell them the loo has no water for flushing, I just turned the bin into a bucket this morning, which worked perfectly, but I should probably find a more permanent solution ...