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Shover, Edna Mann / Art in costume design: practical suggestions for those interested in art, sewing, history and literature
(1920)
Chapter IX: The Renaissance, pp. [121]-137
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Page [121]
CHEAPTER IX. THE RENAISSANCE "Costly thy habit as tby purse can buy, But not expressed in fancy; Rich not gaudy; for the apparel oft proclaims the man"-Sbakespeare. The great revival of learning and of art came at the beginning of the fifteenth century and the style, from that time to the modern, has been called the Renaissance. While Shakespeare was producing the wonderful dramas which were to make the name of England live forever; while the artists Michael Angelo and Raphael were painting the Sistine Madonna and the magnificent frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in Italy; the rulers and the women of France were engaged in creating or encouraging the making of designs and new fashions in garments and household decorations. So extensive were the plans, and so artfully were the ideas executed, that the designers of the nineteenth century were confronted with the popular opinion that there was "nothing new under the sun." It may be truly said that during the Renaissance, Paris selected from all previous ages the designs which best suited her fastidious people, wove these in with her own ideas, and planned the fashions for all the world for more than two centuries to come. The Parisian people were quick to adopt new styles. They loved variety and their daring combinations of color, and their fantastic shapes and oddities in dress have won for them the scepter of the world of fashion. They were not afraid to try new things nor did they care for expense, for their appearance was of great importance; how to make a good impression and how to be pleasing in manner were most essential. So clever were both the men and the women of Paris in their style of dress, so charming in their way of entertaining, that to the present time the very word "Parisian" has been enough to turn woman's heart cold with envy.
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