I started being curious about vintage fashion the day I opened my grandmother’s wardrobe and realised that half her outfits were replicas of Dolce&Gabbana originals.
My grandmother copying D&G??
Well, as she was 83 and had no idea who Stefano and Domenico were, it did seem a little strange.
Looking back at past Dolce ad campaigns and seeing the corset dresses, the gangster pinstripes, the little black suits, headscarves and rosary beads, immortalised by the likes of Ferdinando Scianna and Oscar winner Giuseppe Tornatore in Sicilian settings, I got my answer.
It wasn’t my Gran copying Dolce&Gabbana… but incredibly the Fabulous Duo were copying my Gran! Her and every other Mediterranean woman (and man) of her time.
Domenico Dolce, being Sicilian, took ideas from his mother’s and grandmother’s wardrobe, altered the lines to make them more modern.. and the Sexy, Mediterranean , Dolce woman was born. Their muse being cinema icons like Anna Magnani and Silvana Mangano.
Often we are shown a different Dolce girl, dressed in PVC or pijamas (!) for want of change and newness. But the smouldering, sexy Sicilian girl of the past can be traced in the cut of the skirt or the retro bra showing above the plastic dress. New incarnations of dark eyed 'molto sexy' widows are reinvented time after time - even if it means with an added metal padlocked corset belt.
But why have a replica when you can have the real McCoy?
My grandmother handed me down her “Dolce” wardrobe and when I wear her pieces I flashback to a small Sicilian village on a Sunday morning walking through the main piazza, passing “picciotti” in flatcaps, on my way to church.
Photo by Ferdinando Scianna
