We've been in space for the last two posts, exploring foldable geometries. Now, let's come back to Earth and look at flattened, intarsia geometries or printed geometries. Where will we be looking for them? Well, we glanced at the future with space, so let's take a step back to the past by leafing through the pages of the Italian vintage magazine Cordelia.
The Italian weekly was founded in Florence by Angelo De Gubernatis in 1881 with the intent of educating young girls, especially those from bourgeois Italian families who had the opportunity to study or had completed their studies. De Gubernatis directed it until 1884, then Ida Baccini, one of his collaborators, became the editor. Baccini focused on the magazine's moral intent, promoting education and family values through its pages. For this reason she was awarded the gold medal by the Ministry of Education in 1890.
After her death in 1911, the magazine was directed by her collaborator, Marchesa Maria Majocchi Plattis, better known to Cordelia readers as "Jolanda" (author of women's fiction) until 1916, when the editorial direction was taken over by Rina Maria Pierazzi, who in 1935 passed the baton to Elena Morozzo della Rocca.
The magazine was characterized by Art Nouveau covers. Though most of its features focused on culture, education, family, domestic order, and modesty, it occasionally included notes on fashion. As the years passed, it gradually lost its pedagogical purpose and featured more lifestyle content.
The May 1931 issue, for example, included two pages titled "Spunti di moda e consigli utili" (Fashion Tips and Useful Advice), offering ideas for V-neck sleeveless knitted woolen sweaters, scarves/handkerchiefs, and a cushion featuring a sort of interlocking appliqué motif.
While the motif for the cushion was slightly more conventional since it was based on rectangles, the scarves/handkerchiefs and tops displayed patterns echoing the bold, dynamic geometries, sharp angles, fragmented forms and broken lines embodying the spirit of Italian Futurism or the compositions of Sonia Delaunay.
The magazine suggested these color combinations for the tops: red, white, and black; green, white, and black; sky blue, white, and blue; and sky blue, turquoise, and blue. For the cushions, the recommended colors were green, white, and black; red, blue, and white; or blue, pink, and yellow. For the scarves, the magazine stated they should be made using the "datick" technique, probably a spelling mistake for "batik". No detailed knitting patterns or instructions were included, so readers had to be inventive, creative, and, well, rather skilled.
An extra note: the sketches for these fashion ideas were by Umberto Onorato (1898-1967), an Italian illustrator, costume, and set designer well-known for his caricatures of famous film stars. So which of these designs from 1931 is your favorite and which one would you try to recreate?
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