I firmly believe the best book around for costume design students is Umberto Tirelli’s Vestire i Sogni (literally, "Dressing Dreams", though I don’t think the book was ever translated into English, which is a total shame...).
The biography of the owner of one of the most famous Italian tailoring houses working for the opera, film and theatre industries is indeed a compelling read, full of anecdotes about fashion, costume design, tailoring, theatre and cinema.
I own a battered copy of this title, though I also have a few photocopied versions of the book in case the original battered copy dissolves, yet a while back I saw at an antiquarian market in Italy an almost new copy of this volume.
A little sticker said it was signed and I was sure I would have found inside the signature of its co-author, Guido Vergani.
Instead, upon opening it, I found a huge surprise: inside there was a message by Umberto Tirelli himself that said: “Roma, '81-'82 - Cara Maria, quando ho scritto questo libro ho pensato che in fondo di univa ancor di più e sono sicuro che questo è vero. Le voglio tanto bene, Umberto. (Rome, ’81-’82 - Dear Maria, when I wrote this book I thought that it united us even more. Now I’m sure this is true. I love you very much, Umberto).”
An additional note attached to the book with a paper clip said: “Il lavoro di Milano era eccellente e come sempre di prima qualità (The job you did in Milan was excellent and as usual first class).”
I think that Maria, the woman Tirelli dedicated this copy of the book to, may be costume designer Maria De Matteis, and the Milan job Tirelli mentioned was probably the TV film dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi directed by Renato Castellani. If my theory is right, this volume is a true gem since it contains in its pages a bit of history of Italian costume design.
I must admit that, at €15, the book was rather cheap, though I must confess I got it for slightly less, because I always try to get a bargain (€13 to be precise, with thanks to my brother for lending me a couple of Euros…).
I guess that if you aren’t into film, fashion and costume design, this volume may not be of any value to you, but if you know Tirelli’s story, you’ll agree with me this is a very special find.
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