Fashion and masculinity in Renaissance Florence Dress became a testing ground for masculine ideals in Renaissance Italy. With the establishment of the ducal regime in Florence in 1530 there was increasing debate about how to be a nobleman. Was fashionable clothing a sign of magnificence or a source of mockery Was the graceful courtier virile or effeminate How could a man dress for court without bankrupting himself This book explores the whole story of clothing from the tailors workshop to spectacular court festivities to show how the male nobility in one of Italys main textile production centres used their appearances to project social sexual and professional identities. Sixteenth century male fashion is often associated with swagger and ostentation but this book shows that Florentine clothing reflected manhood at a much deeper level communicating a very Italian spectrum of male virtues and vices from honour courage and restraint to luxury and excess. Situating dress at the heart of identity formation Currie traces these codes through an array of sources including unpublished archival records surviving garments portraiture poetry and personal correspondence between the Medici and their courtiers. Addressing important themes such as gender politics and consumption Fashion and Masculinity in Renaissance Florence sheds fresh light on the sartorial culture of the Florentine court and Italy as a whole Machine generated contents note: Introduction Part 1 Fashioning the Medici Court Chapter 1 The Court on Show Chapter 2 The Rise and Fall of the Florentine Toga Part 2 The Courtier as Consumer Chapter 3 The Noble Art of Shopping Chapter 4 Ruinous Appearances Part 3 Modes of Masculinity Chapter 5 The Versatility of Black Chapter 6 Youth Fashion and Desire Chapter 7 Festive Dress Conclusion Bibliography Index