Corone e berretti, drappi e mantelli, perle e fazzoletti. Per una nuova classificazione dell’accessoristica fiabesca fra storia, moda e infanzia

Abstract

Though they were not conceived or created for children, fairytales have always succeeded in striking a chord with the world of childhood ever since the dawn of civilization. Their sturdy animism certainly facilitated this process of attraction, with their talking animals, wonderful clothes, and magical objects. The items that cover, protect and adorn the bodies of the characters have a very special place in fairytales. They reveal the qualities of our heroes or heroines, the social sphere to which they belong, and their standing. But these objects can also carry symbolic messages that tell us a great deal more about the characters too, the privileges they enjoy, the powers they represent, and the dramas they experience. The present contribution analyzes the clothing and accessories appearing in a sizeable body of classical and contemporary illustrated fairytales. We hypothesize a novel approach to classifying these objects based on correlating the functionality of an accessory with its position on the character’s body. This analysis leads us to suggest several intriguing research hypotheses concerning the symbolic bonds between fashion, fable and childhood, and the possible references between the clothing and accessories of fairytales, historical-cultural developments, the political landscape, and fashions of the time.