Gallery of Costume, Fashion museum in Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy
The Gallery of Costume is a fashion museum within Pitti Palace that houses approximately 6,000 garments and accessories from the 16th through 20th centuries. The collection occupies the Palazzina della Meridiana building and documents how clothing styles and construction methods evolved across multiple historical periods.
The museum opened in 1983 with a founding collection that included funeral garments from 16th-century Medici rulers such as Grand Duke Cosimo I and Eleanor of Toledo. Over time, the collection expanded to encompass clothing and accessories spanning four centuries of European fashion history.
The collection reveals how people from different time periods valued clothing and expressed themselves through what they wore. By looking at the garments on display, you can see how craftsmanship and taste changed across centuries and social classes.
The museum is open most days of the week and is fully accessible by wheelchair throughout the building. Visitors can move at their own pace through the galleries and take as much time as they wish to examine the clothing on display.
The collection includes a reconstructed dress based on the famous portrait of Eleanor of Toledo painted by Bronzino, showing what the original garment may have looked like. The recreation helps visitors understand the luxury and complexity of Renaissance wedding clothing through a wearable example.
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