Translating History of Fashion on Screen : A study of Piero Tosi’s costumes in Senso and their power of divulgation as historiophoty

Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that historical costumes can be a valid tool to crystallize and disseminate visual knowledge about fashion and dress history. In the specific, this thesis argues that the screen representation of dress and fashion of the 1860s in the adaptation Senso (1954) provides an evocative contextualization of their past use and meaning for modern viewers. It also discusses the historical accuracy attained by one of the film’s costume designers, Piero Tosi, and his mediation between on-page story and reality. To do this, it visually and textually compares the film costumes, diverse historical documentation and the original novel the film is based on. This analysis is supported by an interdisciplinary theoretical framework: by postmodern history with the concept of historiophoty; by literature and adaptation studies with Genette’s palimpsests and Eco’s reflections on intersemiotic translation; and by costume studies and practitioners with the idea of historical accuracy as a progressive scale and costume as supporting the narrative and balancing the frame.