The fringed robes, luxurious cioppe, cloths embroidered with a profusion of pearls, curious hairstyles, the choice of fabrics and their colour, were not mere aesthetic whims, but symbols of a search for identity and affirmation in a context where the formal aspect conveyed messages of power... Fashion thus became a language in its own right. A code through which to reread and understand the mechanisms of a dynamic, competitive society, in which women had become real living standard-bearers of family status in conjunction with a constant striving to assert themselves. In this way, Renaissance fashion represented a complex connective tissue that bound together the individual, society, and history.