#pianelle

Imported fabrics and rich textiles demonstrated wealth, but not always nobility. More than one complaint was raised against Venetian courtesans for dressing like ‘ladies’, and visitors remarked that they could not tell the courtesans from respectable women. This was because both categories of women wore similar low-cut dresses and high shoes (pianelle).

image: Velvet, wood and leather pianelle with gilded silver braid and bobbin lace, Venice, Italy, about 1600.