If we are being honest this comedy-drama set in a costume atelier in 1970s Rome is a little light on the comedy, while the drama is decidedly on the melo end of the scale, even a bit absurd at times. But there’s something about it that is irresistible, especially if you are in any way sympathetic to queer-accented celebrations of women played by powerhouse ensembles in the spirit of George Cukor’s The Women, François Ozon’s 8 Women, or Pedro Almodóvar films. You will also have a ball if you like luscious-looking period costumes – this one is completely awash in them, specialising in 18th-century silhouettes and 1970s prints – with lust-inducing shots of bolts of silk fabric billowing out in slanting sunlight; as well as the haberdashery porn of carefully categorised button collections; and the camaraderie of collective craftsmanship, especially seamwork. To add to the list there is mouthwatering footage of food, scenes where women bicker one minute and then hug it out the next in sisterly fashion; the occasional studly male who walks cluelessly through the action to either be ogled or provide a baritone or tenor voice for a communal singsong to vintage 70s Italian ballads.
