ABSTRACT
The third chapter, divided in two parts, brings a micro-historical lens to the activities of some rigattieri. The first part notes the spatial location of the shops and their ownership and licenses. In the second part, it shows how possibly the strongest motivation behind the need for used clothing was found in the stable presence in the consumer market of many wage workers with limited financial resources. It is also true that the second-hand dealers widened and diversified their supplies, offering consumers new products and solutions for clothing that were more economical than in the past. In this regard, this section of the chapter examines the direct testimony of a wage earner, a donzello of the Guelph Party, Piero di Francesco from Vicchio, already the subject of some of the author’s previous research, who supplied his and his family’s wardrobe by recurrent purchases at various Florentine second-hand dealers. Looking still at the sides of supply and demand, it also discusses the case of the purchases made by the Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence at second-hand dealers to clothe its boys and girls.
