Carabinieri Couture

Twirling their capes on Rome’s Spanish Steps, models along with designer Rocco Barocco showed off the carabinieri military police’s first uniform redesign since 1814, a high-heeled makeover for women’s entry to Italy’s armed forces. Barocco included such alterations as holsters that skim the hips. Italy in September became one of the last countries in Western Europe to accept female volunteers in the military, but they remain exempt from conscription. Italy’s military academies are saving 250 slots for women in their next classes, and applications already outnumber those of men for some schools.