Dress for success in the Rome of Ron Howard’s ‘Angels and Demons’

Can’t make it to Rome this spring, even though you’re dying to visit St. Peter’s Square and the Pantheon?

Then go see “Angels & Demons,” the new Ron Howard thriller based on the book by Dan Brown in theaters May 15 and stars Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor. But for travelers, the great sights of Rome will be scene-stealers.

The same team that made “The Da Vinci Code” (the same protagonist appears in both movies) was everywhere around town last summer, shooting on location. Walking by the Pantheon one morning I literally bumped into Hanks, though it didn’t seem to shake his concentration.

The story has to do with a plot against the Catholic Church, so costumes include the full range of clerical attire, from cassocks to the red hats, or galeri, worn by cardinals.

Next time you get to Rome, check out De Ritis, a clerical clothing store near the Pantheon, at 47-48 Via dei Cestari. The place, which could have designed the costumes for the movie, sells a full range of attire for holy sisters, including blouses, jackets and jammies.

Across the street is Ditta Salustri, with a full array of gold communion chalices, crowns and crucifixes.

–Susan Spano, L.A. Times staff writer

[Photo: Clerical robes in the window at De Ritis, by Susan Spano]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 12:49 pm by Susan Spano and is filed under Europe, Italy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.