Costumes were one of the keys to her success. Adelaide Ristori was the first Italian actress to take great care of her stage dresses and to make them part of a coherent aesthetic project. This happened at a time when it was customary to reuse the same costumes for many performances, with only minimal adaptations. Her stage costumes, carefully designed by painters and artists and made by the best tailors of the time, set a new standard for historical realism in acting.