Through hard work, determination, and flexibility, Anna and Laura had managed to prolong the life of their business, despite the crippling effect of the introduction of women's ready-to-wear, the competition from proliferating department stores and specialty shops, and the economic effects of the Great Depression. While many dressmakers failed, A. & L. Tirocchi began to sell ready-to-wear, fashion accessories, perfumes, and even household linens and maintained an edge by offering the same individual attention to their clients that had always been expected of good dressmakers. Unfortunately, their energy and strategic readjustment could not stay the passage of time. After her death, Anna's family carefully packed all of the business records, wrapped the fabrics, laces, ribbons, and trims in tissue, stowed them away in the shop, and closed the doors on A. & L. Tirocchi. Laura and her husband continued to live in the house, but Laura's attention now turned to her family. Anna bequeathed the house to Laura's only daughter, Beatrice, on condition that she care for her mother. At Beatrice's death in 1990, her younger brother and only sibling, Dr. Louis J. Cella, Jr., inherited the property. When he opened its doors to the curators from RISD'S Museum, the world of two early twentieth-century dressmakers and their clients, and indeed of the apparel industry itself, was called up from the dust of many years.

The interviews referred to and quoted in this essay are to be found in the A. & L. Tirocchi Archive, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence [hereafter, Tirocchi Archive]. Such references have not been footnoted. All letters sent or received by Anna or Laura Tirocchi are understood to be found in the Tirocchi Archive. See "Note on the A. & L. Tirocchi Archive, Collection, and Catalogue," p. 23.