By the end of the nineteenth century, the dressmaking profession - and eventually the women's ready-to-wear trade - was almost completely dependent upon French couture. Most high-end dressmakers copied Paris designs, altering them to suit their clients. Anna and Laura Tirocchi were no different. They purchased many fashion magazines, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Les Creations Parisiennes. As early as 1917, Anna ordered from Haas Brothers (one of the New York importers/ready-to-wear manufacturers) a "model book" illustrating copies of Paris designs [fig. 11]. These were published each fall and spring by importers and department stores, among them B. Altman &Company. Anna and her clients often referred to such volumes for inspiration. The client day book for the years 1917 and 1918 records many transactions in which customers ordered garments inspired by designs from both magazines and model books. On November 22, 1917, Mrs. R. W. Blanding requested that Anna and Laura make over one of her gowns. The neckline was to be fashioned after an illustration of a Worth creation that appeared in the magazine Les elegances Parisiennes, (figs. 555 and 551 bis in the publication), while the back and front of the gown were to follow the design of a Bulloz garment (no. 91), illustrated in the model book of the New York manufacturer E. L. Brady Company.(5)

A. & L. Tirocchi stocked fabrics, trims, and notions, and if a woman so desired, she could take advantage of the fact that Anna would design original garments using them, just as a French couturier would do. In later years, also following the couturier's practice, every spring and fall Anna would invite her clients to visit the shop to view her current line. Two announcements of Anna's collections survive in the Tirocchi Archive. A handwritten note from the Butler Exchange years (around 1911 to 1915) emphasizes the Tirocchi offerings of fabric and trims:

By the fall of 1926, Anna was distributing printed announcements that advertised their fashions for the winter season. By this time she was using the name Di Renaissance for the shop, perhaps to add the cachet of Italian craftmanship, and listing herself as manager. In the announcement, she offers her clients "Line, Color, Detail, Distinction, Individuality," stressing the unique look and quality of garments made by a custom dressmaker [fig. 12]: "Distinction" and "Individuality" that could not be found in the mass-produced goods of a department store. Anna's emphasis on individual attention and service - the hallmark of a successful dressmaker - made her a leader in her chosen profession.

In 1915, after a few years in business, Anna and Laura's success gave them the wherewithal to move the business from its original location in the Butler Exchange (in downtown Providence, directly across the street from the historic Arcade) to their new home at 514 Broadway on Providence's West Side [see frontispiece]. The 1915 Providence City Directory shows that there were already eleven dressmakers and seven tailors on the street, with an even larger concentration of men's and ladies' tailors at work a few blocks south on Broad Street. The presence of dressmaking establishments in the area, along with the proximity of Broadway to downtown Providence and the fashionable East Side, where most of Anna and Laura's local clients lived, made the neighborhood a suitable place for the business. The Prentice mansion, bought in Anna's name, was one of the largest and most ornate on Broadway. The decision to move the business coincided with Laura's marriage to Dr. Louis J. Cella. On arriving in Providence, Anna and Laura had lived with their sister Eugenia Valcarenghi and her family on Pocasset Avenue in the Silver Lake area and then for a short time with their brother Frank's family at 39 Bradford Street on Federal Hill. Laura and Louis were married on June 30, 1915. Dr. Cella, Laura, and Anna moved into the Broadway address and set up a household that would accommodate under one roof Laura's responsibilities as a wife, dressmaker, and mother. In this domestic arrangement, the shop resembled those of other dressmakers at the turn of the century, most of whom worked out of their homes, thus saving time and money and allowing the women to remain on the site of family responsibilities.(6) Each of the eleven dressmakers located on Broadway was living at her business address, while four of the tailors lived elsewhere and three worked out of their homes.