Christian Dior numbered bejeweled crepe evening mini dress circa 1994
View Similar Items
Christian Dior numbered bejeweled crepe evening mini dress circa 1994
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 8 (EU)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Measurements Bust: 34inch/86.5cm Waist: 28inch/71cm Hip: 32inch/81.2cm Shoulder: 14inch/35.5cm Total length: 24.7inch/63cm.
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU917110039792
Christian Dior
When Christian Dior launched his couture house, in 1946, he wanted nothing less than to make “an elegant woman more beautiful and a beautiful woman more elegant.” He succeeded, and in doing so the visionary designer altered the landscape of 20th century fashion. Vintage Dior bags, shoes, evening dresses, shirts and other garments and accessories are known today for their feminine and sophisticated sensibility.
Dior was born in Granville, on the Normandy coast, in 1905. His prosperous haute bourgeois parents wanted him to become a diplomat despite his interest in art and architecture. However, they agreed to bankroll an art gallery, which Dior opened in 1928 in Paris with a friend.
This was the start of Dior’s rise in the city’s creative milieu, where he befriended Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau. After seven years as an art dealer, Dior retrained as a fashion illustrator, eventually landing a job as a fashion designer for Robert Piguet, and in 1941, following a year of military service, he joined the house of Lucien Lelong. Just five years later, with the backing of industrialist Marcel Boussac, the ascendant Dior established his own fashion house, at 30 avenue Montaigne in Paris.
Just two years after the end of World War II, the fashion crowd and the moribund haute couture industry were yearning, comme tout Paris, for security and prosperity, desperate to discard the drab, sexless, utilitarian garb imposed by wartime deprivation. They needed to dream anew.
And Dior delivered: He designed a collection for a bright, optimistic future. “It’s quite a revolution, dear Christian!” exclaimed Carmel Snow, the prescient American editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, famously proclaiming, “Your dresses have such a new look.” The press ran with the description, christening Dior’s debut Spring/Summer haute couture collection the New Look. “God help those who bought before they saw Dior,” said Snow. “This changes everything.”
Dior’s collection definitively declared that opulence, luxury and femininity were in. His skirts could have 40-meter-circumference hems, and outfits could weigh up to 60 pounds. They were cut and shaped like architecture, on strong foundations that molded women and “freed them from nature,” Dior said. Rather than rationing, his ladies wanted reams of fabric and 19-inch waists enforced by wire corsets, and the fashion world concurred. The debut got a standing ovation.
In the subsequent decade, Paris ruled as the undisputed fashion capital of the world, and Christian Dior reigned as its king. With the luxuriously full skirts of his New Look, suits and his drop-dead gorgeous couture dresses and ball gowns worthy of any princess, Dior gave women the gift of glamour they’d lost in the miserable years of war.
On 1stDibs, find an exquisite range of vintage Christian Dior clothing, jewelry, handbags and other items.
- Yves Saint Laurent black velvet evening dress fuchsia taffeta sleeves, c.1980sBy Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in London, GB“One should always be tempted to untie a woman’s clothes” – Yves Saint Laurent A symbol of femininity and the love that Yves Saint Laurent had for women, the bow — be it demure or sexy, a velvet loop or a satin tie — has woven its way through his collections. Here the bold fuchsia taffeta bow gracefully placed to create the visual effect of a corset on the black velvet to highlight the lovely décolleté of the evening dress. the bold fuchsia colour is also a signature of the designer's style. Saint Laurent had a colour philosophy believing that colour is a " reflection of the soul'. But the right colour combination was essential. Here a bold splash of fuchsia juxtaposed with velvety black gives a magical visual effect. This iconic evening dress shows the designer's dexterity in creating fashion for women that is inventive, elegant, has youthful exuberance, theatrical daring and great visual beauty. This evening dress spoke eloquently of the designer’s timeless sense of style and huge influence on fashion that is a template for style that is still followed today. This 1980s cocktail dress...Category
1980s French Cocktail Dresses
- Saint Laurent black silk velvet and taffeta high-low hem evening gown, 1988By Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in London, GBOn September 26 in 1966, Yves Saint Laurent created his Rive Gauche line, which aimed at breaking down the barrier that existed between haute couture and ready-to-wear. Sold within a...Category
1980s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Yves Saint Laurent Chinese collection baroque print satin dress, 1977By Yves Saint LaurentLocated in London, GBYves Saint Laurent's Chinese collection corresponded with the launch of the fragrance Opium. Similar to previous folkloric inspired collections, the Chinese collection is also about a release of imagination, dreams and the mystery that foreign lands evoked. This cheongsam dress, a modern Chinese garment, in Yves Saint Laurent's collection symbolises the exotic and erotic Shanghai nightlife of the 1920s-1930s. The unique cut of the dress features a slit that can be unbuttoned all the way up to the shoulder to seduce, reveal and celebrate feminine sensuality. Constructed from the most fluid and luxurious satin material, the cheongsam, it is adorned with jet buttons and trimmed with braids on the cuffs, hem and collar. Lined with jet black fluid satin material the dress looks and feels luxurious. The print gives an iridescent surface pattern, that suggests the iconography of woven and embroidered imperial Chinese dragons robes...Category
1970s French Chinese Dresses
- Lanvin velvet and polka dots silk evening dress, circa 1980By Lanvin ParisLocated in London, GBLanvin is the oldest surviving couture house in continuous existence since 1909. Jeanne Lanvin(1867-1946)’ s legacy to the world of fashion is youth, beauty, and feminine-modernity s...Category
1980s French Cocktail Dresses
$601 Sale Price35% Off - Saint Laurent opt art wraparound embossed silk dress with black dots, circa 1980By Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in London, GBThis elegance and feminine Saint Laurent dress is constructed from embossed silk dress with black polka dots on white background. Featuring a V-neckline with gathered shoulders and ...Category
1980s French Evening Dresses
$590 Sale Price35% Off - Yves Saint Laurent sequins alter neck evening maxi dress. C. 1970sBy Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in London, GBYves Saint Laurent said “ I love black because it affirms, designs, and styles. A woman in a black dress is a pencil stroke”. Black liquid velvet material features with discretion , ...Category
1970s European Maxi Dress
- Badgley Mischka Beaded Black Silk Lace Evening Gown Size US 10By Badgley MischkaLocated in New York, NYBadgley Mischka glamorous black silk lace evening gown, size US 10. Gown features hand beaded and embroidered lace with glass jet beading, and neckline with glass jet beads along cu...Category
Late 20th Century American Evening Gowns
- Mariano Fortuny Black Silk Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with matte frosted colored glass beads threaded through the cordin...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Peplos
Price Upon Request - Mariano Fortuny Black Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
Price Upon Request - Mariano Fortuny Black Delphos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams, and multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
Named after a ...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
Price Upon Request - Eavis & Brown Beaded Evening DressBy Eavis & BrownLocated in Water Mill, NYEavis & Brown Fabulous Beaded Hand Made Dress..Size XSCategory
20th Century English Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Beautiful D&G Dolce and Gabbana Leopard Print DressBy D&G by DOLCE & GABBANALocated in Hoffman Estates, ILBeautiful vintage D&G Dolce & Gabbana leopard print dress. Excellent condition.Category
Early 20th Century Italian Day Dresses
$440 Sale Price20% Off
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Too Soon for the Return of ’90s Fashion? As If
There's a renewed appreciation for the era's aesthetic, perhaps most notably among millennials seeking authentic, easy style.
14 Iconic Luxury Handbags and the Stories behind Them
When the name of a bag is as well-known as its brand, you know it's a classic.