Christian Dior Haute Couture
When Christian Dior launched his haute 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.
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 evening dresses and ball gowns worthy of any princess, Dior gave women the gift of glamour they’d lost in the miserable years of war.
Find vintage Dior haute couture dresses and gowns for sale on 1stDibs.
1950s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
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1980s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
1980s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
1980s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
1980s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
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1990s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
1950s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
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1990s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
Early 2000s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
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20th Century Christian Dior Haute Couture
1980s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
1980s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
Late 20th Century French Christian Dior Haute Couture
1990s Italian Christian Dior Haute Couture
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1990s Italian Christian Dior Haute Couture
1970s American Christian Dior Haute Couture
1950s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
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Late 20th Century Christian Dior Haute Couture
Late 20th Century Christian Dior Haute Couture
1990s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
Early 2000s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
20th Century French Christian Dior Haute Couture
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2010s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
1950s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
Early 2000s Christian Dior Haute Couture
1970s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
Early 2000s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
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1960s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
2010s Italian Christian Dior Haute Couture
2010s Italian Christian Dior Haute Couture
1980s French Christian Dior Haute Couture
Christian Dior Haute Couture fashion for sale on 1stDibs.
Designers Similar to Christian Dior Haute Couture
- 1stDibs ExpertOctober 15, 2024Yes, some pieces are real Dior dresses in the film Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. The movie's costume designer, Jenny Beavan, arranged to borrow several Christian Dior dresses from the French luxury fashion house. Others she recreated using original Dior designs, and a few she devised herself, drawing inspiration from Dior dresses. On 1stDibs, shop a selection of Christian Dior dresses and other apparel.
- 1stDibs ExpertNovember 20, 2024To tell if something is haute couture, first look for a size tag. Haute couture is custom-made for the purchaser, eliminating the need for a size tag. Every inch of a haute couture item will be flawless as well. Imperfections like misaligned or uneven stitches, poor-quality fabrics or cheaply made zippers and buttons are a sign that a piece isn't haute couture. You can also consult the list of haute couture fashion houses published by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode every year. The list is accessible on the organization's website. Explore a wide variety of apparel and accessories on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertOctober 7, 2024The answer to whether it is a real Dior dress in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris depends on which dress you mean. In the 2022 film starring Lesley Manville, some of the dresses were real dresses that costume designer Jenny Beavan borrowed from the House of Dior. Others were replicas of authentic dresses that she created herself, and a few were original designs inspired by Dior. Find a variety of Dior dresses on 1stDibs.
- Why is the Junon dress famous?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertJanuary 27, 2025The Junon dress is famous because its flamboyant design differed wildly from the drab, sexless, utilitarian garb imposed by wartime deprivation. Its creator, Christian Dior, drew inspiration for the dress from Greek and Roman mythology and named it after the goddess Juno. Part of Dior's 1949-50 collection, the dress featured a tiered skirt that resembled layers of opulent peacock feathers. On 1stDibs, find a selection of Christian Dior apparel and accessories.
- Is Dior haute couture?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMarch 20, 2024Yes, Dior is haute couture.
The French luxury fashion house Christian Dior is an official member of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM), which is the governing body in France that determines which maisons can operate with haute couture status.
When Christian Dior launched his haute 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.
On 1stDibs, explore a wide range of vintage Dior apparel and accessories.