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.
Unusual Silk Scarf By Christian Dior 1960's
By Christian Dior
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
An unusual mod scarf by Christian Dior ca' 1960's. In original envelope, unused.
Silk
$990Sale Price|38% Off
H 30 in W 47 in D 1 in
'A White Stream' Wool Tapestry or Rug by H. Sulkowska for Cepelia c 1960, Signed
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A beautiful wool tapestry, or small rug, named 'Bialy Potok' which translates to 'A White Stream', designed by artist H. Sulkowska for the Polish company 'ZWW' (Zakopiańskie Warsztat...
Wool
Antique Berber Henna-Dyed Woman's Ceremonial Head Scarf
Located in Milan, IT
A very finely woven wool veil used as a head cover in the wedding ceremony among the Ait Abdellah Berber people of the Moroccan Anti Atlas region. The pattern is obtained with the re...
Wool
$1,475
H 21 in W 31 in D 1 in
Abstract 1960s Textile Fiber Art Panel Titled "Summer is Gone" by Helen Richards
Located in Peabody, MA
Abstract fiber art panel titled “Summer is Gone” by the painter and textile artist Helen Richards of Garden Grove, CA, circa 1960s.
Natural Fiber, Wood
$1,456
H 32.68 in W 58.27 in D 0.4 in
"Hommage a Samarkand" by Hans J. Schöbel for Södahl, Denmark 1960s
By Hans J. Schöbel, Södahl AS
Located in ECHT, NL
Hand printed wall tapestry by Hans Jürgen Schöbel for Södahl AS Denmark. Made from 40% polyester and 60% jute. The piece is called "Hommage a Samarkand", a city in Uzbekistan. The...
Jute, Polyester
Declaration of Independence Printed Scarf
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
Presented is a patriotic silk scarf, celebrating the Declaration of Independence. At center of the silk scarf design is artistic rendering of the Declaration of Independence. The famous text and signatures are printed in black ink on white silk. A border of bright red encloses the text, with a five-pointed white star set against a blue square appearing at each corner. This is a newly made silk scarf, printed to celebrate our Nation's foundational text. The United States Declaration of Independence...
Silk
$499
H 30 in W 30 in D 0.1 in
1960's Red, White and Blue Star Spangled Butterfly Scarf Art by Vera Neumann
By Vera Neumann
Located in Redding, CT
1960's Red, White and Blue "Star Spangled Butterfly Scarf Art by the iconic textile designer Vera Neumann The Design: Titled "Star Spangled Butterfly," features a large butterfly des...
Silk
$2,457Sale Price|50% Off
H 51.97 in W 62.21 in D 0.04 in
Rare Antique Silk Ikat from Uzbekistan, Dubbled with Other Silk Ikat
Located in Alessandria, Piemonte
Rare antique Fergana Uzbekistn silk ikat, DUBBLED with other silk light blue ikat - There is a rich bibliography on these Turkmenistan textiles - Hanging on the wall like a tapestry,...
Silk
French Vintage Mid-Century tapestry signed by Christian Royer
By Christian Royer
Located in Beirut, LB
Abstract wool printed tapestry of Mid-century (20th) modern abstract french origin, signed at the bottom by Christian Royer. It has a black background and holds a stunning work with ...
Wool
$2,375
H 23 in W 48 in D 1 in
Modernist Handwoven FIber Art Textile Panel by Věra Drnková-Žáreck, Circa 1960s
Located in Peabody, MA
A 1960s handwoven fiber-art panel by the noted Czechoslovakian artist, Věra Drnková-Žárecká. Born in 1922, Žárecká was an avant-garde Czech textile and costume designer who, in 1959,...
Wool, Cotton
Rare 18th Century Wool and Silk Tapestry by Leyniers
By Leyniers Family
Located in London, GB
Rare 18th century wool and silk tapestry by Leyniers Belgian, 18th Century Length 247cm, width 283cm Beautifully executed and vibrantly coloured, this large tapestry was made in 18th century Brussels by Urbanus (1674-1747) and Daniel III Leyniers (1705-1770). The tapestry depicts ‘Eumenes’ wrestling match’ or ‘Eumene’s Struggle’ (‘La Lutte d'Eumenes') inspired by the Greek philosopher and historian, Plutarch’s ‘Parallel Lives’ written around second century A.D. King Phillip...
Textile
Wall Hanging Trio Designed by Pierre Olofsson, Sweden, 1960s
By Pierre Olofsson
Located in Stockholm, SE
Wall hanging Trio designed by Pierre Olofsson, Sweden. 1960's. Handprinted cotton velvet. Measurements: H: 125 cm/ 4' 1'' W: 165 cm/ 5' 5''
Cotton, Velvet
$3,800
H 38 in W 24 in D 1 in
Mid-Century Abstract Brazil Textile Art Tapestry by Kennedy Bahia, circa 1960's
By Kennedy Bahia
Located in Las Vegas, NV
Rare textile art tapestry by Brazilian artist Kennedy Bahia. This piece had remained rolled up for over 50 years prior to pictures being taken for this listing. It is flawless with b...
Wool