1970s Huge White Silk & Lace Christian Dior Scarf or Shawl
View Similar Items
1970s Huge White Silk & Lace Christian Dior Scarf or Shawl
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Rockwood, CA
- Reference Number:Seller: Item# A2651stDibs: LU1281534393
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.
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 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.
On 1stDibs, find an exquisite range of vintage Christian Dior clothing, jewelry, handbags and other items.
- Hermes "Limited Edition" "Invasion Of Creatures On Metro" Silk Jacquard ScarfBy HermèsLocated in New York, NYHermes Wonderfully Wicked yet Whimsical (Waiting List) "Limited Edition" MultiColor "Invasion of Creatures on Metro" Silk Jacquard scarf accented with fine hand-rolled edges, ...Category
1990s French Scarves
- Huge Wool Challis of Deep Navy Border with Violet and Golden Floral ShawlLocated in New York, NYThis extremely huge wool challis of deep navy borders surrounding violet and golden floral center accented with fringed edges, measures 52 inches by 52 inches. Made in France.Category
1990s French Shawls
- Huge Deep Plum Borders "Tie Dye" Silk Crepe di Chine ScarfLocated in New York, NYExtremely huge scarf of deep plum borders surrounding "Tie Dye" silk crepe di chine with hand-rolled edges, measures 42 inches by 42 inches. Made in France.Category
1990s French Shawls
- 1970s Charm of Hollywood White Lace Rayon Vintage 70s Large Piano ShawlLocated in San Diego, CAChic 1970s CHARM OF HOLLYWOOD large white lace piano shawl ! Ruffle edges. Can easily be dressed up or down. Great with jeans, a dress or even for a...Category
1970s American Scarves
- 1990s Moschino Cheap and Chic Olive Oyl Popeye Novelty Print Silk Chiffon ScarfBy Moschino Cheap and ChicLocated in San Diego, CAAmazing late 90s vintage MOSCHINO Cheap & Chic Popeye / Olive Oyl novelty print silk chiffon semi sheer long scarf / shawl ! Features Olive Oyl i...Category
1990s Italian Scarves
- Rich Forest-Green Floral Velvet with Hand-Knotted Silk FringeLocated in New York, NYWonderfully elegantly rich forest-green floral velvet combined and accented with silk hand-knotted fringes shawl, measures in total, 52 inches by 52 inches. The silk hand-knott...Category
1990s Italian Shawls
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.