Vintage Christian Dior Gianfranco Ferre Organza White Blouse W Jewels & Cufflink
View Similar Items
Vintage Christian Dior Gianfranco Ferre Organza White Blouse W Jewels & Cufflink
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 40 (EU)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor yellowing on cuffs and collar.
- Seller Location:Portland, OR
- Reference Number:Seller: 68141stDibs: LU22329168222
Gianfranco Ferré for Christian Dior
Remembered fondly with a nod to his architecture education as the “Frank Lloyd Wright of Italian Fashion” and the “Architect of Fashion,” Milanese designer Gianfranco Ferré spent a lifetime creating handbags, dresses, jackets and other garments and accessories that were defined by meticulous tailoring and crisp geometry. Designing the iconic Lady Dior handbag after being named artistic director at Dior during the late 1980s is only one of Ferré’s impressive achievements in the fashion industry.
Ferré was born in Legnano and was raised by his mother and two aunts. He studied architecture at Milan Polytechnic but had a love for fashion, and made belts and other items for female friends in his classes. He graduated in 1969.
Ferré’s accessories caught the eye of Rosy Biffi, who operated boutiques in Milan with her sister, Adele. He was encouraged by Biffi to create clothing, and soon began creating jewelry and accessories for Christiane Bailly and Walter Albini. The latter is an unsung hero of 20th-century fashion, while Bailly was part of a small group of prominent young stylistes who helped build a sterling reputation for French ready-to-wear fashion during the 1960s. Ferré’s work was photographed by Italian Vogue, and he secured commissions from the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Elio Fiorucci.
Ferré appreciated other cultures and drew inspiration from his travels abroad. His most influential trip — a years-long stint in India — saw him bringing bright colors and patterns to his evening dresses and day dresses. While there he created a collection for the Genoa-based San Giorgio Impermeabili. Ferrè designed for brands such as Les Grenouilles and Baila, and met with Italian businessman and clothing manufacturer Franco Mattioli, who would become an important collaborator.
In 1978, Ferré and Mattioli became equal business partners in establishing Ferré’s own label, for which he designed women’s ready-to-wear and menswear collections in Milan. In 1983, he was named the first professor of fashion at the Domus Academy.
While teaching, Ferré won the Occhio d’Oro — Italy’s award for best fashion designer — six times. In 1986, he introduced his first women’s fragrance, his first couture and fur collections, and a new line called Studio 00l. A few years later, Bernard Arnault, owner of Christian Dior, appointed him artistic director.
It was unexpected for an Italian to be given the job at Dior — one of fashion’s most coveted roles — as that position traditionally went to French designers. There, as Marc Bohan’s successor, Ferré created luxurious and striking gowns that drew on his architecture studies in their sculptural forms while celebrating the long history of the legendary house. He revisited the nipped-waist silhouettes of Dior’s postwar years, and his work dazzled onlookers and exuded femininity. Ferré won the Dé d'Or prize in 1989 for his first collection at the label.
In the early 1990s, Ferré designed the Lady Dior handbag (prior to its 1995 debut, it was called the Chouchou). The boxy top-handled accessory soared to immense popularity after French first lady Bernadette Chirac gave a version in black leather to Diana, Princess of Wales. Each bag, which was eventually named for the Princess, is made from 130 pieces of leather and worked on by seven Dior craftsmen who spend at least eight hours perfecting it.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage Gianfranco Ferré Dior dresses, suits, coats and other items on 1stDibs.
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.
- 1990s Issey Miyake Blue & Green Lace One Shoulder Blouse W/ Pleated TankBy Issey MiyakeLocated in Portland, ORWe love this Issey Miyake green and blue lace tunic blouse. The slip baby doll style tank underneath is fully pleated in navy blue cotton with spaghetti straps and a side zipper. The outer layer is a one-shoulder cornflower or dusty blue and lime green lace tunic blouse with asymmetrical styling and it closes with a zipper and hook and eye. Issey Miyake size 2 or Medium. This would look great styled with some white linen trousers...Category
1990s Japanese Blouses
$548 Sale Price49% Off - Gray Issey Miyake Avant Garde Pleated Top W/ Asymmetrical Shoulders Size MediumBy Issey MiyakeLocated in Portland, ORThis is a fabulous Issey Miyake pleated top with avant garde asymmetrical shoulders in medium charcoal gray. The top is pleated on the diagonal and...Category
1990s Japanese Blouses
$525 Sale Price41% Off - Vintage Escada Novelty Dice Print Silk Blouse in Red White & Black Size 34By Escada Margaretha Ley, EscadaLocated in Portland, ORThis is another fabulous vintage Escada silk blouse designed by Margaretha Ley. Escada prints are always some of our favorites and this one is no e...Category
1980s German Shirts
$170 Sale Price60% Off - Givenchy Vintage Slate Blue & Grey Polka Dot Check Silk BlouseBy Givenchy Nouvelle Boutique, GivenchyLocated in Portland, ORThis Givenchy Nouvelle Boutique vintage 1970's silk blouse is in a pretty check print with polka dots. This beautiful top has slate blue gloss buttons down the center front that are ...Category
1970s European Blouses
- Valentino Black and White Houndstooth Check One Shoulder Ruffled TopBy ValentinoLocated in Portland, ORThis fun Valentino stretch knit black and white houndstooth top has a ruffled neckline and a fabulous one shoulder ruffle detail. This great top ha...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Blouses and Tops
- Escada Margaretha Ley Blue Silk Fedora Hat Novelty Print BlouseBy Escada Margaretha Ley, EscadaLocated in Portland, ORThis is such a fun vintage Escada by Margaretha Ley silk blouse in blue with a great black and red fedora hat print with abstract gradient squares of green ...Category
1980s German Blouses and Tops
$118 Sale Price60% Off
- Jean-Claude Jitrois Couture White Leather TopBy Jean-Claude JitroisLocated in Scottsdale, AZFeel All Of The 80s Vibes In This custom Couture Leather Shirt Jacket which is numbered 1516 was worn by Bridgette Nelson as seen pictured in listing! Circa 1980s, this Jean Claude Jitrois top is crafted from white leather and features a shimmery silver abstract pipping pattern, fox fur trim, billowy sleeves, boatneck collar, and zipper closure on the back. Sure to keep you cozy at all your winter getaways, this shirt jacket will pair perfectly with your favorite YSL leather pants...Category
1980s French Blouses and Tops
- Gianni Versace Versus 1990's Print BlouseBy VersaceLocated in Scottsdale, AZGet your hands on this cool and vibrant blouse! By none other than the Gianni Versace, he introduced Versus as a secondary line as a gift to his adored sister, Donatella. Each collection of Versus is ready-to-wear and comprised of accessories, eyewear, watches, and garments. Gianni said that this collection was born with a very creative approach with focus on innovation and unconventional ideas which anticipates new trends. This blouse uses a combination of vibrant colors like pink, purple, green, and yellow. Trust me, you will not blend into the crowd with this blouse! The details of the print are incredible so be sure to zoom in on the photos. It features a collared neck and gold buttons on the sleeves. Pair this blouse with a Dolce and Gabbana mini...Category
1990s Blouses
- Vintage Bernard Perris Cream Silk Metallic Thread Peek a Boo Blouse 1980sBy Bernard PerrisLocated in West Palm Beach, FLVintage Bernard Perris, cream silk with silver metallic thread peek a boo, flower front blouse from the 1980s. Lightweight silk crepe with silver metallic stitching, the blouse has a...Category
1980s French Blouses and Tops
- Chanel Off White Silk Pleated Long Sleeve BlouseBy Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, ChanelLocated in West Palm Beach, FLChanel off white silk pleated long sleeve blouse, with amazing pearl logo buttons.Pull on blouse has a placket front with wing collar, vertical pleats beneath the yoke at the front a...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Blouses
- S/S 2003 Yves Saint Laurent by Tom Ford Periwinkle Silk Floral Appliqué BlouseBy Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Tom Ford for Yves Saint LaurentLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a fabulous periwinkle silk Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche top, designed by Tom Ford. From the Spring/Summer 2003 collection, many similar looks debuted on the season's run...Category
Early 2000s French Blouses and Tops
$1,186 Sale Price30% Off - S/S 2000 Gucci by Tom Ford Sheer Snake Print Pleated Pussy Bow Button Up TopBy Tom Ford for Gucci, GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a snake print pussy bow Gucci blouse, designed by Tom Ford. From the Spring/Summer 2000 collection, this top is covered in the grey monochromatic snake print synonymous wi...Category
Early 2000s Italian Blouses
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.