70s Christian Dior Purple Nubby Wool Overcoat with Leather Trim
View Similar Items
70s Christian Dior Purple Nubby Wool Overcoat with Leather Trim
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Bust: 46 in (116.84 cm)Waist: 46 in (116.84 cm)Hip: 46 in (116.84 cm)Shoulder to Hem: 44 in (111.76 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU493561871
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.
- Bill Blass Vintage 1980s Color Block Swing Coat with a HoodBy Bill BlassLocated in Sparks, NVVibrant purple color block swing coat with a hood by Bill Blass for Neiman Marcus. Details: Fully Lined Front Pockets Shoulder Pads Sewn Into Lining Front Button Closure Marked Size: Not Marked Estimated Size: L Color: Purple/ Multicolor Fabric: Not Marked/ Feels Like Wool Label: Bill Blass Signature...Category
1980s American Swing Coats
$350 Sale Price36% Off - Karl Lagerfeld Polka Dot Cropped JacketBy Karl LagerfeldLocated in Scottsdale, AZCirca 1980s, this Karl Lagerfeld cropped jacket is the perfect addition to anyone's closet. Made in the United States, this playful jacket features shoulder pads, pleating from the b...Category
1980s American Bomber Jackets
- Stunning Charcoal Gray Shantung Neiman Marcus Evening Coat ca 1970Located in University City, MOStunning charcoal gray shantung Neiman Marcus evening coat The elegant gray maxi coat is embellished with a row of glittering diamante crystal cluster buttons that run off center cascading down the front The severe design epitomizes understated elegance. The crystal buttons in contrast illuminate brilliant against the dark gray fabric Adorned with a single crystal button on each sleeve Designed with a Nehru style collar with a slit pocket concealed on both seams The dramatic maxi coat has an architectural silhouette with a sweeping slit on the back side The extraordinary garment decades later remains chic and timeless Designed by Robert Courtney...Category
1970s American Opera Coats
$475 Sale Price68% Off - 1940s Navy Blue Beaded JacketLocated in San Francisco, CA1940s Navy Blue Beaded Jacket B 50 W 48 L 30Category
1940s American Coats and Outerwear
$295 Sale Price25% Off - 1980S DONNA KARAN Indigo Blue Denim Zip Front DressBy Donna KaranLocated in New York, NY1980S DONNA KARAN Indigo Blue Denim Zip Front DressCategory
1980s American Coats and Outerwear
- Purple On Purple Floral with Multi-Color Floral Silk KimonoLocated in New York, NYThis wonderfully detailed purple silk kimono first has purple floral with the purple silk accented with multi-colors of florals in his hand-sewn Japanese Kimono. The length meas...Category
1960s Japanese Loungewear
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.