Christian Dior Broadtail Coat
View Similar Items
Christian Dior Broadtail Coat
About the Item
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Bust: 38 in (96.52 cm)Hip: 40 in (101.6 cm)Shoulder to Hem: 46 in (116.84 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Alford, MA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2098810152
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.
- 1970s Faux Astrakhan Midi Coat with CapeLocated in Alford, MABlack faux astrakhan coat that features a detachable cape. The fitted, princess-style body is single breasted and fastens with 8 black stone and silver...Category
1970s North American Coats
- Oscar de la Renta Appliquéd Patent CoatBy Oscar De La RentaLocated in Alford, MAOscar de la Renta black patent coat, the front ornamented with pleated and swirled appliqués, the back undecorated. The coat features a simple straig...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Coats
- Brown 1960s Coat with Persian TrimLocated in Alford, MABrown wool coat from the 1960s, its distinguishing feature the mottled brown/gray Persian lamb border that forms its stand-up collar, front edge, and curved knee-length hemline in fr...Category
1960s American Coats
$385 Sale Price20% Off - Black Cashmere-Blend Jacket with Fox CollarLocated in Alford, MABlack wool/cashmere blend easy jacket featuring a large and plush brown fox shawl collar. Raglan, above-the-wrist sleeves, no buttons, , hidden pockets in si...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Jackets
- Dior Black 1980s CoatBy Christian DiorLocated in Alford, MABlack wool 1980s coat by Christian Dior is double breasted and features a faux Persian collar and cuffs. Square shoulders with pads. Longer length. Marked size 6, but oversized cut.Category
1980s American Coats
- Pauline Trigere Black Coat With Royal Blue InsertsBy Pauline TrigèreLocated in Alford, MAPauline Trigére 1980s coat in black wool with royal blue triangular inserts at the shoulders and asymmetrical left-side closure with silver metal coil butto...Category
1980s American Coats
- Vintage CHANEL long blue and black wool coat with CC logo buttonsBy ChanelLocated in Malibu, CAVintage CHANEL Boutique long blue and black wool coat with CC logo buttons.🖤 Excellent condition! size: 44/ 4-8 depending on desired fit fabric: wool bust: 19 length: 38 sleeve 2...Category
20th Century Trench Coats
- 1990s vintage Moschino cashmere coatBy Moschino Cheap and Chic, MoschinoLocated in LAGNY-SUR-MARNE, FR1990s vintage cashmere coat by Moschino. 92% cashmere. The coat has a velvet collar and pockets. Matching skirt available on the store. Sizes ...Category
1990s Italian Coats
- Mariano Fortuny Black Stencilled Velvet Persian Style CoatBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis three-quarter length black velvet persian coat was printed with metallic paints with Venetian glass buttons and silk loop closures at the center fr...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Coats
Price Upon Request - Mariano Fortuny Green Stencilled Velvet Long CoatBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYFortuny translated the caftan as a loose fitting outer garment,usually made out of silk velvet crepe or gauze the fitted back and open front allowed for elaborate stenciled decoratio...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Coats
Price Upon Request - Mariano Fortuny Gauze Sleevless Coat, Provenance Tina ChowBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYTransparent Fortuny gauze pieces are based on the ancient tunic which was a shirt like garment that became traditional attire in roman times, the copts or christian egyptians...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Coats
Price Upon Request - S/S 1989 Thierry Mugler Runway Sculptural Black Pointed Cutout JacketBy Thierry MuglerLocated in Concord, NCAn extravagant jacket by Thierry Mugler from the Spring Summer 1989 "Les Atlantes" collection. This documented black jacket features a unique cutout pointed edge design. The jacket f...Category
1980s French Jackets
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.