Christian Dior Blue Wool Blend Tweed V Neck Pleated Skirt Cocktail Dress
View Similar Items
Christian Dior Blue Wool Blend Tweed V Neck Pleated Skirt Cocktail Dress
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Length: 33 in (83.82 cm)Marked Size: 6 (US)Bust: 34 in (86.36 cm)Waist: 26 in (66.04 cm)Hip: 42 in (106.68 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:San Francisco, CA
- Reference Number:Seller: 90037 1stDibs: LU16224429453
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.
- HERVE LEGER Size XXS Blue Rayon Blend A-Line Cocktail DressBy Herve LégerLocated in San Francisco, CAHERVE LEGER cocktail mini dress comes in blue rayon blend knit fabric featuring a strappy neckline, A-line shape, and a back zipper closure.Good Pre-Owned Condition. As Is. Garment ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Cocktail Dresses
- GIAMBATTISTA VALLI Size 6 Black Coral Jacquard Polyester Blend Below Knee DressBy Giambattista ValliLocated in San Francisco, CAGIAMBATTISTA VALLI dress comes in a black & coral jacquard polyester blend with a slip liner featuring a shift style, bow detail, and a back zipper closure. Made in Italy. Very Good ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Day Dresses
- ETRO Size 8 Charcoal Wool Embroidered Shift DressBy EtroLocated in San Francisco, CAETRO dress comes in a charcoal wool with embroidered designs featuring a pleated skirt, shift style, sleeveless, and a back zip up closure. Made in Italy. Very Good Pre-Owned Conditi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Day Dresses
- GIAMBATTISTA VALLI See Through Size S Black Viscose Blend DressBy Giambattista ValliLocated in San Francisco, CAGIAMBATTISTA VALLI below knee dress comes in black viscose blend featuring a see through aesthetic. Made in Italy. Excellent Good Pre-Owned Condition. Marked: 42 Measurements...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Day Dresses
- STELLA McCARTNEY Size 2 Black Viscose Pleated V-Neck DressBy Stella McCartneyLocated in San Francisco, CASTELLA McCARTNEY dress comes in a black viscose featuring a pleated style, a-line, slit pockets, short sleeves, and a back zipper closure. Very Good Pre-Owned Condition. Marked: ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Day Dresses
- PORTS 1961 Size 4 Black Viscose Wrinkled Double Layer DressBy Ports 1961Located in San Francisco, CAPORTS 1961 dress comes in a black wrinkled viscose featuring double layer style and no sleeves. Very Good Pre-Owned Condition. Marked: 4 Measurements: Shoulder: 14 inches B...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Day Dresses
- Chanel Faux Pearl Embellished Full Length Dress FR 40 14C 2014 NWTBy ChanelLocated in Merced, CAChanel full length dress with faux peals embellishments and Chanel interlocking CC logo emblem. It s new with tag. This is from Chanel Cruise 2014 r...Category
Mid-20th Century French Maxi Dresses
- CHANEL cream crochet silk suit jacket and dress FR 42 Resort 2017 Cuba 17CBy ChanelLocated in Rubiera, REChanel Resort 2017 Cuba Cream crochet silk suit jacket and dress Size Fr 42 Made in France Missing fond de robe (underdress) Flat measures: Jacket ...Category
2010s Italian Day Dresses
- CHANEL Camellia Dress 97PBy Chanel BoutiqueLocated in Rubiera, RECHANEL BOUTIQUE SPRING 1997 COLLECTION 97P Vintage multicolor camellia patterned dress, front opening, with hidden buttoning. Mandarin collar, four fla...Category
1990s French Chemise Dresses
- CHANEL RESORT 2019 La Pausa knitted dressBy ChanelLocated in Rubiera, RECHANEL Resort 2019 LA PAUSA Collection Dress in very light white cotton jersey with blue vertical stripes. Bateau neckline with CC logo embroidered at th...Category
2010s Italian Day Dresses
- Chanel cotton tweed dress with camelia FR 40 Spring 2011 11PBy ChanelLocated in Rubiera, REChanel tweed cotton dress with camelia Spring 2011 Size FR 40 Made in France 62% cotton 33% polyamid 5% viscose Fully silk lined Flat measures: Length cm. 97 Shoulders cm. 28 Bust...Category
2010s French Cocktail Dresses
- CHANEL blue and white cotton dress FR 40 Spring 2008 08PBy ChanelLocated in Rubiera, RECHANEL Spring / Summer 2008 Collection Look 16/80 on the catwalk Blue and white tweed dress featuring halter shoulders, front zip with double slider, side pockets on the front and ba...Category
Early 2000s French Day Dresses
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.