Christian Dior By John Galliano Evening Dress in Black Silk Size 38EU
View Similar Items
Christian Dior By John Galliano Evening Dress in Black Silk Size 38EU
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Height: 60.24 in (153 cm)Marked Size: 38 (EU)Waist: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Paris, FR
- Reference Number:Seller: 222851stDibs: LU69533559441
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.
- LOUIS VUITTON Dress Size 38FR in Black Silk FR with Small Blue FlowersBy Louis VuittonLocated in Paris, FRLOUIS VUITTON double dress in black and gray silk dotted with small blue silk flowers sewn on the whole dress (some flowers in addition in a bag) and cotton. Straight cut and flared...Category
2010s French Aesthetic Day Dresses
- VALENTINO Black Silk Cocktail Dress Size 8USBy ValentinoLocated in Paris, FRCocktail dress black silk Valentino embroidered with lace of pearls and with sequins. Zipper on the left-hand side of the dress (38 cms in length). It has a triple black fine silk ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Cocktail Dresses
- Valentino Black Cocktail Dress 40ITBy ValentinoLocated in Paris, FRExceptional! Valentino cocktail dress in silk and black wool. Size 40 IT / 36 FR 4 knots butterflies in the back. It is in very good condition...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Cocktail Dresses
- 2011 'Saint Tropez' Cruise Collection Evening Dress CHANEL Size 36 FR in Black SBy ChanelLocated in Paris, FRSublime CHANEL evening dress from the 2011 'Saint Tropez' Cruise Collection in black silk entirely embroidered with sequins. The bust and the bottom of the dress are openwork leather with crossed straps in the back in English embroidery...Category
2010s Unknown Aesthetic Evening Dresses
- CHANEL Black Dress 'Paris-Venise' in Silk and Wool Size 38EUBy ChanelLocated in Paris, FRChanel black dress the top is in silk and the bottom is wool. It closes with a zip in the back. Two patch pockets on the front and a small acronym with a lion's head is sewn on the w...Category
Early 2000s Aesthetic Evening Dresses
- CHANEL Evening Dress in Blue Silk with Ruffles Size 38FRBy ChanelLocated in Paris, FRChanel evening dress in blue silk with ruffles. Size 38 FR. Slim fit. Closes with a zipper on the back. In very good condition. Made in France. Dimensions flat: shoulder width 38 c...Category
2010s French Aesthetic Evening Dresses
- Nipon Boutique Black Velvet Halter Dress with Satin Ribbon Size US 6By Albert NiponLocated in New York, NYNipon Boutique black velvet cocktail dress with satin ribbon trim and bows tied at neck and back. Flirty six paneled dress body with flared bottom. Fu...Category
Late 20th Century American Evening Dresses
- Adolfo Tropical Silk Jersey Strapless Dress with Half CapeletBy AdolfoLocated in New York, NYAdolfo strapless dress with bold green, indigo and white tropical floral print. Wonderfully tailored, with fitted bodice and draped open tulip front slit above the knee for movement...Category
Late 20th Century American Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Valentino Boutique Black Beaded Silk Chiffon Evening Gown Size US 6By ValentinoLocated in New York, NYLuxurious Valentino Boutique black silk evening gown with tiered ruffles, sweeping hemline and hand beaded and embroidered bodice. Two ruffles at bodice are hand beaded with tiny jet...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Badgley Mischka Beaded Black Silk Lace Evening Gown Size US 10By Badgley MischkaLocated in New York, NYBadgley Mischka glamorous black silk lace evening gown, size US 10. Gown features hand beaded and embroidered lace with glass jet beading, and neckline with glass jet beads along cu...Category
Late 20th Century American Evening Gowns
- Mariano Fortuny Black Silk Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with matte frosted colored glass beads threaded through the cordin...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Peplos
Price Upon Request - Mariano Fortuny Black Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
Price Upon Request
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.