Vintage CHRISTIAN DIOR Ball gown dress
View Similar Items
Vintage CHRISTIAN DIOR Ball gown dress
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Period:
- Material Notes:Poly/Silk 'Shantung' weave fabrication
- Condition:In very good condition.
- Seller Location:Newport Beach, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: AU140301306813
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.
- ALAÏA 1990 black knitted mini dressBy Azzedine AlaïaLocated in Genève, CHAlaïa knitted mini dress with sheer raised edge skirt -Back closing with a hidden set zipper -Long sleeves -Nude knitted lining -Made in Italy -100% V...Category
1990s Italian Mini Dress
- Vivienne Westwood Fall 1992 Runway Sample Black Metallic Gold DressBy Vivienne WestwoodLocated in Hertfordshire, GBVintage Vivienne Westwood Fall 1992 “Always on Camera” collection Runway piece - this is the exact dress that was worn by model Anna Bayle on the Fall 1992 runway Black full length dress with gold glitter pattern all over Stretch fabric Long sleeve Short zip up back Made in England Measurements (Stretch fabric) - 30-34” chest...Category
1990s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Versace Fall 1998 Runway Black Grecian Style Medusa Crystal Open Side Gown DressBy Versace, Gianni VersaceLocated in Hertfordshire, GBVintage Gianni Versace Fall 1998 - seen on the runway & in campaign images by Steven Meisel Black silk full length gown with open side detail One open side with crystal and Medusa...Category
1990s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Gucci Fall 2006 Runway Sequin & Fur Scarf DressBy GucciLocated in Hertfordshire, GBGucci by Frida Giannini Fall 2006 - seen on the runway & in an editorial on Kate Moss Black and gold sequin mini dress with fox fur detail Ope...Category
Early 2000s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Roberto Cavalli 2005 Blue Print Silk DressBy Roberto CavalliLocated in Hertfordshire, GBRoberto Cavalli 2005 Navy blue & beige pattern silk maxi dress Cross back straps Slight train at the back 100% silk Bias cut Size IT 42 / UK 10 / US 6 Measurements - Waist 27-3...Category
Early 2000s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Versace Spring 2004 Teal Silk Chiffon DressBy VersaceLocated in Hertfordshire, GBVintage Versace Spring 2004 - pink print version seen on the runway Teal blue silk chiffon ruched gown. Twist straps, lunge neckline, built in bodysuit, thigh slit on one side. Tie ...Category
Early 2000s Evening Dresses and Gowns
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.