CHRISTIAN DIOR Haute Couture 1970s
View Similar Items
CHRISTIAN DIOR Haute Couture 1970s
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: M/L (US)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Material Notes:Silk and metallic
- Condition:Excellent.
- Seller Location:Phoenix, AZ
- Reference Number:1stDibs: AU130317722092
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.
- Salvatore Ferragamo Black Cocktail Suit Dress 1990sBy FerragamoLocated in Brindisi, BtSalvatore Ferragamo vintage 90s woman dress. Suit consisting of dress long with vest. Dress with gold-colored button closure, without sleeves. 100% viscose. Color black. Made in Ital...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Lu Alda Blue Black Silk Handmade Vintage Suit SkirtLocated in Brindisi, BtLu Alda vintage 70s suit skirt. Handmade sweater and skirt in 100% silk fabric. Blue and black color with abstract designs. Shirt with elastic waist and short...Category
1970s Italian Skirt Suits
- Salvatore Ferragamo Black Viscose Long Cocktail Suit Dress 1990sBy FerragamoLocated in Brindisi, BtSalvatore Ferragamo vintage 90s woman dress. Suit consisting of dress long with vest. Dress with gold-colored button closure, without sleeves. 100% viscose. Color black. Made in Ital...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Pauline Trigere Navy and Ivory Striped Wool Dress/Coat & Belt - 8- Circa 60sBy Pauline TrigèreLocated in West Palm Beach, FLPauline Trigere Navy and Ivory Striped Wool Dress, Coat, and Belt - 8- Circa 60s. This fun set features a striped, sleeveless dress with a silver metal charm on the front. The matchi...Category
1960s American Day Dresses
$720 Sale Price40% Off - Chanel Multi-color Silk Printed Dress & Coat Set - 42 - circa 1980'sBy ChanelLocated in West Palm Beach, FLChanel Multi-color Silk Printed Dress & Coat Set - 42 - circa 1980's. This set is in good vintage condition with the main issue being a few small stains on the dress and a couple on the jacket which are not noticeable unless examined closely. One button is missing but the dress comes with 2 extra buttons on the inside and can easily be fixed.The dress is collared and buttons up with ruching in the middle. The kimono style coat...Category
1980s French Day Dresses
- Antique Crochet work day dress, walking dress, two pieceLocated in NEWARK, GBA rare antique late Victorian / early Edwardian day dress. A two piece dress comprising of a bodice with long sleeves and crochet cuffs, the bodice is open and does not fasten, designed to be worn over a blouse. The skirt is most beautiful, long length with gorgeous crochet panelling down the front centre and around the back and the hem, the skirt has layered peplum style panels around the back and hips. Such a beautiful piece of antique clothing...Category
19th Century British Skirt Suits
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.