1961 Christian Dior Numbered Couture Black Lace Ensemble
View Similar Items
1961 Christian Dior Numbered Couture Black Lace Ensemble
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Style:New Look, French Couture (In the Style Of)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Gresham, OR
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU502859283
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.
- 1960 Vivid Purple Velvet Jumpsuit w/ Gold & Silver Mod Metal Stud EmbellishmentsLocated in Gresham, ORA 1960s Futura Couture vivid purple rayon velvet jumpsuit with gold and silver toned half sphere stud embellishments at neckline and cuffs. Wide flared ...Category
1960s American Jumpsuits
- 1980 Gianni Versace Mixed Tweed Skirt Suit w/ Structured Shoulder SilhouetteBy Gianni VersaceLocated in Gresham, OR1980s Gianni Versace mixed wool tweed skirt suit with softly structured padded shoulder silhouette. Subtle touches of olive, burgundy and teal. P...Category
1980s Italian Skirt Suits
- 1980 Black Knit Jumpsuit w/ Structured Rhinestone Embellished Shoulder ArrowsLocated in Gresham, ORA fabulous 1980s black rayon knit jumpsuit with stovepipe legs padded structured shoulders that are heavily embellished with rhinestone arrows traveling over shoulder yolk and down u...Category
1980s American Jumpsuits
- 1940s Creed of London Finely Tailored Couture Royal Blue Skirt Suit w/ CapletLocated in Gresham, ORA beautifully tailored 1940s Creed of London couture 3-piece royal blue wool skirt suit with caplet. Silk crepe lined and fabulous inscribed buttons. Caplet has a velvet Chesterfield...Category
1940s English Skirt Suits
- Lilli Ann 40s Silk Skirt Suit w/ Micro-Pleated Sleeves!By Lilli AnnLocated in Gresham, ORA fantastic early Lilli Ann 40s suit in a gorgeous holiday green silk, with extravagantly micro-pleated and cuffed sleeves, rhinestone embellished bow closure...Category
1940s American Skirt Suits
- 1960s Sills By Bonnie Cashin Mod Gray Wool Skirt Suit W/ Brown Leather TrimBy Bonnie Cashin, Bonnie Cashin for SillsLocated in Gresham, ORA beautiful, simply styled, 1960s Mod, Sills by Bonnie Cashin, gray wool skirt suit with Cashin's signature leather trim in tobacco brown. Skirt is cut...Category
1960s American Skirt Suits
- GLORIA SACHS Couture 1980s Two Piece PAISLEY FUR Suit Skirt Jacket Wool 10By Gloria SachsLocated in Asheville, NCGloria Sachs, Iconic Suit, Vintage 1980's, 100% Pure Wool (Soft), Made in USA, Union Tag, Fully Lined. Jacket - Quilted, Five Wooden/Clay Round Buttons, Shoulder Pads, Two Pockets, ...Category
1980s Skirt Suits
$596 Sale Price25% Off - Vintage PIERRE CARDIN Paris Couture 1960s Two Piece Ensemble Skirt Jacket 38By Pierre Cardin Paris, Pierre CardinLocated in Asheville, NCPierre Cardin, 100% Wool, 1960's Couture, Made in France, Asymmetrical Layered Design, Two Faceted Buttons, Pleated Skirt, Metal Zipper, Slit on Back of Skirt, Vintage 38 Measuremen...Category
1960s French Skirt Suits
$909 Sale Price30% Off - S/S 1996 Thierry Mugler Sculptural Runway Museum Skirt Suit EnsembleBy Thierry MuglerLocated in Concord, NCOwn a piece of fashion history with this extraordinary documented Thierry Mugler Spring Summer 1996 skirt suit. Black and white jacket with a large folding ...Category
1990s French Skirt Suits
- Celine runway monogram set, SS 2000By CelineLocated in London, GBMy Runway Archive presents this Super iconic two piece worn on the runway and in the campaign fronted by Gisele for the Celine SS 2000 collection. M...Category
Early 2000s European Twin Sets
$1,534 Sale Price20% Off - YVES SAINT LAURENT BY TOM FORD S/S 2002 Runway Sheer Silk Two-PieceBy Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford for Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Berlin, BEThis leopard print two piece was the opening look for Yves Saint Laurent’s Spring Summer 2002 Rive Gauche collection by Tom Ford. This elegant two-piece consists of a high waisted silk pencil skirt and a zip up sleeveless silk top in a classic leopard print. This safari inspired set features beautiful details such as the YSL logo on the right side of the front of the bodice, and also embossed on the zipper. The bodice features a deep V neckline, multiple pockets on the front and drawstrings at the sides, the back features a transparent panel...Category
Early 2000s French Twin Sets
- Bob Mackie Velvet Ensemble with Gold Embroidered EagleBy Bob MackieLocated in New York, NYStunning and rare 1980s Bob Mackie creation. Mackie is a heavily collected designer known for his theatrical, often heavily beaded pieces that he designed for stars like Cher, Liza M...Category
1980s Dress and Coat Ensembles
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.