Christian Dior Mini Lilac Suede Shoulder Bag
View Similar Items
Christian Dior Mini Lilac Suede Shoulder Bag
About the Item
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Height: 5.71 in (14.5 cm)Width: 10.24 in (26 cm)Depth: 3.15 in (8 cm)
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Antwerp, BE
- Reference Number:Seller: K3235/4511stDibs: LU400200288
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.
- Saks Fifth Avenue Gilt Metal Butterfly Minaudière Evening Bag c 1970sBy Saks Fifth AvenueLocated in University City, MOSaks Fifth Avenue Opulent gilt metal butterfly minaudiere' c 1970s The elegant evening bag is adorned with an etched butterfly motif on the front The stylized butterfly is shiny poli...Category
1970s Unknown Evening Bags and Minaudières
- Chanel Eggs Bag Jewelry BoxBy ChanelLocated in Paris, FRCollector. Chanel jewelry box eggs bag in black plexiglass Attention, this egg-box bag is straight out of the 2014-2015 Chanel ready-to-wear fashion show so th...Category
2010s French Evening Bags and Minaudières
$13,888 - Vintage Gianfranco Ferre 1990s Lilac Lavender Purple Lizard Embossed Handbag 90sBy Gianfranco FerréLocated in San Diego, CABeautiful vintage early 90s GIANFRANCO FERRE lilac light purple lizard skin embossed leather bag! Beautiful color matches nearly everything, and can be worn all year. Hinged opening ...Category
1990s Italian Hobo Bags
- Chanel Long Rare Vintage Patent Leather Classic Flap Bag Bijoux Chain BagBy ChanelLocated in Miami, FLSmall Chanel patent leather quilted flap 2005 {VINTAGE 19 Years} Gold hardware Bijoux chain Two small interior pockets Strap Drop: Single 14.5” Double 8” 4.5” H x 9” W x 2.5” D Mad...Category
Early 2000s Italian Structured Shoulder Bags
- 1990s Brown Leather Ribbed Escada Kelly Hand Bag Never WornBy EscadaLocated in Wallkill, NYKelly Brown Leather Ribbed Leather hand bag. Tags still in hand bag along with dust cover. Gold Tone link chain as shoulder strap. Zippered inside compartm...Category
1990s Italian Evening Bags and Minaudières
- Hermès Vintage Sequana Bag Magic Purple Blue Porosus Crocodile Golden Hdw RAREBy HermèsLocated in FRAbsolutely Stunning Authentic Hermès Vintage Bag "Séquana" This bag is magic! Depending on the weather, the light, your outfit, its color changes!...Category
1980s French Evening Bags and Minaudières
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.