Vintage Christian Dior Fold-Over Monogram Clutch Bag
View Similar Items
Vintage Christian Dior Fold-Over Monogram Clutch Bag
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Height: 12.6 in (32 cm)Length: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Place of Origin:France
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Paris, FR
- Reference Number:Seller: Pochette Double Christian Dior H1stDibs: LU2005211024502
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.
- 1940s Art Deco Ebony Iridescent Glass Beaded Evening PurseLocated in University City, MO1940s Exquisite ebony art deco glass carnival beaded evening purse The elegant oval-shaped evening bag is encrusted with elaborate black iridisc...Category
1940s Unknown Evening Bags and Minaudières
- La Jeunesse Gold Snakeskin/Mesh Evening BagLocated in Alford, MALa Jeunesse handbags are unique, luxurious, and sought after. This example is composed of gold snakeskin that is covered by a fine white mesh, toni...Category
Mid-20th Century American Evening Bags and Minaudières
- Vintage Hermès Sac Cordelière White Patent Leather Envelope Handbag- 25 cm, 1951By HermèsLocated in Tucson, AZThough it is almost 70 years old, this magnificent handbag is as lustrous and stylish as the day it was made in 1951. Best of all it is true, bright white and an ideal complement to ...Category
1950s French Top Handle Bags
- Ingber 1960s Evening Box BagLocated in Alford, MA1960s Ingber box-shaped bag in black featuring a rope top handle and a jeweled clasp. Open to reveal a red interior with side compartment. Plenty of room for phone and essentials.Category
1960s American Evening Bags and Minaudières
- NEW LOUIS VUITTON Rare Fuchsia Runway Cartoon Art Firebird Limited Edition BagBy Louis VuittonLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLThe extremely rare LOUIS VUITTON Fuchsia Cartoon Firebird, the most luxurious of them all. One of a kind and only a few were released Worldwide in 2008! Cartoon Limited Collection ba...Category
Early 2000s French Top Handle Bags
- Chanel Dark Brown Suede Gripoix Jewels Evening BagBy ChanelLocated in Palm Beach, FLThis authentic Chanel Dark Brown Suede Gripoix Jewels Evening Bag is in mint condition. A very rare piece featuring an iconic Chanel Gripoix flower design that is a must have for any...Category
Late 20th Century 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.