Berkshires - Lingerie

While British John Galliano was creating haute couture in Paris as French fashion-house Christian Dior Artistic Director beginning in the late 1990s, he designed this "Made In France" black lace-and-sheer-mesh low-back boned corset featuring a bold curvilinear halter neck, underwire padded 32B bustier with a rounded-bust silhouette, cinched waist with a lace ruffle, and embroidered text "Dior". Along with leading couture designers Jean-Paul Gaultier and the late Vivienne Westwood, Thierry Mugler and Gianni Versace, Galliano is closely associated with the popularity of the contemporary corset, which was the focus of his acclaimed couture show in 2024 as the ongoing artistic director of Paris-based Maison Margiela for the past decade. Notably, a Galliano corset from his turn-of-the-century Christian Dior collection--with like tags and similar low back with bustier--can be viewed online among the collections of the Underpinnings Museum, which is dedicated to the most outstanding lingerie. In addition to the tags noting "Christian Dior Made In France" along with the size, Galliano added subtle Dior-logo embroidery to the cleavage. There is no tag noting the materials of the multiple laces, tulle mesh, bones and additional padding or strap fabrics, which seem primarily synthetic for desirable stretch-to-fit. Instead, care-instruction symbols can be found on the back of the size tag. The neck straps for this French-size 85 or U.S.-size 34 can be adjusted to one of the three tiers of hooks that best suits the wearer, while the corset has two tiers of hooks to cinch the waist. As worn by our small-size mannequin, the top will flatter even an A-cup breast size. As noted in our listing sidebar, the buyer will receive the corset packed in its original Christian Dior silver shoebox-size cardboard packaging, while the lingerie will be wrapped in the original logo-printed white tissue paper. The box and paper are in good condition without rips or perforation, while the lingerie is in like-new condition as if it had only been tried on and not worn for an event. For price comparison, a later dated Galliano/Dior bustier corset top--with like tags but strapless--recently sold on 1stDibs for $6,200. The previous sole owner of our top recalled making their purchase as new lingerie in 2001. This French ready-to-wear complex-structure garment should not be confused with other international lingerie lines with different but similar labels--"Christian Dior Intimates...

As conceptual art while he transitioned to French artisan-house Hermes artistic director in 1998, Belgian Martin Margiela--whose creations today debut in the setting of a contemporar...

Captured in a video-still from his Fall/Winter 1992 collection fashion-show in Paris, Martin Margiela uniquely upcycled the seam intersections from the crotch, dart or tuck on deconstructed garments to make a high-relief topstitched cross shape as the mysterious design feature on some of his tops and knits. On this Maison Martin Margiela silky black velour crushed-velvet cropped halter, the altered seams are the subtle central focal point of the transformed fully-lined viscose breastplate. The backless top is constructed like a pullover bra with flexible elastic crisscrossing straps with metal hardware, which appear to be hosiery garters or suspenders. The iconic off-white blank brand label is hand-sewn at its four corners on the reverse to just the lining, where there are tags above it noting the material, size and manufacture-country Italy. The French-size 40 is flexible enough to be worn over another top or alone by a range of sizes from 38-42 depending on bust size. Since our small-size mannequin is backless, when worn by the buyer the upper part of the halter will sit higher on the chest and the bottom corners attached to the elastic bands will be less visible in back than we could photograph. Fortunately, we found the same Margiela halter in a sunny black-and-white photoshoot from Winter 1995, and included our pics of a few shots. In one, notice where the black velvet is reflecting sunlight as white due to the irregular texture of the seamed cross. The Fall/Winter 1995 "Circus" collection by Maison Martin Margiela featured similar lined velour and sleeveless tops in the fashion show, but we could not find any photos in that collection of the distinct X-shaped elastic straps that boldly define the back of our top. Comparatively, a F/W 2006 Martin Margiela sequined...