1905-1957 Christian Dior

[SomethingElse]

"Soiree de New York" evening dress, F/W 1955, silk faille, embroidered with beads.

imamuseum.org

 

[SomethingElse]

Fall 1948, silk velvet, silk satin.

imamuseum.org

 

[SomethingElse]

c. 1947, wool, trimmed with astrakhan.

imamuseum.org

 

[SomethingElse]

c. 1957, silk satin.

imamuseum.org

 

[Mr-Dale]

For a complete history lesson on Dior you should go to dior.com and click House Of Dior...it shows the entire history of the house and has some very exclusive footage and sound of Mr. Dior being interviewed and at work.

 

[Diorette]

Thanks for all the great photos SomethingElse.

 

[DosViolines]

Christian Dior (French, 1905–1957). Eventail Dinner Dress, fall/winter 1948–49. Black wool crepe, pink silk crush velvet, and black silk faille. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Isabel Shults Fund, 2006 (2006.20a–c).

After the sartorial constraints of World War II, Christian Dior’s presentation of 1947, with its emphasis on a silhouette with rounded shoulders, wasp waist, padded hips, and lowered hemline, created a sensation. Carmel Snow of Harper’s Bazaar is said to have told Dior after his inaugural collection, “It’s quite a revolution, dear Christian. Your dresses have such a new look.” Although “New Look” came to be attached to the collection, the style was, in fact, one that looked back almost a half a century to fin de siècle corseted styles.

From the auspicious launch of this initial “Corolle,” or “Ring of Petals,” collection, Dior moved to other varied themes, each characterized by its own geometries and silhouettes. He dubbed the fall/winter 1948-49 collection in which this dinner dress appeared “Zigzag.” Every design from the collection incorporated sharp angled forms that extended the collar, the hipline, or the skirt. “Eventail,” or “Fan,” introduces stiff canvas interfacing to several graduated layers of black wool crepe to buttress their carefully calibrated splay.

There is more to Dior than just the “New Look.” Dior is the man who made the world look new. I think it’s extraordinary how one collection can stand for so much, can define one man, one house, but also how one show can initiate such change. Well, where do you go from there?


I think the true genius of Dior was his ability to survive and continue from the 1947 New Look, to continue to innovate, constantly move and challenge fashion and not to be afraid to change the silhouette that shaped his whole career. I think it’s impressive and a mark of Mr. Dior’s courage as much as his design creativity that less than a year after changing the woman’s way of dressing he said “Well what about this, this, or this?” Dior didn’t get stuck in a rut nor was he one to be pigeonholed with one look. Each season meant a New Look! A year after the revolution he had evolved, his women had evolved, so it was time for the Next New Look.


Fashion is all about change; fashion when it works well is the barometer of our time—this is what Dior was a master of. There is more to Mr. Dior than a full skirt with a great expanse of fabrics, just as there is more to me than a bias-cut dress! Look at the elegance and the genius of this cut, how the line twists and slims the waist and the inverted folds bring movement to the form. The precision and grace are masterful and the wearer becomes a work of art.


—John Galliano
​

blog.mode

 

[SomethingElse]

Cocktail dress, 1957.

imamuseum.org

 

[DosViolines]

Christian Dior Haute Couture Gown in Silk Organza with Windblown Rose Motif, 1954

decadesinc.blogspot.com

 

[vogue28]

oh wow,

 

[DosViolines]

Christian Dior's model.
Paris, August, 1947.

Denise Duval, French opera singer, trying an evening dress at Christian Dior's.
In the right-hand side, Francis Poulenc, French composer.

© Lipnitzki / Roger-Viollet

parisenimages.fr

 

[FashionJunkie]

That is what haute couture means! Elegance, class, poise, luxurious materials, style! They are all so feminine, what are we doing nowadays?

 

[Sacheverelle]

Dior Red Pleated Satin Dress c.1950s

This dress was on eBay. Too pricey for me to bid but hey, I got pics..

 

[Sacheverelle]

1950 Dior Tea



"Tea for two in this elegant moment caught by photographer Horst P. Horst for the March 1950 House & Garden.
The table is set with delicate Franciscan Mariposa pattern china and a stunning sterling silver tea set.
The model wears Christian Dior with jewelry by Cartier."
From www.condenaststore.com/

Possibly the most elegantly staged photograph I have EVER seen.
One of my favorite Dior images.

 

[FashionJunkie]

WOW, so elegant. Me wants some tea (and the cake doesn't hurt either...).

 

[Mr-Dale]

I have a question...there is this particular type of dress that Galliano has reproduced many times for Dior and I have always wondered wether or not it is based on a classic of the house. Here's the type of dress I mean:

Et cetera....anyone know?

style.com

 

[Dkammern]

maybe i am wrong and there is a specific dress for that look galliano has used so many times, but i always thought it was a mere reference to the characteristic accentuated hips monsieur dior did (like on this very same thread, the brown suit in page nine)
or maybe it's a way of showing how some original dior pieces were constructed. like things underneath the clothes that gave volume but were never actually shown before galliano. interesting question anyway!

 

[amor]

^ This type of dresses can also be found in John's early collections. For instance, Shalom wore one in the Spring 1995 Blanche DuBois collection.

 

[amor]

Here's the 1999 version:

(corbis)

 

[Dkammern]

john's collections are definitely full of these armour-like shapes on the hips!! they probably deserve a separate thread just for all of them! if we only knew how to call "it"