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. Vintage Dior bags, shoes, evening dresses, shirts and other garments and accessories are known today for their feminine and sophisticated sensibility.
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 couture 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.
Vintage Christian Dior S/S 2008 White Silk Gown
By Christian Dior
Located in London, GB
Vintage Christian Dior S/S 2008 white silk gown by John Galliano . Features a draped glamour and architectural tailoring, asymmetrical neckline, sculpted bust details with precise pl...
Jean Patou Haute Couture Dress Spring-Summer, 1955
By Jean Patou
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
Jean Patou Haute Couture dress in guipure, satin and tulle. No label of composition or size, it fits a size 36FR. Haute Couture Collection Spr...
Christian Dior Boutique Silk Dress - '50s
By Christian Dior
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Exquisitely designed by Monsieur Dior, this Christian Dior Boutique silk dress features a striking watercolor floral pattern in vibrant red. The flattering V-neck wrap design and the...
$4,169
Size: 38 (Fr) 6/8 US
Night blue taffetas evening dress attributed to Christian Dior F.W 1957/58
By Christian Dior
Located in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FR
Night blue taffetas evening dress. Draped on the bust and waist. 2 taffetas bow on the back with a drag in the same fabric. Snap, hook&eye and snap ( covered with fabric) to close th...
Rochas Vintage Inspired Harlow Bias Cut Silk Gown NWT
By Christian Dior, Rochas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
As seen on the runway Jean Harlow 1930's inspired gown designed by Rochas. Fashioned of eggshell white silk charmeuse with plunging neckline; spaghetti straps; chemise style bodice...
CHRISTIAN DIOR COUTURE Provenance Betsy Bloomingdale Nude Silk Chiffon Gown
By Christian Dior
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This Christian Dior gown is composed of a nude silk. Features and elastic neckline and sleeves with a pleated waist, which may be style on or off the shoulders. Comes with a slip skirt and waist belt. In vintage condition, (sold AS-IS) there is some discoloration and spotting due to age, see photos. Provenance: Betsy Bloomingdale...
1990s Christian Dior Silk and Tulle Wedding Dress and Veil
By Christian Dior
Located in London, GB
This spectacular archival wedding dress was designed by Gianfranco Ferré for Christian Dior in the early 1990s. Throughout its history, the house of Dior has defined bridal opulence, setting the standard for a full-skirted aesthetic with the “New Look” in the 1940s. In the 1990s, under the creative direction of Gianfranco Ferré, the brand reimagined these silhouettes with a maximalist influence creating voluminous ball gowns featuring sculptural layering and opulent materials. This magnificent wedding dress is fashioned from a creamy shot-silk with a cinched waist and full, fairy tale skirt. The top is tailored to a wide off-shoulder cut with short-sleeves and there are two ruffled fabric spaghetti straps which sit atop the shoulder. Three layers of silk form a pleated look that sweeps in waves across the decolletage, fastening at the back with delicate fabric-covered buttons. The dress is corseted and has a sculpted, nipped waist that gives way to a basque waistband at the front and back. The top is lined with satin. The skirt is where the house of Dior’s fantastical tailoring shines. The shot-silk parts in a petal-shaped peplum over the top of a full-skirted tulle skirt, sweeping across the hips and down the back of the skirt where it gathers and is knotted together. From below this knot, a small train is formed which hangs over the tulle skirt underneath. The skirt is composed of six layers crafted from tulle, mesh, shot-silk and satin. Under this, there is an attached petticoat formed of ruffled-tulle and a final layer of satin. The gown fastens at the back with a hidden tonal zip which is lined in white lace on the interior. We have referenced a very similar dress design from the 1993 Dior bridal collection and a 1949 Dior wedding dress...
Christian Dior by Gianfranco Ferré silk evening dress
By Christian Dior, Gianfranco Ferré for Christian Dior
Located in PARIS, FR
Christian Dior by Gianfranco Ferré black and white silk evening dress 1990’s era, ivory satin lapel straps, the chiffon skirt gathered at raised waist, with ruffled hem, ruched swag ...
Mignon Paris Draped Silk Dress 1950s
By Mignon
Located in Water Mill, NY
A stunning black silk dress from Mignon Paris. It is sleeveless with a draped portrait collar, fitted waist and a full skirt- a feat of draping and ruching. The dress has a back pai...
Christian Dior John Galliano Runway Gown Spring/Summer 2000 Size 38FR
By John Galliano for Christian Dior
Located in Saint Petersburg, FL
Christian Dior John Galliano Runway Gown Spring/Summer 2000 Size 38FR
Andy Warhol and the fashion house’s first collections were among the creative director’s inspirations.
There's a renewed appreciation for the era's aesthetic, perhaps most notably among millennials seeking authentic, easy style.
