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.
Christian Dior Vintage 1980 Gold Diamond Crystals White Triangle Chunky Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Diamond Crystals Beige Cream White Enamel Triangle Arrow Large Pendant Modernist Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition. Marked 'Chr.Dior (C) '....
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Large Semicircle Circle Crystals Drop Gold Elegant 2 Set
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Large Semicircle Crystals Drop Pendant Elegant 2 Jewellery Gift Set Necklace Earrings, Gold Tone Very good condition. Some of light scratches or colour ...
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage Gold White Enamel Triangle Crystals Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Beige White Enamel Diamond Triangle Crystals Chunky Pendant Modernist Necklace, Gold Tone Very excellent condition. Marked 'Chr.Dior (C) '. 100% genuine...
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage 1980 Unisex Gold Crystals Triangle Arrow Pendant Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Whole Crystals Triangle Arrow Pendant Choker Necklace, Gold Tone Very good condition. 100% Genuine. Rare to find. This is a very stylish and rar...
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage 1970s Gold Crystals Triangle Exquisite Chain Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1970s Crystals Triangle Pendant Exquisite Chain Elegant Modernist Necklace, Gold Tone Quintessentially sophisticated, Christian Dior presents this rope chain ...
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Whole Crystals V Triangle Pendant Chain Necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Wokingham, England
Christian Dior Vintage 1980s Unisex Sparkling Crystals Oval Triangle V Pendant Elegant Necklace, Gold Tone Very excellent condition. 100% Genuine. Signed at the back. Marked 'Chr.D...
Gold Plate
Christian Dior Silver and Gold Plated Necklace and Earrings Set with Rhinestones
By Christian Dior
Located in London, GB
Christian Dior beautiful silver plated and gold plated necklace and earrings set. The necklace has a shiny herringbone chain finishing with a double fold over clasp. Featuring a si...
Gold Plate, Silver Plate
1980s Costume Jewelry Interchangeable Earrings and Necklace by Christian Dior
By Christian Dior
Located in Aci Castello, IT
This elegant 1980s Christian Dior parure beautifully showcases the bold geometric aesthetics and glamorous versatility that defined the luxury house's costume jewelry during the decade. The set is crafted from high-quality gold-toned metal and features an innovative interchangeable design system. The suite includes a fine twisted rope chain necklace carrying a square-shaped pendant, alongside a pair of clip-on earrings and three additional interchangeable square jacket frames, allowing the wearer to customize their look. The modular versatility of the set highlights the distinct finishes available for the square drop elements. The collection includes pairs of frames finished in polished, minimalist gold-tone, frames inlaid with deep black enamel, and frames pave-set with brilliant, shimmering clear rhinestones. This allows the central clip-on component to be swapped seamlessly depending on the occasion. The clip mechanism reveals the meticulous craftsmanship of the house, showing the smooth, sculptural hinges that hold the square frames in place. Each central clip finding is elegantly stamped with the authentic, embossed "CD" initials logo, ensuring its pedigree as a collectible vintage Dior treasure...
Gilt Metal
Vintage 14K WG Pendant Necklace & Earrings with 2.37 Carat Diamonds
Located in New York, NY
Video: Video Link Detailed Description: Vintage Estate Style Elevate your style with this vintage estate jewelry set, featuring a stunning 14K white gold pendant and matching earring...
Diamond, 14k Gold, White Gold
Antique Edwardian 18K Gold & Platinum 3.34ctw Diamond Garland Pendant or Brooch
Located in Staines-Upon-Thames, GB
An antique diamond, platinum, and yellow gold convertible brooch and pendant, comprising eighty-eight old cut and rose cut diamonds, set in platinum, and backed in 18 karat yellow go...
Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Platinum
Antique 1900s Diamond and Yellow Gold and Platinum Necklace
Located in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne
A stunning antique 0.56 carat diamond and 15 karat yellow gold, platinum necklace; part of our diverse antique jewelry and estate jewelry collections. This stunning, fine and impressive antique 1900s diamond necklace has been crafted in 15k gold with a platinum setting and chain. The necklace is ornamented with two feature Old European round cut diamonds, a 0.25Ct and 0.25Ct, displayed to the lower borders of two flared linear drop. The linear drops are accented with a single bezel set Old European round cut diamond. The linear settings suspend from a shaped, geometric frame ornamented with a further three bezel and pavé set Old European round cut diamonds. The necklace suspends from a 43cm platinum trace chain via two integrated ring loops to the upper border of the geometric setting, securing with a conventional spring loaded bolt ring fastening to the reverse. This antique diamond drop necklace...
Diamond, 15k Gold, Yellow Gold, Platinum
Vintage CHRISTIAN DIOR signed gold plated crystals omega chain designer necklace
By Christian Dior
Located in Palos Hills, IL
DETAILS • signed CHRISTIAN DIOR • gold plated with crystals • vintage designer necklace MEASUREMENTS • CONDITION • very good vintage condition with minimal signs of wear ...
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.
