Your opinion can help us make it better. We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration. Only two years after the end of World War II, the French couturier presented a collection that symbolized not only a departure from previous styles, but the beginning of a new society.
On February 12, , Christian Dior presented his debut haute couture collection in Paris. Immediately dubbed as the "New Look," its most prominent features included rounded shoulders, a cinched waist, and a full, A-line skirt. With its clearly articulated feminine silhouette, the "Bar" suit picture was one of the most recognized ensembles of the late 40s and early 50s.
Dior's New Look became instantly popular among the couture clientele, and the middle class followed quickly. Women in Europe and the US would go to salons and ask seamstresses to emulate Dior's style for a fraction of the couture price. To stay ahead of the game, Dior would change his style every year: His Fall collection emphasized the neckline and played with embroideries. The "Junon" dress is still being copied by various dressmakers to this day.
At the beginning of the 50s, Dior's style went through some degree of transformation. Increasingly inspired by men's tuxedos and by his numerous trips to the United States, he conceived a more streamlined and modest silhouette for his Spring collection - although some styles still maintained the characteristic New Look volumes. Newly found lightness and simplicity defined Dior's collections in , even though nothing is ever really simple when it comes to haute couture.
Dior might have replaced strict tailoring for fluid draping that year, but the neckline, for instance, would be constructed by an elaborate system of invisible wires to hold together its form. In contrast, Dior adopted a rather rigid style in The dresses had very sharp contours and grasped the body.
The contradiction between the solid line and the romantic brocades, highlighted by the use of silver and gold threads, would create a literally breathtaking experience for the wearer as well as for the observer. His enthusiasm for horticulture led to flower-inspired collections of mostly monochromatic looks with voluptuous dimensions that once again liberated the body. However, many wealthy American women came to Paris to buy Dior that year, so he balanced the act with glamorous dresses for debutantes and their mothers.
A shift in style was apparent at Dior in the mids. The daily wear became almost minimalist, inspired by men's wardrobe again, and the evening wear was composed with ease. He replaced rigorous understructures with almost architectonic, hand-shaped constructions, but that didn't mean his creations lost anything of their opulence. The change in Dior's work was, no doubt, caused by his new first assistant, the young Yves Saint Laurent, who was hired in It was as if France had ceased to live.
With the death of Dior came the demise of the styles that had made him famous. Some had been practical enough for everyday living, such as the elegant Bar Suit, comprising a jacket with a contrasting corseted waist and peplum hem and a sensible yet chic long A-line skirt.
However, the more extreme designs had been downright passion killers. It was difficult to sit down and impossible to order a drink from a crowded bar. Clearly, the brand had to modernise. Women no longer needed lavish clothes that they struggled to move in as a means of bragging about their post-austerity wealth and freedom.
Now they wanted liberation of a different kind — and demanded that it come in the shape of the lightweight, less restrictive mini-skirt. In the UK, for example, a group called the British Society for the Protection of Mini Skirts organised marches outside fashion shows — and the house of Dior duly granted their wishes for younger, edgier outfits.
While the fashionistas of the s believed that, paradoxically, their clothing had given them freedom by confining them, the women of the s sought a rather more sexual revolution. His parents would have been proud…. Recover your password. Where to Stay and Eat in Languedoc-Roussillon. Where to Stay and Eat in Burgundy in What to See and Do in Languedoc-Roussillon. Recipes for Change. Christian Dior shows off his new skirt length in Photo: Alamy, courtesy of Christian Dior Museum.
His parents disapproved of his career choice. The Second World War interrupted it. Women everywhere gave up silk and other pricey materials, fasteners, boning for corsets, and zippers in order to supply the military, and were forced to adopt simpler garments — including trousers — for the first time ever. It was only natural that my creations should take the form of a reaction against this dearth of imagination.
But I designed clothes for flower-like women, with rounded shoulders, full feminine busts, and hand-span waists above enormous spreading skirts. Although it was a divisive proposition at the time, no one can deny the long-term effects that this silhouette had on the fashion world at large.
The reason was simple: after the war, women longed for frivolity in dress due to a psychological desire to distance themselves from the austerity and pragmatism of wartime garments and civilian uniforms.
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