Christian Dior Embellished Slip Silk Black Midi Dress
About the Item
- Designer:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Naples, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1624120540182
Christian Dior
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Naples, FL
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Dolce & Gabbana c.1996 Vintage Corset Lace-Up Bandage Semi Sheer Black DressBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Naples, FLDolce & Gabbana c.1996 Vintage Corset Lace-Up Bandage Semi Sheer Black Dress Dolce & Gabbana semi sheer black dress featuring corset interior boning...Category
1990s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Azzedine Alaia F/W 1991 Vintage Bodycon Velvet Knit Black DressBy Azzedine AlaïaLocated in Naples, FLAzzedine Alaia F/W 1991 Vintage Bodycon Velvet Knit Black Dress Size M Alaïa heavy knit velvet dress with open knit trim throughout, V-neck, long sleeves ...Category
1990s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- 1990'S Gucci by Tom Ford Semi-Sheer Knit Bodycon Black DressBy Tom Ford for GucciLocated in Naples, FL1990'S Gucci by Tom Ford Semi-Sheer Knit Bodycon Black Dress XS Gucci semi-sheer lightweight stretch knit sleeveless dress featuring crossed accent a...Category
1990s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Dolce & Gabbana F/W 2003 Runway Cutout Snap-Up Convertible Knit Black DressBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Naples, FLDolce & Gabbana F/W 2003 Runway Cutout Snap-Up Convertible Knit Black Dress IT 42 Look 14 from the Fall 2003 Collection. Dolce & Gabbana black convertible dress featuring four adju...Category
Early 2000s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Gianni Versace F/W 1995 Runway Vintage Velvet Black Maxi Dress GownBy Gianni VersaceLocated in Naples, FLGianni Versace F/W 1995 Runway Vintage Velvet Black Maxi Dress Gown IT 40 Look 59 from the Fall 1995 Collection.Category
1990s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Dolce & Gabbana Corset Lace-Up Bustier Bodycon Black Midi DressBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Naples, FLDolce & Gabbana Corset Lace-Up Bustier Bodycon Black Midi Dress IT 36Category
21st Century and Contemporary Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Mariano Fortuny Black Silk Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with matte frosted colored glass beads threaded through the cordin...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Peplos
- Mariano Fortuny Black Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
- Mariano Fortuny Black Delphos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams, and multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
Named after a ...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
- Gianni Versace 1997 Couture fall black leather gownBy Gianni Versace, Gianni Versace CoutureLocated in CAPELLE AAN DEN IJSSEL, ZHGianni Versace was an influential Italian fashion designer who founded the Versace brand. In the fall of 1997, he presented his couture collection in Paris, which was widely acclaimed for its opulent fabrics, bold prints, and intricate detailing. The collection featured several notable pieces, such as a black evening gown with a plunging neckline and a gold-encrusted jacket. However, just a few days later, on July 15th, 1997, Gianni was tragically murdered outside his Miami Beach home. Despite his untimely death, his contributions to the world of fashion continue to be celebrated, and his legacy remains an inspiration too many. This collection is iconic as it’s the final collection before his passing. The collection very much showed a new direction for the house. Which was heading away from the bombshell curves and souped-up sex appeal that the house previously focussed on. But took more Inspirations to the new wave John Galliano and Mcqueen were leading. MET Gala: Salma Hayek y sus mejores momentos en la alfombra roja Vogue For the 1997 Met Gala Salma Hayek wore a very similar Gianni Versace look...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- 1980s Dimitri Kritsas long black dressLocated in Milano, IT1980s Dimitri Kritsas long black dress with wide shawl neckline and low cut back. Rounded high slit in front with fitted long sleeves. Evening dress Size: M Waist: 88 cm Length: 14...Category
1980s American Evening Dresses
- Yves Saint Laurent by Tom Ford FW-02 Silk Flared Hem Dress - Velvet RibbonBy Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in Brussels, BEFlirtation and eroticism were on American designer Tom Ford’s mind for his Fall/Winter 2002 Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche collection. Using stereotypical women’s fabrics for appropr...Category
Early 2000s French Sheath Dresses
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Too Soon for the Return of ’90s Fashion? As If
There's a renewed appreciation for the era's aesthetic, perhaps most notably among millennials seeking authentic, easy style.
14 Iconic Luxury Handbags and the Stories behind Them
When the name of a bag is as well-known as its brand, you know it's a classic.