Christian Dior Diorissimo Tailleur (Jacket and Skirt)
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Bressanone, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3357222608642
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.
John Galliano for Christian Dior
Known for introducing rich theatricality and memorable fashion spectacles to the runway, John Galliano has enjoyed a singular career. The audacious British designer has garnered universal acclaim for genre-breaking collections not only at his eponymous label but also for Christian Dior.
From his embroidered absinthe-green Oscars gown for actress Nicole Kidman to the iconic sleeveless newspaper-print dress that Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw made famous, Galliano’s intricate and multifaceted work is reliably collectible and newsworthy, drawing on history as often as it embodies a fresh and forward-looking sensibility, and over the years the designer has helped shape an ever-broadening new legion of enthusiasts for Parisian couture.
Born in Gibraltar but raised in South London by strict Roman Catholic working-class parents, Galliano attended the all-boys Church of England grammar school, where his flamboyance and interest in art attracted the attention of bullies. Eventually, Galliano ended up at the prestigious design and art school Central Saint Martins College (then called Saint Martin’s School of Art), where fellow British designers Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen also trained.
Galliano flourished at Central Saint Martins. While a student, he worked in the costume department at the National Theatre in London. His graduate collection in 1984, dubbed “Les Incroyables” and named for post–French Revolution fashion lovers, was modeled by close friends of his and earned a standing ovation. The line ended up in the storefront windows of London luxury boutique Brown’s on South Molton Street, and Galliano’s first official collection — after he graduated — debuted at Paris Fashion Week in 1989.
In the early 1990s, Galliano’s relationship with his financial backer, Plein Sud’s Faycal Amor, ended, and by 1994, he was broke and sleeping on the floor of a friend’s apartment. Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour and then-Vanity Fair editor André Leon Talley stepped in and introduced the budding designer to Portuguese socialite and fashion patron São Schlumberger and others.
At Schlumberger’s Hôtel Particulier, Galliano’s shows became the stuff of fashion legend. His collection, a blend of Japanese modernist style as well as nostalgia for Art Deco and 1940s’ tailoring, earned raves in glossy magazines and garnered the attention of Princess Diana, Madonna and other fashion luminaries.
Once the Galliano name was well known among the world’s most stylish set, the chairperson of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, appointed Galliano head designer of French fashion house Givenchy. One year later, in 1996, LVMH moved him to the design team at Dior. In just eight weeks, Galliano produced 50 looks for Dior Haute Couture’s brilliant Spring/Summer 1997 Maasai collection and would ultimately design a mind-boggling eight collections a year for the storied French fashion house until 2011. Today, Galliano is the creative director of Maison Margiela.
Shop vintage and contemporary John Galliano for Christian Dior evening dresses and gowns, shoes, handbags and other clothing and accessories on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Bressanone, Italy
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Fendi Dress / Twin Set in SatinBy FendiLocated in Bressanone, ITFendi blouse and skirt matching set in satin color champagne. Size 44 IT (top), 46 IT (skirt). Condition: Good/really good, to note: 1 small spot on back of the top, please check th...Category
Early 2000s Twin Sets
- Fendi Vintage Tailleur / Dress in WoolBy FendiLocated in Bressanone, ITFendi tailleur set jacket and skirt in wool and velvet color turquoise and black. Size 44 IT Condition: Really good.Category
1990s Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
- Jean Paul Gaultier Cyber JumpsuitBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Bressanone, ITJean Paul Gaultier Cyber Jumpsuit. Size S Condition: New, with tags.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Jumpsuits
- Jean Paul Gaultier Patchwork "Ricamo" silk topBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Bressanone, ITRare Jean Paul Gaultier "RICAMO" patchwork embroidery silk top, size M. Condition: Excellent.Category
1990s Blouses
- Jean Paul Gaultier 90s Bank Note DressBy Jean Paul Gaultier Soleil, Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Bressanone, ITJean Paul Gaultier bank note printed dress, in fabric and mesh. Size XS (wide wearability). Condition: Excellent.Category
1990s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Mugler Stretch Dress in WoolBy Mugler, Thierry MuglerLocated in Bressanone, ITMUGLER dress in wool color green, size M. Condition: Excellent.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Prada grey linen runway set, SS 1999By PradaLocated in London, GBGrey linen skirt set from the Prada SS 1999 collection as featured in the show. Leather trim Snap button closure Side zip of skirt and top Size: Top...Category
1990s European Twin Sets
- Emporio Armani Linen Two PieceBy EMPORIO ARMANI EA7Located in Glasgow, GBBeautiful linen two piece from Emporio Armani. Maxi skirt with matching blazer jacket In a dark grey/green tone linen mix. The jacket has a ribbon and mesh frill trim around the co...Category
2010s Italian Skirt Suits
- Marc Jacobs Houndstooth Skirt SuitBy Marc JacobsLocated in Glasgow, GBWool and cashmere mix Marc Jacobs skirt suit from the eponymous brand. Houndstooth upper with a chunky black lace trim around the hemline and at the cuffs. The jacket is double breas...Category
2010s Skirt Suits
- Ivory Tom Ford Skirt SuitBy Tom FordLocated in Glasgow, GBIvory Tom Ford skirt suit from the eponymous brand. Silky ivory blazer style jacket and matching below the knee pencil skirt. The pencil skirt features gunmetal zipper detail running...Category
2010s Italian Skirt Suits
- 90s D&G Top Skirt Set Black LaceBy D&G by DOLCE & GABBANALocated in Miami, FLDolce & Gabbana D&G label top and skirt black lace set. The top is a sleeveless shell and sheer with piping along the edges. It falls below the skirt line. The skirt is a pencil skir...Category
1990s Italian Skirt Suits
- ysl 80s pleated skirt with matching sweater 80s YslBy Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in Viareggio, ITPleated skirt with floral print 1984 collection multicolored silk-blend from Yves Saint Laurent featuring a fully pleated all-over floral print, high waist and straight hem. Yves S...Category
1980s French Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
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.