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Needles to say, World War II did nothing to contribute to the development of fashion: fabric had to be rationed, Europe was in turmoil, and dressing the part was probably not the first thing on any-body's agenda. It was in spring 1947, when Christian Dior premiered his collection, whit which he not only said goodbye to the memories of war in the fashion world, but also dramatically changed the way women would dress from there on. He stopped rationing fabric, and started spending many yards of it on every single creation. At first, it was 10 yards of fabric in his early styles, but later on the number went as high as 80 yards of fabric used per creation. Initially, the Dior collections had their individual names (i.e. Corolla and Eight), but it was after Harper's bazaar's editor-in-chief Carmel Snow, accentuated "It's such a New Look!", the Dior style got the name it carries to this day.
The Dior New look was all about bringing the lady-like way of dressing back to the women, who after years of wearing rags, pants, and military uniforms, yearned to be as much lady like, as it was possible. The house of Dior delivered just what they wanted. "I wanted my dresses to be constructed, molded upon the curves of the feminine body, whose sweep they would stylize," Christian Dior proclaimed in his autobiography. Shoulders were no longer squared, but rounded and natural, jackets were pinched at the waist, and dresses had darts to accommodate the fabric increase from small waist to large chest and hips. Skirts were mid calf and full, flowing with layers of petticoats. The freedom and grandeur of the skirts gave both a glamorous feeling and appearance. The accessories did not lag behind: Women were adorned with hats, gloves, shoes, and purses. Evening ware of the New look was above all glamorous, and consisted of strapless boned tops, and full skirts. The New look was all about celebrating the woman shape, and the right of a girl, to look like a lady, everywhere she went.
Big time Hollywood figures and European upper-class, became strongly fond of the Dior look, and Paris, which had fallen from its position as the capital of the fashion world after the second world war, got back its esteemed position, duly because of the attention it got from Dior's New Look. The latter dominated the fashion world for about ten years, but there were also those, that rebelled against the head to toe groomed look. Among them we can find such major fashion icons like Leslie Caron, and Aubrey Hepburn, who relied on simple black sweaters, flat shoes, and gold hoop earrings. They presented the alternative, often regarded to as chic, and surely left their unique mark in the history of fashion. But that is a whole different story.
* All images in this article are from books sold on Amazon.com
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Monday, 01 February 2010
Needles to say, World War II did nothing to contribute to the development of fashion: fabric had to be rationed, Europe was in turmoil, and dressing the part was probably not the first thing on any-body's agenda. It was in spring 1947, when Christian Dior premiered his collection, whit which he...
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