@@iamawesome196 like a lot of the clothes feel like an amalgamation of beautiful, lavish and expensive looking fabrics, made with mastery of course but some real bougie shit you know
What I had known for a very long time, nothing is really NEW . Fashion has always taken inspiration from many different sources. If you are open to everything around you, you will find inspiration in everything. I believe books that talk about the History of Fashion give you this info. Nice video.
I did find it fascinating however how most of his garments were made. What Dior really shows you is how to take advantage of timing and marketing. I think "Pop Star" is an adequate term for most influential designers. I also find it interesting how so many men now are not happy with the silhouettes now that are designed by women.
Karl Lagerfield and Alexander McQueen were masters of the Media. In fact, I would say the Media became slaves to them. The Media no longer felt the need to find new designers who could and did present different points of view. Both designers made it easy for the media not to look. What I take from this is simple: know what you really want in and from your fashion career. Dior and Balenciaga wanted different things and both in the end got it.
Really interesting and well worth putting out there. I'm reading 'Pierre Cardin: The man who became a label / Richard Morais' at the moment and they talk about the same thing there, and look at Dior's contemporary's at the time too like Cristobal Balenciaga, Balmain etc, (on page 41) they say that '(in 1945) Balmain showed a long bell-shaped skirt with small waists - a look that foreshadowed Christian Dior's fashion revolution', but later on add '(page 56) Balenciaga, more than Dior was a fashion prophet, foreshadowing trends before they became mainstream. The silhouette of his 1930s clothes was already the New Look. It was Dior however who had the golden touch of timing.' So like you said his 'influences' came from several sources. His 'New Look' is also described (on page 44) as 'he is making huge pleated skirts like those the Marseilles fishwives wear, long, like this, and with tiny bodices and tiny hats', which I found interesting, and like you say they reference 19th century pieces and beyond too. I think Dior's timing was right, and also how he packaged his brand was also fresh and captured the zeitgeist of the moment. He had the right backers too and access to key fabric houses which all propelled him forwards. His usage of 'excessive' fabric was a key aspect too that garnered incredible press for him, (page 46) 'The public hysteria (over the skirt lengths) propelled Dior onto the front pages of every newspaper in the world. It did not take long before his was an international name, recognised like Stalin or Gandhi. It was the birth of the designer as pop star. Dior emerged as a fashion force', and this outpouring of press may be the key factor why the perception was instigated that Dior over anyone else was the vision behind the New Look.
Christian Dior is without a doubt my favourite designer with Cristobal Balenciaga a very close second and I have always noticed similarities but maybe this is why I love both original houses so much.
A very very interesting video - esp in light of the new series Dior. Fashion history has been a deep history love for me, and learning about the people behind the scenes helps bring reasons behind decisions and choices. The series also showed the competition and attitudes between the designers pre, during and post war. Thankyou for a VERY interesting read. Ive now bought that book!
I love how over time we keep unraveling that nothing is new under the sun. With the perspective of those who lived in the Era which history is written often unveils how time changes the mind and we have to respect that, even if it is riddled with Sin.
I think Dior was primarily influenced by Hartnell's designs for the royal visit to Paris in 1938. These designs were a sensation and were news fodder the whole world over.
I think you are absolutely right. The Queen (mother of Queen Elizabeth II) was in mourning for her very recently deceased mother. She couldn’t wear all the colorful gowns that had been created for the visit, and black was considered inappropriate as the visit was of vital diplomatic importance, so white was chosen as an alternative and Hartnell created a whole new wardrobe in 3 weeks. Hartnell reintroduced the crinoline and the Queen was a vision of glamorous femininity wherever she went. Many of the elements of her wardrobe were seen in the New Look.
I think it doesn't really matter that it was done before because he took it there, you know what i mean. He pushed it as far as it could go and that's why its remembered how it is. totally biased because new look was one of my first fashion loves lol
На самом деле было очень много модельеров '40х годов которые рисовали подобные силуэты, ключивое слова здесь РИСОВАЛИ.))) Эскиз это одно а воплощение в жизнь это совсем другое, НИКТО включая Баленсиага кроме Диора не смог воплотить эти силуэты в жизнь. Диор сделал это реальностью, реальностью доступной для всех. Это совершенно точно не умоляет значение Шанель, Баленсиага, Ив Сент Лорана, Джан Франко Ферре и многие десятки Гениальных Модельеров, каждый из которых нашел свои линии и свои формы, и каждый из них по своему Гениален.
Wonderful! Have you read Justine Picardie’s book Miss Dior? It creates a great picture of WWII France, the Diors and the couturier milieu. Not necessarily flattering to French couturiers and their clients, with a few notable exceptions.
Hey! I haven't actually read that book, going to add it to my reading list so big thanks. I've read a few books that are focused on the war time like "Fashion on The Ration" by Julie Summers so this should be good to add more context to that time period.
Yeah the new look is not like a very new concept. In the early republic of China they had a style that looked like the new look without the corset. They had men mandchurian jacket (but worn as a sweater/shirt) that they refined the waist and moved the buttons for women starting from the clavicle down to the side for easy access for breastfeeding but it became like a feminine detail. The jacket could be long sleeve or short sleeve. The lower body would be a loose flowing skirt of same or different color. A lot of women and school girl uniforms adopted that look. Then in the 1920 especially in Shanghai that jacket elongated and evolved into the very sexy Qipao dress all women were wearing it and still worn nowadays in formal events. Coco and Dior were good at marketing and branding also by making their perfume and coco would spray her perfume in the restaurants intentionally when women passed by her table. Thanks for the video it was insightful.
I don’t care if it wasn’t “new” it was FABULOUS! And changed fashion until about 1962....EVERYONE ripped it off, everyone wore a version of this look, rich or poor (even CHILDREN) They wanted to be feminine after the war...the men who grew up in the Great Depression, and live (literally) through hell during WW2 also wanted a flattering feminine form (Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren,Jayne Mansfield, Diana Dors…) Every western female (young/old/rich/poor) wore Dior from 1948-1962….EVERYONE.
