Christian Dior's Influence On Fashion

Christian Dior was born on the 21 of January 1905. He grew up in Granville France to a affluent family, that worked in manufacturing. ‘Dior’s first interest in clothes developed in his teens when he dressed up as king Neptune for a fancy dress party.’ He went to school to study political science at Ecole des Sciences Politiques in Paris in 1920. This was because of his parent 's insistence. Dior then got the call for military service and served in the French Army from 1927-1928. In 1938 Robert Piguet hired him as a design assistant. Then after the war ended he began working for Lucien Lelong. Before pursing his own ambition and opening his own fashion house. Dior rose to fame quickly after he showcased his first collection ‘La Ligne Corolle’. Carmel Snow the editor and -chief of Harper’s Bazaar at the time gave the collection a name that

In this essay I want to examine how the corset evolved from a staple of the British feminine wardrobe of the Nineteenth Century into a symbol of an outmoded tradition – only to later return as a statement of female liberation. I am going to look at different aspects of this development including technological advances, economic facts, external events, particularly the First World War and changes in social, political and aesthetic attitudes. I will also look briefly at the role of Chanel on the silhouette and how this impacted on the corset: focusing on the trend to towards ‘opulent androgyny’ in the 1920’s. Finally I will examine the resurgence of the corset

Throughout the 1920s through the 1950s Women’s clothing in America was affected by World War II, which lead to the exploration of different styles, the encounter of new trends and the exchange of ideas and new styles.

After the War Chanel returned to Paris in 1953 to find that Parisian women were obsessed with Christian Dior and the “New Look”, which is a very feminine

World War II meant a decline in the economy and refraining from luxuries. The demand for supplies was a key factor in helping America win the war. Therefore, civilians were forced to sacrifice their nonessentials, with clothing and beauty products being the most difficult for women to eliminate from their lives. Therefore, women made efforts to keep fashion alive, even if it required endless creativity and thrifty tactics. Looking back on the war and how it sparked innovation and creativity, is shocking. Very few people would have expected the fashion industry to survive through World War II, let alone sky-rocket and change the way women dressed forever. Although women’s fashion was expected to fall along with the economy of World War II, the under-funded industry overcame the economic crisis against all odds. First, the pressure to conserve materials for the war guided women toward a more thrifty wardrobe. Secondly, women who took over the workforce changed their fashion styles for the sake of safety and practicality. Lastly, Cosmetics were re-designed to boost morale and allow women to express their femininity to counteract the masculine and man-like duties that women fulfilled during the war.

The political and economic crisis of the 1930’s strongly affected the way women dressed. The harsh situation in the country forced them to abandon fancy trends (in clothing, accessory, beauty department) in favor of the simplicity. Women quite often looked up to the glamorous Hollywood movie stars for fashion and beauty inspirations. However, the upcoming war stripped them of this sole way to escape the grim reality of day-to-day life. The hard times that emerged at the end of the 1930’s with the upcoming war on the horizon translated into simple and practical clothing.

The fashion industry is rapidly growing and constantly generating new fashion trends almost weekly. Fashion for some may seem ridiculous and unnecessary; but fashion is not just a meaningless usage of article of clothing or farcical materials sew together for coverage. There is more to fashion than meets the eyes, fashion is precious and significant. It is a reflection of self-image, it speak the ream about who we are and how we review ourselves. Not only is fashion the reflection of self-image but also the reflection of our history as Coco Channel have said, “Fashion is not something that exist in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” Fashion

Since women started to become more valued in the workforce, they also wanted to reward themselves by expressing how they felt through style. The booming designer of the time, Christian Dior, really helped women find their identify through simple fabrics along with tasteful and simple designs. Dior took over the closets of all women from the 1940’s all the way through the mid 1950’s. The waist became the focal point of the human figure and the bustlines started to raise and take shape. The shoulders stayed soft with rich fabrics and colors and the length of the dresses and skirts became effortlessly long and full of life. The most iconic women of this time that really took a grasp of this era was Marilyn Monroe.

Fast forward to Chanel’s young adult life, and you can see it wasn’t long off that she would set up shop in Paris, France in 1910, eventually expanding out to Deauville, and then Biarritz. She had started off with designing, and marketing hats which became a very successful hit amongst the fashionistas of that day. Chanel’s empire was growing exponentially, and in 1920 she expanded into the realms of couture now working in jersey which at the time was unheard of in the French fashion circle. Soon she was blurring the lines of what was acceptable, setting fashion trends instead of adhering to the routine, and was giving way to entire style genres such as the “chemise” and the “little boy” look. Her fashion statements were a gigantic contrast to what was socially acceptable, and of course Chanel fell under scrutiny over it, but she went on to create more casual, shorter, and idyllically “liberating” clothing for the day’s modern woman. In essence she was liberating women from the stuffy, confining fashions that they were used to, and giving way to a loose more relaxed style all together while maintaining it’s inherent feminine charm. Chanel was creating more than just a design, or an article of clothing, she was creating a movement that would change the way society viewed fashion in it’s entirety. (Lewis)

Christian Dior SE was founded by its namesake, French fashion designer, Christian Dior. The legendary designer exploded onto the Parisian fashion scene in 1947 through designs that challenged the wartime restrictions and reintroduced feminine elegance to women’s fashion. Dior was immediately successful and recognized for his unprecedented creative originality and innovation. During his lifetime, Dior was the most successful fashion designer in the world. Following Dior’s death at the age of 52 in 1957, the house brought in a steady stream of new designers who would carry on Monsieur Dior’s legacy into the

Fashion has been around ever since ancient times, since the time of the Romans, it survived the world wars and is yet today a business with rapid changes. Fashion started off as an art form, a way for the riches to show their social status with unique and innovative designs that only they could afford. It was a way to separate the social classes of the society. In this paper I will include the creator of haute couture, and how the following designers developed couture, as well as having leading names in today’s ready-to-wear industry. The list is long, but I chose to focus on the three most important designers of the modern fashion industry.

Paul Poiret was born on April 20th, 1879 in Paris, France. His contributions to twentieth-century fashion has earned him the title in many people’s eyes as the “King of Fashion”, because he established the principle of modern dress and created the blueprint of the modern fashion industry. Poiret’s designs and ideas led the direction of modern design history. He was born into a working class family and his natural charisma eventually gained him entry into some of the most exclusive ateliers of the Belle Époque. Jacques Doucet, one of the capital’s most prominent couturiers, hired him after seeing promising sketches he had sold to other dressmakers. Furthermore, he was hired by the House of Worth and was put to work to create less

This essay will be considering the historical development of haute couture by analysing Charles Frederick Worth’s (father of haute couture) key factors in the success of haute Couture. I will then discuss Coco Chanel’s thriving impact on haute couture as well as ready-to-wear caused by the second world war. Saint Laurent’s drift to ready-to-wear and the high street fashion system will also be discussed in order to answer if haute couture is relevant in fashion today. The books I will be analysing and referencing are ‘A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th Century’ by Bonnie English, ‘Couture’ by Ruth Lynam, ‘How Fashion Works’ by Gavin Waddell. Which will thoroughly breakdown the evolution and historical development of fashion by cultural, economic, environmental and social changes to finally come into a conclusion.

The passageway of modernism has introduced innovative components in the development of an individual's personality. The identity character as a social construct is highlighted through the effect that fashion has brought in, experimenting, producing and changing individual identity. The style and appearance of an individual is a portion of the fashion's period and usually refers to the possibility of people to utilize fashion industry products. This takes place just like any other consumer good that can be modified with respect to the prevalent societal codes. The modifications can be made either through surpassing or through copying them. Modern fashions are part of postmodernism. This is in the view of the fact that developments and growth in the fashion industry accompany and express development of the society through embracing postmodernism. Developments in the fashion industry offer options regarding styles, image and clothing through rejecting the options presented in modernism. This paper discusses Versace designs and their relationship to postmodernism.

Around 1947, after the end of World War II that Christian Dior introduced “Kings” style. This style gave a sense of luxury to Americans and was very classy. The women began to wear formal dresses that had delicate necklines. The women were also introduced to stylish hats and distinctive hairstyles with curls. The men’s style didn’t see many changes expect that the war jackets were now distant, and they followed a narrow shoulder and hip pattern in everything they wore (“Brief History”).