“When I opened my couture house I decided to dress only the most fashionable women from the first ranks of society.” –Christian Dior
Christian Dior impacted fashion by establishing the house of Dior, and creating the New Look in 1947. When Dior created his designs, he looked back on his French country heritage and childhood for inspiration. The House of Dior still incorporates Christian Dior’s past into modern day designs and honors his traditions. (De Racogne) The New Look shocked people out of World War II and austerity and into a new era of elegant fashion. Dior’s New Look made him, the House of Dior, and Paris, the recognized fashion icons, which have also been influential in modern times. The House of Dior is one of the most recognized luxury brands in fashion. Christian Dior, the original genius behind the brand, massively changed the fashion world by introducing his New Look in 1947. His design changed a world of dreariness and sacrifice of World War II into one with a bright future, especially in fashion. Many people loved the gentle curves of the silhouette, emphasizing the women’s hips and small waist. The New Look trickled down to the mass markets at a lower cost. Everyone had access to the basic design of the New Look. Even in today’s House of Dior, luxury and heritage is a priority. Monsieur Dior always tied his designs back to his childhood, which designers still do today. Every piece of an outfit has a meaning to it from Christian Dior’s life. Luxury is also supremacy in the House of Dior, much like it was for Mr. Dior. Overall, without Christian Dior, the world may still be in an unfashionable rut. His New Look shocked everyone out of the war and into a prosperous future. His house carries his legacy today.
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...ten work in the garden. Also, when he was older, and needed inspiration, he would visit his summer home to “be one with nature”. “Happiness pink” is a term Dior created to describe a light, soft pink. In stands for the color of his childhood home in Granville, which is now a museum. Black, red, and gray are also very common colors, which Dior thinks flatter almost everyone. “Red is the magical color that has created the strongest link between Dior and Galliano.”
Finally, three other common fabrics are houndstooth, Prince of Wales plaid, and lace. (Offices of the House of Dior) Designers must study these stories, in order to create a true Dior-esque collection. Famous lines from the house of Dior are the Zig-zag, in 1948, the Vertical, in 1950, the Tulip, in 1953, the H-line, in 1954, the A-line, in 1955, the Y-line, in 1955, and the Spindle line in 1957. (Krebs)
‘Your coat’s a little shabby, but who cares? It doesn’t keep people from asking you to dine. If I were shabby no one would have me: a woman is asked out as much for her clothes as for herself. The clothes are background, the frame, if you like: they don’t make success, but they are a part of it. Who wants a dingy woman? We are expected to be pretty and well-dressed till we drop – and if we can’t keep it up alone, we have to go into partnership.” (Wharton,
Givenchy’s love for fashion grew when at the age of ten he attended the Pavillon d’ Elegance Paris Exposition. Once looking through Vogue magazine, he was inspired by Balenciaga men’s wear. He wanted to be a couturier and attended Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, to start a formal education in fashion. His designing inspirations came from Elsa Schiaparelli and Madam Gres’s work. His experience also came from working at the House of Piguet in Paris; this salon was known for its dramatic yet simple style and after, at the House of Lelong that was known for their high quality clothing. Those positions gave him knowledge on how to work with couture customers and gave him an opportunity to build strong relationships with them (Press, 2002).
Werle, Simone. Fashionista A Century of Style Icons. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977. Print.
Coco Chanel, born Gabrielle Bonhuer Chanel, on August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France was an amazing woman who redefined fashion as we know it today. She was a clothing designer who revolutionized the fashion industry with her suits, little black dresses, and avant garde flare. Because of this quickly in her young life she became well know, and rose to be the fashion icon that she is today. From the timeless designs that are still popular to this day, and the sophisticated outfits that can be paired with great accessories Chanel has done it all. When it comes down to it though it was Coco Chanel’s philosophy that “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it’s not luxury” that lead to her success. (“Coco Chanel”)
The 18th century fashion for men and women was influenced by the royal court and Puritans. Women’s fashion was very elegant and colorful, more so than the men’s fashion. The shoes worn by the women of the 18th century were made of silks and satin. They were decorated in laces and had a square or round shape. They also began to wear shoes of different and vibrant colors with higher heels. A majority of the time their shoes were not shown because of their extravagant skirts and petticoats. Lace was a stylish detail to women’s fashion during that time. They wore lace gloves and their petticoats were trimmed in lace. Men wore knee high boots that were either high-heeled or flat along with their knee length trousers. Their shoes were often neutral colors dark brown, light ...
The future of women’s fashion is uncertain—in that shock value is harder to come by with each passing year. There is a concept in fashion that nothing is new, everything has been done before. This theory is coming closer to obvious reality, as fashion shows of recent years have visual throwbacks as late as the Victorian era. Although the direction is not yet decided, it is almost definite that women will use fashion as an important tool for expression and freedom in the future.
Haute couture can be referenced back as early as the 1700s. Rose Bertin, the French fashion designer to Queen Marie Antoinette, can be credited for bringing fashion and haute couture to French culture. French leadership in European fashion continued into the 18th century when influence was sourced from art, architecture, music, and fashions of the French court at Versailles were imitated across Europe. Visitors to Paris brought back clothing that was then copied by local dressmakers. Stylish women also ordered fashion dolls dressed in the latest Parisian fashion to serve as models.
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 glamorous and more practical, simple items because his out of the ordinary designs were not welcomed in open arms by opulent clientele. Despite this experience he was still confident in his ideas and ventured out on his own with money barrowed from his parents and opened a storefront. Moreover, he wanted to promote of the concept of a "total lifestyle” was seen as the first couturier to merge fashion with interior design. His independent work broke the normal conventions of dressmaking, and overturned their underlying presumptions. He liberated the woman’s body from the petticoat and the corset to allow clothing to follow woman’s natural form. Poiret also radically revolutionized dressmaking to switch from the emphasis surrounding the skills of tailoring towards those based on the skills of draping and began to use bright colors. Furthermore, Poiret was apart of the art deco movement, which was surrounded by a period of immense social upheaval, particularly for women, and emergence of technol...
“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance. (Gabrielle ‘CoCo’ Chanel) To her modesty was the chicest way of proclaiming one’s superiority. she wanted to get rid of everything that put women at the mercy of convention, that got in their way, that slowed them down.” Edelman (1997 p20)
In the early 1800s, France was the sole fashion capital of the world; everyone who was anyone looked towards Paris for inspiration (DeJean, 35). French fashion authority was not disputed until the late twentieth century when Italy emerged as a major fashion hub (DeJean, 80). During the nineteenth century, mass produced clothing was beginning to be marketed and the appearance of department stores was on the rise (Stearns, 211). High fashion looks were being adapted and sold into “midlevel stores” so that the greater public could have what was once only available to the social elite (DeJean, 38). People were obsessed with expensive fashions; wealthy parents were advised not the let their children run around in expensive clothing. People would wait for children dressed in expensive clothing to walk by and then they would kidnap them and steal their clothes to sell for money (DeJean, 39). Accessories were another obsession of France‘s fashion; they felt no outfit was complete without something like jewelry or a shrug to finish off the look and make it all around polished (DeJean, 61). As designers put lines together, marketing began to become important to fashion in the nineteenth century; fashion plates came into use as a way to show off fashion l...
Georg Simmel explores the impact societal differentiation played on the 20th century, in the article Fashion, published in 1957 in The American Journal of Sociology, Volume LXII, Number 6. In this text he defines his theory stating “The elite initiate a fashion and, when the mass imitates it in an effort to obliterate the external distinction of class, abandons it for a newer mode- a process that quickens with the increase of wealth” (Fashion, p.541). Fashion connects those of a higher social class and segregates them from others. Simmel believes that fashion evolves from class differentiation, as members of the elite class seek to set themselves apart from other classes, and in turn a revolving cycle begins (Blumer, p.277). Members from other lower classes copy the elite’s fashion and with this the elite must change...
Print. The. Jones, Terry, and Rushton, Susie. ICONS: Fashion Now.
Introduction Historically, multiple styles of dressing have been created during the last several decades, which played an important role in modern fashion in the UK. Everyone has a different and unique dressing style in their everyday life. Some styles are influenced by vintage styles which are attributing to the deep effects of old vogue, and another group of dressing styles are inclined into the fresh element. Despite those different styles, some of them have even evolved into the milestones in fashion history. To start this essay, it will introduce the evaluation of the first significant revolution of dressing style in the 1960s.
Clothing has been around for thousands of years; almost as long as the modern human has. At first, it served the practical purpose of protection from the elements; but, as life for early humans stopped being a constant struggle to survive, they started noticing how they looked and the concept of fashion began to take shape. These first few garments were typically dyed draped cloth that was pinned at the shoulder and/or waist. This was seen in many ancient civilizations around the world, Greek and Roman the most notable. Over time, clothing began to get more and more complex and formed to the body’s shape, eventually leading up to the tailored style we now have today. However, the sophisticated world of Haute Couture; or high fashion, can distinctly trace its roots to Paris during the mid-19th century. Clothing from there was thought to be superior to those from anywhere else, and women began to come from all over Europe just to buy dresses. This was probably due in part to one notable dressm...
Fashion is a controversial issue in society nowadays. We live in a consumerism advanced era in which whether following fashion trends or not has become a debatable point. Many people believe that it is important to follow fashion trends. For example, Lord Chesterfield once said, “If you are not in fashion, you are nobody.” The question is why fashion should be an essential matter of concern to all of us. As far as I am concerned, each person should be able to decide if one wants to follow a trend or not.