Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams Exhibition at the V&A
February 11, 2019
Hello! Hello!
Welcome back to the blog everyone, I hope you are all doing very well and are as excited for today’s post as I am! Now, I would like to start by saying that I am by no means a fashionista and ‘in the know’ about what’s in what’s out and what’s shaking it all about in the fashion world! however, I do really enjoy fashion, especially if its vintage (of course!) so when I heard that the Christian Dior exhibition that I had visited at the Musee des arts Decoratifs back in Paris in 2017, was coming to London I honestly almost fainted with excitement! The exhibition was one of the best I had ever visited, and it honestly was the catalyst to starting off my obsession with Dior (not that I can afford it haha)
What I adore about Dior (unintentional rhyming alert) is that it is so much more than a brand. I know many of you will be reading this and thinking ‘Come on now Elisha, let’s not be a basic insta girl and obsess over a designer bag’ but for me personally, Dior isn’t that at all. I always say, every person has a designer that they resonate with, whether its Chanel, Armani, Chloe, Karl Lagerfeld, Ted Baker anything! and I dont mean on a material level (even though they produce some incredible things) what I mean is, is that you just adore everything about them from the history, to the designers, to the products! For me, its the history the Dior that I have a love affair with. I love that in Post-war France after years of Nazi occupation and oppression, that Christian Dior had a new and fresh vision which he combined with his love for women (in a non pervy way) to revolutionise the fashion world as we know it.
Starting off in the 1950’s with the incredible ‘New Look’, the exhibition showcases the history of Dior as a fashion house from the creation of the famous ‘Bar Suit’, to modern-day catwalk pieces by the current director Maria Grazia Chiuri. I really hope you enjoy some of the pictures I took, and that it inspires you, yourselves to go an visit this INCREDIBLE exhibition. I couldn’t recommend it enough honestly! Enjoy and let me know what you thought if you visited <3
(This is literally a snippet of what’s on offer, I took hundreds of pictures and had to try and narrow down some of my fav’s. So don’t worry if it looks small… the exhibition has so SO much more to offer than just these!) (P.S. Sorry about the glare on some of these images, sadly glass makes it impossible to get the desired pics 🙁 )
Of course, we have to start with the incredible ‘Bar Suit’, which is the embodiment of the New Look movement created by Dior in the 1950’s. Look at that beautifully feminine silhouette, isn’t it stunning? A continuation of the classic Dior silhouette with this breath taking red coat-dress, why is this not a thing today please? An aspect in the creation of this exhibition was to explore Dior’s relationship with Britain, and the inspiration he found in the women of the UK So, who better to embody that than Princess Margret? This dress was worn by her on her 21st Birthday photo shoot, and is so beautifully intricate in its design (See next pic) Close up of the dress, and in the background you can see the famous image of Princess Margret wearing it. I absolutely fell in love with this dress. Why? Well, just take a look at that exquisite embroidery and I think that answers the question *Wipes away drool*
The more avid Dior fans amongst you may recognise the dress of the left from the Miss Dior campaign which stars Natalie Portman. Its honestly the stuff of dreams Another closeup for you. This dress was Maria Grazia Chiuri’s first ever creation at Dior, what a place to start eh? To create this floral design, Chiuri used dyed feathers to create the delicate illusion or indivudual flowers and used a gradient effect to really make the dress POP.Another one of my many obsessions, LOOK AT THAT EMBROIDERY GUYS. My Gosh its a leading example of how Haute Couture should be. This room has to be one of my favourites in the whole exhibition. The ceiling changed colour and theme so, one minute it was this gorgeous rococo painting, the next a sparkling cascade, then an open night sky with zodiacs scattered all around. A light soundtrack played in the background to follow the theme too, and honestly… it was magical. This room was literally like being in a ballroom, except everyone was made out of plastic and I could never be dressed well enough to join the party 🙁 I mean, look at that scalloped dress in the back… could you honestly ask for more? Even the walls in this exhibition were more fabulous than any other existing walls could be, how is that even possible? I loved this dress, even though I don’t think I could get away with wearing it, it reminded me of something I can imagine the mistress of the King of France wearing in Versailles. Oh la la! You may already recognise this dress from the feature image of this blogpost and honestly? I will keep using every picture of this dress till the day I die! It was so, so beautiful and the way the curators displayed it was in a panoramic style that allowed visitors to view it from every single angle. Here’s my (rather inadequate) OOTD! Blouse: Collectif Skirt: Miss Selfridge Beret: Vintage Nail Polish: Dior Nail Polis in ‘Rouge’
Woah Hello there, unnecessary close up to my face! Eyes: Besame Agent Carter Palette and Kat Von D Tattoo Liner Earrings: Dior Tribales
1 thought on “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams Exhibition at the V&A”
This actually answered my downside, thank you!