Christian Dior - 1940s-1950s

"My dream? To make women happier and more beautiful" - Christian Dior. 

(Vogue.com UK, 2012)

21st January 1905 - 23 October 1957

(Keenan, 1981)

Dior first had the idea of setting up his own fashion house in 1946, when he inspected an old friend’s dressmakers (Philippe et Gaston) but found it a hopeless case to work with, and in reality he wanted to create his own designs with no one looking over his shoulder; he could not stand the idea of working in someone else’s house again. Dior (2007) stated that he relied heavily on the predictions of fortune tellers, one of them told him: “Women are lucky for you, and through them you will achieve success. You will make a great deal of money out of them, and you will have to travel widely”. Who would have knew that this was about to come true? This was the start of the New Look.

The New Look

Keenan (1981) reveals that one of the inspirations of the New Look was the memories of how his mother dressed before she died in 1931, as she was very feminine and elegant which was the complete opposite of the masculine utility styles of the 1940s. His mother’s death also motivated him to explore his interest in architecture, which formed the basis of his interests in the structure of women’s clothing.

Dior's mother

An example of one of his collections which was influenced on his passion 

of architecture; the silhouette of this outfit represents the shape of the Eiffel Tower. 

Controversial Aspects of the New Look

The New Look fitted perfectly with the Government’s ideal direction for women’s independence, which was backwards despite their efforts in the war. Women were expected to go back to their old ways and become the stereotypical decorated house-wife once again. Dior’s feminine flower-shape silhouettes advertised this want from society as the wasp-stung waist was back in fashion. Dior himself commented on the complaints and threats that he received: “The New Look brought me heavy mail. Letters arrived by the thousands––mostly enthusiastic but some indignant. A garage owner from Los Angeles wrote and told me that he had sworn to "tear me apart" on his next visit to Paris. According to him, it was my fault that his wife looked like a stuffed doll of the time of the Civil War” (Enjoy Your Style, 2012).

Left: A Dior corset from the '50s; instead of dangering women's health, he attached ruffles to the hips to create the wasp-stung waist.

Right: A woman protesting against the feminine styles of Dior's dresses in front of Dior and his models

The economic side to his collections also made his work almost frowned upon. Even the most basic materials were hard to get after the war due to the economic downfall it lead to, yet Dior was able to get his hands on masses of luxurious fabrics to create his huge padded and ruffled skirts. Barely anyone could afford the new collections anyway as a lot of women still relied on coupons to buy their clothes with.  

The evening dress and the "Flower Woman" skirt used heavy and excessive amounts of material

1940s - The War

WW2 put a halt on the fashion world as many fashion houses closed down in Paris as the Nazis tried to control the haute couture and move it to Berlin until they realised how complex the connections of the fashion world were.

Shortages in fabrics and the long absence of men meant masculine military styles were in. Women would recycle their husbands’ old clothes into suits for themselves. This utility style was popular anyway due to the little amount of fabric needed and little need to use dyes as they were also short of supply; and the women needed suits to fill in for the men again in the factories when they went to war, not just to replace their jobs but in the factories that made the army's resources. 

Rationing clothes meant coupons were used to buy essentials and magazines gave tips to women to use these to help become efficient and economical. Knitting became popular, but the wool was usually made from old knitwear. The confiscation of natural fibres meant that silk tights were switched to leg make-up, nylon tights were also in short supply as nylon was used to make parachutes for soldiers. It was important for a woman to look her best in these times as it was a sign of patriotism and positive moral to do so. 

Left: A magazine article showing women how to make their own clothes and recycle them

Right: Women applying leg-make up as a substitute from tights

1930s- The depression

All the way through the 1930s the world was in a depression; little was going into the economy and unemployment was high. Clothes became expensive but luckily the sewing machine became accessible, so women put their skills to the test to keep up with fashion in their own homes.

When times are hard in reality, people turn to fantasy to escape their troubles and going to the cinema was the perfect way to do this. Hollywood film stars and pin-up girls such as Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich became the new fashion icons. They made bare cleavages acceptable and soft silhouettes and over-the-top jewellery a huge trend. They also helped made the bias cut and halter necks, designed by Madeleine Vionnet, staples for evening wear.

Greta Garbo (left) in a jewelled neckline, bias cut dress

Marlene Dietrich (right) was famous for her masculine styles

Day wear from the ‘20s became increasingly common as women started wearing comfortable day dresses which still accentuated the female form with detailed waists and necklines and broadened shoulders. Practical shoes were in demand for women so they could do their chores in comfort. These dresses were also worn out and about in the day time for comfort and practicality especially since sports such as tennis were getting more popular for women.

1930s pattern piece for women to make their own day dress

Swimwear started to become more practical and sometimes more revealing. Chanel turned the tan from a sign of poverty to a status symbol for the first time in centuries as before pale skin was a sign of not having to work; she did this by designing backless swimsuits. For women who still saw that as too revealing or found it hard to adjust to this change, casual beach pyjamas were the obvious alternative accompanied by huge floppy hats.

1920s - The youth culture

After a war that was cause by the older generations, the younger generations started to question their elders’ after centuries of following their values. This was the first time that a youth culture came about which separated the fashion styles and attitudes of young men and women from their parents' and grandparents' traditions.

The opposite of the older fashions of the exaggerated female form was a straight up and down boyish silhouette and a short Eaton-cut hairdo; this was the age of “the flapper girl”. This style was brought on by the prohibition of alcohol in the US, pushing illegal cocktail bars with glamorous dancers underground. These flapper dancers wore loose fitting dresses that came down just below the knee with feathers in their hair. 

Left: The casual flapper girl look

Right: A flapper girl dancer/ evening-wear

Hollywood silent pictures inspired this glamour even more which introduced a positive view of red lipstick and nail varnish for women as previously this kind of make up was only worn by prostitutes. This style was also brought on by women’s new found freedom of enjoying sex due to the legislation of condoms; a free and liberating time for young, rebellious women as enjoyment of sex for women was seen as a taboo even to talk about.

Hollywood silent film stars Clara Bow and Louise Brooks wore obvious and bold make up and led the flapper style

As sports became more popular, clothes that were both comfortable and suitable for different sports came into demand. In England tennis, cricket, rugby and horse racing were all the range while in the US they favoured boxing, baseball and basketball which called for specialised shoes such as All Stars (The ChucksConnection, 2012). Day dresses for the home were also in demand as a middle class was starting to develop as well-off women started doing housework instead of maids.

         

Suzanne Lenglen, Wimbledon champion

Ipswich City Tennis Club with the Kerr Cup

Logan County basketball team

A 1920s pair of Chuck Tailor converse 

The happy-go-lucky attitude ended in 1929 however when the Great Stock Market Crash hit the economy hard turning the previous boom rapidly into the biggest depression in history. The era of underground cocktail bars and flapper girls also came to an end after the shocking Valentines Day Massacre which heavily discouraged gangs and clients.

1910s - The beginning of women's independence

As the divide between the sexes became narrower, changes in fashion were made in order to show this. In the first time in British history, the hemlines of skirts rose to the ankle; a sign of developing freedom. This first step of freedom was a very small one literally, as Paul Poriet’s hobble skirt still restricted the movement of wealthy women. The S-shape had evolved into a T-silhouette which consisted of a slim line shape with an extravagant, large hat. Women’s love of the ballet however caused a demand for turban hats for practicality and less restricted movement. 

The hobble skirt created by Paul Poriet

An example of the huge hats that were worn in the 1910s to create the T-shape

The health implications of the S-bend corset became better known by more people and was replaced by more flexible corsets and Mary Phelps’ invention of the brassier in 1913 (which would still be worn under layers). In 1917 there was a huge push to move women from corsets to the new brassier.

A corset design from 1913 by Grace's Corsets at the Cromptom Corsets Co (Lara Corsets, ND)

The first patent of the brassier sold to Warner Brothers Corset company for $1,500, which became one of the major bra manufacturers (Dollhouse Bettie, ND)

This small amount of freedom gave women in Britain hope and their dreams came true after WW1 when they proved their ability to serve the nation by working in a man’s world. This called for practical suits tailored for women with shorter, lampshade shaped skirts, which was also made necessary to fabric shortages. Short hair styles were popular as they were safer around machines and were supported by Chanel. 

Examples of uniforms worn by women during WW1. On the right is a propaganda poster encouraging women to work for their country

1900s - The end of an era

Ever since the Middle Ages to the 1900s women lived in a patriarchal society where they were seen as objects that men could use to boast about their wealth. The more obvious it was that a woman did not have to work, the wealthier they were; and this was shown through their attire. The S-Bend corset was the statement piece of the era, sexually objectifying wealthy women by structuring the spine, ribcage and internal organs in such an unnatural and fatal form, so their bust and posterior would stand out from their waist.

In these times families were either rich or poor. Poor factory workers’ families lived in back-to-back houses, whereas the homeless and orphans were made to live in the workhouses up until 1905 where they were replaced by specified units for different situations(Higginbotham, 2012). These families wore whatever would keep them covered and warm so their clothes were made from very basic, and often recycled fabrics which were repaired until they were impossible to wear. Often children's clothes were made from their parent's old clothing.

Back-to-back housing in Bolton 

Women in the workhouse

As there were no major designers to aspire to at this time and wealth was deemed as incredibly important the monarchy were looked up to for fashion trends, even one of the most popular magazines at the time was called “The Queen”. After the death of Queen Victoria and through the reign of King Edward, the social divide between different social statuses and sexes became more relaxed as women took action and decided that they deserved the vote.

King Edward and Queen Alexandra