I found this beautiful Christian Dior dress suit about 15 years ago in a second-hand shop (that’s how vintage shops were called at the time). The place belonged to an ex-girlfriend of my neighbour and he advised me to walk in there once in a while, because between all the regular second-hand stock, sometimes real treasures could be found. That’s how I came to know of the shop, which was situated in a neighbourhood you would normally never look for extraordinary second-hand finds.
I got to now the owner, who one day tipped me, a wardrobe of an old lady would arrive and probably it contained some great finds. Being a collector of vintage clothes, shoes and handbags, I got really excited with the prospect.
That day I walked in and immediately spotted the Christian Dior dress suit, which was hanging behind the counter. I didn’t want to seem to eager, so I walked around the shop, looking for other beautiful things, but nothing could beat the Dior suit. I went to the owner and informed about the price of the suit, but of course she already had noticed I my excitement ( I am the worst actor in the world) about the suit and had upgraded the price to a number she had never asked for a garment in her shop before. But I had fallen in love with the suit, which was made out from black bouclé fabric and didn’t even try to negotiate about the price.
That is how I got to own the suit and for all these years I have taken good care of it. Because Christian Dior was the first one to number his garments, I knew I could find out more about the sui;, the year it was made (somewhere in the 1940ties?) and maybe even if it was made to order for a certain person. I didn’t do anything about this, till about a month ago. I emailed to Dior Paris about the suit and I was advised to photograph it from every side and send these pictures, together with a letter with all possible information about it, to Dior Heritage.
This week I got an email from Dior Heritage, to thank me for the photographs and if I was willing to consider selling the suit to Dior. I haven’t thought about selling it before, but the idea of the suit returning to Dior after all these years seems very appealing to me, even romantic……
I have been able to study the suit and I want to share the pictures, so others can also see how it was made.
The label in the back of the jacket. The number in the label is quiet faded: 30442
Top front of the jacket with close look on the finishing work of the collar.
The jacket has a ’fake’ bow belt, which closes with a hook-and-eye underneath the bow
The jacket open showing the full front of the dress, with beads and sequences on the top
Close-up beads and sequences work
Top front of the dress
Back of the dress, which shows the dress looks like a two-piece, but it is one piece!
The dress inside-out. the lining of the top is made from silk fabric
The dress has two zippers in the back; one trough the silk lining+skirt and one in the beaded top which can open completely from top to bottom and has an extra hook-and-eye to keep it perfectly closed.
The bottom of the inside out dress, with extra wide seams (in case it has be be made bigger)
The label inside the dress
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