The Dior gown room
The Glenbow Museum has a temporary feature exhibit of Dior dresses (as well as other merchandise like licenced perfume, etc) and I went with a friend recently to go see it.
While all the pretty dresses were… pretty… I was kind of disappointed that there was no context given about the post-war style, the impact that the designer had on international fashion (beyond designs being licenced in different countries), and nothing about the impact of designing corsets and petticoats again for women who had been wearing pants during the war. There was lots about ‘a return to femininity’ and all that nonsense… but I found it a bit tone-deaf given the current political situation.
“The Christian Dior fashions in this exhibition are beautiful. But beauty alone does not explain how he made “women feel like women again” after the Second World War, and why millions of women around the world were influenced by his designs. “
Alexandra Palmer, PhD
Nora E. Vaughan Senior Curator, Textiles & Costume, Royal Ontario Museum
Afternoon and evening dresses from Dior, in the Glenbow exhibit
Either way… pretty dresses are pretty, and over the next few posts I’ll share some of my favourite (or most interesting) pieces. I’ll be tagging everything with the tag “Dior” if you’re coming to my blog after they’re published.
Rose France Dior evening gown digital display
The display included a short description for some (not all) of the outfits on a digital display, though I found these largely very shallow, and for someone keenly interested in fashion, couture, and dressmaking – not nearly enough information. The exhibit runs until June 2, 2019
Stay tuned!
