The Revolution of the "New Look"
by Javier Gomez, Senior, iPreparatory Academy
by Javier Gomez, Senior, iPreparatory Academy
The Revolution of the “New Look”
When pondering my next article for my fashion column, “Fashion Time with Javier,” my focus is to inform my readers about the innovation in fashion history. When thinking of designers, I consider the designers who I take influence from. One of the great icons of modern and contemporary fashion is Christian Dior and his pioneering “The New Look.”
When pondering my next article for my fashion column, “Fashion Time with Javier,” my focus is to inform my readers about the innovation in fashion history. When thinking of designers, I consider the designers who I take influence from. One of the great icons of modern and contemporary fashion is Christian Dior and his pioneering “The New Look.”
The “SCOOP” Behind Dior’s Famed Silhouette:
As reported in Deutsche Welle (DW), one of Germany’s most successful international digital media outlets, Christian Dior presented his first haute couture collection, named “ ‘Corolle,’ in February of 1947.” After a devastating war period of “utilitarian attires and vestiary austerity,” Dior’s vision was an ingenious “revolution.” His first collection rejected the modern course of dressing established in the 1920s and 30s, typically the fashion of the “flapper” that was “intended to liberate women from the restrictive sculptural volumes and corsets of early 20th-century fashion. He [Dior] created this image of radical femininity, achieved by cinched waists, tight-fitted jackets with padded hips, and A-line skirts”
The new collection not only shocked the fashion world, but caused heated controversy. According to Emily Vivian Huang’s “The New Look by Dior” in Synapse, the University of California at San Francisco's student online newspaper, as women liberation movements and progressive forces intensified in Western societies, the “New Look '' was deemed inappropriate and “[infringed] upon their independence.”
As reported in Deutsche Welle (DW), one of Germany’s most successful international digital media outlets, Christian Dior presented his first haute couture collection, named “ ‘Corolle,’ in February of 1947.” After a devastating war period of “utilitarian attires and vestiary austerity,” Dior’s vision was an ingenious “revolution.” His first collection rejected the modern course of dressing established in the 1920s and 30s, typically the fashion of the “flapper” that was “intended to liberate women from the restrictive sculptural volumes and corsets of early 20th-century fashion. He [Dior] created this image of radical femininity, achieved by cinched waists, tight-fitted jackets with padded hips, and A-line skirts”
The new collection not only shocked the fashion world, but caused heated controversy. According to Emily Vivian Huang’s “The New Look by Dior” in Synapse, the University of California at San Francisco's student online newspaper, as women liberation movements and progressive forces intensified in Western societies, the “New Look '' was deemed inappropriate and “[infringed] upon their independence.”
My Interpretation of this Ambivalent Controversy:
When I was researching this look, it was love at first sight. The undertones of the Romantic and Elizabethan era are all alluring aspects that I carry into my designs. Although, as I studied Dior more, I realized that this new “cinched waist” movement was not to perpetuate individualism nor exemplify the female body, but to ultra-feminize it; this was Dior’s attempt to subliminally force the idea that women should have these tiny waists. Admittedly, Christain Dior proposed a common image of hyper femininity, but is this negative?
When I was researching this look, it was love at first sight. The undertones of the Romantic and Elizabethan era are all alluring aspects that I carry into my designs. Although, as I studied Dior more, I realized that this new “cinched waist” movement was not to perpetuate individualism nor exemplify the female body, but to ultra-feminize it; this was Dior’s attempt to subliminally force the idea that women should have these tiny waists. Admittedly, Christain Dior proposed a common image of hyper femininity, but is this negative?
In Hindsight Did Dior Perpetuate Negative Stereotypes?
There is no doubt in my mind on how trailblazing Dior’s “Corolle” collection was. It thoroughly paved the way for designers to mimic this famed silhouette in their ensembles. It can be concluded that his original purpose was not to accommodate or diminish women; instead, the collection was more aristocratic. Therefore, it is not intended for the “everyday woman.” However, in the present-day, Dior’s influence has changed. The beauty of fashion and time is that hindsight gives a designer the ability to design garments differently, and in today’s world, more designers are following newer norms, trends, and ideals. In a post-Civil Rights world, as liberalism has grown prominent due to a more educated and more equity for women, many ideals that constricted women in the past are diminishing. In today’s society, independent women, emancipated women, see hyper-femininity very differently. Instead, women are reclaiming the highly exaggerated art of corsetry, mini-skirts, and exposure to own what was once taken from them—much like reclaiming a word. Dior’s “cinching of the waist” that was once used for impediments is now being repurposed and accentuated to exemplify women’s body positivity. The new era of fashion has prompted fashion empowerment across all demographics, especially with women embracing their sexuality and allowing designers to reevaluate and redefine femininity. |
Dior’s Lesson To Younger Designers:
I’ve been heavily inspired by Dior and his magnificent work. Yet, as a feminine designer, I believe it’s my responsibility to learn from his “mistakes” and design, neoterically, and understand the wants and needs of women, instead of pleasing entrepreneurial intentions.
The fashion world truly owe it to Christain Dior’s avant-garde eye for creating this controversial, yet monumental collection. Without him, would the fashion world be where it is today?
I’ve been heavily inspired by Dior and his magnificent work. Yet, as a feminine designer, I believe it’s my responsibility to learn from his “mistakes” and design, neoterically, and understand the wants and needs of women, instead of pleasing entrepreneurial intentions.
The fashion world truly owe it to Christain Dior’s avant-garde eye for creating this controversial, yet monumental collection. Without him, would the fashion world be where it is today?
Sources
Huang, Emily/“The New Look by Dior”/Arts & Culture for Synapse UCSF Student Voices/ Saturday, November 14, 2020/ https://synapse.ucsf.edu/articles/2020/11/14/new-look-dior
Tomes, Jan/ “The New Look: How Christian Dior revolutionized fashion 70 years ago”/Lifestyle for DW/ October 2nd, 2017/ https://www.dw.com/en/the-new-look-how-christian-dior-revolutionized-fashion-70-years-ago/a-37491236
slideshow pictures from:
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/designers/g5139/christian-dior-1940s-photos/?slide=15
Huang, Emily/“The New Look by Dior”/Arts & Culture for Synapse UCSF Student Voices/ Saturday, November 14, 2020/ https://synapse.ucsf.edu/articles/2020/11/14/new-look-dior
Tomes, Jan/ “The New Look: How Christian Dior revolutionized fashion 70 years ago”/Lifestyle for DW/ October 2nd, 2017/ https://www.dw.com/en/the-new-look-how-christian-dior-revolutionized-fashion-70-years-ago/a-37491236
slideshow pictures from:
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/designers/g5139/christian-dior-1940s-photos/?slide=15