Christian Dior’s ‘New Look’ of 1947 provided women with an entirely different outlook on life, following the austerity of the WWII years. His designs were luxurious and lavish in their establishment, causing a complete uproar in America. They felt it was scandalous that he would be so plentiful with his clothing, in a time were rations were still in place.
Below is the image of the infamous ‘Bar suit – the suit was the star attraction of Dior’s New Look collection in 1947. The short, fabric – skimping dresses and masculine silhouette of wartime fashions were swept away by the long, full skirts, softly rounded shoulders and tightly nipped waists of the New Look.
the famous New Look image

the famous New Look image

It is obvious by looking at the image, exactly what the collection defined – everything that is beautiful, feminine and affluent. The book by the Powerhouse Museum, titled ‘Christian Dior – the magic of fashion’ explains that the collection was a reaction to what Dior called the ‘hideous fashions’ of the war years, he chose to create an opposing perspective. He said that ‘hats were far too large, skirts far too short, jackets far too long’. So he replaced these with the polar opposite.

He proposed a feminine image, one contrary to the military look. It seems that the success of this style was due to the persistent need that people seem to have in times of crisis  to seek comfort in the trappings of what are thought to have been more carefree times. After years of deprivation and misery, the wish for people to believe in a brighter future puched them to desire splendour. Dior could sense this, thus accentuating it in his second collection.

Through the success of his collection and the world-wide attention it recieved, Dior’s direct involvement in the business side of the House of Dior took haute couture out of the limited domain of the very small elite and offered it to the world – turning it into a financial empire.