#gianfrancoferre

So I’m not even getting paid to say this (which is a crying shame), but if anyone finds themselves even REMOTELY near Texas before September 1st, you simply must visit the Dallas Museum of Art to check out Dior: From Paris to the World. It’s absolutely incredible. My sister and I met up this weekend to go and I’ll be honest, I’m surprised they even let me in considering all the drooling I was doing.

And y’all, I tried. I really did. I was gonna historian the bejeezus out of this and study the context of Dior’s rise as a fashion designer from like, books and stuff. But here is an actual quote from The History of International Fashion by Didier Grumbach, which I’d got at the library: “The 1973 numbers included what Dior called indirect turnover, or revenues generated by the sale of licensed goods: couture creation 18 per cent, men’s ready-to-wear 5 per cent, women’s secondary diffusion lines and ready-made men’s collections 3 per cent, accessories 36 per cent.” And the whole book is like that (or at least, the ten or so chapters I got through before I gave up). I’m not a numbers girl, friends. The historian-ing was a bust. I decided to wing it.

Y’all. Y’ALL. I couldn’t. I can’t. As something of a brand-whore, I was in heaven, surrounded by some of the most luxurious history modern Western society has to offer.

And so, my dears, follow me as I recreate my journey with studiously average photos from the exhibition. Do try to keep up.

So I’m a bad fashion historian, fueled by social anxiety. There was a line of folks behind me and I panicked and rushed on without getting a picture of only the most iconic and original Dior look. But my sister did (kind of), and it’s that one in the bottom left hand corner with the white jacket and strange bucket hat, known as the Bar Suit. The 1920’s-30’s had seen women in relatively shapeless dresses, those favored by the infamous flappers. Later, out of necessity during the Great Depression, people had bigger things to worry about than spending a bazillion hours fitting and hand stitching a stylish dress for the thirties equivalent of brunch. They were literally wearing burlap sacks.

In the late 1940’s, Dior decided a return to a celebration of femininity was in order because, duh. His designs, dubbed “The New Look,” featured understated shoulder pads to accentuate thin, tailored waists, and full skirts. The overall effect was a subtly exaggerated tracing of the female form, emphasizing the areas that are categorically lady-esque. And people went nutso for it.

Dior famously called his studio the “Office of Dreams.” (And let’s be real, if anyone NOT famous called their office that, we’d all think it was stupid and self-indulgent. You know you would.) Once he had completed a design, it would be mocked up in cotton muslin. Because, y’know, it’s less expensive to mess up cotton than silks and furs. Anywho, this pic shows those mock ups and it was super tight.

So then we started getting into the progression of the house under it’s different directors. Remember that whole bad fashion historian thing where it’s me? Yeah, I didn’t take pictures of the first two designers, including the goddamn founder himself, and his immediate successor, the little known and widely unnoticed YVES SAINT LAURENT. I warned y’all there would be a learning curve.

BUT it’s whatever because check out this absolutely glorious skirt suit! I died. It was designed in the eighties by Marc Bohan, who took over after Laurent, and can you just imagine walking into a board meeting wearing that? This is what a power suit looks like, ladies.

Okay, so next up to bat was Gianfranco Ferré, and everyone was mad shook because he was an Italian heading up one of the most venerable French haute couture fashion houses. And boy, was he Italian. This fella brought the extra to Dior. Just look at that red dress. It looks like the 1600’s exploded all over an unsuspecting modern gown.

Look, I know John Galliano is a dick of the highest order. Anti-Semitism is never acceptable. And for those in the back, ANTI-SEMITISM IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE. But boy howdy, could that man make drama look classy. He had this crazy ability to blend elegance and tradition with just the right amount of excess. So your first reaction is, “Calm down, sir!” But your second reaction is, “…actually, I’d totally wear that.”

I wasn’t super into Raf Simons, the guy who followed Galliano. Like he was fine, but not really my jam, and the only pics I got of his stuff are grainy because I zoomed in too much. So, moving on to the current head of Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri. The first woman to head the house and dear God, it’s about time. She’s definitely not afraid to be provocative, utilizing Dior as a platform for her activism. And I’m here for it.

This post is already way too damn long, so the rest of my photos are just below in a gallery-style thing with my timeless witticisms as captions.

Enjoy the fashion feast, my doves.

I get it, I know, I understand that this has Handmaids Tale written all over it. But also, doesn’t it look so cozy? I’d wear that to HEB in a heartbeat.

Okay, let’s take a moment to process what we have here. Traditional, original Dior, moving onto Molly Ringwald-esque I’m-not-actually-trying-to-look-good-I’m-wearing-a-sweatshirt-around-the-waist-of-this-beautiful-dress-because-I’m-not-like-other-girls, and then just THIS. IS. DIOR. And then some courier from a different house is forced into a Walmart dress. Or some other awful haute couture punishment.

If you put a gun to my head and told me I had to articulate why I love that awful, Neapolitan ice cream, Eiffel Tower coat at the very top, you would have to shoot me. I don’t know why. I just do.

I mean, I dunno. Sure, I guess.

Now this one is insanely impressive to me. All of that stuff on the dress that looks like fabric? Wrong. It’s beads. Millions and millions of tiny beads. I tried to get a close up for y’all, but it came out all blurry and the ladies behind us were getting pushy.

I was kinda annoyed (in the most first world problems ever, kind of way) that they would occasionally put the really dramatic and elaborate dresses near the back. But I took a pic anyway, because damn. Look at that glorious hot mess.

I had to include this pic for you guys. My mandate demanded it.

“The Dior Gauntlet” as my sister dubbed it.

Bonus art photo!

I loved this statue. This lady is mood. “Excuse you?”

Until next time, mes amis.

Bises,