Object
New Look
Hand-sewn, wool and silk
, 1947
RKM 77-2005
Gift from Tonie Lewenhaupt
On display in Design Stories room 1
Description
One of the foremost haute couture fashion houses in the 1940s and 1950s was Christian Dior. He is perhaps best known for his “New Look”, which was launched on 12 February 1947, and which came to be the real new start in the fashion world following WWII. It is said that it was fashion journalist Carmel Snow, from Harper’s Bazaar, was the one who called the style new look at its presentation, and the term spread quickly throughout the fashion world. Dior’s new style has a silhouette that harked back to the previous century’s corseted waists. It created a new, elegant and feminine fashion with a small waist, large bust, round shoulders and a full skirt. Following the war’s strict, functional fashion, Dior’s feminine style was welcomed with open arms by a world that longed for elegance and flamboyance. The full, calf-length skirts required 10 to 25 metres of fabric, and Dior was often accused of wastefulness. Dior called the New Look collection corolle and took his inspiration from the shape of the tulip. His new style inspired fashion for almost a decade.
This suit comes from the New Look collection and the shirt-like top has a marked waist and straight arms. The sleeves are narrow and not quite full-length. There is a raw hem on the shirt’s bottom edge, worn tucked into the skirt; the marked waist means that the shirt puffs out at the back. The jacket is partly lined with naturally white wool and pale grey silk.
Flared skirt sewn from 14 pieces. The lower hem of the skirt is stiffened with a 25 cm-high border of thicker, black satin weave sewn onto the inside. The shirt has a waistband sewn on and closed at the back with a zip and two hooks. The skirt is lined in black silk while the waistband is lined in pale grey.
Literature
Designhistorier. Nya perspektiv på en samling, utg. av Johanna Ross Agerman, Vol. Bde, Stockholm Aufl. 2024., p. 288-291, ill. p. 288
Exhibition History
Design Stories, Göteborg, Röhsska museet, 2024