How Dior's new show brought 1950s fashion into the 21st century
LONDON -- Christian Dior is the pinnacle of French style, but this week the fashion house took a little detour to the English countryside -- Blenheim Palace in rural Oxfordshire, to be precise.
Dior models descended on the country house -- where Sir Winston Churchill was born -- on Tuesday night to show the Parisian fashion house's Cruise Spring Summer 2017 collection.
This wasn't Dior's first sojourn at Blenheim. The last time the fashion house hosted a show there was in 1958, four years after its first show there in 1954.
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Back then, the FROW seating plan wasn't decided by one's Instagram followers, but instead whether or not you were a member of the Royal family, or the aristocracy.
Back then, Princess Margaret -- AKA the Queen's younger sister -- was in attendance, and, naturally, the style was hauter-than-haute.
And, judging by Tuesday night's Cruise show, the fashion house has gone all nostalgic on us, drawing inspiration from its iconic 1950s shows...
Floor-length drama
Just like Dior's 1954 show, Dior's Cruise 2017 collection featured floor-length dramatic dresses, with a touch of understated embroidered glitz.
In 1954, Christian Dior himself brought his French chic to the depths of the English countryside. But, his death in 1957 -- aged just 52 -- prevented him from returning to Blenheim.
Heaps of volume
Nothing can rival "Zaire;" a gown shown in at the 1958 show at Blenheim Palace, where a young Yves Saint Laurent showed his Dior collection.
58 years later, that level of volume doesn't translate to modern fashion. But, oversized sleeves, with a rouche detail was a subtle nod to the 1958 gown.
By Royal appointment
At the 1958 show, Princess Margaret sported a rich silk full-skirted A-line dress. This look was mirrored in 2016's show, which was replete with rich satins and silks and flowing A-line dresses.
Now all we need is a country house and a title. No? OK, I'll just take the clothes then.
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Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
