Miss Lachasse wears formal evening gown by Lachasse surrounded by her outfits and accessories. Lachasse (established 1928). London 1954.
Doll: plaster and wood with painted wax head and wig by Steiner. Evening gown: silk satin by Jacqmar. The Fashion Museum, Bath and North East Somerset Council.
Fine wool afternoon dress and leather belt; with brassiere, corset by Lachasse. Suede gloves by Warners. Nylon stockings by Aristoc. Leather handbag by Asprey.
Detail of a cocktail dress with embroidered label.
Lady Alexandra Howard-Johnston (later Lady Dacre) was the wife of the Naval Attaché to Paris, 1948-50. She required an extensive wardrobe for the many formal dinners and state functions that she had to attend.
Lady Alexandra wore this dress at the official visit of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip to Paris in May 1948. She recalled that when she arrived at the Théâtre de l'Opéra with her husband, the Garde Nationale suddenly sprang to attention. 'I realised they had mistaken us for the Princess and Duke. That was the effect made by my splendid Fath.'
In 1971 Lady Alexandra gave some of her couture clothes to the photographer Cecil Beaton. He was assembling a large collection of fashionable garments to be given to the V&A and displayed in his exhibition Fashion: an Anthology. The V&A has kept Beaton's correspondence with designers, royalty and leading socialites of the day.
Evening dress (robe de gala). Jacques Fath (1912-54). Paris 1948 spring/summer. Silk satin, embroidered by Rébé with sequins and beads. Given by Lady Alexandra Dacre.
Photograph of Lady Alexandra modelling the dress by Jacques Fath worn to the official visit of Princess Elizabeth to Paris in 1948. Private collection.
Roger Vivier started working for Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1930s. He went on to work with many other couturiers and collaborated with Dior when the New Look brought emphasis to the ankle and foot. Vivier created a number of innovative heel shapes for Dior, including the comma heel and the stiletto.
Shoe, Roger Vivier for Christian Dior. Pink satin with bow. Paris late 1950s.
Shoe, Roger Vivier for Christian Dior. Coral and diamante embroidered satin. Paris late 1950s.
Shoe, Roger Vivier for Christian Dior. Gold braid and glass beads. Paris 1952-4.
Shoes, Roger Vivier for Christian Dior. Pink satin embroidered with metal thread and sequins. Paris, about 1958.
Shoe, Roger Vivier for Christian Dior. Coral and diamante embroidered satin. Paris about 1958.
Shoes, Roger Vivier for Christian Dior. Satin with diamante buckle. Paris, Late 1950s.
Shoe, Roger Vivier for Christian Dior. Tulle over satin. Paris, 1954.
'Zémire' is one of Dior's most historical designs. It was named after an opera by Grétry, first performed at the royal palace of Fontainebleau in 1771. Initially, it was called 'Fontainebleau', but this was crossed out on the chart and replaced by 'Zémire'.
Zémire was a design from Dior's 'Ligne H' collection. The original model in grey silk satin was shown to Princess Margaret at Blenheim Castle in 1954, and it appears in a promotional film and several magazine features. A ready-to-wear version was licensed to Susan Small, a British company that made 'line-for-line' copies for Harrods. It sold for 22 guineas.
This version of Zémire is a private order and would have been very expensive. It was commissioned by Lady Sekers, wife of the British textile manufacturer, and made in an innovative man-made fabric.
The V&A acquired the ensemble in 2006. It had been stored in a cellar by the Seine in Paris and had to be cleaned and repaired before it could be displayed.
Zémire' evening ensemble. Christian Dior (1905-57). Paris, 1954-5 autumn/winter. Cellulose acetate, with the skirt lined with layers of silk and net. Worn by Lady Agota Sekers.
'Zémire' evening ensemble by Christian Dior, shown without jacket. Vogue (French edition), September 1954, Photograph by Clifford Coffin.
Pre-conservation. 'Zémire' evening ensemble. Christian Dior. Cellulose acetate, with the skirt lined with layers of silk and net. Paris, 1954-5 autumn/winter.
Cristóbal Balenciaga was regarded by many, including Christian Dior, as 'the master'. He moved to Paris from Spain in 1937 and quickly established himself as a dominant figure within Parisian couture. The house produced 356 designs per year - less than half of Dior's production of 815, which was a mark of Balenciaga's exacting standards. He was renowned in the trade for inspecting and resetting sleeves that were not perfect - even after the garment had been shown in a collection or was being worn by a client.
From 1947 onwards Balenciaga offered two styles of suit: the first fitted and in line with the hour-glass shape of Dior’s New Look, the second semi-fitted or loose.
Christian Dior once commented upon seeing a Balenciaga suit, 'Only Balenciaga would be capable of producing such perfection'.
The label of a tailored suit jacket by Cristóbal Balenciaga. Paris, 1954 autumn/winter.
Suit (tailleur) 1. Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972). Paris, 1954 autumn/winter. Tweed lined with silk. Worn by Mrs Opal Holt and given by Mrs Haynes and Mrs Clark.
Suit (tailleur) 2. Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972). Paris, 1951 autumn/winter. Tweed lined with taffeta and silk (the skirt shortened). Worn by Martita Hunt and given by Miss Catherine Hunt.
Pierre Balmain, like Dior, worked for Lucien Lelong before opening his couture house in 1945. By 1956 he had 600 employees and 12 couture workrooms. This 'jeune fille' summer dress has a boned petticoat, showing the care given even to the under-garments. Ginette Spanier, Balmain’s directrice, remarked, 'If a seam is not quite right, that is a matter of life and death.'
Dress and petticoat. Pierre Balmain (1914-82). Paris, about 1950. Dress: silk grosgrain with machine-made Swiss embroidery. Petticoat: boned silk net and silk. Given by Mrs G. Sachet.
Inside the World of Couture
This section focuses on the production of couture. Each house was named after its creator and had a characteristic style. Some lasted for generations; others only as long as their founders were alive.
A leading house such as Dior employed hundreds of people. On the ground floor there was a boutique and upstairs a luxurious grand salon for showing the seasonal collections. A personal saleswoman (vendeuse) attended to each client, while fitters, tailors and seamstresses toiled away behind the scenes.
The London couture trade took Paris as its model. Many British designers trained in Paris, and although London could not compete in terms of output, its fashion and textile industry became increasingly profitable. For France, the couture industry was vital to the economy. In 1949 Dior alone provided 5% of France's national export revenue.
Paris Dressmaking
The Paris dressmaking schools, Les Ecoles de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, were established in 1929 to train a skilled workforce of petit-mains (seamstresses) for France's vast fashion industry.
In the early 1950s, a leading Paris house would typically employ between 500 and 850 staff in the different departments. In the flou workshops, dressmakers worked delicate fabrics entirely by hand to create blouses, skirts and dresses. Dior described them as having 'doigts de fées' - fairy fingers.
London Tailoring
Before the Second World War bespoke fashion in London was mainly the work of tailors and court dressmakers. With the creation of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers in 1942 the small community of couture designers - 12 as opposed to 47 in Paris in 1943 - gained increasing recognition.
The Paris couture system of unifying design and production under one roof set a template for London couturiers, as did the French practice of showing biannual collections.
The London fashion houses, centered on Mayfair and Savile Row, became known for their practical, beautifully made tailoring. In 1946 the journalist Alison Settle described London couture as 'clothes which have social confidence.'
Ancillary Trades and Textiles
Embroidery
Paris was the home of a luxury trade in fashion goods. Entire streets were devoted to glove makers, shoe makers and furriers while feathers, floral accessories and ribbon work were worked by hand in small workshops, much as they had been since the 18th century.
Embroidery specialists created a range of samples each season. Once selected, a design remained for the exclusive use of the couturier. Hubert de Givenchy said these samples served as 'the springboard to creation'.
Gowns that were to be embroidered were usually simply cut to show off their sumptuous surface detail. Their embellishment required meticulous patience, for as Dior explained, 'a ball dress may be entirely covered with millions of paillettes, or pearls, each one of which has to be put on separately'.
Textiles
Couture garments required high quality, innovative textiles and trimmings. French couturiers were extremely skilled in the use of soft, draping fabrics (flou). British couturiers were well known for tailoring firmer textiles.
Each season manufacturers from all over the world would arrive at the couture houses with fabric samples or lengths. They developed a close working relationship with their clients, and sometimes collaborated with them in developing new fabric types and eye-catching designs.
By the early 1950s, rationing and shortages had eased off. Both natural and man-made fibres featured in couturiers' collections and in the twice-yearly features in major fashion magazines.
Boutiques & Accessories
Small shops or boutiques situated on the ground floor of the couture houses became increasingly common. They sold a range of luxury goods such as cosmetics, jewellery, knitwear, accessories and what were called in Paris frivolités. Clients might call in at the boutique following a lengthy fitting to pick up an off-the-peg blouse or some perfume.
Eventually, some houses such as Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin opened separate boutiques selling ready-to-wear designs for a growing youth market.
Ready-to-Wear
The traditional focus of couture was the creation of high fashion garments for private clients. However, sales to department stores and wholesalers became increasingly important after the war. Buyers purchased fabric toiles and paper patterns, or even original models. These designs could only be copied a limited number of times.
Some designers created ready-to-wear collections specifically for the export market, using the mass-production and sizing methods developed in the USA. By 1948, a year after launching his house, Dior opened on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. 'The dresses will be designed with one eye on US tastes and the other on the limitations of machine production,' wrote Time magazine on 16 August 1948.
Underwear
A couture garment usually included meticulously constructed undergarments. They were either integrated into the structure of the garment, or made separately.
In creating the New Look after the war, Dior used firm underpinnings such as girdles, under-wired bustiers, and tulle and horsehair petticoats. He placed extra padding on the hips and bust to ensure a smooth womanly figure.
As the 1950s progressed, foundation and support garments became increasingly sophisticated. Lightweight materials such as nylon and new stretch fabrics ensured greater comfort.
