1954 Christian Dior Couture Dress
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GUEST:
Now I've been collecting clothes occasionally, and a friend of mine found it up in Seattle.
APPRAISER:
Christian Dior was revered as one of the greatest couturiers in Paris. He started in 1947, he did 22 collections until 1957, until his death. This is a great example, it's autumn 1954. He called it his bronze green collection. You can see the sculpture of the dress, you can see the crinoline, which is in horsehair.
GUEST:
Oh, I didn't know that.
APPRAISER:
And the fanciful and very kind of sexy and luxurious look. One of the things that you can tell about the dress is the label. To know that it is couture, custom-made for the client, is this: "Christian Dior." And the number is of the season and the year it was made. And underneath, it's inscribed with the client. It's interesting that in 1954, many wealthy American women from all across the country went to Paris and bought. Now this is Silhouette, a French magazine. It came out I think six times a year. In 1954, it was published. So this lends it to being a very important dress of its time. Make sure it's never in light, make sure it's not dry cleaned too much.
GUEST:
I've had it hanging in a cotton bag.
APPRAISER:
That's good. A lot of people put dresses in plastic and it's deadly, so it's better to put it in a breathing canvas bag. I'd say because of the magazine, the background, the condition, the condition is very, very important, but this hasn't been touched, and I would consider the estimate to be about $1,500 to $2,000.
GUEST:
Wonderful. Thank you so much.
APPRAISER:
You're welcome.
Appraisal Details
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