Fashion Word of the Day - The "Zemire"

Christian Dior's Zemire (1905-57)


Paris


1954-5 autumn/winter


Cellulose acetate, with the skirt lined with layers of silk and net

image source


This design is one of the most beautiful designs in the world, and in fashion altogether. It is extremely sleek and elegant. I loved when Christian Dior said this: “I designed clothes,” he said, “for flower-like women, with rounded shoulders, full, feminine busts, and hand-span waists above enormous spreading skirts.”

A charming “detective story” is that of Zemire, one of Dior’s most distinctive designs from 1954, thought to have survived only in archive records and photographs. The original design had been presented to Princess Margaret at Blenheim Place in 1954 but, last year, the V&A purchased a dramatic red version in a Paris auction. Now lovingly restored, its interior labels reveal the House, client, workshop and alterations.source