Customer Reviews

Christian Dior

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a portrait album of a sampling of Christian Dior's masterpieces shown in the 1996 New York Metropolitain Museum of Art's retrospective. Every garment is beautifully captured. The detail photographs are exceptional.
But this is more than just a picture book about the 11 years Dior designed under his own name. The text offers a balance of historical costume references that Dior used in his creations against the social and economic era he designed in. It is both interesting and informative--two words that usually don't co-exist in most fashion references.
As a coffee-table book, this is a must-have for fashion afficianados. For those who can visualize and appreciate the complexity of drape and construction in some of the garments, there is no excuse not to own this book

This book is gorgeous--fabulous photography, lots of detailed shots (I love the way they concentrate on the dresses and don't feel obliged to get the manniquin's head in every shot)--glorious! Get this book now!

The photographs of Christian Dior's magnificent creations are breathtaking. But the writing is a tad pretentious. Unfortunately, this characteristic is a hallmark of most academic writing. Get the book anyway. Dior was an artist, a seeker of Beauty, and we're all the richer for it.

In retrospect and to be honest, I ordered this book by mistake. The book I really wanted (and eventually got) was Francoise Giroud's spectacular _Christian Dior_ (which I've also reviewed for Amazon). This book is a retrospective of a Dior exhibition at the Museum of Metropolitian Art in 1997, and as such is a comprehensive, beautifully created overview of the exhibit, with several hundred outstanding photographs - many in full-page format - of the dresses of Dior's classic period from 1947 to 1957. The problem from my own standpoint is that the "models" in this book are all mannequins. What I need (for my website, and my own research) are pictures of the dresses and gowns as they were worn by real people. Therefore this book fell short of my own (erroneous) expectations - but it needn't fall short of yours; if you know what you're getting, it's a more than worthy volume.

The book focuses primarily on the romantic vision and idealism of the artist and his designs, rather than functioning as a technical review concerned with fabrics and construction. As a person who admires excellence in design but otherwise cares little (or nothing) about haute couture, I felt sincerely inspired by it.