La denier cri

Last Sunday, I braved the rain and cold, got out of bed before noon and drove up to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. I was going to complete an assignment for my oh-so-interesting art history class and was planning on going through the exhibit about Roman Art from the Louvre Museum in Paris as quickly as possible, as I wanted to get home in time to catch a small nap before going to work later that evening. \nBut when I got to the IMA, I noticed something that made me forget my late-afternoon nap all together. It was the last day that a small exhibit titled “Dior: The King of Couture” would be shown. My lucky day. \nAs I hurried through the Louvre exhibit, I couldn’t take my mind away from the couture that awaited me in the exhibit. Judging from the photo that was advertising the exhibit in the lobby of the IMA, there were many exquisite examples of Christian Dior’s work just one floor above me, and being the fashion geek that I am, I was getting more excited by the minute. I couldn’t get through that Roman exhibit fast enough. Finally, after an extra 10 minutes of trying to figure out how to get upstairs to see the exhibit (I don’t read maps well when I’m excited), I arrived.\nThe exhibit was better than I could ever have expected. In front of me stood 20 or so examples of Dior’s work, most personally designed, but some designed by his protege and future fashion powerhouse Yves Saint Laurent. I spent the next 45 minutes studying each dress in detail and trying to commit every aspect of each garment to my memory. \nThe exhibit encompassed pieces that reflected the most important influences and designs of Dior’s short career, which really took off after World War II, with his infamous “New Look.” The New Look is a style that is characterized by a narrow, natural line on the shoulder, leading into a slender cut at the waist, with a very wide hem, which fell to about the mid-calf. Also included in the exhibit were many evening dresses and handmade garments, most designed and sewn by Dior himself. \nDior’s short career was a very successful one. Dior opened his fashion house in Paris in 1946, and it was his re-established Paris as the fashion capital of the world. Dior was also a licensing pioneer, selling his name to other companies that would, in turn, put it on accessories, fragrances, fur and the like to shape the modern retail world as we know it today.\nUp until Dior’s untimely death from a heart attack in 1957, he was running one of the most influential fashion houses in the industry. Yves Saint Laurent was named creative director of Dior, later parlaying his success into a similar fashion empire of his own. Even decades after his death, Dior’s fashion house is still the most influential couture house in the business.\nAs I stood in that small room with about 10 or so other women, all discussing how she would wear this piece, or what she didn’t like about that piece, I was filled anew with a love for fashion, clothing and history. Dior made couture as legitimate an art form as painting and architecture. On the drive home, I found myself wishing I could go back and take it all in again, rediscover it and bring it back to the forefront of my mind, one last time.