THE 'BAR'...

Christian Dior, backstage, before  showing his Collection

In 1947, Christian Dior (1905-1957) presented a collection, which he called 'La Ligne Corolle', silhouettes with sloping shoulders-line, the wasp-waisted and hips-padded designs, that required myriad underpinnings, that in this case were built in rather than purchase separately. The American press inmediately dubbed it the 'New Look' and the name endured.

The 'New Look' became one of most distinct and recognizable silhouettes of the twentieth century. In contrast con the early 1940s femenine dresses, which borrowed heavily from masculine military uniforms, the 'New look' exagerated the curves and contours of the femenine forms.

To create this ideal female body, the 'New Look' relied on a rigid framwork of strategically placed padding and boning, not to mention corsets and petticoats. The full skirts of the 'New Look'  required a tremendous amount of fabrics, up to 15 yards in some cases.

After the restriction and rationing of the World war II years, the 'New Look' was escandalous in its extravagant usage of raw materials and in its presentation of the female body.

Though perceived as shockingly new, the 'New Look' was actually a return to the physical ideals of the later nineteeth century and a continuation of a trend interrupted by World War II.

Despite these precedents, when it appeared in 1947, and without been affected by official complains, the 'New Look' was a resounding success, a watershed moment of fashion. Though other silhouettes achieved popularity in the 1950s, the 'New Look' informe all subsequent fashionable silhouettes throught the 1960s.

The signature esemble of the 'New Look' was the 'Bar' suit, a two-piece suit consisting of a pale, fitted jacket with narrow waist, padded hips and a black ,mid-calf, knite pleated skirt, considered the most popular and Iconic model in Dior first Collection, manifesting all the attributes of Dior's dramatic atavism.

Harper Bazaar published detailed line drawings of the 'New look' contruction, and the'Bar' suit was also illustrated in Vogue and L'Officiel magazines.

     The "Bar" suit of Christian Dior, lense by Willy Maywald