Coco vs Dior

March 1, 2024

There's a new series on Apple TV, which I have yet to see, about Dior and Chanel and their great feud.  

They were both part of a critical time in history when the world was turned upside down.  Certainly, France had to start from beyond the beginning to reform itself, and both designers had a hand in that reforming.  The resulting decade became known as the Golden Age of Couture where the most beautiful garments were dreamed and made all made possible by these two designers and their feud.   

Dior

Dior started his real work as a designer working for Pique.  He went into the army, and after his service in 1942, he went to work for a well-established and respected maison of Lucien Lelong, where he designed garments for Nazi wives and families, as did many designers like Jeanne Lanvin, Jean Patou, and Nina Ricci.  

I cut my teeth on these designers as they were my first exposure to fashion and the "in" look.  To learn how to make them was all I really wanted to do when I was a kid.  I could make these for my Barbie, but it somehow missed on me, although it was my inspiration for this dress.

In a way, this is my own homage to Dior and his small waist and larger hips.  I thought I was pretty neat stuff for my first prom! 

Chanel

Chanel started out as a milliner but soon went into the design, where she made such classics as knit clothes for women and the LBD - little black dress.

You can not discount the huge innovation both of these styles had on fashion.  What would Audrey Hepburn be without her little black dress?

For that matter, where would fashion be without the little black dress?   And thankyouverymuch Coco for the knits for our clothes.  I think that's all I sew these days.

But why such a fight between the two?  Dior was a nice enough guy, and Chanel was gifted.  But both saw fashion completely differently.  This goes back to a little history.
 

The Fuss

After World War II, France was the pits.  Not only had France been bombed by the Allies before they took over, but then when the Nazis left, they took anything of any value back to Germany.  This meant anything of value was taken away.  It's like France was one of the countries that got bombed out and then raped to finish it off.  

The fashion capital had moved to New York during the war, and NYC wasn't giving it up.  So France plugged along the few years after the war, and then 1947, and the rest is history. 

Dior comes out with his Autumn 1947 designs and the first look is so different, so shocking, that it took the world by storm.  During World War II, it was all about rationing clothes.  Making do, mending, making clothes last, was what got folks through.  Suddenly here's this designer using 30 yards in one outfit.

This is beyond obscene.  This is criminal.  But the silhouette is so beautiful and glorious that it's almost illegally alluring.  For a really fabulous insight into the famous Bar Suit, check out this article and the video attached - it's like being there in person.  They take the garment so you can see exactly how it's made.  

Carmel Snow, editor of Harper's Bazaar, called it "The New Look."

These magnificent clothes spoke of freedom, fun, and life without having to worry about being bombed or having to save to use tea bags 40 times.  Here were clothes that reflected the joy and relief of war at an end.

What's more, the French were shocked and elated at the same time.  The people on the streets were shocked and thought the clothing was criminal, while the fashion industry in Paris was elated.  Many outside of Paris could afford the clothing, and they were flocking to come to Paris to buy clothing - this designer and this show brought the fashion capital back to Paris almost single-handedly. 

This was a phenomenal task, and Dior started it. The cinched-in waist, the fuller hips, and the incredible change in silhouette from the more masculine, close-to-the-body rationing suits of the war were so spectacularly received that Dior was an immediate hit.  Houses such as Balenciaga, Balmain, Fath and Hardy Amies all followed with equal innovation in fashion, and Paris was once again the center of Haute Couture.  What Dior figured out is that most of the resources were gone, however, the knowledge had been retained, the seamstresses who stitched, the mills who made fabric, the sources of silk - all of that had to be re-created to make the fashions for Dior's New Look, but he managed it and pulled it off.  

Dior was a hero to all Francophiles and to the French people as well.  

But Coco couldn't stand the cinched-in waist and the very uncomfortable structure of the New Look and railed against it.  "Dior doesn't dress women; he upholsters them" was her classic response to Dior's success.  Remember, this is the gal who went from corsets and bustles to knit dresses, so she wasn't afraid to loosen things up and make women comfortable.  

Thus...

Coco manages to create a luxury garment that is entirely comfortable to wear.  And if you've never made a Chanel jacket or have never put one on (these mini-boutiques don't count - you need to try on the quilted version, which is only in locations like Paris, London, Riyad, Tokyo, New York, LA, San Francisco), you have missed something.  It's beautifully thought out, and the construction is right where you need it with the shape constructed so it has shape - it's not like wearing a draped cardigan, but it feels like a cardigan.  It's hard to explain, but the minute I put my jacket on my students or clients, they are in awe.  It's an amazing garment.  

When you take a "French quilted jacket" class, you begin to appreciate the process of when Chanel came to create the jacket.  She adopted it from the classic Austrian Tyrolean Jacket.  Coco had an affair during World War II with a low-level Nazi Spy, so after the war, she and her lover moved to Switzerland, where she lived part-time with him.  The Austrian Tyrolean jacket was a predominant clothing item among the natives, and it's not hard to see how she could be enthralled with using that jacket as a base, creating a beautifully comfy, elegant jacket.

The jacket has some specific design characteristics characteristic of this type of jacket alone.  The buttons are to be considered jewelry pieces so that you don't have to wear much jewelry with the jacket.  The sleeve vent on the cuff is set forward more than the traditional men's jacket sleeve vent, primarily so that the wearer and the viewer can easily see the "jewelry" (in the form of buttons) on the cuff.  There are some other construction characteristics, but one of my favorites is the chain in the bottom, which is strictly there to weigh the jacket so it isn't flopping about because it is fairly lightweight.  It's another lovely touch to make the jacket hang correctly.

But after 1957 to 1984, the styles grew stuff and old looking.  There was no longer the fresh new rebellious look that would have been Chanel.  

Enter Karl Lagerfeld in 1985 to give us lots more Chanel and make a whole new generation love this jacket all over again.  

One of the most amazing things about the jacket is that it works for almost any age from Beyonce, to Lady Astor to even Jacqueline on that most dreadful death of her husband.  Although it's important to note, that Jackie's jacket didn't come from Paris, it came from her seamstress's hands.  The very wealthy, particularly the generationally wealthy manage to know what's classic and have it made for much less than what they can buy it for.  

I'm very sure that these jackets were all made.  For one thing, I'm not sure that the treasury of the English Royals would go for a Chanel jacket ticket, which is probably around $100,000 these days (the quilted ones, not the unlined ones you see at the smaller boutiques).  Jackie's budget wasn't even close to that, but she had an excellent seamstress, as most generationally wealthy clients do.  The Queen could have afforded the jacket but was too frugal to pay that amount.  That doesn't consider her shape and having one made would make so much more sense and fit her beautifully.  The lower left is from a Verizon ad about 10 years ago, for a little girl, and no ad agency would go out and spend $50,000 or even $10,000 for a jacket for an ad!  And the lower center is moi - and I certainly would go buy one, cause mine is so much more comfy and beautiful.  

This is certainly not to take anything away from the ladies in the atelier at Chanel under Coco and Karl who both promoted and saved so many couture houses and techniques through their time at Chanel.  Here's this cute video that starts with some of the consternations from the previous season with the delivery of a garment to a client.  A couple of things to notice:

1. They have the same problems we do, and are just as persnickety,
2. There are no sewing machines in the atelier - it's all handmade,
3. They use mannequins of their clients - showing how important mannequins are,
4. They sew these garments the same way we do - making a muslin, then sewing the garment from that muslin.  

Here's the truth about the conflict between Coco and Dior;  neither would have existed without the other.  They both enhanced what the other did and made a place in the marketplace whether it was for the beautiful femininity of the Dior silhouette or the comfort and elegance of the Chanel jacket.  They both needed the other to exist.  

As soon as the Apple series makes it to Netflix or Prime, I'll watch it.  I can't wait.  I just hope it's not necessarily dramatic because their lives were dramatic enough.

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

Look for future classes coming in 2024
The Core Pattern Shirt, (one of my favorites for woven core pattern that you can make into a myriad of different garments), 
Basic Knit Top (core pattern class for knit basic tops, shells, tees, dresses, and tunics)
 

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