Dior: From Paris to the World

Have a seat friends because today is going to be such a fun article!

A few days ago, my best friend, Rachel, took me to see the Dior exhibit, Dior: From Paris to the World, here in Dallas for my birthday.

Can you imagine how excited I was?!

I had heard about it and was so happy to get a chance to go and see what I love most in the flesh: fashion.

You guys know I love clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories as much as the next fashion-lover. However, what I love more is learning about the history of fashion. And on October 22nd, I got to do just that. I got to learn and gawk at the work of one of my favorite fashion brands: Dior.

Get ready for a picture-heavy post today!

First, a bit about Christian Dior.

Long story short, Dior was a creative at heart who dreamed of being an architect or a composer. When the Great Depression hit, so did his family fortune. During that time, he took up fashion illustration to support himself and the rest is history. On top of that, I thought it was so neat he started off his journey while creating fashion pieces for film, theatre, and dance. Fun fact? His lucky number is one of my lucky numbers: 8. 

Dior is under the LVMH Group, where they house my some of my favorite and most beautiful brands in the world. For fashion, they house: Celine, Fendi, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton (of course), and Marc Jacobs to name a few. As for wine and spirits, Veuve Cliquot is a champagne brand that I’ve always wanted to try.

For beauty, Fresh, Givenchy, and Guerlain are a few brands I use and love that live under their roof.

In retailing, they house my go-to beauty place to shop at: Sephora. When I bought my favorite and affordable liquid eyeliner (only $14) nearly five years ago, a sales associate at Sephora told me that I was buying a great product. As she explained to me LV is the parent of Sephora, I knew my eyeliner would be good quality regardless of the price.

And you know what?

I’ve gone through over a dozen of them since then. Does that tell you about the quality or what?

Anyway, if you want to know if LVMH cares about the environment, they do! Check out their Social & Environmental Responsibility initiatives!

Now, onto the exhibit!

This beautiful mural was to the right of the entrance to the exhibit and to the left? This huge world map that had this awesome saying on it. I feel like it’s kind of like the “I wasn’t born in here Texas, but I got here as fast as I could.” quote you see floating around, haha!

The entrance was absolutely captivating! The outside was a full on wall of mirrors, which I forgot to take a picture of because I was busy picking up my jaw from the floor, ha!

When you stepped in front of the entrance, each side was flanked with double rows of solid black mannequins that made the first looks just pop against the red walls. This was what you saw to your left when you first walk in…

Next, into a room that housed pieces from creative director, Christian Dior himself, along with Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, and Gianfranco Ferre. I loved this red floral dress from YSL so I had to take a snap of his corner.

After the Creative Directors room, you walked into Office of Dreams, a near floor-to-ceiling installation of stunning pieces!

My favorites are the first two on the top row and both coat dresses on each end on the bottom row.

Continuing across the hall were more of the House of Dior’s other creative directors: Raf Simons and John Galliano. Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s current leading woman, was also part of the presentation. It was so neat to see her mood boards!

Next, as you rounded the corner, you entered into the From Paris to the World room.

Remember when I said the entrance was captivating? And let me tell you, my jaws dropped again. They dropped so hard that the museum worker laughed and said, “Keep your jaw open like that because wait until you see it all!”

Look at this gorgeous pink and gold gown!

This back wall displayed gowns that famous women wore to events.

Who you ask?

Oh, just Marilyn Monroe (top row, third gown), Rhianna (second row, third gown), and Jennifer Lawrence, that’s all.

Rachel and I also asked the museum worker some questions. He explained that one of the dresses in this room was a replica of a gown Charlize Theron wore. She loved hers so much that she kept it so Dior had to make a replica, but out of different material. We ended up finding out which one it was too!

As you can see, the creativity was endless.

This slinky dress caught my eye as I was leaving this room that I had to take pictures of it from the front and back.

Next up, we got to see a blast from the past of the history between Dior and the city of Dallas. Fashion programs Neiman Marcus hosted to letters to and from Stanley Marcus, and photos were displayed in crisp white glass cases.

And here is Yves Saint Laurent receiving the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award from Stanley Marcus in 1958.

If you’re a fan of a show on Netflix called The Crown, check this out: Dior did a fashion presentation for Princess Margaret! How neat is that? You can see a small snippet of that event to the left of the program in the black and white photograph.

And look at this letter to Stanley Marcus from Carmel Snow, Harper Bazaar’s Editor-in-Chief written on August 30, 1947!

The room that made me feel like a little girl again was Splendors of the 18th Century. Each piece had a unique element to them and no piece was shy of any details.

Look at my three favorite looks from this room. The details were just exquisite!!!

To me, Dior represents classic, lady-like style.

Maybe that’s why their pearl Tribales earrings, Diorama bag, mini Lady Dior bag, and most recently, J’Adior slingback pumps, are at the top of my investment wardrobe wishlist.

Speaking of ladylike style, the room that made my heart sing was the presentation of Fields of Flowers. My jaw literally dropped open and stayed open! And these two gowns were the cause of my heart fluttering. I mean, look at them!

Of course, I had to do an Instagram shot with my program here!

In a few of the rooms, videos played on a continuous loop showcasing how some of Dior’s collections are made. From sunglasses to jewelry to handbags and shoes, it was SO neat to see the process.

My best friend, Rachel, who’s a bit tom boy-ish, even said she has a new respect for high-end bags and shoes after seeing how they were made. And you guys know that made my heart sing!

Thank you, Rachel, for taking me to see one of my favorite brand’s showings!

And this was the view you got when you were leaving the exhibit. Absolutely stunning!

When Rachel and I were chatting it up with one of the museum’s workers, we learned a few more facts. First of all, the Dallas Museum of Art team put together this exhibit in six weeks! Can you believe it?! Bravo! I know that definitely means that they were scrambling to get this exhibit together beautifully! Secondly, we learned that this exhibit only went to two cities: Denver and Dallas, before making its trek home.

Wow, Dior! This Texas gal feels so special! ::insert blushy face here, lol::

For my friends in Dallas, I highly recommend you go if you get a chance!

The Dior exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art ends this Sunday, October 27th! 

And here’s me happy as a clam after seeing everything!

I hope you enjoyed today’s post because I had so much fun capturing my experience! Let me know what you think in the comments below!