Always fashionable, my god-mother {my mother's sister} had a fashion connection, as her husband worked in "the trade" and it was she who sent me a Christian Dior nightgown and robe one year for my birthday when I was 14.
It is no understatement to say that I felt impossibly grown-up and sophisticated! {ha! seriously far from the truth.}
Fashion has always intrigued me, and I was so honored to be asked to preview this glorious book DIOR AND HIS DECORATORS: Victor Grandpierre, Georges Geffroy, and the New Look written by Maureen Footer, who is an expert in French decorative arts and an acclaimed design historian.
Eloquently written and beautifully illustrated, the book recounts the evolution of Dior’s aesthetic as a fashion revolutionary and an aficionado of interior design via his personal residences, his couture house, and the Dior brand.
The book is not only visual eye candy for us fashionistas, it illustrates how Christian Dior and his talented decorators transformed war-torn Postwar France, and then the world.
Christian Dior’s luxurious New Look, launched in 1947, captivated a war-weary world with exactly the glamour, beauty and sense of romance it was hungry for.
Drawing from the same inspiration as Dior, interior designers in Paris mixed the refined classic traditions of the past with a modern sense of elegance to create a New Look in interiors.
Christian Dior
Christian Dior is still recognized today as an iconic designer and ultimate luxury fashion brand. {Always at the forefront of all that is the height of fashion, the Paris Fashion Week show of Dior this week was amazing!} Just like his fashion designs, his interiors were luxurious and breath-taking. Dior hired his friends fashion photographer Victor Grandpierre and silent film set designer Georges Geffroy to create chic, worldly interiors for all his residences. The book also shows the work of both Grandpierre and Geffroy for other design clients.
Just as Dior defined New Look fashion, his Paris townhouse epitomized New Look decoration, it was a succès fou {translates into crazy success.}
Victor Grandpierre also designed Dior’s first couture salon, with its elegant restrained looks, and the face of the Dior brand, the logo and packaging, which is still used today.
Maureen Footer has captured the story of DIOR & HIS DECORATORS with such beautiful detail and insightful commentary. The images and history of Christian Dior's career and his two decorator friends are wonderfully intertwined. It's also the story of a time in France's history, and the friendship of the three men.
I love decorating books, what makes this one a favorite is that it has much more...there is so much history and detail here, it's so well researched.
It is a book to enjoy for the stunning photos of fashion and interiors, of course, but it is also a book that is a GREAT READ.
It's a reminder that fashion and interiors can be beautiful, tell a personal story and be timeless.
Maureen Footer's stylish and chic New York City Apartment was featured in the current VERANDA magazine. It's every bit as gorgeous as you would expect it to be!
Photo credit of the ever chic author: Maureen's Instagram
- Make independent design choices. Inform your eye by looking, but never copying. Striking originality, be it in Dior’s New Look, Geffroy’s or Grandpierre’s posh interiors, stems from being true to a personal point of view.
- Be curious about the world around you. Without curiosity design can’t move forward, and it certainly can’t capture its time. Learn from the past, incorporate the present. Interiors will be rich, resonate, and connect the occupant to a larger spectrum.
- Remember that a home should be a haven. A living space should welcome and embrace its owner and nurture the soul. Upholstered walls create soft spaces; fabrics that feel good are welcoming; color creates mood. Reach for quality whenever you can.
- Incorporate antiques. Not only are antiques beautiful, they connect us to our past and remind us of who we are. They are like family photos on our desktop.
- For a little zip, reach for tiger silk velvet and a glass of Champagne!
For extra credit, follow me on Instagram HERE > {you do, already, don't you?!}
Since we are in Europe on our antiques buying trip, I will choose a winner randomly when we return. The winner will be announced on October 10th, and the publisher will mail that lucky one a book!
So easy. Love it!
You can ORDER THE BOOK HERE
And you will want to follow MAUREEN FOOTER on instagram HERE
I am so grateful that the publisher chose FrenchGardenHouse to review this gorgeous book, and that one of you, dearest readers, will be winning a copy too!
I received my advance copy, and can't wait to return from Europe to read it from cover to cover.
Ps. for my dear clients...FrenchGardenHouse is open, and your orders from today forward will commence shipping after Oct. 8th. Merci!
All images for this review were provided by and are courtesy of Vendome Press.
à bientôt
Shop for the best in French Antiques, furniture with the patina of age, vintage accessories to delight you and your family & friends, and French Country utilitarian pieces. Treasures that make your home fresh, beautiful, inspirational and uniquely yours. Visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.com
45 comments
This looks like one gorgeous book! Plus, the subject matter promises to be just as interesting as the pictures!
Beautiful, elegant and stunning gowns and interiors…so lovely to drift in the dream of these images!
You get points, and fabulous review of Dior and his Decorations. This book will be perfect as holiday gifts this season!!!
Oh, Lidy! I always enjoy your blog and IG, but this one was just breathtakingly beautiful! DIOR! Such stunning pictures of timeless beauty!
Wow what inspiration and beauty for a world that today is in such upheaval! Thanks for this opportunity, happy shopping! Carmen
This looks like a fabulous book.
I would love to own it.
Inimitable French style means knowing yourself, and having the discipline to be selective in your choices.
No mish mash! And you capture that sensibility so well on your blog and in your shop inventory.
Bien fait!
Hello, Lidy,
All I can say is WOWWWWWWWWWW, LOVED ALL THE PHOTO’S BUT THE LADIES AND THE GOWN’S ARE TO DIE FOR, ALWAY’S LOVED FRENCH THING’S And I have some French in my DNA and loved when in France, but this is a lovely book and I enjoy that you alway’s share this type of thing’s with all of us and all the wonderful decorating that you do, such a wonderful way to look at everything. Have a lot of French thing’s but never enough so Lidy thank you for sharing this and all that you do~Happy Fall~~~Jean~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How beautiful are those pictures. I would wear any of those gowns. Style Style style.
Thanks so much Emma! It’s so nice to see you over “on this side” too!