Soirée à Tolède dress, jacquard-woven silk with metal thread, Christian Dior Ltd London, 1956

A dress of jacquard-woven silk with metal thread in a floral pattern. The full-length dress has a wide, square neckline with tight-fitting full-length sleeves. The skirt is a-line and is lined. The dress has a zip fastening at the centre back.

Given by Elizabeth Tatiana Jenks

This dress is made by Christian Dior’s London-based British company, Christian Dior Ltd., London. Originally established in 1952 under the name of C. D. Models London Ltd., with head offices at Stratford Place and an atelier in Maddox Street, Dior’s British business produced high-end ready-to-wear garments based on his Paris designs, adapted for a British clientele. They were sold through department stores and high-end boutiques and exported to commonwealth countries. The company changed its name to Christian Dior London Ltd. in December 1954.

Dating from 1956, the basic silhouette of this dress is typical of its time with a well-defined, nipped-in waist. Its use of textile, full skirt and unusual off-the-shoulder neckline with sleeves that ruche at the top and taper to the wrist, suggest historical fashion, a common inspiration for Christian Dior. The textile is a compound weave silk with a satin ground and floral motifs created with silk and gilt metal weft threads. The dress is based on the evening gown named Soirée a Tolède from Dior’s haute couture Autumn/Winter 1955 Paris collection. Dior often adapted designs from his Paris couture collections to better suit the British market.

Elizabeth Tatiana Jenks (née Smyth), the original wearer and owner of this dress, purchased it from the Christian Dior salon in the Galeries Lafayette department store on Regent Street, Central London. The Dior salon at Galeries Lafayette first opened in March 1953. The Dior pieces on sale at Galeries Lafayette were made in the Dior London atelier at Maddox Street, W1. Elizabeth Jenks remembers that the Galeries Lafayette seamstresses took in her dress significantly at the waist. She married Robin Eric Jenks at the Grosvenor Chapel on South Audley Street on Saturday 21st April, 1956. After her marriage, Jenks had the train of the dress cut off so that she could wear the garment as an evening gown at formal events.

This dress is made by Christian Dior’s London-based British company, Christian Dior Ltd., London. Originally established in 1952 under the name of C. D. Models London Ltd., with head offices at Stratford Place and an atelier in Maddox Street, Dior’s British business produced high-end ready-to-wear garments based on his Paris designs, adapted for a British clientele. They were sold through department stores and high-end boutiques and exported to commonwealth countries. The company changed its name to Christian Dior London Ltd. in December 1954.

This dress is an adaptation of a dress named Soirée à Tolède from Dior’s ‘Y’ line of Autumn/Winter 1955. The original haute couture design was presented in plain black satin and velvet. For his British ready-to-wear line, Dior created the same design in this floral-patterned cream silk.

Elizabeth Tatiana Jenks (née Smyth) purchased this dress from the Christian Dior salon in the Galeries Lafayette department store on Regent Street, Central London, which first opened in March 1953. Jenks wore this dress for her wedding at the Grosvenor Chapel on South Audley Street on Saturday 21st April, 1956.

T.56-2019