Is there any month more steeped in tradition than December? I think not. It is important to remember that traditions, according to Webster, are “the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, etc., from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice,” and therefore, they help to define our lives. Suspending tradition goes contrary to our desires and our goals and our self-expression.
I suspect most of you are having to suspend some of your December/Holiday/Christmas traditions this year, as am I. So I was pleased to see that Pantone has once again continued their tradition of introducing the Color of the Year for the year to come, 2021. In a vote of confidence – and perhaps because we need to be thinking expansively in the year to come – their color of the year is actually two colors, Ultimate Gray (PANTONE 17-5104) and Illuminating (PANTONE 13-0647), a vibrant yellow. This gray is “emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation.” “Illuminating is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warming yellow shade imbued with solar power.”
Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, talks about this color combination: “ The union of an enduring Ultimate Gray with the vibrant yellow Illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude. Practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, this is a color combination that gives resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted; this is essential to the human spirit.”
As one who loves both yellow and gray, and as one who has sewn with both colors over the years, as detailed above, this choice sent me to my pattern collection, where I quickly found examples of gray and yellow pattern art from years past. Here are two:

I also went to Christian Dior’s Little Dictionary of Fashion to read, once again, his take on gray and yellow.

About Gray: “The most convenient, useful and elegant neutral color. ….There is nothing more elegant than a wonderful, gray satin evening dress. For day frocks, suits and coats it is ideal. I would always advise it.” Page 50. That is quite an endorsement for gray.
About Yellow: “The color of youth and of the sun, and of good weather. A beautiful color for frocks and also for accessories and right for any time of the year. …There is a shade of yellow for everyone – but you have to take the trouble to find it.” Page 124.
Cheerfulness, elegance, optimism, fortitude – these are worthy goals to set for living in the months to come – and for sewing – whether or not we blend the colors of gray and yellow into them. Right now, however, with the enduring promise which defines December, I am focused on the colors of the season, red and green, and of keeping what we can of beloved traditions – knowing that, like finding that perfect yellow, we have to take the trouble to make this holiday season glow and sparkle in its own way.
I wish all of you, my readers, a warm, happy and even MERRY, Christmas and holiday!
More on Dior
In re-reading my last two reviews of the Dior in Denver Exhibit, I realize how very little I was able to include, when there was so much to see and learn. Well, these reviews cannot go on forever, but there are a few other aspects and components of the Exhibit that I still want to share.
In one of the narrower passageways between Exhibit “rooms,” there was a display of Dior scarves lining each side. From the Dior Heritage Collection in Paris, these printed silk twill scarves were designed by Alexandre Sache between about 1958-1976.
The very bright graphic ones were so eye-catching:
And this engaging one with its impressionistic rose in the center was my favorite, I think:
You may have noticed in my first two reviews how many of the fashions, especially the early ones, were made in black. Dior considered black “the most elegant of all colors.” While they often do not photograph as well as other colors, these fashions made in luscious black fabrics commanded attention throughout the Exhibit.
I apologize for not having the attribution on this cocktail dress.
Also spread throughout the Exhibit were quotes from the various Creative Directors. Two especially caught my eye. The first, from Christian Dior himself, was one I had never read before. “The Americans are, by essence, impeccable.” Wow! What a lovely tribute to his stylish American clients.
And then there is this one from the current Creative Director, Maria Grazia Chiuri: “A dress can have some impact but a woman makes the difference with her attitude.” This quote needs no further commentary…
The Exhibit included so many supporting documents and written and printed materials, it was impossible to identify the most important. But I want to share this copy of Time Magazine from March 4, 1957, with Christian Dior on its cover.
Dior died the same year, 1957, on October 24th.
As Exhibit goers departed the exhibition space, there were paper punch-out Dior “handbags” for the taking:
Here is the reverse of this small bag, with punch-out puzzle pieces of the coat included! So clever.
After four hours nonstop in the Exhibit, I reluctantly departed from the Denver Art Museum to get a very late lunch, with intentions to return to the museum shop for a little browsing. Here I am upon my return, standing in front of one of the displays of books:
And here is the bag (I love bags!) which housed all those lovely purchases made at the Museum Shop:
Upon my return home to Pennsylvania, I was anxious to see what Christian Dior Vogue Designer Patterns I have in my collection of vintage patterns. Two are actually ones I purchased in the early 1970s, another time in my life when I was actively sewing for myself :
I made this coat when I was in my early twenties. I only wish I still had it!
I never made this pattern, but I may still do so.
And then there are these two, somewhat recent purchases:
These two patterns are earlier than the two above.
And yes, you do see a theme emerging if you consider these four patterns. They are all coats! (I am obsessed with coats…) Any guess what my current project is (after I make birthday dresses for my granddaughters)?
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Filed under Christian Dior, Coats, Fashion commentary, Fashion Exhibits, Fashion history, Uncategorized, vintage Vogue Designer patterns, vintage Vogue patterns from the 1960s, vintage Vogue patterns from the 1970s
Tagged as Christian Dior, Fashion Exhibits, quotes about fashion, vintage fashion, vintage Vogue patterns