Why did the New Look cause controversy?

It used lots of fabric after rationing

Bar Suit Quiz: The Jacket at the Heart of Dior's New Look

This bar suit quiz pinches in a waist and flares a skirt. Play 10 interactive questions on Christian Dior's first collection in February 1947, an editor naming it the New Look, a cream silk jacket with padded hips and a tiny waist, a full pleated black skirt, yards of fabric after wartime rationing, protests and the suit's place in museums.

Start Bar Suit Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Year
When did Dior show the Bar suit?
Name
What name did the press give the collection's look?
Editor
Which magazine editor coined the phrase?
Jacket
What color is the Bar jacket?
Waist
What shape did the jacket create?
Skirt
What kind of skirt completes the suit?
Fabric
Why did the New Look cause controversy?
Country
In which city was Dior's house based?
Mood
What did the look celebrate after the war?
Line
What was one of Dior's collection lines called?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: When did Dior show the Bar suit?
Answer: 1947
His first collection.
Q2: What name did the press give the collection's look?
Answer: The New Look
Coined by an editor.
Q3: Which magazine editor coined the phrase?
Answer: Carmel Snow of Harper's Bazaar
A famous moment.
Q4: What color is the Bar jacket?
Answer: Cream
Silk shantung.
Q5: What shape did the jacket create?
Answer: A tiny waist with padded hips
An hourglass.
Q6: What kind of skirt completes the suit?
Answer: A full pleated black skirt
Calf-length.
Q7: Why did the New Look cause controversy?
Answer: It used lots of fabric after rationing
Some protested.
Q8: In which city was Dior's house based?
Answer: Paris
Avenue Montaigne.
Q9: What did the look celebrate after the war?
Answer: Femininity and luxury
A return to glamour.
Q10: What was one of Dior's collection lines called?
Answer: Corolle
Like flower petals.

The Jacket at the Heart of a Revolution

In February 1947 Christian Dior presented his first collection in Paris. Carmel Snow, editor of Harper's Bazaar, declared it a New Look, and the name stuck. At its heart was the Bar suit.

The Bar jacket, in cream silk shantung, curved over padded hips and nipped into a tiny waist, creating an hourglass shape. It was paired with a full, pleated black skirt falling to the calf. One of the collection's lines was called Corolle, like flower petals.

Coming soon after wartime rationing, the New Look used yards of fabric, and some people protested. Yet it celebrated femininity and luxury, reviving Paris as fashion's capital. The Bar suit is now displayed in museums as an icon of the 20th century.

What This Quiz Teaches

Fashion fans will enjoy these questions.

When Dior showed it
Who named the look
How the jacket is shaped
Why it was controversial
What it celebrated

Did You Know?

Dior's house is on Avenue Montaigne.
Petticoats added fullness.
Dior died in 1957.
Yves Saint Laurent succeeded him.
The look influenced 1950s style.