Hiking the Hemline

In 1947 Paris Designer Christian Dior brought fashion adventure to millions of U.S. women, and economic indigestion to many U.S. husbands, when he pioneered the sensationally long dresses of the New Look. Last week Designer Dior was tinkering with the hemline again, moving it in a different direction. While 250 fashion experts, most of them from the U.S., looked on questioningly, Dior mannequins glided into his showroom wearing new skirts of startling shortness, their hems raised to a height of 15 to 17 inches above the floor (present average: 12 to 14 inches).

The shortened hemline, like other Dior maneuvers, was an idea suddenly conceived. "Even the day before my collection opened," Dior said, "it was still undecided. But now, I'm just itching to pin up women's skirts." He called his new length the vivante (living) line--"a fashion for going out in the street." Although not as dramatic a break with tradition as the New Look, his vivante was spectacular enough to get rival Paris designers excited and make U.S. buyers tight-lipped and nervous, as they calculated the chances of its finding favor with the unpredictable girls back home.

Manhattan's Hattie Carnegie, for one, was tempted to go along with Dior. Other buyers were uncertain or hostile. Snapped Adolph Schuman, president of San Francisco's Lilli Ann Corp.: "The psychology of the American woman is not ready for a change." Bergdorf Goodman's Andrew Goodman cabled his New York office to ignore the change. Carmel Snow of Harper's Bazaar, the doyenne of U.S. fashion arbiters, supported him. Said she: "Perfectly marvelous publicity for Dior, but you can't find any woman who wants skirts riding up around her knees."

Besides his new hemline, Dior also pointed out another fashion "revolution" for 1953. His new evening dresses are designed to eliminate the need for boned corseting. His explanation: "How many times have I heard men complain that, while dancing, they were not able to feel the living body of women under the yoke which imprisoned them."

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