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Miss Dior: Múza a bojovnice. Pravdivý příběh Catherine Dior
Příběh výjimečného života Catherine Dior (1917–2008), jež byla múzou svého bratra Christiana i statečnou členkou francouzského odboje. Britská spisovatelka Justine Picardie se vydává po stopách mladší sestry jednoho z nejvlivnějších světových módních návrhářů, která ho inspirovala k slavnému parfému a ovlivnila jeho pojetí ženskosti a krásy.
Dva roky po druhé světové válce se Paříž vzpamatovávala z německé okupace a toužila žít znovu naplno. Christian Dior byl tím, kdo jí na poli módy vdechl nové sebevědomí, když představil svou první kolekci známou pod pojmem New Look. Styl vytříbeného luxusu, ženskosti a elegance znamenal revoluci v dámském odívání a z Paříže opět udělal centrum světové módy. Ve stejné době jako New Look vznikl také Diorův první a dodnes legendární parfém Miss Dior pojmenovaný na počest jeho mladší sestry Catherine. Ženy, jež riskovala život v odboji proti nacistům a přežila mučení, koncentrační tábor i pochod smrti. Té, která bratra v mnohém inspirovala a opatrovala jeho odkaz až do své smrti. Ale zatímco se Christian Dior stal jedním z nejznámějších Francouzů na světě, Catherine zůstává v jeho stínu. Kniha Justine Picardie je cestou k nápravě: pečlivě rekonstruuje Catherinin životní příběh a současně zkoumá odkaz něžného bratra, který nedokázal zapomenout na sestřino utrpení, byť její rány halil do květinového hedvábí a vůně lásky.
Text doprovází velké množství vzácných dobových fotografií a ilustrací.
Dva roky po druhé světové válce se Paříž vzpamatovávala z německé okupace a toužila žít znovu naplno. Christian Dior byl tím, kdo jí na poli módy vdechl nové sebevědomí, když představil svou první kolekci známou pod pojmem New Look. Styl vytříbeného luxusu, ženskosti a elegance znamenal revoluci v dámském odívání a z Paříže opět udělal centrum světové módy. Ve stejné době jako New Look vznikl také Diorův první a dodnes legendární parfém Miss Dior pojmenovaný na počest jeho mladší sestry Catherine. Ženy, jež riskovala život v odboji proti nacistům a přežila mučení, koncentrační tábor i pochod smrti. Té, která bratra v mnohém inspirovala a opatrovala jeho odkaz až do své smrti. Ale zatímco se Christian Dior stal jedním z nejznámějších Francouzů na světě, Catherine zůstává v jeho stínu. Kniha Justine Picardie je cestou k nápravě: pečlivě rekonstruuje Catherinin životní příběh a současně zkoumá odkaz něžného bratra, který nedokázal zapomenout na sestřino utrpení, byť její rány halil do květinového hedvábí a vůně lásky.
Text doprovází velké množství vzácných dobových fotografií a ilustrací.
456 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2022
527 people are currently reading
4375 people want to read
About the author
Justine Picardie
26 books117 followersJustine Picardie is a British novelist, fashion writer and biographer. She is the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar UK and Town & Country UK. Her 2010 biography of Coco Chanel (“Coco Chanel: The Legend & the Life”) was shortlisted for the Galaxy National Book Awards.
Her eldest son is Jamie MacColl, the guitarist for Bombay Bicycle Club.
Ruth Picardie was her sister.
Her eldest son is Jamie MacColl, the guitarist for Bombay Bicycle Club.
Ruth Picardie was her sister.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 258 reviews
July 30, 2022
This is a difficult book to review. It’s not so much a biography of Catherine Dior as it is a portrait of her family, her famous brother Christian, their associates, and the times in which they lived.
Catherine herself was a very quiet and private woman who avoided attention. Her strong belief in freedom and democracy led to her becoming a member of the French resistance during World War II. She was captured by the Nazis, tortured, and deported to the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. Unlike many of her friends, she survived the horrors of the camp and a death march to Munich as the Allied forces sought to liberate the captives.
Upon her repatriation to France, she lived a quiet life but did testify at one of the many war crimes tribunals held in France. Christian Dior was so moved by his courageous younger sister that he formulated his unforgettable perfume, Miss Dior, to honor her bravery and patriotism during World War II.
Miss Dior provides a glimpse of life in France during the wartime years as well as the world of couture fashion which defined Paris in the postwar years. Author Justine Picardie’s extensive research along with her travels to places in Europe where Catherine and Christian Dior lived, worked, and suffered bring to life a long ago time and place.
Catherine herself was a very quiet and private woman who avoided attention. Her strong belief in freedom and democracy led to her becoming a member of the French resistance during World War II. She was captured by the Nazis, tortured, and deported to the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. Unlike many of her friends, she survived the horrors of the camp and a death march to Munich as the Allied forces sought to liberate the captives.
Upon her repatriation to France, she lived a quiet life but did testify at one of the many war crimes tribunals held in France. Christian Dior was so moved by his courageous younger sister that he formulated his unforgettable perfume, Miss Dior, to honor her bravery and patriotism during World War II.
Miss Dior provides a glimpse of life in France during the wartime years as well as the world of couture fashion which defined Paris in the postwar years. Author Justine Picardie’s extensive research along with her travels to places in Europe where Catherine and Christian Dior lived, worked, and suffered bring to life a long ago time and place.
March 7, 2022
I was aware that Catherine Dior was active in the resistance to the Nazi Regime. I was not aware of how much she did. She was in serious danger and was heavily involved in helping keep Hilter from taking over France and the rest of the world. She saw her friends murdered and disappear. She herself went to Ravensburck Concentration Camp and endured horrific treatment. So, Catherine Dior was so courageous. Yet, after the war she did not speak of her experiences. Her friends who lived did not either. They just carried on and held the pain they endured.
Catherine and her brother, Christian are always very close. He made a perfume for her. It captured her essence. She wore his beautifully designed clothing. Christian was aware of what his sister went through and think it changed his approach to designing. He was a patient and tolerant person. So, you realize that beauty is mixed with such ugliness in life and it changes your outlook. He looked out for his sister and loved her dearly.
This is one thing about the book, it says it is about Catherine, so you expect to be in her mind and understand her better. This was partially captured, but not fully. Perhaps, Catherine was too private a person to ever fully know the story. So, it was more a biography of Christian Dior as well, which was fine, just not what the book suggests.
‘Aime la vie, jeune homme’ which means to love life, Catherine would say. I think that is a powerful statement. To really triumph after living over such evil, I think the best people realize Living Fully Again is the answer. It shows that the worst person can not take your true self away from you. Catherine did and spent much time making beautiful Rose Gardens. She knows that it gives her joy and brings joy to others. This was moving.
The book had many pictures and that was really wonderful to see. I had not seen much of Catherine before and Christian was often in her life. It was so fascinating to see their life layer out. So, a book I enjoyed since I learned so much. It was inspirational.
Thank you NetGalley, Justine Picador, and Farrer, Straus, and Giroux for a copy of this fine book.
Catherine and her brother, Christian are always very close. He made a perfume for her. It captured her essence. She wore his beautifully designed clothing. Christian was aware of what his sister went through and think it changed his approach to designing. He was a patient and tolerant person. So, you realize that beauty is mixed with such ugliness in life and it changes your outlook. He looked out for his sister and loved her dearly.
This is one thing about the book, it says it is about Catherine, so you expect to be in her mind and understand her better. This was partially captured, but not fully. Perhaps, Catherine was too private a person to ever fully know the story. So, it was more a biography of Christian Dior as well, which was fine, just not what the book suggests.
‘Aime la vie, jeune homme’ which means to love life, Catherine would say. I think that is a powerful statement. To really triumph after living over such evil, I think the best people realize Living Fully Again is the answer. It shows that the worst person can not take your true self away from you. Catherine did and spent much time making beautiful Rose Gardens. She knows that it gives her joy and brings joy to others. This was moving.
The book had many pictures and that was really wonderful to see. I had not seen much of Catherine before and Christian was often in her life. It was so fascinating to see their life layer out. So, a book I enjoyed since I learned so much. It was inspirational.
Thank you NetGalley, Justine Picador, and Farrer, Straus, and Giroux for a copy of this fine book.
September 16, 2021
Disappointed to say that I expected much much more from this. More focussed on the political landscape widely than anything Miss Dior. A few really insightful chapters but otherwise felt too broad. The photographs used in this are divine and captured my attention much more.
January 18, 2022
This book is NOT exclusively about Catherine Dior as is advertised (it is marketed as a “Biography”).
Having finished the book the title could just as well refer to Miss Dior (Christian’s first perfume- (see pages 248-257) or the flower girl dress, Miss Dior, so named in Christian’s 1949 spring/summer collection- (see page 311).
Because so little is known about Catherine Dior’s time in the Resistance and her imprisonment – having left no diaries or letters and indeed refused to talk about her experiences after the war, authors have been forced to depend on the records of others (written &/or oral) and whatever information is available for that period.
Page 111: “All that survives of Catherine Dior’s imprisonment in Paris, following her interrogation at Rue de la Pompe, is a slender file of records in the French military archives at Caen: faded pieces of paper, bearing the handwritten dates of her journey from one jail to another.”
Authors have tried before (“The Paris Secret” and “Sisters of the Resistance”) and will likely try again to piece together Catherine Dior’s story.
This author has made a valiant effort but has not come any closer than any others in her endeavor. She has written a sweeping saga about Christian Dior, his rise to fame as a designer, French couture in general, and Paris during the occupation. The author has quoted Christian Dior’s memoir extensively.
Christian Dior adored his sister. They were very close. He was frantic when he did not know if his sister was dead or alive. He hardly recognized her when she returned to Paris. They both loved flowers.
The book is a hefty 400+ pages which includes some wonderful photographs and a stunning cover.
I say ‘hefty’ if you are reading the hard-cover edition. It weighs 760g (according to Amazon) but it felt like I was holding 10Lbs.
Having finished the book the title could just as well refer to Miss Dior (Christian’s first perfume- (see pages 248-257) or the flower girl dress, Miss Dior, so named in Christian’s 1949 spring/summer collection- (see page 311).
Because so little is known about Catherine Dior’s time in the Resistance and her imprisonment – having left no diaries or letters and indeed refused to talk about her experiences after the war, authors have been forced to depend on the records of others (written &/or oral) and whatever information is available for that period.
Page 111: “All that survives of Catherine Dior’s imprisonment in Paris, following her interrogation at Rue de la Pompe, is a slender file of records in the French military archives at Caen: faded pieces of paper, bearing the handwritten dates of her journey from one jail to another.”
Authors have tried before (“The Paris Secret” and “Sisters of the Resistance”) and will likely try again to piece together Catherine Dior’s story.
This author has made a valiant effort but has not come any closer than any others in her endeavor. She has written a sweeping saga about Christian Dior, his rise to fame as a designer, French couture in general, and Paris during the occupation. The author has quoted Christian Dior’s memoir extensively.
Christian Dior adored his sister. They were very close. He was frantic when he did not know if his sister was dead or alive. He hardly recognized her when she returned to Paris. They both loved flowers.
The book is a hefty 400+ pages which includes some wonderful photographs and a stunning cover.
I say ‘hefty’ if you are reading the hard-cover edition. It weighs 760g (according to Amazon) but it felt like I was holding 10Lbs.
November 2, 2021
Catherine Dior, by no means as well known as her brother, fashion icon Christian Dior, was a hero of the French Resistance, not too many know this. This book is a non-fiction account of Catherine's involvement in the resistance, her arrest and subsequent torture at the hands of the Gestapo and her deportation to Ravensbruck concentration camp. It also tells of Catherine's post WWII life, of the person she became after the horrors she endured at the hands of the Nazis.
This book is well-researched and extremely detailed. We no only learn of the woman that was Catherine Dior, and Christian's much loved sister. But of Christian and the length's he himself went to protect his younger sister.
This book also gives light to the couture fashion industry and how the evolved throughout the occupation of Paris, whether as collaborator or resister.
An extremely informative, detailed homage to a courageous woman who deserves as much if not more recognition as her famous brother. This is a very readable work of non-fiction, I recommend this book highly.
Thank you to the publishers at Farrar, Straus and Giroux and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.
This book is well-researched and extremely detailed. We no only learn of the woman that was Catherine Dior, and Christian's much loved sister. But of Christian and the length's he himself went to protect his younger sister.
This book also gives light to the couture fashion industry and how the evolved throughout the occupation of Paris, whether as collaborator or resister.
An extremely informative, detailed homage to a courageous woman who deserves as much if not more recognition as her famous brother. This is a very readable work of non-fiction, I recommend this book highly.
Thank you to the publishers at Farrar, Straus and Giroux and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.
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January 29, 2022Miss Dior is supposed to be a biography of Catherine Dior, the little sister of designer Christian Dior. During the Occupation, she joined the Resistance. She was eventually arrested, tortured, and deported to Ravensbrück and other concentration camps. She survived the death march from a satellite camp of Buchenwald to Dresden. She returned to France in the summer of 1945, where she lived a quiet life until her death in 2008.
I say the book is "supposed" to be a biography because that is what is announced on the back cover, in the summary on the inside flap, and in the introductive chapter of the book; on page 4, Picardie writes: "...I would tell the story of this silent woman and her unknown comrades, who had somehow survived Ravensbrück and returned to France..." However, Picardie seems to forget that this was her aim, and once Catherine is back from Germany (about at the halfway point of the book), it becomes all about Christian Dior, and Catherine becomes a very, very secondary character.
The most successful feature of the book is without a doubt the object itself. The book is beautiful. Of the 404 pages preceding the acknowledgements, 136 are used for pictures (photographs, fashion drawings, historical documents...), many of them in colour. And it is all printed on quality paper.
Picardie set herself the difficult task of writing the biography of someone who is not famous. That generally means that there are few historical documents to work with. Sometimes this lack of public information is offset by a wealth of private information when the person leaves journals, letters or such personal documents behind. But it appears this is not the case with Catherine Dior.
To remedy this lack of information, Picardie spends a lot of time describing the context. Since Catherine didn't write her memoirs or talked much about her experience in Germany, Picardie quotes the testimonies of other women who were deported approximately at the same time and suffered the same treatment. In contrast, she also describes the atmosphere of Paris during the Occupation and after. She does a very good job at describing Paris as a place of luxury for the upper classes of Parisians for whom the war was never much more than a petty inconvenience.
After Catherine's return from Germany, she seems to vanish from the book. On page 198, we are told that in the autumn of 1945, she moves to Paris to live with her lover (a married man) in her brother's apartment, and that she works as a flower dealer in Les Halles (the big market in the center of Paris). The next mention of her personal circumstances comes 115 pages later, at page 313, where it says that by 1949, Catherine and her lover had moved out of Christian's apartment to live closer to Les Halles. And that is all the information we ever get on the subject. What was her work like? What was the atmosphere of les Halles? How did the stark contrast between the abundance at Les Halles (all the food eaten by Parisians was sold through Les Halles) and the famine of the concentration camp play on her mind? What were her financial circumstances? Did she experience social difficulties because she was living with a married man in what was still a rather conservative society? How were her relations with her family members other than Christian (she had a sister and two other brothers)? Not a word is said on any of that, and it looks like Picardie made no effort to get that sort of information.
From about page 200 on, the only time Catherine appears as an individual is in the chapter about the trial of the Gestapo unit who arrested and tortured her. She testified at the trial held in 1953, and her testimony helped to convict these people. Elsewhere, she is mentioned only in relation to Christian. It is as though, for Picardie, Catherine ceased to be important when her story ceased to be spectacular (I am tempted to say "glamourous", in as much as the word can be applied in relation to torture and concentration camps). Catherine did live another six decades after the war, yet it is as though it doesn't count.
It seems that Picardie's only interest in Catherine after the war was as the potential inspiration behind the name Miss Dior (the perfume and the dress). Yet she makes clear that Catherine was not her brother's muse (page 245: "she was not a fashion muse for her brother") and that she had nothing to do with his couture house. I am left with the distinct impression that Picardie looked for Catherine where she was not (the world of couture) and was not interested in looking for her where she was (a working class Parisian dealing flowers in Les Halles).
Since most of the story told is set in Paris and concerns French people, the text is peppered with French phrases. For most of them, no translation is provided. If you are not fashionable enough to understand French, tough luck. And if you know French, you are in no better position, because you will notice mistakes. Given the number of French words in the book, the ratio of mistakes per 20-words is not bad, but the mistakes are nevertheless there. I have to say that all the phrases are well used and absolutely spot on. They all mean what they are supposed to mean, and they are not there just as ornaments. This rarely happens in books written in English, so I am happy to give due praise.
Another element that I disliked is Picardie's insistence on showing the reader that she is "communing" with her subject. She keeps referring to the ghost of Catherine and hoping that it will speak to her (it does not). She goes to various places where Catherine has been (her childhood house in Normandy, the various camps where she was held, her house in Provence...), but these trips are not so much information gathering expeditions as pilgrimages. Picardie does consult the archives, but she seems to believe that the important information she got from these visits is how she felt in these places.
Despite all the negative points, it is not a bad book. It depends very much on how you view it. As a study in contrast between the horrors of World War Two and the frothiness of the couture world in post-war Paris, this book is successful. As a biography of Catherine Dior, it is a failure.
I say the book is "supposed" to be a biography because that is what is announced on the back cover, in the summary on the inside flap, and in the introductive chapter of the book; on page 4, Picardie writes: "...I would tell the story of this silent woman and her unknown comrades, who had somehow survived Ravensbrück and returned to France..." However, Picardie seems to forget that this was her aim, and once Catherine is back from Germany (about at the halfway point of the book), it becomes all about Christian Dior, and Catherine becomes a very, very secondary character.
The most successful feature of the book is without a doubt the object itself. The book is beautiful. Of the 404 pages preceding the acknowledgements, 136 are used for pictures (photographs, fashion drawings, historical documents...), many of them in colour. And it is all printed on quality paper.
Picardie set herself the difficult task of writing the biography of someone who is not famous. That generally means that there are few historical documents to work with. Sometimes this lack of public information is offset by a wealth of private information when the person leaves journals, letters or such personal documents behind. But it appears this is not the case with Catherine Dior.
To remedy this lack of information, Picardie spends a lot of time describing the context. Since Catherine didn't write her memoirs or talked much about her experience in Germany, Picardie quotes the testimonies of other women who were deported approximately at the same time and suffered the same treatment. In contrast, she also describes the atmosphere of Paris during the Occupation and after. She does a very good job at describing Paris as a place of luxury for the upper classes of Parisians for whom the war was never much more than a petty inconvenience.
After Catherine's return from Germany, she seems to vanish from the book. On page 198, we are told that in the autumn of 1945, she moves to Paris to live with her lover (a married man) in her brother's apartment, and that she works as a flower dealer in Les Halles (the big market in the center of Paris). The next mention of her personal circumstances comes 115 pages later, at page 313, where it says that by 1949, Catherine and her lover had moved out of Christian's apartment to live closer to Les Halles. And that is all the information we ever get on the subject. What was her work like? What was the atmosphere of les Halles? How did the stark contrast between the abundance at Les Halles (all the food eaten by Parisians was sold through Les Halles) and the famine of the concentration camp play on her mind? What were her financial circumstances? Did she experience social difficulties because she was living with a married man in what was still a rather conservative society? How were her relations with her family members other than Christian (she had a sister and two other brothers)? Not a word is said on any of that, and it looks like Picardie made no effort to get that sort of information.
From about page 200 on, the only time Catherine appears as an individual is in the chapter about the trial of the Gestapo unit who arrested and tortured her. She testified at the trial held in 1953, and her testimony helped to convict these people. Elsewhere, she is mentioned only in relation to Christian. It is as though, for Picardie, Catherine ceased to be important when her story ceased to be spectacular (I am tempted to say "glamourous", in as much as the word can be applied in relation to torture and concentration camps). Catherine did live another six decades after the war, yet it is as though it doesn't count.
It seems that Picardie's only interest in Catherine after the war was as the potential inspiration behind the name Miss Dior (the perfume and the dress). Yet she makes clear that Catherine was not her brother's muse (page 245: "she was not a fashion muse for her brother") and that she had nothing to do with his couture house. I am left with the distinct impression that Picardie looked for Catherine where she was not (the world of couture) and was not interested in looking for her where she was (a working class Parisian dealing flowers in Les Halles).
Since most of the story told is set in Paris and concerns French people, the text is peppered with French phrases. For most of them, no translation is provided. If you are not fashionable enough to understand French, tough luck. And if you know French, you are in no better position, because you will notice mistakes. Given the number of French words in the book, the ratio of mistakes per 20-words is not bad, but the mistakes are nevertheless there. I have to say that all the phrases are well used and absolutely spot on. They all mean what they are supposed to mean, and they are not there just as ornaments. This rarely happens in books written in English, so I am happy to give due praise.
Another element that I disliked is Picardie's insistence on showing the reader that she is "communing" with her subject. She keeps referring to the ghost of Catherine and hoping that it will speak to her (it does not). She goes to various places where Catherine has been (her childhood house in Normandy, the various camps where she was held, her house in Provence...), but these trips are not so much information gathering expeditions as pilgrimages. Picardie does consult the archives, but she seems to believe that the important information she got from these visits is how she felt in these places.
Despite all the negative points, it is not a bad book. It depends very much on how you view it. As a study in contrast between the horrors of World War Two and the frothiness of the couture world in post-war Paris, this book is successful. As a biography of Catherine Dior, it is a failure.
January 2, 2023
Book club choice, but turned out to be a disappointment for me. It is not a biography about Catherine Dior, despite being marketed as so. It is more of a historical and political view of France and the resistance during WWII. In saying that, the book is kind of all over the place. It feels like the author wanted to tell a story about Catherine Dior, but failed to really uncover much about her, so packed out a very big book with stories of her famous brother Christian, war stories, fashion and anything else she felt like putting in it. It had no flow for me and I lost interest very early on, but punished myself and persevered. The hardcover book is beautiful, the paper is lovely and the best part for me were the photos - which I enjoyed looking at.
July 9, 2022
Titled Miss Dior, this wonderfully compelling book is much more than simply a biography of Catherine Dior, but a wide-ranging and thoroughly researched work of history in which the author allows the reader to share some of her thoughts as she follows Catherine Dior’s journey whilst never allowing these thoughts to intrude too much. Parisian couture is part of the story, but the most riveting parts of the book follow Catherine Dior’s experiences as a concentration camp inmate. Graphic and harrowing, this is some of the best writing I have ever read about WWII and the evil machinations of the Nazis. Wonderful illustrations accompany the text. A superb read.
January 23, 2022
I never would have given this book a chance if it hadn't gotten my attention because I knew the author was going to write about a Holocaust survivor's story. I am so glad I did read it! I loved this book and it surprised me that I enjoyed reading about couture and fashion. The author artfully interlaced fashion, flowers, perfume and their stories, characters and beautiful places with the story of the Holocaust, its survivors and the dead, the fighters and the murderers. The book touched my heart and I am so glad I read it. Needless to say, I highly recommend it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2023
I was expecting more of a story about fashion but I got a history lesson. I honestly kept listening because 5am me fell asleep through most of it.
May 7, 2022
"That is, perhaps, Dior's tragedy, as well as the source of his greatness: a prince of light who knew the power of darkness; the tender brother who could not forget his sister's suffering and sacrifice, even as he swathed her in floral silks and the scent of love."
To be honest, I really only picked this up because I got a free proof of it from a bookshop event I volunteered at. Yet I was still very much interested in it, as I find the history of designer fashion rather fascinating but really know very little about it.
But while this book was incredibly well-researched, I honestly didn't really enjoy it very much. Justine Picardie was just never really able to accomplish what she set out to do: write a biography of Catherine Dior. Her project seems to have had a promising start, but, unfortunately for her, there just doesn't appear to be enough material on Catherine herself to create a round enough portrait of her.
For most of the chapters on Catherine's imprisonment, for example, Picardie has to resort to relying on the accounts of other women who may have known Catherine, who may have endured similar circumstances. She throws around all kinds of random names and then expects the reader to keep track of who's who, focusing on other women's stories where she can't provide a narrative for Catherine. Again, clearly Picardie did an incredible amount of research here, and while these other women's stories are just as important, she may have been better off presenting them on their own merit rather than trying to use them to supplement Catherine's.
Even outside those chapters, Picardie is unable to focus exclusively on Catherine. She gives a great history of the early days of Dior, but it ends up mostly focused on Christian and the postwar cultural context of the time. She often goes pages without even mentioning Catherine's name.
I also wasn't too big of a fan of Picardie's melodramatic insertions of herself into this narrative. It was unnecessarily pensive, and I think the story would have been much stronger without it.
Again, this book was incredibly well-researched. But, unable to follow the main thread that Picardie presents with it, it ends up moving all over the place and lacks a real point. I can understand why Catherine Dior fascinated her; she was obviously an incredible and brave woman. But, unfortunately, there was just not enough material specifically about her to write a full biography like this. Not really sure I'd recommend.
March 1, 2022
Captivating, descriptive, and well researched!
Miss Dior is the sincere, informative biography of the remarkable Caroline Dior, the youngest sister of renowned fashion designer Christian Dior who, after falling in love with a married resistance leader in 1941, spent the next three years reporting to British Intelligence on German operations until July 1944 when she was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbrück and other satellite concentration camps before returning to Paris, after surviving a death march in April 1945, where for the remainder of her life she rarely spoke of the horrors she had endured but surrounded herself with her brother’s love and the flowers she adored.
The writing is evocative and expressive. The characters are humble, heroic, and unique. And the novel is an engaging look into how two siblings in a time of upheaval and uncertainty, one in the spotlight and the other in the shadows, made a resounding impact on French history and the world of fashion.
Overall, Miss Dior is a candid, intriguing tale by Picardie with an abundance of beautiful photos and illustrations, and even though I would have liked to learn more specifically about the life of the woman who inspired the perfume, I still found it an insightful, fascinating tale of not only second-hand accounts of the times, events, and situations she would have faced, but the ultimate evolution and rise of the House of Dior and the incredible array of infamous people who over the years have been lucky enough to don their couture.
Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Miss Dior is the sincere, informative biography of the remarkable Caroline Dior, the youngest sister of renowned fashion designer Christian Dior who, after falling in love with a married resistance leader in 1941, spent the next three years reporting to British Intelligence on German operations until July 1944 when she was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbrück and other satellite concentration camps before returning to Paris, after surviving a death march in April 1945, where for the remainder of her life she rarely spoke of the horrors she had endured but surrounded herself with her brother’s love and the flowers she adored.
The writing is evocative and expressive. The characters are humble, heroic, and unique. And the novel is an engaging look into how two siblings in a time of upheaval and uncertainty, one in the spotlight and the other in the shadows, made a resounding impact on French history and the world of fashion.
Overall, Miss Dior is a candid, intriguing tale by Picardie with an abundance of beautiful photos and illustrations, and even though I would have liked to learn more specifically about the life of the woman who inspired the perfume, I still found it an insightful, fascinating tale of not only second-hand accounts of the times, events, and situations she would have faced, but the ultimate evolution and rise of the House of Dior and the incredible array of infamous people who over the years have been lucky enough to don their couture.
Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 15, 2023
What a beauuuuutiful biography - BEAUTIFUL is not even a powerful enough word to describe it. It was almost POETIC. I didn’t want it to finish.
Unlike most fashion biography where I feel like I’m just refreshing my existing memory of fashion history, this one much to my surprise, I actually learned a lot. Catherine Dior was a very private person which makes this book all the more remarkable because the author did a tremendous amount of research on her life, her work as a spy for the French resistance and her subsequent journey through the hell of Nazi concentration camps and its aftermath on her body and soul. All the black and white photographies brought in a nostalgic feelings of the 19th century. On top of everything - it was written beautifully and takes you into the emotion of human behavior. Though at times, it could get absolutely heartbreaking to read the accounts of the atrocities of WW2, it showed the power of the human spirit.
5/5 SOLID fashion history must read.
Unlike most fashion biography where I feel like I’m just refreshing my existing memory of fashion history, this one much to my surprise, I actually learned a lot. Catherine Dior was a very private person which makes this book all the more remarkable because the author did a tremendous amount of research on her life, her work as a spy for the French resistance and her subsequent journey through the hell of Nazi concentration camps and its aftermath on her body and soul. All the black and white photographies brought in a nostalgic feelings of the 19th century. On top of everything - it was written beautifully and takes you into the emotion of human behavior. Though at times, it could get absolutely heartbreaking to read the accounts of the atrocities of WW2, it showed the power of the human spirit.
5/5 SOLID fashion history must read.
February 22, 2022
I was really excited to read this book - it was a definite letdown. It was way too long. I'm left after 400 pages still knowing very little to nothing about Catherine Dior. This book was part self-reflection by the author, and very light historical novel. The author included way too much self-reflection about her experience visiting some of the places that Catherine was detained, and other critical WW2 events. This book is not worth reading - it's way too long and nothing of substance comes from it. There are much better books about women French resistance fighters than this account. Don't waste time reading it. If you want to know about Christian Dior read his biography.
January 7, 2025
Wow! C’est beaucoup plus qu’une biographie sur la jeune sœur, très discrète et réservée, d’un grand couturier. C’est un livre bien documenté et très intéressant à lire, qui ne s’adresse pas uniquement aux passionné•es de mode, bien au contraire. Touchée et impressionnée devant le courage, la détermination, la résilience et la force de Catherine (Miss Dior) et également de toutes ces femmes et tous ces hommes Résistant•es face à l’Occupation.
Lecture très difficile par moments, j’ai dû prendre plusieurs pauses, surtout les passages où il est question des camps de concentration et les témoignages des survivantes du camp de Ravensbrück.
À lire!
Lecture très difficile par moments, j’ai dû prendre plusieurs pauses, surtout les passages où il est question des camps de concentration et les témoignages des survivantes du camp de Ravensbrück.
À lire!
January 25, 2024
3.5. Nie tego się spodziewałam; z jednej strony zaskoczyła mnie pozytywnie jakością researchu i tym, jak wiele się z niej dowiedziałam, z drugiej jednak strony samej Catherine Dior było dla mnie za mało jak na książkę prezentującą się jako opowieść „o niej”. Chwilami nie mogłam się oderwać, chwilami już bardzo chciałam odłożyć.
January 5, 2022
I may be the wrong audience for this book. I thought it was going to be about Catherine Dior, particularly her role in the French Resistance during WWII. However, it seems Ms Dior, like many war and concentration camp survivors, never really talked about her experiences or her ordeal. Most of the information seems to come from official records, including her statements to officials after her return to Paris. Much of the experience is extrapolated from the writings of Catherine’s contemporaries who did share their experiences. Perhaps the book is more about the inspiration for Miss Dior, the perfume, and Christian’s muse - was that Catherine or not? So to me, the book seemed to be sort of everywhere. There’s information on life in Paris during WWII, particularly in the fashion industry, and quite a bit about collaborators and Nazi sympathizers. And how they were treated after the war - very unequally! And, of course, the rise of Christian Dior, couturier. The thing that annoyed me the most were the times the author makes the story about her - sitting at Christian Dior’s desk, sleeping in Catherine’s room at her brother’s house, spending time in Catherine’s garden during the rose harvest, trying to channel the ghosts of Catherine and her brother, listening for their voices over a dead phone line! Just give me the facts! The book seems well-researched and the writing isn’t horrible; it just wasn’t what I was expecting!
October 14, 2024
Very interesting and informative regarding the Resistance, fashion world, and post war trials. Catherine Dior gets put aside by the author for quite a bit after the war, when the concentration switches to Christian Dior and the fashion world.
November 4, 2021
When one hears “Miss Dior”, you usually think of the perfume of the same name. And for good reason- it was named for the Miss Dior. However, the Miss Dior in question lead a fascinating life, and I am happy to see this Dior inspiration and muse finally in the spotlight.
Although I’m sharing this on Style File Friday and this is included with fashion history books, there is actually not an overwhelming amount of fashion history in Miss Dior. Much of the book is dedicated to Catherine’s time in Ravensbruck- I don’t typically read/study the war periods, so this was all new (but overwhelmingly sad) information to me. She was an incredible woman, and other being known as the namesake for the now-famous perfume, there is little widely known. I loved that Picardie used Catherine’s familial connections as a framing device because it certainly brought in several more readers (myself included).
Listening to this audiobook certainly added more depth to Christian’s life. If you haven’t read anything about Christian Dior’s biography/story, I would recommend doing quick reading before you start (my Style History post is a great introduction!). I did find that the “couture” side of the story did rather get lost, and knowing what was going on for her brother rounded the book out nicely.
Overall, this book is fascinating and enlightening. It is not a particularly light read, but neither was Catherine’s life. Picardie is an immensely talented writer, and her skill shines through!
Although I’m sharing this on Style File Friday and this is included with fashion history books, there is actually not an overwhelming amount of fashion history in Miss Dior. Much of the book is dedicated to Catherine’s time in Ravensbruck- I don’t typically read/study the war periods, so this was all new (but overwhelmingly sad) information to me. She was an incredible woman, and other being known as the namesake for the now-famous perfume, there is little widely known. I loved that Picardie used Catherine’s familial connections as a framing device because it certainly brought in several more readers (myself included).
Listening to this audiobook certainly added more depth to Christian’s life. If you haven’t read anything about Christian Dior’s biography/story, I would recommend doing quick reading before you start (my Style History post is a great introduction!). I did find that the “couture” side of the story did rather get lost, and knowing what was going on for her brother rounded the book out nicely.
Overall, this book is fascinating and enlightening. It is not a particularly light read, but neither was Catherine’s life. Picardie is an immensely talented writer, and her skill shines through!
June 30, 2024
When you think you will read a book about Catherine Dior upon picking this book, you are wrong. It is a book about the times in which Catherine lived, the atrocities of the Gestapo rule in Paris and the concentration camps, a book about fashion and its role in society during her lifetime and especially the position of Christian Dior. Yet Catherine features as much or as little as countless others and for me that was a disappointment.
Also the writing was disappointing, whether it was the translation or not, I found the writing archaic, using over constructed metaphors at times and nothing but descriptions. It often felt strained.
Last note, I did not care for how the author wondered though the houses, how she traveled from one location to the other, how she inserted the story of her sister who passed away, however tragic that might be. It did not add anything to the topic of the book, yet distracted from it and she came across as quite self centered as a consequence.
Maybe so little is really known about how Catherine lived that the author wanted to use all historical context, all other people living in those days to be able to make a book out of it. Who knows, in any case it would be better to not describe this book as a biography of Catherine which will only disappoint readers.
Also the writing was disappointing, whether it was the translation or not, I found the writing archaic, using over constructed metaphors at times and nothing but descriptions. It often felt strained.
Last note, I did not care for how the author wondered though the houses, how she traveled from one location to the other, how she inserted the story of her sister who passed away, however tragic that might be. It did not add anything to the topic of the book, yet distracted from it and she came across as quite self centered as a consequence.
Maybe so little is really known about how Catherine lived that the author wanted to use all historical context, all other people living in those days to be able to make a book out of it. Who knows, in any case it would be better to not describe this book as a biography of Catherine which will only disappoint readers.
January 8, 2022
If you think a book about a resistance fighter imprisoned in Ravensbruck could be described as charming, this is it.
It's hard to imagine how brave resistance fighters were, I am in awe of how they lived. This book is the story of Christian Dior's youngest sister, his inspiration for his parfum Miss Dior and who farmed most of her life the essential ingredients for its production.
More than a story of Catherine's courage its the story of an extraordinary family. Gentle, loving, harsh and the story on how the ordinary is extraordinary.
Again I learn't so much about what went on in century no 20 from this book, be inspired from every page, I couldn't put this down.
It's hard to imagine how brave resistance fighters were, I am in awe of how they lived. This book is the story of Christian Dior's youngest sister, his inspiration for his parfum Miss Dior and who farmed most of her life the essential ingredients for its production.
More than a story of Catherine's courage its the story of an extraordinary family. Gentle, loving, harsh and the story on how the ordinary is extraordinary.
Again I learn't so much about what went on in century no 20 from this book, be inspired from every page, I couldn't put this down.
January 28, 2023
Difficult book to review and rather misleading.The parts I liked, I liked very much but there were parts that were just OK and I skimmed a lot of that. It is labelled a biography of Catherine Dior but not a lot was actually about her, more about the times she lived in and the living hell that was the Nazi camps. Also about her brother's career (and others) as a fashion designer. The illustrations and photographs made the whole thing worth persevering through a rather hefty book. 2.5/3 stars
July 9, 2022
I thought this was going to be a "biography" of Catherine Dior.....it wasn't not really. The photos and sketches are beautiful in this book and in my opinion they make up for the fact that the book is not as advertised...."a biography"
July 5, 2022
Finished this in only a few days... the fastest I have ever read a non-fiction book. This book is massive, and jumps around a lot. Those only interested in the life of Catherine Dior will be disappointed, as she is only featured every few chapters. The truth is that Catherine Dior left very little of her life to be written about, and Picardie relies on her friends, family, and comrades to fill in her experiences, as well to flesh out the book. This at times took the book away from the proclaimed topic. However, I think that this is what worked for me. The constant variation of sources, experiences, and 'characters' kept a fiction like flow to the book, and kept me wanting to read more.
The most interesting part for me was the chapters on the Rue de la Pompe Gestapo. I was unaware (and surprised, although I shouldn't have been) that the Nazis occupying Paris employed gangsters to torture les résistant(e)s. As the books states, Berger's gang was a horrifying circus, and the image of his gangsters shooting lit candles off the prisoner's heads will remain in my mind for a long time.
Moreover, I had for a long while believed that the majority of the French were members of the Résistance in WWII, however, as the book cites, this was a 'collective amnesia' adopted to move forward. After all, one cannot put an entire country on trial, let alone multiple. This was disturbing to realize. Picardie quotes another résistante in Ravensbruck, Dr. Le Porz, who later commented 'When we came back, nobody wanted to know.'
Better to move on and maintain ignorance, as this was the only way that many French could continue on after their collaboration, or worse, lack of action, during occupation.
The chapters regarding Christian's work in Germany after the war to manufacture hose, among other products, posed some interesting questions. Was it wrong to work with the Germans after they had committed such evil acts? But wouldn't it have been more evil to allow the Germans to languish in isolated poverty? There is no good answer here. One could argue they deserved it, but this becomes increasingly gray as time goes on. Do their children deserve to pay for the sins of the fathers? Their grandfathers? Collective amnesia, and a desire to move forward, seems to be the best of several terrible options. And, of course, there is the fact that to commit the atrocities of Nazi Germany in revenge would have made the Western Allies even more depraved, because they had experienced it, and understood the utter horror on a personal level.
A thought-provoking read, interspersed with the rise of Christian Dior, and the discussion of the couture industry as a whole. Other readers of this book found the juxtaposition of Ravenbruck and couture insensitive, but I found it honest. Ravensbruck and Schiaparelli existed at the same time. As did Catherine's trauma from the camps and the success of Dior as a designer. To pretend that they didn't is to live in willing ignorance. A look at any era will reveal this juxtaposition of evil and goodness, including our own. It is the willingness to know this truth that makes the difference.
The most interesting part for me was the chapters on the Rue de la Pompe Gestapo. I was unaware (and surprised, although I shouldn't have been) that the Nazis occupying Paris employed gangsters to torture les résistant(e)s. As the books states, Berger's gang was a horrifying circus, and the image of his gangsters shooting lit candles off the prisoner's heads will remain in my mind for a long time.
Moreover, I had for a long while believed that the majority of the French were members of the Résistance in WWII, however, as the book cites, this was a 'collective amnesia' adopted to move forward. After all, one cannot put an entire country on trial, let alone multiple. This was disturbing to realize. Picardie quotes another résistante in Ravensbruck, Dr. Le Porz, who later commented 'When we came back, nobody wanted to know.'
Better to move on and maintain ignorance, as this was the only way that many French could continue on after their collaboration, or worse, lack of action, during occupation.
The chapters regarding Christian's work in Germany after the war to manufacture hose, among other products, posed some interesting questions. Was it wrong to work with the Germans after they had committed such evil acts? But wouldn't it have been more evil to allow the Germans to languish in isolated poverty? There is no good answer here. One could argue they deserved it, but this becomes increasingly gray as time goes on. Do their children deserve to pay for the sins of the fathers? Their grandfathers? Collective amnesia, and a desire to move forward, seems to be the best of several terrible options. And, of course, there is the fact that to commit the atrocities of Nazi Germany in revenge would have made the Western Allies even more depraved, because they had experienced it, and understood the utter horror on a personal level.
A thought-provoking read, interspersed with the rise of Christian Dior, and the discussion of the couture industry as a whole. Other readers of this book found the juxtaposition of Ravenbruck and couture insensitive, but I found it honest. Ravensbruck and Schiaparelli existed at the same time. As did Catherine's trauma from the camps and the success of Dior as a designer. To pretend that they didn't is to live in willing ignorance. A look at any era will reveal this juxtaposition of evil and goodness, including our own. It is the willingness to know this truth that makes the difference.
Read
April 28, 2023Verwacht geen meeslepende, modieuze biografie van de zus van Christian Dior. Deze met persoonlijke auteursnoten doorspekte non-fictie verhaalt over zowel de landelijke jeugd van de Diors als het uitbreken van de oorlog en de gruwelijke details van marteling van de jongere zus van Christian Dior, gelardeerd met de ruisende rokken en het lelietjes van dalen-parfum van hemzelf.
Het is een prachtig vormgegeven boek vol foto's van het gezin, de bloemen en de woningen van Christian en zusje Catherine, die zowel de muze werd van het parfum en de jurk 'Miss Dior' als verzetsstrijdster was die werd gemarteld, gevangengezet en gedeporteerd naar Ravensbrück - waar ze tot op hoge leeftijd de gevolgen van zou ondervinden.
Echt dichtbij de 'persoon Catherine' kwam ik voor mijn gevoel niet, daarvoor is er gewoonweg te weinig feitelijks van haar voor een vullende biografie (die om die reden waarschijnlijk is gevuld met overdenkingen en overnachtingen op Dior-locaties door de auteur). En als ik had geweten hoe gedetailleerd de martelingen van haar verzetsgroep beschreven zouden zijn (hoewel niet expliciet weergegeven, aldus de auteur) had ik deze afschuwelijke fragmenten persoonlijk overgeslagen. Er wordt vaak en veel uitgeweid over anderen, waarschijnlijk voor context en duiding, maar dat maakte het niet altijd interessanter.
Wrang detail na de oorlog is dat een belangrijke show van broer samenvalt met het proces tegen martelaars van zijn zus. En tegelijkertijd illustreert zo'n detail de veerkracht van de Diors.
Check de trigger warnings.
Het is een prachtig vormgegeven boek vol foto's van het gezin, de bloemen en de woningen van Christian en zusje Catherine, die zowel de muze werd van het parfum en de jurk 'Miss Dior' als verzetsstrijdster was die werd gemarteld, gevangengezet en gedeporteerd naar Ravensbrück - waar ze tot op hoge leeftijd de gevolgen van zou ondervinden.
Echt dichtbij de 'persoon Catherine' kwam ik voor mijn gevoel niet, daarvoor is er gewoonweg te weinig feitelijks van haar voor een vullende biografie (die om die reden waarschijnlijk is gevuld met overdenkingen en overnachtingen op Dior-locaties door de auteur). En als ik had geweten hoe gedetailleerd de martelingen van haar verzetsgroep beschreven zouden zijn (hoewel niet expliciet weergegeven, aldus de auteur) had ik deze afschuwelijke fragmenten persoonlijk overgeslagen. Er wordt vaak en veel uitgeweid over anderen, waarschijnlijk voor context en duiding, maar dat maakte het niet altijd interessanter.
Wrang detail na de oorlog is dat een belangrijke show van broer samenvalt met het proces tegen martelaars van zijn zus. En tegelijkertijd illustreert zo'n detail de veerkracht van de Diors.
Check de trigger warnings.
October 20, 2021
Too Little is Known of Catherine Dior
New revelations about World War II: The Holocaust and the French Resistance contains new horrors. This book is centered on the Christian Dior family with emphasis on the youngest, Catherine Dior, a member of the Resistance.
However, most of this book focused on the resolve of the Germans to severely torture, humiliate and kill the Jews and the French. The French, however, often collaborated with the Germans to save themselves, not necessarily their country.
This excellent account was often difficult to read. Catherine was arrested in 1944 and thus the reader learned of her continued torture and humiliation in France and Ravensbruck concentration camp. Picardie’s research is detailed with facts buoyed by the courage of the French women and the love of torture by the Germans. This is not a book focused on fashion, there are some parts but not until post war and then it’s vague.
There seems to be a theme repeated in these accounts of the War. A person has to be able to kill a child, to torture a woman and enjoy it. The “I was just following orders,” has no credibility in this account. I did learn about the evolution of the French; there were two factions: loyal French who respected their country and citizens and the others who were willing to collaborate, torture their own countrymen. Led by General Petain, his country became a tool for the Nazis as Petain and his followers offered up his citizens to gain more power. There is a chilling parallel to the unabashed climb to power in this country when one party blindly follows one man, with no history of helping his fellowman. Instead, it’s all about power and it takes a traitor to follow this plan. Petain was later found guilty.
Missing from this book is Christian Dior’s climb to fame. However, his love for his sister is apparent. He did try and find her whereabouts during the war but he did not have the humility or the courage of Catherine. This long account of Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII seems totally out of place. There is no comparison to the courage and loyalty of Catherine Dior.
The accounting of the post war became disjointed. Fashion and the French Resistance could not co-exist during this dreadful era. Catherine did not freely speak of her torture unless she was testifying and then her memory was razor sharp and we knew
she was no longer a shadow.
My gratitude to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.
New revelations about World War II: The Holocaust and the French Resistance contains new horrors. This book is centered on the Christian Dior family with emphasis on the youngest, Catherine Dior, a member of the Resistance.
However, most of this book focused on the resolve of the Germans to severely torture, humiliate and kill the Jews and the French. The French, however, often collaborated with the Germans to save themselves, not necessarily their country.
This excellent account was often difficult to read. Catherine was arrested in 1944 and thus the reader learned of her continued torture and humiliation in France and Ravensbruck concentration camp. Picardie’s research is detailed with facts buoyed by the courage of the French women and the love of torture by the Germans. This is not a book focused on fashion, there are some parts but not until post war and then it’s vague.
There seems to be a theme repeated in these accounts of the War. A person has to be able to kill a child, to torture a woman and enjoy it. The “I was just following orders,” has no credibility in this account. I did learn about the evolution of the French; there were two factions: loyal French who respected their country and citizens and the others who were willing to collaborate, torture their own countrymen. Led by General Petain, his country became a tool for the Nazis as Petain and his followers offered up his citizens to gain more power. There is a chilling parallel to the unabashed climb to power in this country when one party blindly follows one man, with no history of helping his fellowman. Instead, it’s all about power and it takes a traitor to follow this plan. Petain was later found guilty.
Missing from this book is Christian Dior’s climb to fame. However, his love for his sister is apparent. He did try and find her whereabouts during the war but he did not have the humility or the courage of Catherine. This long account of Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII seems totally out of place. There is no comparison to the courage and loyalty of Catherine Dior.
The accounting of the post war became disjointed. Fashion and the French Resistance could not co-exist during this dreadful era. Catherine did not freely speak of her torture unless she was testifying and then her memory was razor sharp and we knew
she was no longer a shadow.
My gratitude to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.
January 17, 2025
Harrowing, graphic, and beautifully researched, Miss Dior tells the story of Catherine Dior, the woman behind Christian Dior’s iconic perfume. Her astonishing acts of bravery in the French Resistance and her unimaginable suffering in Ravensbrück concentration camp are woven with the rise of her brother’s couture empire.
This is not an easy read—at times, it’s horrific—but it’s an important reminder of the atrocities of the past, ensuring they are never forgotten. Catherine’s silence about her life leaves much to be pieced together through those who knew her, and while some readers may find the focus on Christian and the couture industry frustrating, I found the juxtaposition honest and profound. Life is often a mix of beauty and darkness, and this book reflects that truth powerfully.
Catherine never wavered in her commitment to freedom, nor in her love for her brother, who honoured her strength in his art. The book’s exploration of the horrors of Ravensbrück alongside Catherine’s enduring spirit left me in tears more than once.
Miss Dior is an overdue tribute to an extraordinary woman—a sister, a muse, a survivor, and a fighter. Its an exquisite exploration of freedom and fascism, beauty and betrayal, and the power of resistance and hope. It’s a thought-provoking and deeply moving read that will stay with me for a long time.
“Vivre libre ou mourir” – live free or die.
This is not an easy read—at times, it’s horrific—but it’s an important reminder of the atrocities of the past, ensuring they are never forgotten. Catherine’s silence about her life leaves much to be pieced together through those who knew her, and while some readers may find the focus on Christian and the couture industry frustrating, I found the juxtaposition honest and profound. Life is often a mix of beauty and darkness, and this book reflects that truth powerfully.
Catherine never wavered in her commitment to freedom, nor in her love for her brother, who honoured her strength in his art. The book’s exploration of the horrors of Ravensbrück alongside Catherine’s enduring spirit left me in tears more than once.
Miss Dior is an overdue tribute to an extraordinary woman—a sister, a muse, a survivor, and a fighter. Its an exquisite exploration of freedom and fascism, beauty and betrayal, and the power of resistance and hope. It’s a thought-provoking and deeply moving read that will stay with me for a long time.
“Vivre libre ou mourir” – live free or die.
January 2, 2023
Catherine Dior was famous for being the muse to her even more famous fashion designer brother, Christian. But in fact, she had a much bigger life. Catherine fought with the French Resistance during World War Two, before being arrested and tortured by the Gestapo. She bravely held out and was sent to a concentration camp for the final two years of the war. She rarely spoke about the horror she endured in the camp, and was unable to have children as a result of what happened to her.
This book about her life encompasses the history of fashion, and how couture helped rebuild France after the war, as well as how many of Paris' high society collaborated with the Germans. Beautifully written by a former editor of Harper's Bazaar, this biography was a fascinating read.
This book about her life encompasses the history of fashion, and how couture helped rebuild France after the war, as well as how many of Paris' high society collaborated with the Germans. Beautifully written by a former editor of Harper's Bazaar, this biography was a fascinating read.
June 14, 2025
A very well told story about an rather unknown woman who had a big impact on fashion history. Christian and Catherine Dior's love for one another was so sweet to read about. I also enjoyed learning more about the Nazi occupation of Paris, which took up a significant chunk of the book.
I will remove half a star because the author annoyed me a lot by continually interjecting about her own life or where she was writing. It felt a bit pretentious. I'm sorry your sister died of cancer, but this is a book about Catherine Dior, not your personal autobiography.
Anyway, if you can ignore that, it's definitely a great read for those interested in WWII and fashion history. And there are loads of pictures.
I will remove half a star because the author annoyed me a lot by continually interjecting about her own life or where she was writing. It felt a bit pretentious. I'm sorry your sister died of cancer, but this is a book about Catherine Dior, not your personal autobiography.
Anyway, if you can ignore that, it's definitely a great read for those interested in WWII and fashion history. And there are loads of pictures.
March 30, 2024
What a combination - French resistance and couture. Unfortunately, In the hands of this author, a compelling story has been turned into an opportunity for her to insert herself into the narrative. Catherine is almost a background character with her life told through the lives of the people around her, rarely is it directly in her voice. The author keeps calling for ghosts throughout the book attempting to conjure them up with overblown language and sentiment. So, for me, an amazing life story poorly told deserves only 2.5 stars at best. I’ll be looking for a more robust, less self centered bio on Catherine.
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