Enough to Say Dior

When I was much younger — a mere girl, really — I was thrilled to be invited to a luncheon given by the great Christian Dior. As one can imagine, everything was magnificent, but it was the dessert that captivated me: a large chocolate egg. I cut into mine right after he did and out poured hot chocolate sauce. You know I have a sweet tooth, and I was in Heaven.

I’ve never forgotten the courtesy of Dior and the smile on his face as he cut into that egg. He was the Humpty Dumpty of fashion (but never fell off the wall).

After lunch, he extended a rare invitation for me to watch him work on his next collection. We went downstairs into the all-gray salon, sat in the little golden couture chairs and out came the first mannequin. She wore a suit called the Three Swallows. Dior lifted the long stick he always used when he worked, pointed to the sleeve and said in his quiet voice, “I think something is wrong with the sleeve. It’s too thick. I think we need to fix it.”

Right away, the premier seamstress of the suit atelier cut into the arm and removed some of the padding. As it came out, a huge smile came across Dior’s face, just like when he was consuming his chocolate egg.