Oh boy, I had been waiting to get my hands on this Dior palette for months. At first I was disappointed that it didn't seem to be available in the U.S., but low and behold Neiman Marcus had it during their beauty week in September. I was on my honeymoon at the time but still managed to get my grubby little paws on it when I returned – the first Neiman Marcus I called still, miraculously, had one left in stock! Now, of course, it's up at the Neiman Marcus site. Oh well.
First, the fancy pebbled box:
The inside:
Here's the booklet explaining the design.
And the palette itself, in natural light and with flash. The design comes from a sketch (seen on the front of the booklet) by Rene Gruau. Here's the whole story, from the booklet: "February 12, 1947: Christian Dior presents his first Haute Couture collection. The public is amazed: this new vision of an elegant woman, with accentuated curves and a regal posture would come to be a revolution that took the fashion world by storm. Instantly named the 'New Look' by Carmel Snow, Editor-in-Chief of American Harper's Bazaar, the 'Tailleur Bar' (Bar Suit), perfectly embodied this new silhouette. The jacket, with its nipped-in waist, and the twirling skirt became the absolute symbol of the Dior silhouette. Rene Gruau, long-time associate of the Couturier, immortalized the famous Bar Suit in a sketch that captured Monsieur Dior's genius in a few cleve strokes This legendary image is now embossed on a new Dior limited edition eyeshadow palette."
Here are a couple of images to get a sense of the what the actual clothes looked like:
(image from customfad.com)
(image from metmuseum.org)
Oh, and if you're interested, the lip serum, in natural light and with flash:
The shape of the lip serum, I must say, is a bit odd. When I first opened the set my husband asked why the palette came with a mini flashlight. Ha! It does indeed resemble that. Anyway, I feel like Dior did a great job with this. Between numbering each set and making a palette out of a sketch of one of Dior's iconic looks, the company created a true collector's piece.