Christian Dior
Vintage Alligator Full Strap Penny Loafer
Euro 550

This charming Loafer dates to the heyday of Dior in the late 1950s (Christian Dior died in 1957) and under Yves Saint Laurent into the early 1960s. Think Paris, think Spring, La Nouvelle Vague of Belmondo and Jean Seberg, Chabrol, Mellville, Godard, Truffaut, Éric Rohmer, Agnès Varda, Vadim of course and Bardot, whom he catapulted to fame in his Et Dieu créa la femme. Think of the riots and general strikes of 1968, the thronging procession of workers, students, of psychedelia and hippiedom in full colour, while in the cloistered ateliers above the Fauburg, the Avenue Montaigne or the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, the ultimate in creative visual refinement and pristine chic prevailed. In Dior’s 30 Avenue Montaigne workrooms the still 20-something YSL, in flawless tailoring, the reigning star of fashion and an irrefutable design genius laboured over the next soon-to-be-classic collection. Today the icons of French glamour have mostly left the stage. Except perhaps Aznavour who is making his next “final” tour. Such as Jean Claude Brialy, for instance, the picture of elegant insouciance in the 1959 Les Cousins (and for almost 50 years after), died in 2007. Bardot has turned 80, an animal rights activist; bless her. And the others? One by one eclipsed by the inexorable tragedy of time or the rising tide of soulless novelty, our modern addiction. But the beauty and the greatness of those times, the passion, innocence and elegance, the traditions and the breaking of traditions, the intelligence….all these are engraved in the culture and we return to them today, knowingly or not, in our seeking and ascribing value. They are the messengers who transformed the living culture; we would do well to emulate them and draw inspiration from them even now.
Size: US 9D….UK 8E…..Continental 42D, for the medium width foot.
Condition: Newly restored with thin rubber half-sole and full rubber heel.
Replacement cost: To my knowledge, Dior has not made a genuine alligator shoe for men in many years but were they to market such a luxury today, the price would be in the thousands similar to, for instance, Ferragamo Euro 1773, Brooks Brothers $1998, Gucci $2100,Weston $4495.00, Edward Green $5000, RTW John Lobb 4995 Pounds, and finally, for those tortured by their own wealth, something by Tom Ford for $12,450.

Size Details: