Natalie Portman had won the Oscar for best actress in 2011 for her role as tortured ballerina Nina Sayers in Black Swan. This year she was back on the Oscars stage to present the best actor statue to Jean Dujardin for his role in The Artist. Portman wore the vintage Dior gown on the occasion. She is associated closely with the brand as she is the ambassador for Dior and the face of Miss Dior Cherie perfume. Portman’s Oscar night stylist Kate Young was instrumental in selecting the vintage dress for the grand occasion.
Kate works closely with Rare Vintage owner Juliana Carione who told her about this amazing dress. They went along and Portman tried it. The incredible thing was that it required zero alteration. She was so taken up by the dress that she felt she was destined to wear the dress. It is a size 8 strapless red silk organza ball gown with black polka dots. It was created originally for the Christian Dior’s spring/summer 1954 collection. It was the time when the designer was at the peak of his legendary career and just 3 years before his untimely death. The dress was returned to Rare Vintage after the event and almost immediately they put it on 1stdibs.com which is their auction site. The dress which was created as the post-war new look was bought by an anonymous British collector for $50,000.
The auction site had projected the gown as the dress Natalie fell in love with as it proved to be the perfect dress on the perfect girl. However, the dress proved the modernity and timelessness of vintage fashion. The price achieved at the auction must also qualify as a record. In 2006 when Keira Knightley auctioned the Vera Wang gown she wore to the Oscars she received only £5,000.
