christian dior x ROM

I love fashion....but my mom loves fashion. Thanks to her interest in the latest trends and high-end designers, we have been able to do some pretty awesome things. (Like see the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit many years ago in Montreal or checking out shoes from Louboutin for instance!) Our latest fashion adventure? Seeing the Christian Dior showcase at the Royal Ontario Museum. It was originally supposed to run for a limited time but wound up being extended until April 8th...so if you are in the area, you might want to move quickly before it closes. So, what was the exhibit like? Was it good? Bad? Somewhere in between? This is everything you need to know about Dior at the ROM.

We made our way to the museum (very slowly, because half the subway line was closed) and paid an extraordinary amount of money for the admission. To see this specific exhibit, you have to pay for the museum entrance as well as an additional fee to see the Dior pieces. Even with a twenty percent discount, it wound up being over twenty dollars each. Yikes. This may be fine if you are interested in seeing the rest of the museum as well....but if you are going just to see Dior? It is pretty steep.

The exhibit itself was....fairly small. It took us about fifteen to twenty minutes to walk slowly through it all. It definitely made me wish there was a little bit more to see, learn, and experience. That being said, what was inside was pretty impressive. There were some gorgeous examples of embroidery, some old-school Dior accessories, perfume bottles, makeup, and of course, dresses.

There were everyday outfits, simple little black dresses, and some incredible evening gowns. Some of the detail work on the pieces really took my breath away. Something that seemed simple at first glance, actually had an immense amount of craftsmanship and consideration put into each and every stitch. From pleats to add ons, beading, and other details, the dresses were just incredible. My personal favourite was a sparkly pink dress with beaded scallops along the sides and back. It instantly made me think of Glinda from Wizard of Oz. It was honestly, the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. Which is why I wound up taking photo after photo of it! I just wanted to remember every little detail.

Yes, there were definitely some incredible pieces inside the exhibit. However, it was difficult to learn an awful lot about the dresses themselves. There were a few tablets set up every so often, that you could look through, but with the crowds being so thick....it was next to impossible to get anywhere near one. The exhibit would have benefited from having information posted in front of the dresses or on the walls instead.

As much as I enjoyed seeing the dresses (because honestly, they were just so gorgeous)....my actual experience at the ROM left something to be desired. For what they charged for entrance to the Dior area, they should have expanded the exhibit to make it a more memorable experience.

Have you seen the Dior exhibit at the ROM? Are you thinking about going?

Editing Note: Since Dior continues to support a court-certified wife beater, I no longer support the brand. Believe survivors.