Miss Dior: A Wartime Story of Courage and Couture

This is an incredibly moving book. I was not interested in high fashion or of the people involved, its designers or its acolytes. Now I am so glad to have stumbled upon this book. I have learnt that Christian Dior and his beloved sister Catherine both fought with the French Resistance. Christian ostensibly worked with the Nazis to keep French fashion in the spotlight acting as a diversion from where his true loyalties lay. Catherine was captured, tortured and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp where against all the odds, she survived. This book is primarily her story and an inspiration to all those who understand the true meaning of liberty. A French woman once said to me, ‘you can’t understand what the true meaning of freedom is unless you’ve been occupied…’ This book goes a long way to underlining that statement. As I said this book is incredibly moving; it is not for the faint hearted. Thoroughly recommended, almost unputdownable 5 stars.

A wonderfully written book, made me feel so close to the Diors and their suffering and those of the many who suffered atrocities during WW2. Interesting factual account of fashion following the deprivations of WW2. Overall excellent and a book I shall always be proud to own and will certainly read again.

It’s a very interesting read. Much insight, a lot of history. Easy to understand. There isn’t that much about Dior’s sister in this book because there aren’t too many documents left about her. But you’ll still get to know what happened to his sister because of the accounts of the people she was imprisoned with and other people who knew her.

I bought this book after watching the TV series New Look. Reason being I am a huge Dior fan. This lead me to want to get to know more about Katherine Dior and her story. So glad I read this book. I am full of admiration for Katherine and her efforts against the Nazis. The book also fills in other events in France around that time which gives it context. I am going back to Granville her and her brothers childhood home this year and will lay a flower there for them. A wonderful book.

I had read the author’s article in The Telegraph about Miss Dior and bought the book as a result. An interesting, well researched book, although I didn’t know much more about Catherine Dior having read the book, than I did after the article. Not surprising though really, as it seems Miss Dior never spoke about her experiences. They were very traumatic - not just in the German concentration camps but prior to that at the hands of fellow Parisians who worked with the Nazis. Lots of information about Christian Dior (he wrote an autobiography and has been much written about), and the latter part of the book diverts off to talk about his New Look and the British Royal family at length! There are interesting family photos included and some of the other people mentioned which bring it all to life, and there has been a lot of good research into all the people and places. The author travelled with her husband to see the places associated with Catherine when writing the book. I wasn’t that keen on these passages, though, such as describing how she felt lying in the same bedroom etc. I’m not sure they added anything.

An absorbing,fascinating book.

Fascinating story about an extremely brave woman told compassionately and with respect.The experiences of Catherine and her friends should be taught in schools, not only as a history lesson in the hope that the world should never allow these atrocities to be repeated but also as an example of what strong women are capable of:I could not put this book down, such was my admiration for their heroic actions and yet at the end I felt an incredible sadness that their names and experiences are not more widely known. I would not have heard about Catherine were it not for my favourite perfume and that can not be right. Their stories should never be forgotten.A story of outstanding bravery and courage in the face of unspeakable evil.

This is a very different kind of biography and if you were hoping for a book about the glamorous life of Christian Dior's sister then this might not be the book for you. This is the story of a very brave woman who happened to be the sister of a fashion designer. Catherine Dior is brought to life using known facts about her but also by incorporating the experiences of others, which adds a different dimension to the story. Obviously, her story and Christian's are intertwined and I liked the way in which this was dealt with in the book. I also liked the way in which things of beauty are shown not to be frivolous but essential. Even when people are suffering terribly, hope can be found in something lovely like a single flower, a beautiful blue sky, a slick of lipstick or a pretty ribbon. The book is very well illustrated throughout and though we will never truly know Catherine, Justine Picardie has captured her essence, which is what I think she set out to do. I loved this book and the characters in it have stayed with me - rather like someone's perfume does when they leave the room. Hence the title Miss Dior is very appropriate!

What a good book! Definitely a long read but a good one

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Ich dachte das Buch kommt in einer Folie. So wie das Gucci Buch. Damit es nicht beschädigt wird. Ist aber leider nicht so. Das Buch an sich ist im guten Zustand. Wollte den Verkäufer kontaktieren, leider finde ich diese Funktion hier nicht. Werde es glaub ich neu kaufen und dieses zurückschicken. Schade. Sollte ein geschenkt werden.

Into the life of his sister over him, refreshing read.

A beautifully written book about a beautiful world of fashion & fragrance during an ugly, difficult time for humanity