History of: Little Black Dress

 

LBD, three letters that hold so much power and influence; the “Little Black Dress."

What is a little black dress? It’s defined as a simply cut and usually fitted black formal or cocktail dress, but it is so much more than that! Fashion historians ascribe the origins of the little black dress to the 1920s designs of Coco Chanel and Jean Patou, intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, and accessible to the widest market possible offered in a neutral color. It is ubiquity as such that it’s often referred to as simply, LBD.

The beauty of the little black dress is that appropriate and conventional for women of all social classes, which was key during and after the economic crash in 1929.

Let's walk through history, shall we?

 

 COCO CHANEL  

In 1926, Gabrielle Chanel published a picture of a short, simple black dress in American Vogue. It was calf-length, straight cut and decorated only by a few diagonal lines. Vogue magazine then called its "Chanel's Ford" and said that the LBD would become “a sort of uniform for all women of taste.” This, as well as other designs by the house of Chanel, helped dissociate black from mourning, and reinvent it as the apparel of the high-class, wealthy and chic.

 

HOLLYWOOD 

  

Hollywood’s influence on fashion helped the LBD’s popularity, but for more practical reasons, as technicolor films became more common, filmmakers relied on little black dresses because other colors appeared distorted on screen and botched the coloring process.

 

DIOR'S NEW LOOK 

   

The rise of Dior’s “new look” in the post-war era and the sexual conservatism of the 1950s returned the little black dress to its uniform status and as a symbol of a dangerous woman.

 

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S

 

 

Then came the little black dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast ay Tiffany’s, designed by Hubert de Givenchy himself, and epitomized the standard of wearing the little black dress accessorized with pearls, creating the “basic black,” which was frequently seen throughout early 1960s.

  

PRINCESS DIANA 

   

Another iconic LBD is Princess Diana’s “revenge dress,” the black Christina Stambolian dress she wore at the Vanity Fair party in June 1994, the same night Prince Charles admitted to his affair with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

   

So in conclusion, we believe that every woman should own at least one LBD. It’s chic, classy, flattering; it will always be in style.