The Little Black Dress, also commonly referred to as the LBD, has been a fashion statement piece since 1926. The Little Black Dress is a staple wardrobe piece that has been loved by numerous names throughout history.
Chanel illustration in American Vogue, October 1926.
In 1926, Coco Chanel produced a simple black dress, illustrated with long narrow sleeves and elegantly accompanied by a long string of pearls. This illustration was published by Vogue in 1926 and was referred to as ‘Chanel’s ford’. The namesake references the original ford car, which was famous for ‘coming in any colour, as long as its black’ in order to be simple and accessible to all classes which applies to both the car and the dress. The little black dress was designed to enable all women to have access to a long lasting, affordable and versatile garment which became key after the 1929 economic crash.
Previous to this population of the LBD, the colour black was only worn by women who were mourning, but through the design of the Little Black Dress, Coco Chanel not only popularised the colour but made it fashionable.
Fast forward in history to the 1960’s and we see another infamous spin off of the LBD by Christian Dior, who redefined the Little Black dress as ‘The New Look’, created to make women feel sexy and powerful in postwar times.
Two fashion icons throughout history renowned for their presentation of the Little Black Dress are Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana.
Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffanys, wearing Givenchy.In 1961, during the opening of the infamous film “Breakfast at Tiffanys”, Hepburn can be seen wearing a Little Black Dress, designed by Hubert de Givenchy. The long black, form fitting cocktail dress became the newer and more modern interpretation of Chanel’s original LBD, this is not only reflected through the tailoring and obvious colour of the dress, but also through the styling of Hepburn to include long pearls, taking hint towards the original illustration created by Chanel.
Princess Diana wearing Christina Stambolian Princess Diana’s Revenge Dress is another celebrity culture phenomena that is embedded within the history of the Little Black Dress. The Little Black Dress worn by Princess Diana at the Vanity Fair party in 1994 has been dubbed by many as the “Revenge dress”, thought to be named so due to the party being on the same night that Prince Charles had admitted to his affair with Camilla, the now Duchess of Cornwall. The dress worn by Diana was designed by Christina Stambolian and was very different to the clothing of which she had been seen wearing in the past, as she was now free from conforming to the royal rules and began to embrace shorter hems and form-fitting tailoring. It is also interesting to note that Diana also paired her LBD with pearls too, could it be argued that the two must go hand in hand?
To conclude, the little black dress is, and always will be, an icon of fashion, and is something I believe that every woman should have in her wardrobe.
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