There is a common misconception in fashion history that Coco Chanel created the Little Black Dress (LBD) - she didn’t create it. She recreated it. Before its renaissance by Chanel in the 1920’s, the color black was for reserved for utility, not fashion. Designated for periods of mourning, it was considered inappropriate for a woman to dress in black outside such somber circumstances. In 1885, an American artist, then living in France, John Singer Sargent painted one Madame Gatreau in a revealing black gown as the subject of a portrait known as Portrait of Madame X. The resulting scandal from the painting’s debut in Paris all but ruined Sargent’s artistic career. So, how did the LBD become the paradigm of fashion?
It all changed in 1926, when Coco Chanel published a photograph of a simple, calf-length black dress in American Vogue. The magazine dubbed it “Chanel’s Ford,” drawing comparisons to Ford’s quintessential automobile, the Model T; it would become the standard by which all other styles are judged.
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In the ensuing years, several factors would ensure the LBD’s place on the throne of fashion. Economy and convenience guaranteed its continued popularity during the Great Depression and both World Wars. As the men headed off into battle, women entered into the workforce; since textiles were subject to rationing, the availability of the LBD made it the ideal uniform. The dress was transformed into a tailored, professional variation, complete with matching jacket and demure hemline.
Cult status for the LBD would be achieved through Hollywood exposure. With the advent of Technicolor, the studios preferred to dress their leading ladies in clothing whose hues would not be distorted by the color conversion process. Iconic starlets like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn were seen in their star-making roles wearing variations of the LBD. The dress became synonymous with the femme fatale; the image of the fallen woman; in a halter-style, the little black dress embodied the object every man’s fantasy and every woman’s envy.
The trend was not exclusive to America; Europeans were devotees of the LBD long before one was seen on the big screen. Edith Piaf, the French singer, was nicknamed “little black sparrow," because she performed in a black sheath dress throughout her career. It was thought that the dress allowed audiences to focus more on Piaf's performance and less on her appearance.
The tumult of the1960s brought with it a revolution in the design of the little black dress. The "mod" generation preferred a dramatically shorter hemline to demonstrate their new found sense of independence. A miniskirt or a shortened black sheath became the last word in fashion. The 1970’s was a quiet decade for the LBD. Aside from the notable creations of Bill Blass, few designers took an interest in updating the dress for disco era.
In the eighties, casual sportswear for women led to more relaxed variants of the LBD. Black dresses were no longer designated as formalwear and were often seen in casual get-togethers; cotton wrap dresses for the Sunday afternoon barbeques or black tank dresses for beach cover-ups. In the 1990’s, the grunge generation ran with the trend of combining seemingly incompatible styles, such as black granny dresses and combat boots; though the dress itself retained its versatility, though the sophistication of the classic French style was lost.
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The 21st century heralded the reemergence of the LBD. At the 2010 fall show, Ralph Lauren injected their collection with gothic glamour, featuring a line of black prairie dresses inspired by Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks. The sleek, black sheath was given much exposure at the Elle Saab Spring ready-to-wear show and on the runway at Michael Kors fall show. With a variety of cuts and styles, women are spoilt for choice over choosing which little black dress to hang in their closets. Effortless style, as was originally conceived by Chanel is now readily available. With a decision this simple, one would think that fashion faux-pas would go the way of the Do-Do bird; though we know that is not likely to happen. As the indomitable Ms. Chanel said herself: “... The little black dress is hard.”
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