Fact: every woman’s closet needs to have a Little Black Dress. It will always be on style, it will always be chic and it will turn out to be the best default option for any evening-wear moment in life: date night, cocktail with the girls, office dinner party… You can’t go wrong with the LBD.
The History of the Little Black Dress starts with the 1920’s designs of Coco Chanel. Published in Vogue (1926), “it was an apparently simple yet elegant sheath, in black crêpe de Chine, with long, narrow sleeves, worn with a string of white pearls;…” says Justine Picardine in her Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. In the 1960’s Audrey Hepburn, as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, wore a dress designed by Hubert de Givenchy and epitomized the standard for wearing little black dresses. Holly’s confidence, charms and chic look were inspiring to women through the 60’s and on. As the fashion industry embraced the LBD it has evolved but the essence of the little black dress has stayed the same.
I personally not just own one Little Black Dress but three (first signs of addiction maybe). Two of them have a little bit of Mad Men’s Joan Harris to them, the third one is more office/boyfriend parents-friendly; and there’s no better choice in case of a closet nightmare than to fall back on one of those staples.
If you don’t already own a LBD, go get one. There’s one for every shape and every budget.
Then comes the accessorizing… Here are a few items to gather that will always work with your Little Black Dress:
- Slingback (preferably peep-toe) shoes.
- A little bit of sparkle with costume or precious jewelry (think drop earrings).
- A cardigan for the times you’ll have to “undress” your dress or cover shoulders and necklines.
- A small clutch is a lovely, discreet look. Try a dazzling or sparkling color to dress it up for the evening.
- Finally, for the most daring of us, long black gloves in the evening are guaranteed to be a conversation starter.
