Copyright © 2012 My little black dress. Blog ma petite robe noire en français
For Coco Chanel, “there is no other beauty than that of the body’s freedom“. She therefore imagines a garment that would be simple and easy to wear, for both day end evening occasions, to accessorize according to the moment… And so the “little black dress” came to be, adapting itself to every woman’s figure and exempting them from the corset.
What about the LBD today ?
“The first black dress, created in 1926 by Mademoiselle Chanel has thrown all the complicated dresses back into their closet” , explains Didier Ludot, Parisian Paris expert. Thanks to its simplistic shape, similar to that of a T-shirt, the LBD has brought havoc to every woman’s wardrobe.
Short, the LBD offers the possibility of long and graceful strides.”The little black dress“ is synonymous of freedom and elegance. Vogue write that today it is poor taste to dress richly, the less-is-more look is the fashion.
Women walk around in the simplest of dresses and ever since its commercialisation, the LBD has been copied everywhere and by everyone.
The little black dress reaches the titre of “classic” in the 50s and has never gone out of style since.
It is an inevitable part of a woman’s indispensable classics in the same way as a pair of jeans, trainers, pumps, a men’s short and your typical white shirt. The LBD adapts itself to every figure, every style, can be lengthened or shortened, with or without sleeves, with a deep neckline or not.
Only one constant : black and a certain “philosophy : “The little black dress demands a simple line, a perfect cut and touch of wit” explains Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune writer.
All the designers and stylists that respect themselves have drawn their own interpretation of the dress. The little black dress is an exercise on style and an unavoidable task in a designer’s creative life. One after the one adopted by influential celebrities such as Edith Piaf, Jackie Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn or even Juliette Gréco, the little black dress, symbol of the existentialists, banner-bearer for couture, uniform of the bourgeoisie, is the “trendiest” of garments regardless of the year, and that’s what makes it so special.
Incontrovertible, fluid, transparent and sensuous, the little black dress is an invitation to seduction. A moment of grace that embellishes every silhouette…. To discover in Paris’s Autumn/Winter 2012 Collection.
Years of little black dresses...
article interpreted and translated from the French by Roxane Uzureau