The Little Black Dress

“One is never under or over dressed in a little black dress.” Karl Lagerfeld once said quoting the famous clothing designer Coco Chanel.

Coco Chanel was the one to revolutionize woman’s fashion in the 1920’s. October 1^st 1926 marks the iconic and history making of the little black dress.  First time Vogue published sketches of Ms. Gabrielle Chanel’s design of what they called Chanel’s “Ford” dress.  It was the beginning of a timeless wardrobe piece that would continue on through the decades, every woman would have one in their closet that they could wear for any occasion.  Vogue Paris called it the “uniform for the modern woman”. It did not appeal yet to the average housewife, but women were starting to move into the cities and becoming independent during the 20’s. They started going shopping and not just going out to get groceries. By the 1930’s the little black dress was something any woman could not live with out. Chanel instructed woman to dress and behave a certain way, and they took her words to heart.  In the 1960’s when the young Audrey Hepburn wore a LBD in Breakfast at Tiffany’s it became a style craze. Though it was not a Chanel design she did embodied the spirit of Chanel when she said “ A girl should be two things classy and fabulous.”

Coco Chanel died 1971 but left behind a legacy of the LBD and fashion would have never been the same without her.  It has evolved over the years but is an essential in every woman’s wardrobe from casual wearing it with flats out to lunch with your girlfriends to dressing up with a pair of fabulous heels and pearls.