Issue Date: June 12, 2005

Fashion

The enduring little black dress

For 80 years, Chanel's creation has been every woman's go-to frock.

By Michele Meyer

Beneath a delicate swan neck and expressive eyebrows, Audrey Hepburn gazed longingly at playboy William Holden.

He was mesmerized -- and so were we -- by the most beautiful gamin ever. As Sabrina, in the 1954 movie of the same name, Hepburn realized the power of the little black dress.

Anywhere from mini to midi length, the cornerstone of every woman's closet works for daytime or evening, an elegant standout in any crowd. And although Hepburn's was designed by Hubert de Givenchy, French designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel is credited with the first LBD, when she started draping women in knee-length columns of jersey or crepe de Chine in 1926.

"By using black prolifically, and for day as well as evening, the color and silhouette became associated with her," says Andrew Bolton, associate curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York. A selection of those very first gowns is on display there in a Chanel retrospective through Aug. 7.

But back in the '20s, many were horrified. Jersey was considered an underwear fabric -- and black was associated with mourning, evil and negativity.

"Poverty de luxe," sniffed Paul Poiret, a renowned couturier of the day.

"Vogue" magazine, though, compared Chanel's LBD to the Ford auto: high-quality, yet mass-produced in black.

Time has proved "Vogue" wise. Chanel's LBDs sold quickly, and her vision lives on. Inky frocks have paraded across the runways of designers from Cristobal Balenciaga to Sonia Rykiel to Azzedine Alaia. Most recently, Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld alluded to the past with a flurry of LBDs as his fall 2005 collection finale.

Why has the LBD survived?

Unlike other colors -- turquoise in the '60s, avocado in the '70s -- black isn't associated with an epoch. "It's a no-brainer, a failproof look that anyone can do," says celebrity fashion stylist Phillip Bloch. "I like to say if you're wearing a little black dress, you don't need me. It's always slimming -- and a basic canvas. A jacket makes it work for the office. Throw on pearls, and it's a cocktail classic. Add funky bracelets and chandelier earrings, and it becomes more glamorous. Wear a sexy pair of shoes, and it's sexy. Top it with a zebra coat, and bam! -- you've got a showstopper."

That may explain why so many women have at least one LBD, says Hannah Bradford, vice president of fabric and production at Jones Apparel Group. "You may not remember the shoes, the bag or even the man you're with. But you'll always remember the little black dress that made you feel perfectly poised, polished and sexy."

More than two-thirds of the solid dresses sold by Jones New York, Anne Klein, Evan-Picone and Nine West are black. "This spring, everyone was talking about color. But 50% of our February retail sales came from little black dresses," says Barbara Kennedy, president of the Jones Apparel Group Dress divisions. "The customer may be drawn in by color, but three to one, she'll buy black. It goes with everything."

"You can't have just one," asserts Nicole Miller, a designer known for LBDs. She has at least eight in her own closet. Some of them are beaded. Some are bare. Some are plumed. Some are spare. "The little black dress is everybody's best friend. If you put a black dress on, whether it's work, a luncheon, a party or a wedding, you're never inappropriate -- and you're never out of style. I had to hide mine so I'd break away from that security blanket."

Black has yet to lose its sway over designer Donna Karan, who launched her debut collection, the Seven Easy Pieces, in 1985. "I built an entire company around a little black dress concept," she says. "With black, you are the 'It' vs. wearing the 'It' dress. A color or pattern does not distract the eye from you."

It's easy to understand why the allure endures. As the Duchess of Windsor once said, "When the little black dress is right, there's nothing else to wear in its place."

Michele Meyer last wrote for USA WEEKEND Magazine about the value of vintage couture.