The Introduction of the Little Black Dress

Sound the trumpets and hail Chanel! October 1 marks the Officially Recognized Day of the introduction of the designer’s iconic and history-making Little Black Dress. Yep, it was on this day in 1926 that American Vogue magazine ran a small illustration (left) of what it called Chanel’s “Ford” dress, likening the modest garment to the reliable Model-T of the era and hearkening Henry Ford’s line, "any customer can have a car painted in any colour that he wants so long as it's black." This was a time when twice a month, Vogue faithfully offered lengthy reviews of the Paris fashions, page after page of sketches of the latest coats, dresses, hats and gloves from the top French designers. Jeanne Lanvin, Jean Patou, Jeanne Paquin, Madeline Voinnet and Jacques Doucet received pages of descriptions detailing every element of their designs, from cuff to hemlines to buttons, and, occasionally, Mlle. Chanel earned a paragraph or two. But in 1926, Chanel’s casual designs were hardly considered true haute couture to Manhattan society ladies and Vogue editors; her jersey sportswear and unadorned dresses alone didn’t garner the six-day trip across the Atlantic by boat. So when the small sketch appeared in the October 1 issue it barely caused a stir, and it definitely didn’t incite the kind of rapturous praise the LBD, as we now call it, has received in recent decades. No, on this day, Vogue even curbed its usual gushing prose and accompanied the illustration with the following text:

Thrifty!

This post was reblogged from the September 5 edition of On This Day In Fashion.

Confession: I love shopping at Goodwill. I'm not just talking about the fact that I like how the money I spend there goes to a great cause, or how you can find cheap deals on pretty much anything that goes in a person's home. My love is more serious: I get a goosebump-inducing, pulse-racing thrill from shopping there, and I'll tell you why: When you score at Goodwill, the score can be epic.


For instance, as I write this, there's a mint-condition powder pink vintage Chanel suit up for auction at ShopGoodwill.com, and right now it's going for $601 with 50 minutes left on the clock. That same suit—in that condition, of that style and color, would sell for more than $1,000 on eBay. Now that is the kind of score that gets my pulse racing! (And, yes, I love that the $601 will go toward a great cause. How can you not?)

The History of Skirts continues…

(One of my favorite Spring 2008 Gary Graham skirts)

On Thursday I received an exciting email from a producer at 1TV in the UK about a five-part series the station is doing on the History of Fashion, and she invited me to participate as their resident "expert" on the history of skirts. It turns out that they are dedicating an entire film to skirt history, mostly 20th and 21st century skirts. Since I've written what might be the only book on the topic, they asked me to come on board. Well, wouldn't you know it, the segment is taping this Friday, April 25, and sadly I don't have the means to jet over there before then. Still, I'm really excited that they are putting this series together and I can't wait to see the show after it airs around May 1. The producer has offered to send me a copy sometime later that month, so stay tuned: I might post a little snippet from the section on skirts!