The Significance of the Little Black Dress

Timeless, chic, and iconic

By SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film

Presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design

Cashmere dress (1965/1966) by Oscar de la RentaSCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film

Little Black Dress

Tracing the bold curve of social history across the 20th and 21st centuries, "Little Black Dress" explores the evolution of a definitive yet democratic style that, for more than a century, has embodied the shifting social tides of the modern world. In its ubiquity and versatility, the little black dress has delivered some of the most indelible images of our visual age. Endlessly appropriated and translated, each dress is imbued with the value of its day — from service to independence, from restraint to temptation, from glamour to grace.

Ankle-length evening dress (1999) by Yves Saint LaurentSCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film

"Timeless, chic, iconic, and integral to a woman's wardrobe, the little black dress embodies simple elegance and cosmopolitan glamour like no other fashion staple and is undoubtedly the 20th century's greatest fashion phenomenon." 

Paula Wallace

Delphos dress, Mariano Fortuny, 1907, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Dress, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel Haute Couture, 2006, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Floor-length dress, Donna Karan, 2002, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Slip dress, Stephen Burrows, 2006, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Bouffant-sleeves coat and A-line dress (2009) by Isabel ToledoSCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film

"The little black dress is a giant stroke of genius: it can transform you into walking calligraphy. For me, the perfect little black dress disappears and becomes a potent symbol of controlled perfection."

 Isabel Toledo

Floor-length décolleté evening dress, Parabl Gurung, 2012, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Column dress and cape, Tom Ford, Fall/winter 2012, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Long sheath dress, Miuccia Prada, 2012, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Knee-length A-line dress (2012) by Carolina HerreraSCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film

"The little black dress must be luxurious, rich, sensual, diaphanous, exotic, severe, lush, demure, demanding, frivolous, amusing, and it must linger in memory, but above all, it must be simple and little and black."

Carolina Herrera

Ankle-length dress Ankle-length dress, Miu Miu, 2011, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Single-breasted coat, Miuccia Prada, 1999, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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"Le Smoking" tuxedo coat dress, Yves Saint Laurent, 1999, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Leather Dress Leather Dress, Prabal Gurung, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Draped wrap dress (2012) by Diane Von FurstenbergSCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film

"The little black dress is the true friend. You remember when you met her... what happened the first time you wore her... she travels with you... is patient and constant... you go to her when you don't know where else to go and she is ALWAYS reliable and timeless."

Diane Von Furstenberg

Zip-front knee-length dress, Alexis Asplundh, 2012, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Robe de style, Karl Lagerfeld, 1986, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Long dress with peplum (2012) by Ulyana SergeenkoSCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film

"The black dress for me is an enigma - you could create anything within its concept. With a black dress every woman can be a stylist, a designer, each time constructing something new and unique around the elegant abstraction that is a black dress."

Ulyana Sergeenko

Robe de style Robe de style, Oscar de la Renta, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Mariah Carey and Nile Cmylo bandeau top and Apache skirt, Nile Cmylo, 2011, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Halter dress Halter dress, Carolina Herrera, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Lone-shoulder draped dress, Matthew Ames, 2010, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa, 2012, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Sheath dress, Norma Kamali, 2012, From the collection of: SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
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Long-sleeved knee-length dress (2011) by Mimi PlangeSCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film

"I believe the little black dress is a quiet, yet dynamic gesture of individuality. Its curve, silhouette, and structure are articulated through line, proportion, and repetitious pattern. No layers, no gimmicks, and no hiding- only you, in a modern and classic state of refined and clear self- expression."

Mimi Plange

Credits: Story

"Little Black Dress," presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design, was exhibited at the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia, Sept. 28, 2012 - Jan. 27, 2013, and in Paris, France at the Mona Bismarck American Center for art and culture July 3-Sept. 22, 2013.

The exhibition charted the historic and contemporary significance of a singular sartorial phenomenon and featured nearly 80 garments from a canon of legendary fashion designers, style icons and best-dressed A-listers, from Marc Jacobs and Miuccia Prada to Anna Wintour and Renée Zellweger.

A monograph of the same title was published by Skira Rizzoli and included contributions by André Leon Talley, Paula Wallace, Gioia Diliberto, Maureen Dowd and Robin Givhan. Images featured here and in the book were photographed by SCAD alumnus Adam Kuehl (B.F.A., photography, 2005).

"Little Black Dress" is available for purchase at shopSCAD, shopscad.com, and amazon.com.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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