The little black dress
A simple black dress that made black a colour for parties.
American Vogue published a drawing of a simple black dress by Chanel in 1926 and called it Chanel's Ford – a model for everyone, like the car.
The dress suited the new life of women after the First World War: easy to move in and possible to vary with jewellery.
Materials: Crêpe de Chine or wool
Manufacture: Haute couture in Paris; soon copied in ready-to-wear.
The straight silhouette without a marked waist.
Black, previously mostly the colour of mourning.
The length just below the knee, short for its time.