Little Black Dress

Book excerpt: A selectively curated overview of the little black dress in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, organized by Vogue contributing editor and fashion force André Leon Talley and published on the occasion of an exhibition at the SCAD Museum of Art (Savannah College of Art and Design), André Leon Talley Gallery. Featuring an impeccably selected group of about sixty dresses from many of the most eminent fashion houses, the book is a celebratory tribute to the iconic little black dress and its deeply resonant cultural and social significance in the modern era. Defined by the simplest parameters—color and shape—yet voluminous in possibility, the little black dress is personalized by the designer who imagined it and the woman who wears it. In one silhouette it can capture a woman's allure, and in one evening worn provide her with a reservoir of memories. It can sum up in one wardrobe reconnaissance the way you wore the way you were. A little black dress in any other color could dent a reputation; in black it can only elevate one. Whether made from the most superior fabrics, or designed in cutting-edge neoprene, the little black dress maintains its status as the game-changer, the free spirit and pleasure-seeker (Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy in Breakfast at Tiffany's), the career-launcher (Elizabeth Hurley in Versace), the going-for-broke risk-taker (Virginie Gautreau as Madame X), inevitably revealing truths about the women who have chosen to wear one. Three original essays offer personal histories in praise of the little black dress. An introduction by André Leon Talley and a foreword by Paula Wallace complete this exquisite volume. Together with a stunning collection of images, this book presents a singularly elegant portfolio.