For centuries, fashion to some has been observed as a mere piece of fabric draped on someone’s body. In basic terms, clothing is, and has always been, worn to cover up- looked at as a daily necessity. As fashion is something very visual, it’s easy to get caught up in the surface level of what it is, but let’s be honest…
Fashion has always been more than just a t-shirt on someone’s back.
Do we really think an entire dress was made out of meat back in 2010 just for the heck of it? Was Coco Chanel’s “Little Black Dress” really just a little black dress?
The Collision Between Fashion and Art
Fashion is what you make of it and can very similarly be compared to art. Previous to taking any art history courses in college, I definitely appreciated art, but some paintings I found to be perplexing- how could a huge canvas with a couple little dots on it sell for millions of dollars. Or how about that one with random brush strokes all over the page that seems as though it may lack composition, be displayed in one of the most prestigious art museums in the entire world? Maybe I wasn’t looking deep enough…?
Turns out I wasn’t.
Behind all of those staggered brushstrokes and mix of colors was feelings. Perhaps even a story or a movement. And while fashion uses fabric instead of paint- I’ve come to learn it’s almost always telling stories if we have the courage to discover it.
The Little Black Dress
The roaring 20’s is a time I feel most of us still fantasize about- I know I do. In an age full of opulence, parties, and glimmer, a fashion item emerged that would change the way of fashion to this very day – The Little Black Dress.
To give a brief history, in October of 1926, Vogue Magazine released a sketch on the cover illustrating a woman “in pumps, pearls, a cloche and a long-sleeved black dress belted to a low waist” (Smithsonian, 2017). Although possibly seeming unremarkable to us now, Coco Chanel was paving the way for a closet item that was so timeless it still lives in our wardrobes today.
Black and Basic
At the time, the color black was tied to either one of two things- the color of clothing worn by servants, or the color worn by those in mourning, but never as a color that was sought out to be worn. Not to mention, in this time, extravagance equaled high-class. The wearing of such a basic dress out in public would’ve veered from tradition (Smithsonian, 2017).
Well, Chanel was here to change that. Although not technically the inventor, she broke barriers through the release of this simplistic design. With intention to be available to a market wider than usual, she began a fashion revolution (Vogue Arabia, 2020).
Today’s Little Black Dress
In just three years, the Little Black Dress (LBD) will turn 100 years old.
Such a simple, neutral design harnessed enough power to completely change the narrative for a color, style, and class. Don’t believe me?
I challenge you right now to go to three of your favorite clothing websites. In looking under edits, I can almost guarantee that at least one of them will display a “Little Black Dress” assortment under their categorization.
In a fashion world that has been moving more towards neutrals and minimalistic style for quite some time now, it’s hard not to reflect on if that would have been the case if it weren’t for the release of the LBD so many years ago.
Final Reflections
Fashion is expression, telling stories of the decades as they pass. Every day, we make a choice when we select what clothes we want to wear on our body- oftentimes aspiring to convey a belonging to a certain cultural sector or group.
So next time you’re on the street and see something that catches your eye, allow yourself to think- look further than the cloth you’re viewing right in front of you, because if you look hard enough, you just might find a story, or perhaps even history being told through fabric rather than words.
References: Why Coco Chanel Created the Little Black Dress | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Most Important Historical Fashion Moments | Vogue Arabia
