The LITTLE BLACK DRESS

Celebrates the enduring stylishness of the short black dress in fashion, art, literature, and film, from Betty Boop to current rock videos

If there's one women's fashion essential, it's the little black dress. Amy Edelman's homage to this chic wardrobe workhorse is a pleasure. She traces its popular acceptance to a 1926 Coco Chanel drawing that graced the pages of Vogue. The timing was no accident--women were stepping out in the world, shoving fussy, restrictive wear to the backs of their closets. The role of color is also examined: Black is the color of nuns' habits, of witches' wear, of clothes worn during periods of mourning. But it's also the color of allure, well represented by a bevy of beauties, from cartoon jazz baby Betty Boop to a lithe, black-sheathed Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly. ("It was a warm evening, nearly summer, and she wore a slim cool black dress, black sandals, a pearl choker....") The little black dress is lovingly photographed and illustrated in this work. Plain and not-so-simple, The Little Black Dress is a delight.