The Little Black Dress

This blog is dedicated to the Little Black Dress. We've just uploaded a new collection of black cocktail dresses to our online boutique ranging in size from UK 6 to 18.

View this dress in our online store here

I remember the first time an LBD really caught my attention on screen: it was the moment Mrs Robinson seduced Benjamin Braddock in 1967 movie The Graduate.

This little clip is a masterclass in passive-aggressive seduction and Anne Bancroft looks every inch the predatory cougar. Her black and metallic cocktail dress looks as stylish now as it did over 40 years ago. 

The power of the Little Black Dress lies in its versatility and timelessness. Almost every woman has at least one in her wardrobe and some of my customers will only wear variations on cocktail-length black dresses. They know what suits them and enjoy being able to style their look up or down depending on the occasion. 

I've picked out some beautiful photographs of LBDs from the last 90 years, from Coco Chanel to Roland Mouret. We also have a dedicated LBD category in the Juno Says Hello online store - scroll down for a selection of pictures from our  new collection.

In 1926 American Vogue called the LBD the 'Ford' of dresses - referring to its democratization of style.  Any woman could own one, and it could be worn almost anywhere.

Chanel, c.1920s

Ginger Rogers

Wallis Simpson 

We have a beautiful 1930s black silk velvet dress in stock at the moment, complete with dress clips - very similar to the design worn by Wallis Simpson. To view in our online store click here.

Vogue, c.1940s

Anne Gunning

Fashion editorial from 1947

Dolores del Rio

Lisa Fonssagrives

Anne Patchett by Nina Leen, 1949

Dorian Leigh

Photograph by Clifford Coffin

Dovima

Marilyn in Korea, 1954

Vera Miles 

Dior, 1955

Grace Kelly in To Catch A Thief

Jessica Ford in front of a Chrylser, 1957

Anita Ekberg relaxes in her green room

Suzy Parker, 1959

Harper's Magazine, 1960

Elizabeth Taylor. This is my favourite cocktail dress of all time.

When Breakfast at Tiffany's was released in 1961, the black cocktail dress became the go-to look for stylish Manhattan socialites. 

Holly Golightly's classic LBD inspired a wave of fashion photography...

Jean Shrimpton

Don Draper's wife Megan performs at his birthday party in a risqué black mini dress. We sold something very similar last year:

In 1967 Catherine Deneuve starred in Belle de Jour, wearing clothes designed by a then little-known Yves Saint Laurent. Her ice-blonde hair and black shift dresses captured the sinister side of frustrated housewife Séverine. 

Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour

This simple design was a clear inspiration for L'Wren Scott's 'Headmistress' dress from her Spring 2009 collection. This LBD was one of the most popular dresses on the red carpet that year. 

Paris-based vintage fashion dealer and connoisseur Didier Ludot published a book in homage to the little black dress in 2001. Deneuve appears on the cover. 

The LBD is reinvented by designers season after season. Here is a selection from Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Roland Mouret, Dior, Pucci and Michael Kors...

Celebrities love the look too - the LBD can be demure or minxy, depending on how you style it

Kate Bosworth

Dita von Teese

Kate Moss

Michelle Obama in a vintage Norman Norrell dress

Sarah Jessica Parker

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

The LBD category in our online store has several new additions, and we have many more in our Kings Cross studio. Please get in touch if you are looking for something in particular. This 1960s tassel dress looks amazing in movement - to view in our online store click here. 

This black jersey dress is studded with tiny rhinestones, which sparkle as you walk. 

To view in our online store click here

This 1950s cocktail dress has a mesh bodice with embroidered daisies.

To view in our online store click here

This black taffeta dress with double hem is a complete show-stopper:

To view in our online store click here

Complete the look:

Gucci Rose Gold Diamond Onyx Earrings

Roger Vivier 'Rose 'n Roll' heels

Charlotte Olympia Feather Clutch 

For a full selection of our recommended accessories, please view our LYST page. The next five online orders include a miniature bottle of Guerlain's 'La Petite Robe Noire' scent - to start browsing our collection of black cocktail dresses click here. 

Black cocktail dresses are not just for parties. One of the most unusual scenes featuring a black evening dress is from Luc Besson's cult classic La Femme Nikita, made in 1990. Nikita is a young female assassin recruited to work for the French government. Never has a LBD worked harder than in this notorious restaurant scene:

New York City: Fashion in Film

I'm in New York for a few days, catching up with friends and doing a bit of work too - more of that later. But as I was walking around Central Park yesterday, I was reminded of the Jane Fonda movie Barefoot in the Park - one of my favourite films from the 1960s with Fonda and co-star Robert Redford in their prime. She looks amazing in this movie - slinky, energetic and with strawberry-blonde hair piled high on her head.

Here's a selection of movies set in Manhattan with very stylish heroines, from the 1930s to modern day:

Dinner at Eight was released in 1933 - a sharp social satire starring Jean Harlow as a brassy gold-digger draped in stunning Art Deco finery. 

A decade later Katharine Hepburn starred in Woman of the Year (1942), one of the first movies to show a new kind of emancipated heroine on screen, with Hepburn playing opposite Spencer Tracy as colleagues at the same New York newspaper. A professional woman's wardrobe was born: tailored suits, silk blouses and low-heeled pumps.

And then Hitchcock came along and invented the suspense thriller as we now know it. Grace Kelly starred in several of his movies, epitomising the glacial allure that he found so enthralling. Rear Window was released in 1954, starring Kelly and Cary Grant. Edith Head designed the costumes for the movie and a new kind of style icon appeared on screen for the first time: the Park Avenue princess.

The cocktail dress with pearl necklace combo has remained a uniform for decades, seen on the runway every season at Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera and in the wardrobes of legendary Manhattan socialite Nan Kempner as well as fictional characters such as Charlotte York from Sex and the City.

In 1955 Marilyn Monroe starred in The Seven Year Itch. Who knew that standing over a New York subway air vent would create one of the most iconic images of the 20th century?

The white halter-neck dress Marilyn wore in this scene sold for $4.6 million at auction last year. It's a classic bombshell look and we have a very similar dress in stock at the moment, to view in our online store please click here. 

Audrey Hepburn is synonymous with New York chic, thanks to starring roles in two beautifully shot films, Funny Face in 1957 and Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1961. 

Funny Face is set the world of magazine publishing and photographer Richard Avedon was consultant art director. Kay Thompson plays the magazine's fashion editor - this scene is her vision for the new season's colour: 'Think pink!'

In 1960 Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon starred in The Apartment, a so-called 'dirty fairy tale of New York'. It was one of the first movies to tackle the taboo subject of adultery on screen.

Barefoot in the Park (1967) was a very different kind of movie - a lighthearted romantic comedy with the best-looking stars of the time: Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Fonda epitomized carefree post-Pill sexuality and their chemistry leaps off the screen. I love this scene of the newlywed couple walking into the Plaza Hotel on 5th Avenue:

The following year Mia Farrow starred in Rosemary's Baby, directed by Roman Polanski. Mia plays Rosemary Woodhouse, a young wife who has just moved into a vast Gothic Revival 19th century building in Manhattan. The real-life location is The Dakota on the Upper West Side of Manhattan - where John Lennon used to live and the site of his murder in 1980.

Mia's elfin crop and doll-face make-up brought Twiggy's gamine style to the big screen.

Annie Hall was directed by Woody Allen and released in 1977. The film was a love song to the city of New York and created a new kind of urban style icon: Diane Keaton.

Annie Hall's androgynous wardrobe continues to inspire contemporary designers - in particular Ralph Lauren - and provided the theme for an editorial in Vogue Paris last year. Have a look at the pictures here. 

Desperately Seeking Susan came out in 1985, starring Madonna and Rosanna Arquette. A love-triangle evolves from the personal classifieds of a New York tabloid. 1980s style is the hipster gift that keeps on giving. 

I love this scene from the nightclub - reminds me of my early twenties spent at NagNagNag at The Ghetto in Soho!

No blog about New York movies would be complete without a mention of Working Girl. The real style icons from this film are not the protagonists, but supporting actresses Joan Cusack and Sigourney Weaver.

He doesn't stand a chance.. 

Clothes on Film wrote a great blog on the culture of power dressing in Working Girl - to read online click here.

Then Sex and the City came along. Manhattan was the fifth character of the series, with great attention given to the skyline and surroundings. Local landmarks, restaurants, parks, nightspots and even churches were featured throughout the entire series.

This is just a small selection of the many fantastic movies set in New York. Click through for clips of stylish heroines from Dancing Lady (1933), All About Eve (1950), How To Marry A Millionaire (1953), Sabrina (1954), Daddy Long Legs (1955), Bell, Book and Candle (1958), North by Northwest (1959), The Best of Everything (1959), Butterfield 8 (1960), Klute (1971) and The Way We Were (1975). 

I'm planning on doing a blog about style icons from London-based films in the next month or so. All suggestions welcome, please add in the comments.