The Little
Black dress
by Shanika de Graaf
The Little
Black Dress Around the holidays it caught my eye that at every occasion I went to, people mostly dressed up in black. For most woman this would be a black dress. At this one particular party I had, where me and eleven of my girlfriends celebrated Christmas, everyone who dressed up was in a little black dress. And non of us had the same one. We hadn’t discussed what color to wear beforehand. When I asked a few about there choice they all said the same: ‘I figured I couldn’t go wrong with black’. Weeks later when I just gotten the assignment for today I was standing in front of my rack filled with dresses, getting ready for a dinner, and I couldn’t decide between the 53 dresses hanging there.. I caught myself going for one of my little black dresses, again. I asked myself why do I do that? Simple. ‘Cause it’s one of the most wearable garments. You just can’t go wrong with it. The color can be combined with every other color. So it’s easy to combine. And with just a few accessories you can switch the whole style of the little black dress. Add some motor boots and a jacket and you’ll have a biker look. High heels and a clutch and you’re ready for a party. Than I though you know what, this would be a fun subject. I started making a few mind maps. One primarily about the little black dress. I looked up a couple of articles about the little black dress and fashion buyers. I found some interesting things about the LBD’s history.
It’s Coco Chanel who brought the little black dress to life in 1926. Before then the color black was strictly reserved for times of mourning. Chanel published the dress in Vogue magazine. They called it ‘Chanel’s Ford’, because it was accessible to woman of all social classes. Since then the little black dress has had a lot of different faces. From maxi to midi to mini. They came in all sorts and shapes. With padded shoulders, peplum and the sweetheart neckline.From cocktail dresses to A-line dresses to gowns. we’ve seen it all. A little black dress makes a woman feel beautiful and glamorous. A big pro is that It’s affordable to a large market of woman, ‘ cause you can purchase them in any price range. Now-a-days there
are dresses that are timeless especially within the little black dresses. But even than a fashion buyer has to be on top of the trends. ‘Cause there is always movement in trends within fashion world. And every store wants to sell the latest trend. To stay on top of these developing trends a fashion buyer visits the fashion buying shows throughout the year. And picks the items and designers they want to represent and sell to the consumers. Thanks to these developing fashion trends we’ve gotten all of these amazing clothing styles. And we can reuse and accessories our little black dresses again and again and make them look totally different each time. What’s not to like about the little black dress?
Mindmap littleBlack Dress
From Coco Chanel
to Your Closet:
the
Little Black dress Look into your closet. What’s in there that you’d never take out -- never throw away in a million years? Chances are it’s a few select items: a vintage handbag your grandmother gave you, your favorite jeans, and a little black dress. The little black dress (aka LBD) may be an essential part of any woman’s wardrobe now, but it certainly hasn’t always been that way. Before the 1920s, wearing the color black was strictly reserved for times of mourning. It was considered distasteful to wear it otherwise, because mourning dresses were symbolic. During the Victorian era, a grieving widow was expected to wear black for at least two years. All of this changed at the will of a woman named Coco Chanel. In 1926, Chanel published a simple, short black dress in Vogue. The magazine called this dress “Chanel’s Ford,” because like the Model T, it was accessible to women of all social classes. Vogue said the dress was “a sort of uniform for all women of taste.” The LBD remained popular throughout the great depression because of its simple elegance -- you didn’t need to spend a lot of money to keep yourself looking put together. They were popular in Hollywood during the Technicolor craze, because a black dress wouldn’t clash with the other colors on the screen as a brighter dress might. It maintained its popularity during World
War II, due to the rationing of textiles. It also became a sort of uniform for the droves of women heading to the workplace. During the postwar conservative era of the 1950s and early 60s, the little black dress took a bit of a social hit. Though still worn, it was seen as a little dangerous -- that the woman wearing it wasn’t quite so pure as the conservative woman in powder blue. THe 1960s gave it a bit of a revival, with the younger mod generation looking for all new lengths -- hello mini skirt! -- while the older more conservative set looked to classic sheaths, like the one worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
The little black dress has,for the most part, maintained its popularity through the decades since Chanel brought it into our lives in 1926. Though it’s had its stylistic variations -- from the mod mini dress of the ‘60s and big shoulders and peplum of the ‘80s to the grunge in the ‘90s, the motivation behind the dress has remained largely the same. A little black dress makes a woman feel beautiful and glamorous. It’s a longlasting, versatile and affordable to a large market of women, and is certainly here to stay.
source: www.stylelist.com
Impression of the Little Black dress
Troughout the Years
1927
1928 (Actress) Joan Bennett in a Charleston-style dress.
1936 This glamorous look may have been influenced by Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli.
1943
1949 Dress by Dior
1951
1956 Marilyn Monroe with husband Arthur Miller.In a Galanos cocktail dress.
1959 Coco Chanel puts the finishing touches on a late-’50s design.
1961 Audrey Hepburn dress designed by Hubert de Givenchy for Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
1965 Sophia Loren
1970 Liza Minnelli attends the Academy Awards with her father.
1977 Blondie’s Deborah Harry.
1985 Dress by Chanel, under the direction of Karl Lagerfeld.
1988 Iman Abdulmajid (model).
1994 Princess Diana
2002 Kate Moss
2009 Michelle Obama wears a Azzedine Alaia dress with a modernized ’50s silhouette.
It’s a Fashion Buyers Market
Fashion buyers are tasked with the ongoing challenge of making the world look good, but more than just a passion for fashion is needed for them to correctly predict each season’s trends, and keep shoppers coming back for more.“Relationship development and management are a really important aspect of being a buyer,” says Sandra Rossi, Fashion & Retail Management instructor at The New England Institute of Art. “These skills are necessary in order to develop relationships with outside vendors.”
Fashion buyers are tasked with the ongoing challenge of making the world look good, but more than just a passion for fashion is needed for them to correctly predict each season’s trends, and keep shoppers coming back for more.“Relationship development and management are a really important aspect of being a buyer,” says Sandra Rossi, Fashion & Retail Management
instructor at The New England Institute of Art. “These skills are necessary in order to develop relationships with outside vendors.” Rossi, who spent several years employed as a department store buyer, says that it is critical for fashion buyers to have a strong relationship with outside vendors. She also says that it is very
important for a buyer to know their customer. Buying in to being a buyer Rossi believes that new fashion buyers usually go through three stages when they get started in the industry. They start off buying what they like, then they buy what they think the consumer wants, and then finally they begin to understand what the consumer actually does want. “Buyers need to put their consumer glasses on and really understand why a consumer is coming into the store,” Rossi says. “A key to success with being a good buyer is to be a good tastemaker.” Another important aspect of a buyer’s job is merchandise management. “They need to really understand how much merchandise can fit in their department” Rossi says. Part of understanding merchandise management means knowing the financial responsibilities associated with being a fashion buyer, and understanding business math. Rossi says that the number of buyers in each department store generally depends on the size of the store and the amount of business that it has. Most department stores have one senior fashion buyer for each department and then buyers and assistant buyers — who manage the nuts and bolts of the business — working underneath them. Many stores also employ merchandise planners and merchandise analysts for each department. Merchandise planners help to determine the product colors, sizes, quantities, and prices to order from designers. Rossi worked closely with a merchandise planner when she was a buyer. “The planner was the other half of my life essentially,” Rossi says. She and her merchandise planner worked together to create a forecast plan each season.
Size matters In smaller boutiques, buyers are able to be more flexible with their business plans than larger department stores. This is partially because larger department stores are often publically traded companies, and because small boutiques have much smaller inventories. Small boutique owner, Kimberly Anderson, is able to take a different approach to placing orders, because of her more intimate client base. “When I place my orders with designers, I like to sell the piece before I buy it in my head,” says Anderson, who owns Philadelphia’s Kimberly Boutique. “For example, if there is a dress that I fell in love with, I need to in my head already sell it to a few of my clients before I actually order it.” Leah Pistella and Keisha Champagne, owners of Pittsburgh boutique Hip’tique, are also able to place orders with designers based on the familiarity they have with their customers. When placing new orders and deciding how many of each size and item to get, they’ve found it works best to just look through past sales records. “We usually go through and look at our customers and see what the best selling size is,” say Pistella and Champagne. “It depends on who our customer is and who is buying it.” Anderson has found that it is best to stick to certain colors and price-points when placing orders from designers. “When I chose colors I usually steer toward blacks, neutrals, and a pop of color here and there,” Anderson says. “Price-point is a huge factor in when I am ordering. It needs to be fabulous if it is a higher price-point. Other than that I try to maintain a certain price range and want my clients to feel like they can get multiple uses out of their clothing.”
Price-point is just as important to fashion buyers working for large department stores. Rossi says that buyers must determine each season’s core items first and then build merchandizing strategies around them. “Generally when you have a higher price-point item you’re not going to buy it too heavy, because it won’t turn as fast,” Rossi says. Trend happens In addition to having to predict the sales and sizing future, buyers have to be able to predict the fashion trend future. In order for their stores to be stocked with stylish apparel, fashion buyers need to be able to predict the next season’s hottest fashions. “I keep up with the current trends of fashion with the buying shows throughout the year,” Anderson says. “Each season all the designers showcase their new collections. Normally, throughout the show you can start picking up the different trends by seeing the same color palettes and structure of different styles.” Pistella and Champagne also attend buying shows throughout the year. They make their buying decisions according to the quality, aesthetic, and the feeling they have about the items. Rossi says that buyers for larger department stores often use industry publications to predict future trends. They also try to look beyond their industry and understand what’s going on in the world that will affect consumer spending habits. Buyers for larger department stores also attend fashion shows, says Rossi. The number of shows that a buyer attends each year typically depends on the size of the business and the number of buyers employed by the company.
“It depends on who the person is working for and their level in the company,” Rossi says. “Luxury retailers go to bigger fashion shows.” Not only does attending fashion shows help buyers to predict the next season’s trends, they also help them to decide which designers to carry in their stores. Pistella and Champagne say that they tend to choose clothing from designers that they are familiar with and know that they like. They also like to use the buying shows that they attend to check out new designers. Anderson stocks her boutique with a variety of apparel. “I prefer to carry
designers that have a wide-range of different styles, sizing, and colors. I like to keep the boutique constantly looking fresh with new styles.� Keeping showrooms full of fresh new styles is the goal of any fashion buyer, and from small boutiques to national chains, these buyers are always working hard to bring style to your favorite retail stores. insite.artinstitutes.edu
One Dress
makes a few
different
Looks
it’s that
simple