THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS – With New Year’s Eve approaching you may be wondering what you will wear to a holiday party.  The Little Black Dress is the perfect choice.  What, exactly, is it?  Simply put, it is a black dress designed with simple lines.

Coco Chanel is often credited with introducing the iconic dress and it appeared in American Vogue in October, 1926.  Since then, the timeless dress has made its appearance on some of my favorite actresses in classic movies:  Lauren Bacall in To Have and To Have Not (1944), Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946), Marilyn Monroe in The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Grace Kelly in Rear Window (1954), Elizabeth Taylor in Suddenly Last Summer (1959), and Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). 

In my mystery novel, Gathering Secrets, Marie chooses a black sheath to wear for an evening out.  

“As Marie slipped on the little black dress that she reserved for cocktail parties, she looked in the mirror at the hemline.  She was glad hemlines were coming down again.  They added elegance to any dress, but especially to a slim-fitting dress like this one.”

I have several classic black dresses in my closet that I’ve worn to cocktail parties, ballroom dancing and to an author’s night to read my poem, I Am My Mother (which appears in my novel, Amelia).

Unfortunately, with COVID still lurking around, my husband and I won’t be ballroom dancing this New Year’s Eve.  So… I think I’ll put on my black velvet dress and waltz around with him in our living room!  A girl’s gotta have fun–right?