By the eighteenth century black clothing was considered respectable, even dowdy, as it
was associated with mourning and the dress of the clergy. Black was revived as the color
of elegance, especially for men, by the dandies of the early nineteenth century. The
introduction of aniline dyes later in the nineteenth century created a new vogue for bright
colors for fashionable women’s clothing; black clothing for women signified mourning, or
was a badge of middle-class respectability. When fashionable women did wear black it
was to make a statement. One of the most memorable, if controversial, examples of this
was John Singer Sargent’s 1884 portrait of “Madame X,” Virginie Gautreau, dressed in a
form-fitting black evening gown. Conventional portraiture employed colorful frilly, even
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demure dress that all but obscured the subject. That Mme. Gautreau, a socialite of the
day whose improprieties were hardly secret, appeared in a seductively form-fitting black
gown with deep decollete was quite a departure, underscoring the subject’s decision to
play by a different set of rules.
In the early 1900s, black “widow’s weeds” were still being sold in department stores, but
black was beginning to make appearances on other occasions as well. Paul Poiret made
vivid colors fashionable between 1908 and 1914. Chanel claimed to be “nauseated” by
Poiret’s colors and favored instead black, beige, and navy blue. Her 1926 showing of the
little black dress was a milestone in the creation of this fashion icon. However, she was
hardly alone. The House of Premet had already had a great success with a little black
dress. Indeed, the terrible death toll in World War I had resulted in a plethora of
fashionable black dresses.
The little black dress was the ideal mix of elements. It was easy, versatile, and practical; it
was also chic, elegant, and sophisticated. Capable of embodying many meanings, the
little black dress’s chameleon-like quality enabled it to evolve with the trends, but never to
be beholden to them.
Of the little black dress, Vogue declared in 1944, “Ten out of ten women have one” .
Fashion magazines everywhere featured the new phenomenon. By 1948 Christian Dior’s
groundbreaking New Look was calling for hem- and necklines to drop and skirts to be
fuller. The little black dress obliged. As Dior said in 1954, “You can wear black at any
time. You can wear black at any age. You may wear it on almost any occasion. A little
black frock is essential to a woman’s wardrobe”.
The little black dress’s versatility ensured its immortality. Parisian Left Bank intellectuals
wore it for its associations with creativity and rebellion. Paired with black tights and black
eyeliner, it was the uniform of the beatnik generation. Audrey Hepburn wore black in
Funny Face, and a little black dress by Givenchy in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Текст 10. Карл Лагерфельд.
(из энциклопедии моды «Encyclopedia of Clothing and
Fashion»)
Karl Lagerfeld was born on 10 September 1938 to a wealthy family in
Hamburg, Germany. He moved to Paris in 1952 and 8rst came to the attention
of the fashion world two years later when he won a competition prize for his
design of a woolen coat. In 1954 he was hired as a design assistant by Pierre
Balmain, one of the premier couture houses of the early postwar period. In
1958 he parted ways with Balmain and became art director at the House of
Patou, where he remained until 1962. For most of the next 8fteen years he