Little Black Dress

“The canon of the little black dress is composed of countless individual stories embedded in social and personal histories.”

The first aspects of this book that must be acknowledged are its trim size (perfect), production quality (flawless), and photography (stunning). If there was ever a book that begged to be reproduced in black and white, then this is it.

But what happens after these first impressions is less than fabulous . . .

The more you know, the pickier you are. As such, the extent of one’s knowledge of fashion and fashion history may work counterintuitively here. As a more jaded fashion participant and observer, I could not seem to find the logic in the so-called “chapters.” Okay. That may be just a quibble; not every right-brained creative person has left-brained organizing capabilities.

But here’s a criticism that is not minor: This book does not feature a quintessential collection of little black dresses as its title would suggest. A more apt title would have been: Some Random Little Black Dresses to Consider.

Yes, there are stellar fashion moments captured here, and yes, the dresses are shown off to great effect, but the overall selection leaves something to be desired.

Little Black Dress is described as an evolution of the little black dress, and yet the arrangement of the garments is nowhere near chronological, which makes it merely an inventory catalog. The array of dresses in Little Black Dress was not so much curated as settled for, i.e. this is what we have to work with so let’s make the best of it.

There are glaring holes in the category of designers are spotlighted here, a few of the more obvious omissions: Alaia, Blass, Beene, and Armani. The point is, this may not be apparent to the less seasoned fashion reader.

The featured dresses are quite beautiful, but not always as noteworthy as one might have hoped for. In case you are not aware, the book serves as catalog for the exhibit at SCAD, which ended this past January. The accompanying text possesses its gravitas by dint of its authors’ reputations and names and not so much by its glittering content. Perhaps the text is a bit too personal, or not intimate enough, or maybe just not as historically significant as it might have been.

Given Mr. Talley’s resume, access, and affiliations Little Black Dress should have been totally flawless in all its aspects far past the first impressions noted at the beginning of this review. On balance, the book is disappointing.

To twist another adage: Perhaps the book might have seemed more remarkable for those who don’t know what they don’t know.