The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Once upon a dress... The story of the little black dress

Once upon a dress... The story of the little black dress
Once upon a dress... The story of the little black dress
Fashion deals in fantasy and the aestheticisation of the everyday, it tells stories of glamour and revolution, of key pieces and the ‘genius’ designer, but often the story itself is an abstract simplification, a re-telling, of an unspecific truth. The story, through endless repetition by cultural agents, becomes truth and occupies specific cultural functions, which benefit all parties involved. The perfect example is the story of Chanel’s little black dress; the sartorial blueprint of modernity, the icon of the modern wardrobe. The ethereal but enduring myths surrounding the dress are infinitely more fascinating and relevant than the material reality of this unassuming plain black frock. The ease of their unravelment reveals this storytelling as one of the mainstays of fashion and highlights the rupture between object and narrative.
Dirix, Emmanuelle
81b6957e-e128-418d-bd59-77e13ae94de7
Taylor, Lou
509c8640-0aba-48ee-b6b1-471b88d019e5
Dirix, Emmanuelle
81b6957e-e128-418d-bd59-77e13ae94de7
Taylor, Lou
509c8640-0aba-48ee-b6b1-471b88d019e5

Dirix, Emmanuelle and Taylor, Lou (2010) Once upon a dress... The story of the little black dress. Masters of Black in Fashion and Constume: Symposium, Antwerp, Belgium. 12 May 2010.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Other)

Abstract

Fashion deals in fantasy and the aestheticisation of the everyday, it tells stories of glamour and revolution, of key pieces and the ‘genius’ designer, but often the story itself is an abstract simplification, a re-telling, of an unspecific truth. The story, through endless repetition by cultural agents, becomes truth and occupies specific cultural functions, which benefit all parties involved. The perfect example is the story of Chanel’s little black dress; the sartorial blueprint of modernity, the icon of the modern wardrobe. The ethereal but enduring myths surrounding the dress are infinitely more fascinating and relevant than the material reality of this unassuming plain black frock. The ease of their unravelment reveals this storytelling as one of the mainstays of fashion and highlights the rupture between object and narrative.

Text
Black_Symposium.pdf - Accepted Manuscript
Restricted to Registered users only
Download (1MB)

More information

Published date: 12 May 2010
Venue - Dates: Masters of Black in Fashion and Constume: Symposium, Antwerp, Belgium, 2010-05-12 - 2010-05-12

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 152341
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/152341
PURE UUID: 0762db4e-8677-4725-baac-b0ee4e8990d3

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 17 May 2010 15:39
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 01:23

Export record

Contributors

Author: Emmanuelle Dirix
Author: Lou Taylor

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×