CLEM MACLEOD

The period of 1914 to 1926 was a time of rapid individual and societal change. In May 1926 Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel introduced her ‘Little Black Dress’ with an illustration in American Vogue (Fig.1). The Little Black Dress gave women the opportunity to define herself in a time when she was becoming more relevant. The significance of the dress lies heavily within its development since the early war years and the dress’s importance is evident through an analysis of its context. By observing and analyzing fashion, we are able to have a look into what life was like at any given time period and by dissecting the Little Black Dress we are able to do just this for this turbulent time in history.   

At a time when fashion was becoming part of the greater social revolution, the Little Black Dress is charged with significant contextual references. 1920 America, the war had ended, women’s roles were changing and the art and fashion worlds were merging. Women had gained the right to vote and they weren’t confined and defined by their wardrobe; Chanel had made it clear that she wanted woman, rather than their clothing, to be noticed. During and in response to the war, Chanel felt it necessary to produce attire that was comfortable, stylish and suitable for outdoor activities. Women of the leisure class were escaping to Biarritz and Deauville and with Chanel’s clothing they were able to take part in more male orientated tasks while their husbands fought for the country. 

The influence of the arts was skyrocketing. It was the 1925 exhibition at the Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes that showcased what defined the art deco movement. The exhibition expressed modern age and a rejection of historical reference. It was during this time that artists were frequently seen collaborating with designers and styles such as Fauvism, Russian Constructivism, Constructivism, Futurism, Cubism and the Wiener Werkstette were all being noticed within fashion design[1]. The development of freer styles came from the influence of the Avante Garde; the geometric patterns of Chanel’s Little Black Dress reflected this. 

However, black had always been a morbid colour. In the 19th century black equaled mourning and since then the colour served only that purpose. When Chanel introduced black in her collections during the 20s she made it popular among the flapper women for the newly established ‘cocktail hour’.  The cocktail was becoming a necessity and something that defined the ‘prohibition era’ (1920 to 1933), in 1925 Vogue wrote that “Our books, our clothes, our life as well as our music grow each year more syncopated”[1] and with names such as ‘The Bosom Caresser’ and ‘Between the Sheets’ cocktails matched the clothes accordingly and diminished all earlier notions of modesty. Throughout history black has represented power. In ‘The Language of Clothes’ Alison Lurie asserts, “the three avenging goddesses, of Greek drama always dress in black, and so do witches, warlocks and other practitioners of the Black Arts.” When the Little Black Dress was introduced in 1926, it clung to the notion of self-possession and the young women wearing it projected a certain allure.

Chanel was dressing all classes of society. Psychologically black made the wearer feel thinner. It was practical and could be worn by any woman, regardless of economic status. In 1926, Vogue magazine donned it ‘the Chanel Ford – the dress that all the world could wear’ both were sleek and represented a concept available to the masses. It set the wheels in notion for a revolution in clothes making.

During the development period of the Little Black Dress, Coco Chanel was heavily influenced by tennis star Suzanne Lenglen. In 1922 Lenglen made it into Wimbledon in a dress made by Jean Patou renowned for its style and architectural lines (fig.3). Patou dressed women for movement. In response, Chanel utilized silk charmeuse and a crepe de chine for ease of movement, falling just to the knee, embellished with beaded fringing and creating an asymmetric hemline. Bare arms and backs allowed for the exposure of tanned skin, ornaments were plentiful and a straightened neckline created a flat bosom softened by the curves in the hip-length bolero. While the rejection of the corset can be attributed to Paul Poiret as early as 1907, it was Chanel that set the fashion for this more masculine style.

Androdgyny was introduced in Victor Margueritte’s 1922 novel ‘Une Garconne’ in which his female character cut her hair and dressed in an evidently masculine way. In 1926, the ‘Garconne’ look reached its peak of influence. Chanel had a reputation for borrowing styles from other genres of clothing and in this case she was taking inspiration from that of menswear, sportswear, servant girls, fishermen and ordinary workfolk. Chanel was channeling ‘Pauvre Chic’ (poverty chic), despite her garments being made from luxurious fabrics such as silk, she thought that simplicity was the keynote for all elegance, she thought that modesty was the chicest way of proclaiming superiority and she wanted everything that got in the way of the woman to be removed. In 1915, Chanel opened her first fashion boutique in Biarritz with leisurewear in jersey. By 1916, her milliner had become a couturier.

It was Coco Chanel understood the new ideas brought on by the end of the war, the prohibition era and the depression and responded accordingly. The designer was inspired by the comfort of menswear, for her sensibility meant sensuality and sensuality was black. The garconne look epitomized the Little Black Dress and free from the corset, women were given more leg space to dance the Charleston so popular during the end of war party period.