Little Black Dresses Off to Auction
The Little Black Dress is probably the most famous item to hang in the closet. It even warrants capital letters, the punctuation of choice for proper names.
The dress, whether it’s a simple sheath or a sexy sundress--after all, it’s the color that’s important--is vital to celebrities’ wardrobes.
And now you can have one, too.
We’re not talking about just any old black dress, we’re talking about one that already was deemed red-carpet worthy by Sharon Stone or Elizabeth Taylor.
Hollywood stars have donated dresses to an Internet auction to raise money for the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade. The EBay auction will be Monday through Oct. 10.
“The great thing about [little black dresses] is they, of course, go from boardroom to ballroom. Betty Boop wore them and so did Coco Chanel, and they were never out of place,” says Phillip Bloch, the celebrity stylist working with Avon to collect the dresses. Bloch’s mother died of breast cancer in 1996.
The “biggest coup” of the auction is Taylor’s dress, says Bloch, “because I’ve admired her style for so long.” Some of his other favorites came from Brooke Shields, Kim Cattrall and Debra Messing.
Shields’ sleeveless, fleece wool shift by Peruffo is a silhouette that would look good on anyone because it’s classy and elegant, while Messing’s matte jersey, V-neck shirtdress by Tahari would be flattering to women of different sizes, Bloch explains.
Cattrall’s sexy Yves Saint Laurent with lace inserts isn’t as flexible as the others but it was her “lucky dress,” he says, which makes it extra special for the auction.
But the beauty of any Little Black Dress is that whoever is wearing it controls the look, he says.
The same dress can be funky or elegant depending on the accessories--and the attitude, of course.
“The black magic of the ‘LBD’ is that it instantly transforms you into looking chic,” Bloch says.
The pinnacle of popularity for the black cocktail dress probably was the 1960s, thanks to Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy, who both looked stylish in their boat neck versions, but the garment is enjoying a renaissance, according to Bloch.
Just ask anyone who watched this year’s Oscars: What dress was the most memorable?
The answer likely will be Julia Roberts--in black. Roberts’ black vintage Valentino gown tops Bloch’s list of the five best black-dress moments in history.
The others are:
* Princess Diana’s strapless dress that she wore for her first public appearance with Prince Charles in 1981.
* Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly dress in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
* Marilyn Monroe’s sequined, spaghetti-strap dress that she wore onstage to entertain U.S. troops in Korea in 1954.
* Betty Boop’s skimpy dress that barely covered her Mae West-inspired curves in the 1930s cartoons “Red Hot Mama” and “Stop the Show.”
Avon’s Crusade Program is more than 10 years old and has raised more than $110 million to fund breast cancer research and provide access to care.
October is national Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but Avon’s fund-raising activities are a year-round effort, says Kathleen Walas, president of Avon Products Foundation.
“This is a cause that was important to our own representatives--more than 3 million worldwide--and to our customers,” Walas says.
