The little black dress, as opposed to a dress that was short and dark, began with a 1926 design by Coco Chanel, described by Vogue magazine as fashion's answer to the Ford Model T car. Mr Monkey studied a sketch and photo made by Karl Lagerfeld to create the original Chanel design, then looked at a 1936 picture of Chanel herself.
You can read a biography of Coco Chanel at the Time website.
Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 19 April 2006