The Evolution of Little Dresses

The historical background of the appearance of small dresses. When the dress first appeared, it refers to a skirt worn at cocktail parties in the 1920s. At that time, it was a popular day dress, with a loose long body, a jewel-colored straight tube and a skirt reaching to the knee. It is equipped with a dress hat, gloves and a small handbag. 1926, Gabrielle CoCo Chanel published a simple picture of a short black skirt in the American fashion magazine VOGUE, decorated with only a few diagonal lines. VOGUE magazine called it Chanel's "Ford Model T", and commented that this small black dress was suitable for all women in the social class at that time, and predicted that the prototype of this small dress would become a must-have dress for all women. Until the end of the 1920s, the dress was still modeled after the design of daytime clothes, but it has begun to enter its evolution.

In the decade from 1930s to 1940s, little dresses were worn all day. This kind of small dress is mainly black, and silk and satin are the most commonly used fabrics, which are generally only knee-length. The rise of the little black dress is mainly attributed to two reasons. The first one is because the little black dress looks simple and rigorous as an office dress, and it looks fashionable and elegant to attend a party at night. Small black dresses are usually decorated with artificial diamond buttons and clothing accessories (such as brooches and sequins) and appear in evening activities (dances, receptions, etc.). Furthermore, limited by the black-and-white photography technology at that time, female stars usually wear black dresses in movies to avoid the color distortion of dresses in film imaging. Little dress soon became a symbol of women's freedom of movement and physical and mental freedom at that time, giving people a carefree feeling. It doesn't pursue elegant visual effects like a prom dress.

After the Second World War, great changes have taken place in clothing, which is attributed to the fact that soldiers returning from abroad brought the clothing styles of other nationalities and foreign fabrics into western society. The style is more and more open, the length of the dress is shorter, the neckline is lower, the tight body is prominent, and the sleeves are cancelled. After the war, due to the use of more reflective sequins and shiny embroidery, the little dress became more attractive and charming. People think that the brighter the clothes, the better. In the late 1940s, ChristianDior was the first to put forward the word "little dress" to describe the dress trend at that time. A slightly grandiose hat, elbow-length gloves, a small chain bag with a glitter powder box as accessories and shoes matching the color of handbags and clothes are all common women's dresses at cocktail parties, and this tradition continued until the mid-1960s. The fifties were the heyday of small dresses, and the design of small dresses changed a lot.

In the 1960s, compared with the small dresses in the 1950s, great changes have taken place, and the colors are relatively lighter. Pastel, silver and gold have replaced black as the main colors of the dress, and the decoration on the dress is relatively reduced, and the skirt has become narrower. Little skirts worn by young girls have been replaced by disco clothes. As cocktail parties become unpopular, people mostly stay at home at night. Therefore, by the end of 1960s, casual clothes were replaced by fancy dresses, but the design of dresses kept up with the trend at that time.

By the 1970s, casual style was blowing, and small dresses were replaced by loose jumpsuits and trousers. After the casual style in the 1980s, small dresses were once again welcomed by the public, usually made of satin and decorated with lace. Since 1990s, little dresses have reappeared and been sought after by fashionistas. Most Hollywood actresses like to appear on the red carpet in little dresses. Since then, fashion designers of various brands have re-launched a series of small dresses that have been neglected for 20 years.