Black Dress

When a woman dresses up, she wants to look elegant. Elegance usually implies expense an expensive couture gown, and expensive jewels. However, elegance can also be achieved on a budget. To start with, instead of diamonds, rhinestone jewelry can be worn. A small budget is needed if the elegance is achieved through wholesale rhinestone jewelry.

At the end of the Nineteenth Century and the beginning of the Twentieth, dressing up was a big production. Dresses were long and complex, with, at various times, hoops, bustles, lace and embroidery, mutton leg sleeves, and other bulky decorations. In the 1920s, 1926 to be exact, a change occurred. Coco Chanel invented the quintessential dress-up dress: the little black dress. Starting around this time, women began to rebel against the confining clothing that they had worn throughout history. They began wearing simpler, shorter, more comfortable dresses. At this time, Coco Chanel designed a soft jersey dress that was sleeveless, had a wide neck, and ended just above the knee. Up to this time, women had never exposed this much of the arms, shoulders, neck, and legs. Another shock was the color of the dress. Until this time, black was reserved for mourning and funerals. So, in 1926, the "little black dress" was born. And, while it has gone through many redesigns over the last 80 years, the original design is still as fresh today as it was then.

The beauty of the little black dress is its versatility. We started out discussing dressing up with elegance. Nothing is more elegant than a simply accessorized little black dress. For the woman of means, a few well-placed diamonds turn it into a head-turning ensemble. For the rest of us, rhinestones serve the same purpose. Rhinestones can be of a range of quality. At the high end are Austrian crystals. These stones, while much less expensive than diamonds, are not inexpensive. They have an extraordinary trait of catching and flashing the light. The next more reasonably priced rhinestones are made of glass with metal powder painted onto the back so that they can reflect light. The very least expensive rhinestones are made of acrylic. You may not want to wear acrylic diamonds with your little black dress, because, after all, acrylic is merely plastic. When you dress up your little black dress with rhinestone jewelry, the old saying that "less is more" is applicable. One or two small pieces will dress up the outfit. More than this will make it look like a child's dress-up outfit.

However, the true beauty of the little black dress is not that it can be dressed up for an elegant evening but that it can also be dressed down for almost any other occasion. For a more casual cocktail party, leave off the diamonds or rhinestones and wear pearls. If you prefer not to wear jewelry, a fabulous scarf or colorful belt will dress up the dress in an even more casual way. Another way to accessorize the little black dress is with a jacket. This jacket can be black for a monochromatic look or a bright or pastel color.

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