The little black dress (LBD) is a black evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often quite short. Fashion historians ascribe the origins of the little black dress to the 1920s designs of Coco Chanel. It is intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, and widely accessible. Its ubiquity is such that it is often simply referred to as the "LBD". It’s worth noting, however, that by the late 19th century black dresses had become the epitome of chic, as demonstrated by John Singer Sargent’s Madame X.
