Black (and white) read all about it

Black and white – please don't adjust your set!

Skirt around the recent argument about whether horizontal or vertical stripes are slimming – just wear black or white.

The little black dress, the simple elegant dress that is never outdated, and can be dressed down or up by accessories, has a complicated back-story. Was it invented by Coco Chanel in the 20s?   In cartoons based on twenties 'It girl' Clara Bow, Betty Boop's skimpy scarlet dress started off originally in black and white in the first monocrome versions; starlets in Hollywood's early days of Technicolour were dressed in black because other colours looked distorted on screen.

Then there was Dior's post war 'New Look'; Wallace Simpson; and the French singer Edith Piaf, 'the little black sparrow'.

In Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita' Sylvia wades into the Trevi fountain wearing a glamorous figure-hugging black cocktail dress.

But the black sheath-style Givenchy gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' was so famous that it had the highest price paid for a film dress until surpassed by Munroe's subway dress, the white billowy halter-neck dress by costume designer

Travilla, one of the most iconic images of the 20^th century.

And as for one of the most famous bits of memorabilia: did Marilyn marry in black and white?

If you were going to own a priceless piece of movie memorabilia, what would it be?  Michael Jackson's red 'Thriller' jacket, a James Dean tee shirt, Steve McQueen's 'Bullitt' sunglasses? I've just recently watched 'The Wonder Boys' again, a film in which Tobey Macguire's character steals the jacket worn by Marilyn Munroe when she married Baseball star Joe Dimaggio in 1954. Funny thing is, that in the modern film, the jacket is shown as black with a white fur collar, as that's the colour we have always seen the original  in the black and white press photos, but in actual fact it was chocolate brown. The marriage didn't last, one of the problems leading up to its demise was Joe's reaction to the filming and photographing of the aforementioned white dress scene, which apparently really upset him as there were numerous re-takes!