The Little black dress reinvented

Bottega Veneta

Alessandro Dell'Acqua

Alexander McQueen

Balenciaga

It might come as a surprise but I don't have a little black dress in my wardboard: up to now, I've always thought the little black dress was a dispensable accessory, the garment every girl has in her cupboard in case she has to go to a cocktail party at the last minute and needs to look elegant and unremarkable. I don't like unremarkable, I think it's dull, and it's at the antipodes of style: I like strong, deep, shimmery colours, shapes, volume and character... And you might call me anal, but I like to plan my outfit for every occasion: style is all about theatricality and expression, about finding the right tone, the right word, and, of course, about turning men's heads in the streets...

However, the Fall 2009 collections have come up with a new kind of little black dress that caught my eye: it's a little black dress with character, simple, sexy and powerful, which reinvents the working girl outfit with shoulder lines that go up and tight fabrics that clench at the hips. It's smart, it's sexy, it's simple, and with a pair of stilettos it will devastate our friends the men, which is exactly what we want, is it not?

Time to start saving those pennies, girls...