Making a splash back in 2007 at the National Board of Review Gala, actress Kate Winslet shows off black to amazing effect with a contemporary interpretation of the classic but ever popular little black dress.

But not just an ordinary little black dress. Yes, it qualifies. Its simple, tasteful, elegant, not too short. But it’s also strapless and just the tiniest bit low cut. And with that splashy black bow for impact, it’s definitely not boring.

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An elegant dress, absolutely! But not a dress most curvy women would have the courage to wear or the panache to carry off with such great style. Nonetheless, given Winslet’s dramatic flair and extraordinary self possession, it works. She doesn’t even try to draw attention from her weight with heavier jewelry. A simple necklace and earrings, barely visible, do nothing to counteract the power of the dress itself – or the fact that Kate is definitely not skinny.

Many women, thinking themselves heavy, would consider this dress, covet it even, but then conclude, “my shoulders are too big” or “my chest is too husky,” returning it to the rack for all the smaller women who “can wear that sort of thing.”

And what about that extraordinary bow, the keynote of the entire dress? How many women with Kate’s body would hopefully try it on, only to conclude “that bow makes me look fat!”

Does the dress make Kate look fat? Does she care? She got rave reviews wearing it. What does that tell you about showing off your curves in a fantastic dress, a dress many women would judge as “something only a skinny woman could wear?”

The next time you find yourself longing and wishing you “had the body” for a dress like this, but then turn away because you are “too fat,” just try asking yourself, “What would Kate do?”

There you go. Does Kate know something other women don’t? Maybe she does. The radiant photos of her in this exquisite black dress say it all.

Kate Winslett has mastered the art of celebrating herself.

1- Erm, Naomi, Aren’t You Tall Enough, Love? 
(Vivienne Westwood show, 1993)

Naomi Campbell has got to be at the top of the list for being one of the early pioneers of catwalk boo-boos.

She was given shoes that proved to be too high and awkward to walk in. But brave Ms Campbell pressed on.

She sashayed, sashayed, wobbled, sashayed, wobbled, wobbled, wobbled, then crash, boom, wallop – her ass (and dignity) on the floor.

She was a good sport, though, which is more than can be said for the rest of the tantrums she’s been fond of throwing every full moon.

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2- Carmen does the Electra Slide…
(Max Factor Fashion Show, 2007)

Not only did Carmen Electra take a tumble, but the woman who went over to help her slipped too.

There’s falling…and there’s FALLING. And this woman fell in a right old messy heap.

Humpty Dumpty couldn’t have done it any better. In fact, she put him out of a job.

Maybe she fell that bad to make Carmen feel better. Or maybe she was being competitive. I mean, women in Hollywood tend to be quite competitive, don’t they? Maybe she was thinking ‘if Carmen can do it, I can do it 10 hideous times better’.

Who knows, ey?

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3- I Eat Floors for Breakfast…pout…pout… 
(Model, Kamila: Vivienne Westwood Show – 2007)

She walks, she slips, she falls.

Twice.

Atta girl!

The second time was much MUCH better. Very original.

You’ve got to watch the video.

Perhaps she was an aspiring stuntwoman and was practicing her, erm, sleek moves. I mean, if you watch the video hard enough, like really really really hard, you’ll start to notice that there’s something very ‘I’m-Jackie-Chan-I-do-all-my-own-stunts’ about it.

No. You’re not looking hard enough.

It’s downright tricky walking in those heels, but to then give the poor girl a water can – filled with water – was cruel. (Shame on you, Westwood. Shame.)

4- Jessica Stam (Chloe Show – 2006)…

I’m convinced model, Jessica, saw a pigeon heading straight for her……so she had to dive for cover.

Wouldn’t you if a pigeon came a-swooping?

’The Dive’ sort of took attention away from the dull outfit she had on. Looks like something that was ripped off an army tent and wrapped around her at the last minute.

Aww, she had a really sweet smile when she got up though.

5- Milana Bogolevpova (Dior, 2008)…

If only this was Paris Hilton (or Victoria Beckham with a blonde wig), then this stumble would have been double the viewing pleasure with extra cream.Ah well.Not one to do things by half, Milana stumbled twice just in case anyone missed it the first time round. Because she’s generous like that. Very much a buy-one-get-one-free kinda gal, you see.

What an utterly considerate selfless act.

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6- Tiiu Kuik (Oscar De La Renta, 2004)…

Why are the heels, the slippery floors almost always to blame, huh?

Maybe, just maybe Tiiu was distracted by someone munching on a chocolate.

Maybe someone whispered her name wrong as she walked past. So wrong that she responded the only way she knew how (i.e., falling/flopping to the floor rather theatrically while digging her nails into said person’s leg.)

Or perhaps she was trying to demonstrate just how wear-and-tear resistant the whole outfit is.

7- Elise Crombez and Her Floor Sandwich…
(Proenza Schouler show – 2007)

Elise’s stilts, I mean, heels were having none of it that day. ‘Not skinny enough’, her heels protested.  So they swerved to the left and before Elise could say ‘Worzel Gummidge’, her tanned body gave in to the sweet laws of gravity and she nibbled on a bit of floor sandwich.Clever girl, though. She took off the blasted shoes and walked in her socks the rest of the way.

Way to go.

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8- Lara Stone (Karl Lagerfield show – 2007)…

The piers de resistance is about halfway through the video. One minute Lara’s wearing a deadpan ‘I’m a model’ look – next thing she’s wearing the floor.

What’s a tad disturbing is there doesn’t seem to be a hint of laughter amongst the audience. Not even a smidgen. I wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face if it was me. I’d try to but it would only make things worse and before I knew it, I’d be cracking up, holding my sides, tears rolling and breaking wind ‘til I hyperventilated.

9- Charleston Fashion Week – 2008…

Couldn’t this woman see that NONE of the models were walking down the mid-section of the catwalk?

Notice that most of the models didn’t seem to react to the incident…except for the very last model who looked over…and kept on walking.

Wow.

Deep.

Plus, it was about 6 seconds before anyone in the audience got their ass up to help.

The world of high-fashion is a whole kooky different ball game.

(p.s.: how stupid was the guy who fell in. Didn’t he see what just happened? There’s such a thing as ‘learning by example’ which he SO did not get.)

10- Academy of Art University Fashion Show, NYC – 2008…

As this model was walking down the catwalk, one of her shoes unfortunately came off.

Fingers and thumbs up to her for not letting it faze her. She carried on walking with the one shoe like it was nothing but a thing and picked up the other shoe on her way back.

Subsequent models showed their support by taking off their shoes at the start of the runway and walking barefoot with their shoes in their hands.

Either that or they didn’t want a repeat performance.

In the heyday of the Savoy theatre in Harlem, up to 5,000 coats a night found their way into the establishment’s swanky coatroom. Our classic black mid-calf length Savoy coat would have fit in perfectly with the swingers of those glory days and yet, it mingles effortlessly with contemporary fashion.

The Look

Fads come and go, but classic fashion never goes out of style. Our black Savoy coat is sleek, with a wide collar, button front and tie waist. But we understand that, “It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing,”- our Savoy coat has a single vent at the back for easy movement.

The Savoy coat is long enough to swing but short enough to let you move. The mid-calf length allows for the best of both worlds and allows your coat to be as formal or fun as you need it to be in relation to whatever outfit you happen to choose for the day. Pair your outfit with the Diamonte shawl or the Nancy Mac drawstring bag for ultimate glamour power.
The Quality

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The Price

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Black clothing has always conveyed a certain sense of the forbidden. In western movies and comic books, the outlaws wear black. Dracula wore a black cape. Black cats mean bad luck. Punks of the 70’s wore black to express defiance toward society, while Goths, an offshoot of punks, wear black to celebrate the dark side of life. And bondage clothing is, of course, always black.

In Edwardian and Victorian times, the fashion of black mourning clothes for widows was governed by strict rules of style. The mourning period lasted for 2 1/2 years, moving from the plain black garb of deep mourning to fancier black clothing with lace and ribbons, to black dresses with a few muted tones of neutral colour.

Wearing black conveyed respect for a dead husband – and clearly communicated a woman’s unavailability! Black clothing was a public expression of grief, considered essential for any woman of style and taste. But after World War I and the Spanish flu epidemic, the number of widows increased so much that it became almost common to see women in black.

Black clothing on women for anything other than mourning is a recent fashion trend, introduced early in the twentieth century by Parisian clothing designer Coco Chanel with the little black dress. Before that, a woman in black, if not in mourning, was considered to be in very bad taste – or even indecent! But when Chanel debuted the very first little black dress in 1926, it was an instant hit, and black clothing became an acceptable and popular choice for women everywhere.

The little black dress was classic, calf-length, tasteful and versatile. It was meant to be dressed up or down, accentuated with colour or not. It was simple and, being accessible in many different fabrics, designs, and prices, became an overnight success and a clothing staple in every modern woman’s closet.

Black clothing for women remained popular until the 1950’s, when a widespread attitude of repression returned it to a status of questionable choice, and women in black again took on the aura of bad character. This continued until the 1960’s, when wearing black was revived by the Givenchy designs worn by actress Audrey Hepburn in the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

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It then remained a fashion statement until the 1970’s, when it abruptly took a back seat to the loud and gaudy fashions of the disco era. Still, it remained a fashion statement, but only for the more self-assured fashionistas like Jackie Onassis and Bianca Jagger.

Black clothing resumed its fashionable position in the 1980’s and 1990’s, the little black dress easily holding its own throughout the “grunge” phase of the 90’s – even though it was sometimes paired with combat boots!

Black accessories do not appear to suffer the edgy status of black clothing, having always been appropriate. Any given outfit, paired with a black bag and shoes, will be generally acceptable without casting aspersions upon the character of the woman wearing them.