The little black dress is truly a style essential, but when you walk into a room full of other little black dresses, you need to stand out.

If you think a little black dress is just a little black dress, think again. There are as many permutations as there are moods.

For classic daywear, lunching or garden parties, wear the fitted shift dress. Slashed neckline, skimming, not clinging to the contours of the body, dropping to just below the knee.

Remember Audrey Hepburn wearing Givenchy in Breakfast at Tiffany’s? A wide-brimmed hat with a cream satin trim and a pair of high-heeled slingbacks completes the illusion that you are a film star.

For slinky eveningwear, make-or-break dates or landmark birthday parties, wear a strappy, ruched black dress. With a heart-shaped bodice, closely fitted but made from clever rippled fabric that conceals lumps and bumps, it ends just on the knee to reveal finely shaped calves clad in impossibly sheer black tights. Think Marilyn Monroe. Accessorise with a pair of black satin Manolos with a discreet and feminine little bow on them.

Other useful little black dresses include the black shift dress for the office; the black linen shirt dress for summer; the wraparound silk jersey for informal events you still want to look smart at; the stretchy, forgiving black dress for days you feel fat, but need to look slim.

That black holds centre stage in timeless style can be attributed to Chanel, who, in 1919, gave black its fashion credentials. She claimed that it all stemmed from a charity ball where she perceived the colours the women were wearing as “too awful, they make the women ugly. I think they ought to be dressed in black.”

Taken from Karen Homer’s new book, Things a Woman Should Know About Style, published by Prion, hardback original, £9.99. Illustrated by fashions available online (www.littleblackdressdirect.com), designed by Andrew Fionda.

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