Color spectrum fades to black

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Black is the new black, as they say in fashion circles.
After seasons of pink and green, the palette has done a sharp turnaround to celebrate the all-time classic color. You can therefore count on the little black dress to be a strong presence in months to come. As the Web site style.com notes, the LBD dates to 1926, when Coco Chanel created it. It was standard in the Roaring '20s and glamorized by movie stars such as Rita Hayworth in the '40s. It was equally appealing thanks to Audrey Hepburn in the '50s and '60s.
In the '90s it was part of the stark minimalist movement and later had some scandalous moments when Gianni Versace made a punk black dress held together with safety pins for Elizabeth Hurley.
Today's designers seem as taken with it as if it were a new idea. Zac Posen and Hermes showed it in velvet. Stella McCartney offered a puff-sleeved wrap coat. Narciso Rodriguez sent out a well-fitted black dress cropped at the knee. And Ralph Lauren kept it simple in a strappy long evening slip dress.
But you can take the trend a step or two further, says Style.com: Buy black "Queen of the Night" tulip bulbs in quantities of 10 for $8.95 for on www.dutchgardens.com.