Is the little black dress losing its appeal?

A little black dress, which used to be a must for the party season has become a passe this year. With people experimenting with colours, the good old black dresses have now become a strict no-no for party-animals, say fashion designers.

"Just 4-5 years ago, black used to be very popular among party-goers. Now, no one wants anything regular as everyone has a black dress in their wardrobe. We had enough of it and now nobody seems to want black," ace designer Kiran Uttam Ghosh told PTI here.

Observing that people are now in a mood to wear something different rather than the conventional ones, city-based designer Tejas Gandhi said the taste has changed.

"While dressing up for New Year parties, people are now experimenting with different colours. Gone are the days when black used to rule. Colours like fuchsia, yellow and pink are ruling the roost in parties. People are also opting for multi-coloured clothes," he said.

Pali of Mona-Pali designer duo, however, thinks that black dresses can never be out of season. "It's true that none is talking about black these days. But whatever we might say, you will still come across the colour everywhere in parties."

Gandhi blamed the decline of black to the advent of theme parties. "Now everyone wants to dress up in a particular way for theme parties. So wearing other colours might be a compulsion for them."

The heavy embroidered look, common in parties, has also now been rejected by party-hoppers, as they are ready to try different designs and textures.

"Earlier, embroidery or embellishments used to be popular. Now people want less of all that. Yet they want to look classy, when it comes to parties," he said.

With winter around, jackets will be common in parties. "For New Year parties I am getting orders of jackets rather than sweaters. Jackets, particularly the military ones, have a typical male style which makes it more popular," Gandhi said. He is also getting lots of orders for one-shoulder dresses. "Particularly young girls are making a bee-line for one-shoulder dresses," he added.

Designers say they are not feeling the pinch of recession any more this season.

"It's gone now. There's no recession around when it comes to shopping for New Year parties. People are talking less about price and more about designs," Ghosh said.

Pali said this time of the year everyone wants to be dressed up forgetting everything, including recession.

"People are now looking for a blend of contemporary and western silhouettes, making it very interesting. Women now want to wear jackets with sarees," she said.

What will you wear this party season? The little black dress or a military jacket? Make a style statement, start a discussion below: