A girl never forgets the first time she sees Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I was in my late teens and absolutely enchanted by the story, the characters… but most of all, the style.

Audrey Hepburn’s black dress, which she wears at the opening of the film, is probably the most famous of all time, and I have no doubt it sparked the ‘little black dress’ (LBD) trend that endures to this day.

Did you know the original dress was designed by Hubert de Givenchy? He and Audrey were close friends, and he loved to design for her. But when Audrey took two copies of the dress to the film studio Paramount, they were rejected for showing too much leg (there was a slit reaching to the thigh), and the skirt of the dress was subsequently redesigned.

In 2006, actress Natalie Portman modelled Givenchy’s dress for Harper’s Bazaar, and that dress then sold at auction for nearly half a million pounds.

To this day, women embrace the sleek elegance of the little black dress (albeit, one hopes, with a far less hefty price tag than Audrey’s Givenchy!). In my novel Masquerade, an LBD with simple accessories gives Luz the confidence to sail into a meeting with the attractive and powerful Andrés de Calderón:

She had slipped on a black silk-chiffon dress with ruched shoulder straps and a figure-hugging bodice flaring into a delicately draped skirt, and wore towering heels. A twenty-two-carat gold ridged cuff adorned her wrist, while oversized but dainty gold hoops hung from her earlobes. She debated whether or not to put her hair up and finally opted for a straightforward ponytail. Her make-up was minimal: a hint of eye shadow, a stroke of mascara and a tinge of tinted gloss applied to her cheekbones and lips. The copper tan she had acquired on the beach deepened the blue of her eyes, making them look wider and more vivid. She satisfied herself that she had achieved a glamorous look, without being overdone…

Back in 2010, LOVEFILM conducted a survey of the ‘greatest female screen outfits’. Audrey Hepburn’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s dress topped the poll. But interestingly, she appears again at number six on the list, with this outfit from My Fair Lady:

Such fabulous style for the races! It was designed by Cecil Beaton and sold at auction for an amazing $3.7 million.

Of course I couldn’t put my heroine in something so flamboyant, but I did dress her all in white for one party:

All eyes turned on Luz as they entered the room. She wore a white jersey figure-defining long dress with a plunging neckline and a large cutout at the back. The shimmering white material accentuated her copper tan and her irises appeared almost dark blue beneath her black lashes. The gown was accessorized with a bib necklace of hammered gold circles which lay over her décolletage; by intimating rather than exposing, the jewel enhanced the mystery, allowing a glimpse of the curvaceous hollow between her breasts. Her hair was piled high on the crown of her head, showing off her graceful, swanlike neck, the perfect oval of her face and her delicate features. As usual, without intending to, Luz stole the show.

For me, a little white dress can be just as powerful and glamorous a style statement as a little black dress.

What do you think of these dresses? Would you love to wear one of Audrey’s gowns? Do you have a trusty little black – or white – dress?