Lynne McCrossan: The search is on for a killer little black dress in college

Published on Monday 22 March 2010 09:18

THE female of the species is deadlier than the male. Take the black widow spider – she lures unsuspecting males into her lair, has her wicked way with them then disposes of their bodies in the most deadly of fashions!

She is not so distant to us ladies in the style stakes with her sleek, shiny black body and distinct red hourglass marking on her abdomen. It's like her very own little black dress teamed with red lipstick.

The LBD is our universal uniform of style. It has survived innumerable fashion fads to become a stylish staple in every woman's wardrobe.

Coco Chanel coined the look, Givenchy immortalised it on Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany's and Versace sexed it up with safety pins on Liz Hurley.

We'll never reinvent the wheel when it comes to little black dresses but we can have fun re-designing it. So when I got a phone call from Edinburgh's own Little Miss Black Dress, Roz Colthart, asking to help her pick a winner at Edinburgh College of Art for a little black dress competition she had set up, I couldn't wait.

The second year students had stuck to the brief set by Roz for Black Essentials, her online clothing boutique, to create a unique and eye-catching number. The reward for all the hard work will be for the winner to have their design made up and sold on the website.

As we stared at each dress that had been mocked up I couldn't believe the calibre of work I was looking at. We wandered back and forth in front of the dresses hanging on the wall coming back to our own personal favourites.

It was clear we needed a coffee to clear our clouded heads so it was off to deliberate – the winner will be announced May 7. I already have my eye on at least three for my own collection!

Steph Kelly, 21, Gorgie

Gorgie Road is one of my favourite places for a bit of charity shop-hopping – and I'm clearly not the only one.

When I spotted Steph's bright pink coat I knew she worshipped in my charity shop church!

The jacket is from Armstrong's, her trousers Warehouse and that fabulous fluffy scarf was a charity shop find.