silk slip dress SilkSilky Elegant 100% Mulberry Cross Backless Midi with Side Slit, Black / L 100% 30MM Silk Dry clean only Model is 59 and wearing a size S. L'AGENCE Women's Jodie Silk Slip

One of the first crime novels to centre an African-American protagonist, Devil in a Blue Dress a hardboiled mystery set in Los Angeles in 1948 and introducing legendary private eye Easy Rawlins - inspired a generation of crime writers of colour and became a film starring Denzel Washington

The Renaissance-style bodices and crushed velvet bell sleeves of legendary 70s designers like Bibas Barbara Hulanicki and Marion Donaldson were the aftershocks of that trend

Three women standing together outdoors, each wearing an orange outfit

Knee-high slits on either side add some playfulness and sex appeal they give it a little edge, noted a panelist