On March 8th, 2018, women's international day, mind you, I started getting ready for my shift at the blooming dills in Beverly Hills, and I did what I always did.

I blew out my hair, contoured my face, and then I sat at the

corner of my bed, mustering the strength to pull out my black panty hose and zip up what had

become my work uniform, the little black dress. And then, something came over me. I opened up my laptop and I started to

furiously type out an email. Hello, this is Monica Marales Garcia from the Bloomingy's Web Center location, 4,9.50.

Because my manager has been on leave since October, I didn't know who to bring this up to, so I'm contacting HR directly.

I have to, unfortunately, quit my position as a stylist immediately. Effective today. Best, Monica. And then I hit send. That's how I quit working at Bloomingdale's. From Futuromedia and PRX, it's Latino USA.

I'm Maria Inojosa.

Today, the unknown history of the iconic little black dress.

The Little Black Dress, aka the LBD, has become synonymous with the cocktail dress.

The LBD can be any style, any fabric, but what it will always exude is confidence and style.

The LBD has been worn by everyone from Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, to Princess Diana.

And since the 1920s, it's gained the reputation as the garment of liberation and access to the modern world.

Ever since then, the LBD has been reliably flattering, seductive, and elegant.

But it hasn't always been this way.

For many women, the little black dress has, and still is, a symbol of servitude and of work.

Because before it was the iconic symbol it is now, it was a dress only worn by working-class white women employed in department stores, as well as by black women who worked as domestics in the

homes of white Americans. In this episode, producer Monica Morales-Garcia shares a lot of

experiences that she's had with the little black dress. They used to wear them to serve mostly

white customers when they worked at Bloomingdale's,

and then they ended up researching the origins of the little black dress while Monica was in

graduate school. Don't get this twisted. This is not a Cinderella or Rags to Rich's story for

...