The Little Black Dress for the 50’s, 60’s, & 70’s in Winter: The Smart Version
Quote of the day: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” MLK Jr.
I realize that some of our LBDs are fancy, and certainly not a piece of clothing that you’d wear to the office. But you know me—I’m always up for an interesting challenge. And besides, we tried this same category for the summer, here, and fall, here, series in the past, so I figured I had to give it a go! And these same dresses got styled for the usual, fancy occasion here for winter.
Of course, if your little black dress just won’t make the grade for office wear, you could always substitute a black skirt & black shirt for any of these outfits!
And on a funny note, you’ll notice how I had all three of us steer away from black shoes! Of course, that’s the most popular shoe to go with this color dress, but I thought I’d show some different variations on that point. Besides, mom & Nancy wore black shoes in the last post!
Jodie’s (50’s) Outfit: For my smart outfit, I threw a blazer over the black dress. I didn’t add any shirt under the dress since most workplaces aren’t as frigid as the outside! Notice, I said “most”–ha ha!
First let’s concentrate on this wonderful necklace. I won it from Ima Pico just recently. She puts her own designs on a silk scarf and then creates necklaces or pins with them along with selling the scarves! Her designs are so beautiful and unique and I was thrilled to have won this one! I tied it so that the ends hung down in front to make it look like a bow tie blouse! Secondly, let’s laugh at how I forgot to take out my whitening trays! But really, you wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t point them out, right?
I wore my hounds tooth pumps that I got from Kohl’s many years ago.
This jacket is a DIY project. It used to be a white blazer, however, it was getting slightly dingy, so I dyed it. If anyone wants to know the ins & outs of dying clothes, let me know as I’ve done it a couple of times. I may even write a blog post on it in the future!
Dress: Beau David (similar here)~~Blazer: Bebe-given to me by a friend (similar here much darker but a great deal and here in a lighter version)~~Shoes: Apt. 9 (similar here in a lizard print or here in an abstract print)~~Necklace: Ima Pico (similar here)~~Earrings: (similar here)
Nancy’s (60’s) Outfit: You’ve probably noticed by now that all three of our smart outfits are somewhat subdued in the color arena! Therefore, Nancy had the idea to add in some color in the form of a scarf!
I think these small neck scarves are such an easy way to add color near your face. I just published an article on Sixty + Me about this trend last month. And you can see Nancy wearing this same scarf with her white dress in that article! This scarf is really wrapped around her neck twice, and rolled to try to make it thinner!
Nancy’s shoes are a grey suede pump. I figured since she chose her black sheer hosiery, and had on a grey cardigan, that the grey shoes fit in perfectly.
The nice thing about the neck scarves as opposed to just a necklace, is you get to see the color even from the back view.
Dress: SL Fashions (similar here with a vertical ruffle)~~Cardigan: The Limited (similar here in a duster version and here a little shorter)~~Turtleneck: Daisy Fuentes (similar here)~~Shoes: Me too (similar here with a nice, chunky heel)~~Scarf: (similar here especially for you Tennessee fans!)~~Earrings: (similar here)
Charlotte’s (70’s) Outfit: For my mom’s smart look with her LBD, we had her wear a knit jacket.
This is one of those jackets where the print can possibly make your eyes go crazy—especially when you see them on television. But in real life, it looks nice!
I had mom wear a grey necklace to accompany the grey snakeskin pumps!
The jacket doesn’t have any closures, but I think that could be easily remedied with a brooch to hold it together!
Dress: Mom made it (similar here)~~Jacket: Talbots (similar here in a boucle or here in a geo print)~~Shoes: Auditions (similar here with straps)~~Necklace: (similar here many stranded)~~Earrings: (similar here)
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For more options on how to make your LBD appropriate for the work place, I rounded up some cardigans and blazers—all under $100, of course:
