It’s that time of year when we’re all supposed to be relieved we have an “LBD” in our closet — that simple little shift or tee dress or slip dress that you can pull out and dress up or down for any sort of gathering you may be invited to. I don’t get a lot of party invitations at any time of year (lol) but the value of a versatile little black dress is undeniable. Here are a wide range of fairly timeless options — but of course, these are also just wonderfully versatile dress patterns that would make great wardrobe building blocks in whatever colors or prints suit you best and any time of the year—
TOP: Catarina from Seamwork is a slip dress with gathered skirt that’s great as a party dress or a summer frock, and would go great with sweaters [UPDATE: I just saw that the current issue of Seamwork is the LBD issue! Here’s the intro]
MIDDLE LEFT: Farrow from Grainline Studio was Jen’s wedding dress in crepe de chine, so that one definitely dresses up or down
MIDDLE RIGHT: Inari from Named is a slightly cocoon-shaped tee dress you could do absolutely anything with
BOTTOM: Anna from By Hand London is a little bit va-va-voom at floor-length and cute and girly in the knee-length variation
Also:
Simple Slip by April Rhodes is a plain slip dress that comes along with the Date Night Dress pattern — bonus! (See also: Juno)
Fen from Fancy Tiger, which I’ve mentioned before, looks really great in dressier fabrics — here’s proof
Or:
For a knitted dress option, Olga Buraya-Kefelian’s simple tee dress, Ebb (below), would dress up beautifully in black.
PREVIOUSLY in Make Your Own Basics: The turtleneck sweater
