Another Little Something

Looking for a superb LBD? Look no further:



This is a fabulous black wool knit YSL sleeveless sac dress with leather trim and a banded hem. What's that you say? It doesn't look like much on the hanger? Well, here it is on a body:



That's better. Even so, the dress does have belt carriers attached to it, so obviously it's supposed to have a belt. Here's what happens when I put on a nice leather one with some cool-yet-subdued hardware:

(If you click the photos they'll get larger. Please pay no attention to my hair -- it was in a mood.)

Now we're cooking with gas. (And it appears to very much like my leopard-print pumps, doesn't it?) You might find, as I did, that the belt loops are not in the right place (the almost never are for me), but because they're little braided thread loops on the side seams instead of proper carriers they would be easy to just snip right off. Why doesn't it have the matching belt? I dunno. Maybe that's why it wound up at the Neiman Marcus outlet. Belt or no, this is a fantastic dress, very much an investment piece. It's made of beautiful lightweight merino wool (sooooo soft, not even remotely scratchy) and the leather on the collar is butter-soft. There are no fasteners or zippers or complications of any sort -- it pops over the head and that's it. You're dressed. Impeccably. The tag on the dress says it's from 2008, I'm not sure which season specifically. Although it really doesn't matter, because this is a twenty-year dress, it's never going to go out of style.



Sort of a modified mandarin collar, a little bit of gather around the neck, perfectly cut armholes make the shoulders look gorgeous but still allow for a Support Mechanism. So simple, so easy, so perfect.

The bad news? Well, it's pretty small. The tag says it's an XS, and it fits me, so I'm calling it a 4. I think it would work for a 2 provided you belted it, and I think it would work for a 6 provided you're fairly proportional (it's straight up & down). The other thing, of course, is that you cannot alter this dress -- it has a banded hem (like a sweater) and it's knit. It is what it is.

But what it is is pretty darned wonderful. I really love this thing, it's so soft and snuggly and chic at the same time I can hardly stand it.

So why aren't I keeping it? Well, for much the same reason I'm not keeping the Origamis -- I have plenty of stuff and besides, I really don't need to be spending the money right now. But I had to pick it up and bring it home and give one of my readers a shot at it, because I really think this is the kind of thing you should have in your closet if you can manage it. Original retail on this dress was $1185, but thanks to a missing belt and the NM outlet, it can be yours for $249, and that includes shipping for my readers. Like the Origamis, this is a limited-time offer and also like the Origamis, if not sold here it will wind up on an auction site where the price will be higher; so if you're interested or have any other questions, act fast.



Photos: Style Spy