Little black dresses: good and the bad

Published on November 30, 2010 by The Editor · No Comments

Jules Standish asks: Did little black dresses make ladies in a weekend magazine feature look magical – or like Morticia?

Sunday’s YOU Magazine took five great looking women of different ages and photographed them in their favourite little black dresses.

As it is the season for wearing black, it is also a great time to be looking at who can genuinely wear black well and who sadly, is aged dramatically by it.

I took a quick look at the women in the article: Suzannah, a pretty blonde wore black in the worst way possible for her looks, right up high against her face.

The dark shadows under her chin were obvious. She is only 36 but her neck looked aged and the lines between her nose and mouth have been highlighted, as have the roots in her hair.

Mandy has the right hair colour for black away from her face, and as she has a lot of her own skin tone reflecting onto her face she gets away with it perfectly.

Joanne looks stunning at 53 but what a shame you notice the block of black before her lovely face and beautiful hair – it is far too hard a colour and too much for her warm features which pale into the background.

Janey wears her LBD well as it’s in a v-neck so not up against her face, but the colour is hard and cool and makes her appear the same.

Phina has gorgeous golden skin and is wearing a fabulously cut black dress, away from her face and in a perfect shape for her shoulders – as its sleeves are short the black isn’t swamping her colouring and it allows for her own skin tone to shine – I would prefer to see her in a dark gold or chocolate brown which would automatically bring out her golden tones.

Celebrities who look great in in little black dresses are Katy Perry, Nigella Lawson, Cher, Dita Von Teese and Joan Collins.

As the skin ages, black up against the face will highlight all the negatives, so if you want to WOW them all at the office party this year, wear your LBD away from your face with lots of jewellery or cleavage – you know it makes sense!

Does Jules’ advice make you party animal girls think again about the LBD – or did you spend too much not to wear it anyway? Comments welcome

Jules Standish is a wowdewow fashion expert. Her book, How Not to Wear Black, will be published next summer.