A SERIOUS JOB IS NO EXCUSE: LWD

Showing posts with label LWD. Show all posts

04 January 2008

If I had a sugar daddy...

Laundered canvas dress by Derek Lam
$1,490 at eluxury.com

02 December 2007

If I had a sugar daddy...

Twisted crepe dress by Alexander Wang
$550 at lagarçonne.com

Since I don't (yet)

Mod-dot button shift mini dress by Milly
this dress is unfortunately no longer available online

15 October 2007

Now's the time to buy that LWD

Just after you've enjoyed that first full weekend of Fall we've all been waiting for since the tents at Bryant Park were broken down, I'm going to beg your pardon and ask you to think back to that five-year college reunion in June, that rooftop cocktail party in July or that friend's bridal shower in August -- in other words, backtrack to one of those occasions when the weather was warm, your skin was sunkissed and all you wanted to do was wear a pretty white dress.

Problem is, if you're like I was, you stood in front of your color-coordinated walk-in and realized that as brown bled into black grew into grey melded into metallics, other than the prized vintage mini (top half shown above right, bottom "half" here) which only comes out to play on the streets of Manhattan and maaaybe at a gay-heavy dinner party here in DC, there isn't a single stitch of semi-formal white in sight.

There are a number of legitimate reasons for this.

First, unlike the rest of the members of the neutral family, white is predominately a Spring/Summer only color and thus, not the most practical wardrobe investment. Second, for those of you who tend to have energetic hand gestures and (pointing at self) have a propensity to break into tipsy tap dancing after imbibing your third MiLi longneck, white isn't exactly the safest color to wear. And finally, unless you've earned a nice bit of Summer color or you've been blessed with a year-round olive complexion, white isn't always the most flattering option.

But just having the option is the point of this post.

I've taken the liberty of rounding up a selection of on-sale LWDs for your perusal and hopefully, purchase. You may not want nor feel it right to rock one of these darling dresses very often, but for those rare two or three occasions during the year when you are leaning white, here is a less expensive way to indulge.

Enjoy.

Bianca satin dress by Abaete ($179.99 at bluefly.com)*

Billie eyelet dress by Lilly Pulitzer ($99.99 at bloomingdales.com)

Georgina silk shirtdress ($99.99 at jcrew.com)

Bustier dress by Mara Hoffman ($149.50 at urbanchiconline.com)

Swiss-dot dress by Calvin Klein ($81.90 at nordstrom.com)

Puff-sleeve dress by Catherine Malandrino ($204 at revolveclothing.com)

Tie-front dress by Lewis Cho ($121 at basicboutique.com)

Linen/cotton dress by Alice Roi ($165 at activeendeavors.com)

Felicity dress by Christopher Deane ($228 at activeendeavors.com)*

Shiffley dress by Sunner ($117.50 at pinkmascara.com)

Multi-pleat mini by Karen Zambos ($226.80 at shopbop.com)*

Polo dress by AKA New York ($149 at shopbop.com)

And because I know others are more likely to be incited into action when they know the person pushing them has done the deed herself, here below are a couple of pics of the deeply-discounted Sea NY Summer-white frock I picked up from Ron Herman's online mega-sale last month:

*your Editrix's top picks

31 May 2007

The perfect LWD

When I first saw Kate Winslet on the set of her new film Revolutionary Road in this '50s-era white tea-length silk shift with extended cap-sleeves, dainty-thin cinch and decorative shoulder buttons, I stopped short, tilted my head to the left and after about 20 seconds of breath-held awe, let out an audible sigh.

This is the dress. This is what I look for every time I enter Annie Creamcheese in Georgetown or Psyche's Tears in the East Village. The accentuation of the waist-to-hip contour, the conservative neckline and the dramatic sleeves all contribute to a silhouette that to me epitomizes prim, ladylike beauty. Instead of relying on a short hem or racy décolletage, the sexiness from this dress comes from its cut and slim fit. The skin that is showing is minimal but strategic in that what we see - the arms, the calves, the ankles and that which the neckline scoops out - is innocent flesh, flesh even the most modest woman would bare in public. Beyond the sheer sophistication of the way it looks, I think the main reason why I'm so drawn to this dress is that the woman wearing it is able to channel both the sultry siren and the church pastor's wife.

And really, isn't that every woman's objective when she stands before her closet each morning deciding what to wear?

This dress isn't something I would ever expect to see on that other British Kate or Giselle or Cameron, in part because I don't think they have the good taste to pick it out, but more so because they don't have the zaftig figures - more specifically, Hollywood's modern interpretation thereof - to make it look as the designer intented it to look.

In short, the way it looks on Ms. Winslet.

Mom, liberate your JoAnn Fabric card and sewing machine from storage -- Boefie wants a new dress and she wants it in white, black, red and gold lamé.