Basics for the Style Essences: The LBD

Previously we explored some of the best versatile basics—jeans, Tees, and jackets—for every style essence.

Now we focus on the ultimate basic for transitioning from day to night: the Little Black Dress.

Here’s where I’m supposed to say that every woman absolutely needs to own an LBD.

From a color analysis perspective, though, not everyone looks their best in stark black. So, many women may actually want to avoid wearing a little black anything.

But can it enhance your style to own a Little your-color-season’s-version-of-Black Dress?

In many cases, yes! So here’s LBD inspiration for every essence.

Classic Essence LBD

What makes this Classic:

• Basic closed neckline

• Minimal, possibly no detail

• Simple silhouette

This hemline is definitely in danger of violating Classic’s dress code (which specifies moderate, conservative lengths), but this might just be because the model is seated.

If you’re searching for a Classic silhouette, you can’t go wrong with a standard knee-length dress in a basic shift or a-line style.

Knee-length Classic dress.

Classic pieces embody moderation. They’re not particularly short or long, wide or narrow, elaborate or embellished. They’re extremely non-extreme.

If they’re extreme in other ways, it’s that they’re extremely elegant and minimalist.

Classic fashion is also fantastic for dressing up or down. Throw on some comfortable sandals with a Classic dress, and you can read in the park. Slide on dressy flats, and you’re ready for a night out.

Ingenue Essence LBD

What makes this Ingenue:

• Fit-n-flare short skirt

• Short, full, ruffle-sleeve effect

• Curving and relatively modest neckline

Compared to the Classic LBD, the Ingenue LBD has a shorter hemline and overall curvier shapes, exemplifying Ingenue’s youthful, girly feel.

And like the Classic LBD, the Ingenue version could take you from day to night.

Gamine Essence LBD

What makes this Gamine:

• Short silhouette and sleeves

• Angular collar and cuffs in a contrasting color

• Playful pockets, buttons, and overall vibe

Gamine style wins the award for “most fun,” making us smile at its energy and quirky embellishment.

And given its whimsical nature, Gamine fashion often resists feeling formal.

With the above dress, something about the buttons’ color, largeness, and plentifulness reads as very “day." But a version with smaller or less conspicuous buttons could still be fully Gamine—and might transition better to a dressier setting.

Dramatic Essence LBD

What makes this Dramatic:

• Straight neckline paired with long, tight sleeves

• Very short, close-fitting silhouette

• All these elements are in the same dark, matte fabric

In contrast to Classic, Dramatics are highly flattered by extremes, whether that’s extreme length or extreme shortness.

What’s cool about this dress is that the long sleeves and high neckline help to visually balance the short hemline, without adding other essences.

So a trick for making Dramatic fashion more wearable is to combine opposites in order to create a sort of visual balance—different than the everything-in-moderation balance of Classic, but balanced nonetheless.

Romantic Essence LBD

This dress isn’t fully Romantic—

—but it has key Romantic elements, including:

• Body-hugging silhouette

• Bust emphasis

• Ruching

The short skirt works for Romantic, too, especially with the ruching and tight fit. A knee-length or midi style would also work.

What adds other essences here? The sheer panel at the neckline brings in Ethereal, and the cap sleeves with a puff effect embody Ingenue.

But subtract the sheer panel and sleeves, and the result is pure Romantic—ultra-sexy and glam:

Sleeveless, curving necklines communicate Romantic sensuality.

Romantics can also do narrow straps, like spaghetti straps. Sometimes they can do long or short fitted sleeves, if all the other elements of the piece read as highly Romantic.

Natural Essence LBD

What makes this Natural:

• Overall straight, maxi silhouette

• Wide, sleeveless neckline

• Lightweight and casual-appearing fabric

Like Gamine, Natural fashion can have a hard time appearing dressed up. Here the neutral color scheme, deep neckline, and extreme maxi silhouette help this feel more formal.

Of course, the maxi style technically disqualifies this from being a “little” dress.

But a knee-length version of this dress would read as fully Natural, too—and might even better reflect Natural’s ultra-carefree aesthetic.

Ethereal Essence LBD

Not a purely Ethereal dress, but a very Ethereal skirt:

What makes this Ethereal:

• Sheer fabric

• Hi-lo hem that creates a gently swooping curve

• Overall long, narrow silhouette

The top appears Romantic, so this dress would be great for a Romantic Ethereal blend.

Of all the essences, Ethereal might be the hardest to find in “basic” fashion. Because here’s what happens when we get a purely Ethereal dress:

The Ethereal elements:

• Profuse beaded detail

• Sheer hem

• Diagonal neckline

• Overall long, narrow silhouette

This dress is probably better at transitioning from formal to more formal than casual to formal.

If you want something more casual (by Ethereal standards), you could look for a dress with a similar silhouette without any beading.

How formal style essences do LBDs

Like Ethereal, Romantic dresses often appear highly formal.

So how can you find an Ethereal and/or Romantic LBD that transitions well from day to night?

One approach: choose a casual, lightweight fabric, where all the other elements read as Ethereal or Romantic.

For Ethereal, this can mean very lightweight but not sheer cotton or linen that drapes gently across the body, in a midi or possibly high-low silhouette.

For Romantic, this can mean knee-length jersey knits that hug the body and have very curvy necklines (with optional ruching).

You’ll also likely want to avoid much detail in your Ethereal or Romantic LBD, like beading, glitter, ruffles, and of course elaborate trains:

The more detail, plus silky and velvety textures, the less ideal your LBD becomes for transforming from day to night.

LBDs and minimal detail?

More detail can also make it harder for a dress to work across a variety of contexts, and to match with different shoes and accessories.

So a somewhat minimalist LBD can be a practical choice for every style essence.

But if you love a highly-detailed dress and think you’ll be able to wear it a lot, then you might decide to eschew minimalism.

This dress has too much detail to be a textbook LBD, but for a Ingenue Natural Gamine, it could function as a (very detailed) wardrobe basic.

Does your LBD have to be “little?”

The advantage of a “little” dress is that it more easily feels casual, making it a better transitional piece.

But if you have a lot of Ethereal, you’re most flattered by lengthy hemlines.

While it’s definitely not impossible to find a purely Ethereal knee-length dress, Ethereal’s best fashion does tend to be elongated (or at least have a high-low silhouette).

So if you know you’ll get a lot of use out of a long dark dress, and it suits your essences, then maybe that’s the best “little” black dress for you.

Does your LBD have to be black?

Your best LBD will be the one that embodies your style type and color season. So if you’re a Light Spring, your ideal LBD won’t be black.

Which seasons can harmoniously wear black? In color analysis theory, it’s all three Winters (Dark, True, and Bright), plus the two seasons that are influenced by Winter: Dark Autumn and Bright Spring.

But even if you don’t have black in your seasonal palette, you can get the same effect and benefits of an LBD by choosing a dress in one of your season’s darkest neutrals.

For some seasons, your LBD will be more akin to dark brown or gray.

Does your LBD have to be a dress?

Maybe controversial but… probably not!

If dresses aren’t your favorite, then your version of an LBD could incorporate pants:

With the right accessories, this jumpsuit—great for an Ethereal Natural—could go from day to night.

But… shouldn’t you own an actual LBD?

Again, maybe not! It doesn’t seem mandatory to conform to a fashion rule for the sake of following that rule.

For many people, an LBD is super versatile, practical wardrobe “essential.”

But if your style essences favor longer hemlines, and if you don’t have black in your color palette, then why not have your LBD be a brown or gray maxi dress—or a jumpsuit, or romper?

Many mainstream fashion guidelines are reductive, because they’re made to be broadly applicable for all women. Since we all have different ratios of style essences, combined with different color palettes, it makes sense that we won’t all include the exact same pieces in a functional wardrobe.

Your best basics will be the ones that you love wearing and that harmonize with your beauty—even if that means you technically don’t own a single LBD.