When I ordered the AT high-waist pants I tried this dress—it
had been sold out in several sizes and then restocked.

Now, I had sworn off buying any sleeveless dresses, and mostly
sworn off black dresses. I have several times
checked out some sleeveless black dresses for the express purpose of wearing
under a jacket if the right one came along (heeding Angie’s warning that it’s
hard to do).

So what’s with this?

What drew me is the kind of fit-and-flair with longer length
and not so high- waisted as many; I like the more elegant lines, at least how
it looks on the model! Then, I’ve always wanted dresses that have the potential for different colors and accessories—summery,
natural colors vs. dressy, and for
wearing with short cardigans and jackets.

But, the V-neck is not “my” neckline, though the neckline
does come up high on the side of the neck, and it’s too deep—I’d have to put in a snap
(shown pinned up in some photos). (For doing tryon’s I had a cami on in some
photos, and I don’t think that looks so good.) .However, since it is a LBD I would probably wear
different necklaces to fill it in a bit. And maybe the dress wants better shoulders? See topper plan below.

Next, amazingly, I think the skirt is too full. Probably my
vanity, but I don’t think I need it so hippy, so I think I’d take in
the side seams and make it less full, by just a bit (some photos, I'm adjusting in back). I don’t know if it came in
a smaller size (this is the 2) and I do have a bit of room in the bodice, but like
it being a little fluid and shirtwaist-like and not super fitted.

Next issue is, my dilemma with this dress style is it seems
to want some heels. However, I think this dress tolerates a wedge heel pretty
well, say for summer casual. But next up is flats—would a ballet flat (mine are
slightly oval) be “classic,” or frumpy? Also shown are the magic loafers. Yes,
they should be less round-toed, but
somehow they seem to work with skirts and dresses better than other types of loafers.

Next, I will want to wear a shorter cardi or jacket. Most of
my cardigans and jackets are too long for this dress—for my other outfits, I skip
over the short, waist-fitted ones , but
I think they are available.

Here are the questions for the fabber critique:

--Is it just not right, period. Neckline(even if altered) and shoulders and so forth

--Is it or bad idea to
plan to wear toppers over it? It doesn't seem so odd to me because I run so cold, I usually have to wear a topper with a dress even if it has sleeves! (in normal weight fabrics).

--And, would you take up the skirt width. I think that’s an
easy alteration, but am I trying too hard to make it work?

--Should I avoid black, or is it a reasonable strategy to
use it for brighter toppers and accessories?

--Is it classic enough to have a
few years of staying power so that I can “play” with it as I come across items
that work with it.

-- What are the cold realities with footwear? I can do “my”
versions of pumps (typically blockier heel) for limited time dressy wear; I have or can
usually find wedges or espadrille-type shoe for less formal or summarized wear;
but if I wanted to wear to work as a basic black dress, I’d have to wear
something flatter. but professional Didn’t show the Born pump; it can work, but somehow the style
isn’t an advantage over some others.

Thanks for reading! Any comments on this, or your experiences trying to find "basic" dresses, welcome.