Friday Fashion: LBD

I just adore little black dresses (LBDs). In a pinch, there's nothing better. I don't, however, actually seem to own any, except one stretchy one that I bought at a store in France, oh, about eight years ago. And I only wore it once. In a skit. Days after I bought it. So maybe I'm not the LBD expert, preferring pretty, contemporary floral patters and bright, skippy colors. But I can still love LBDs, and soon I will have a reason to wear one! Woo-hoo! Here are a few I fell in love with online (apologies for the lack of diversity in stores; one site just had too many pretty ones!).
This. Is. My. Favorite. I've come to terms with the fact that my upper body does not look best in strapless dresses (one word: sleeves), but I LOVE this enough to pretend like my body would look good encased in its pretty. $34.99.
Here's the best of both worlds for my body type: Sleeves and ruching (ruching is the gathered fabric around the midsection, for those of you who have never been concerned with muffin top). I wouldn't even have to spend time with Demon Jillian to look moderately acceptable in this ensemble. Hate those shoes though. I never understood the podiatric bondage look. $156. (I pretty much just made up the word "podiatric.")Say it with me again: Ruching. Roo-shing. It's fabric magic. If I could lift weights that were more than five pounds without tipping over backwards, this dress could potentially work for me. $32.50.*This dress looks a little Puritanical, and I kind of like that about it. The lack of cleavage is sweet. And it's hard to see from the picture, but it is covered in tiny, neat rows of ruffles. $30.*OH SPEAKING OF RUFFLES. This dress might be my second favorite. Or my first. Whatever. It's too artsy for my neck 'o the woods, but I think it's wonderful. I wish the site had a picture of an actual human being wearing this dress, because I would love to see how those ruffles fall. They probably accentuate all the right parts. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. $20.*

*These prices aren't actually dollars, they are pounds. But I don't know how to enter that little "L" symbol for pounds, so you get "$." Still, a great site, with international delivery!