WRITTEN BY: LISA IRWIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: JOSHUA JACOBS
WARDROBE PARTNERS: OCALA CLOTHING SWAP, AGAPANTHUS, KEN EMPORIO
MODELS: MEGAN SAARANEN, NIKKI UPTON, ZOEE ZARILLO
ON LOCATION: MAGNOLIA ART XCHANGE
The Iconic Little Black Dress
Just Add Imagination
One little black dress goes from desk to cocktails to full-glam nights, reinvention never looked this effortless
Holiday schedules escalate quickly: office parties, cocktails with friends, New Year’s Eve sparkle, or a big night out … but does that really mean three different dresses? Not this year. We took one Little Black Dress (per model) and proved she can keep up with your whole season with no panic shopping required. Holiday style doesn’t have to start with a shopping spree.
In fact, some of the most magical outfits begin with the dress you already own, or one you thrift or borrow. For this holiday edition, we took the most classic piece in a woman’s wardrobe, the Little Black Dress, and showed how one dress can live three completely different lives from day into night.
For our photo shoot, each model wore the same LBD for three occasions we all know well: a work-day look, a cocktails-with-friends look, and a full-glam evening moment for a holiday party, New Year’s Eve, or a big night out.
The dress never changed … but the attitude did. The LBD you wear to work in the morning can absolutely take you to a celebration that night with a quick switch of shoes, bag, and jewelry. Throw your hair up in a bun, add a bold lip, layer on a dramatic piece of jewelry, a wrap tied just right, a statement bag … these tiny styling choices can flip an entire outfit on its head.
The Little Black Dresses in this shoot were generously loaned by The Ocala Clothing Swap, proving how beautiful and modern secondhand fashion can be. Founder Esmee Bancroft reminds us: “The fast fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, and the synthetic fibers in these clothes release microplastics that end up in our drinking water and food supply.
As consumers, we have the power to choose not to engage in fast fashion.” With prices rising everywhere, reusing what we already own may become necessary, but it can also be really fun.
And keeping your favorite LBD out of the landfill matters; depending on the fibers, some fast-fashion garments can take up to 200 years to decompose. years to decompose. Many of the accessories we styled were thrifted, borrowed, or pulled from our own closets, with some more than a decade old and still gorgeous.
But we also elevated each look with new, thoughtfully chosen pieces from local partners: Agapanthus and owner Paula King, who provided the wraps, overskirt, leopard belt, and bags, and Ken Emporio, where owner and designer Kenneth Vilanova contributed striking handmade jewelry used across all three looks, along with the rhinestone bags featured in our cocktail svline. our cocktail styling.
Sustainability doesn’t have to be drab. It can be uniquely you, expressive, and honestly… fun.
A huge thank-you to The Ocala Clothing Swap, Agapanthus, and Ken Emporio for helping us prove that ond Little Black Dress can truly do itall.
