Four Little Black Dresses Under $55

Brian and I are attending a ball on Saturday, and I’ve been in search of a dress.  In years past, the event has been black tie, so I wore floor-length gowns most years.  However, this year, the event is going to be cocktail attire, so I’ve been in search of something short.

Amazon is typically the first place I look when I’m shopping for something specific, so I ordered a handful of dresses to try.  All four of them ended up being winners, so I thought I’d share them with you today. 

All of these dresses are under $55, and three of them are under $40, so they’re super affordable, too.

And please excuse the dusty mirror… sighhhh.  I looked at the mirror for streaks before I got started and it looked clean, but then after I was done photographing, I noticed all of the dust.  The sun was shining directly in the room when I took the pictures, and it highlighted every single speck of dust up against the color of the black dresses.  Haha. 

Flutter Sleeve Ruffle Hem Dress

When I pulled this dress out of the bag, I thought immediately that it was going to be a no because it looked… frumpy.  Haha.  Well, I ended up being reeeeally shocked, because it is actually really cute! 

The dress is pretty conservative up top with its high neck and sleeves, but the shorter hem offsets that to give it a fun, flirty look, which give it more of a cocktail dress vibe rather than something you’d wear to work or church.   

I’m 5’5” and I opted for the small, and it fits perfectly.  The hem hits about 5-6 inches above the knee, so it’s a fun length, but it’s not toooo short either.  It’s also form-fitting which also gives it less of a conservative look, but it’s not tight like the other three dresses.  It’s soooo comfortable, too, and the best part is, I can dance in it comfortably.

The fabric is a little bit on the thin side, but it’s not see-through, and considering the dress is only $23.99, I can look past that.  Haha.  It comes in several other colors like red, navy, and green, too, and there are a couple of color options that also have a deep V neckline.  So much fun!

One Shoulder Cutout Dress

If you read my Amazon post earlier this month, then you’ve already seen this dress.  I loooove this dress.  LOVE it.  It is so flattering and surprisingly classy and I absolutely love the way it looks on me.  You may remember that my only hangup was that it was really short and very tight, and I was worried about it being a bit inappropriate considering I’ll be dancing in it. 

I typically wear a small, but I sized up to a medium in this dress.  Since the medium was still really short and tight, I decided to try the large, and I’m so glad I did because it is less tight and also a bit longer, ie: more appropriate for this event.  Haha.

While I sized up two sizes, I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily what everyone would need to do, but I would probably recommend sizing up one size in this dress.  It is suuuuper stretchy, so you could probably make your true size fit, too.  Just keep in mind that your true size will probably be verrrry short and verrrry tight as that’s probably the way its intended to be worn.

One Shoulder Mermaid Midi Dress

Ohhhh you guyssss, I love this dress.  It’s classy.  It’s stunning.  The fabric is thick, the quality is excellent, and it hugs in all of the right places.  It’s absolutely perfect.  My only hangup is that I think it’ll be too hard to dance in.  It hits right at my knees, and since it’s a mermaid fit, it’s really tight in the leg area.  If I wasn’t so worried about trying to dance in it, then this would have been the clear winner! 

If you’re looking for the perfect LBD for an event where you won’t do much dancing, look no further than this one.  It runs true-to-size, although, a bit on the small side.  I’m in the small here and it is a bit tight.  This one does have some stretch, but not a lot, so that’s probably why it feels a little on the small side.

Square Neck Ruched Dress

This was another one that I pulled out of the bag thinking, “Nope, no way is this one going to look good,” (it honestly looks pretty cheap when you hold it up) but again, I was pleasantly surprised because it ended up looking really great on.  This is another dress that’s on the lower end of the pricing spectrum, and therefore, the quality isn’t nearly as nice as the quality of the mermaid dress above, but shockingly I felt like a million bucks when I put it on! 

This one fits true-to-size and it has a lot of stretch, and therefore, it’s super comfortable.  It’s not too short, but the length is still on the “fun, flirty” side to balance out the long sleeves.  And it’s hard to tell from the picture, but the sleeves are sheer, which is also fun.

Since this one is so stretchy, it would be great for dancing, and therefore, it’s still a contender even though I didn’t think it would be.

So now I have a decision to make – do I go with the mermaid dress since it’s my favorite even though I may not be able to dance in it easily or do I go with one of the others that’s more comfortable and has more stretch? 

Y’all help me out – which one is your favorite?

Happy Monday, y’all!