a quest: the LBD of my dreams

Think Audrey, think Piaf, think Coco (well, maybe not so much), and the fantasy of the perfect thing is there. You can wear it almost everywhere, you're almost never under- or over-dressed, and you can almost never find it. If the neckline is perfect, the sleeves are wrong. If the teensy hint of bust sets you off just right, there's a slit up the back of the skirt that's just wrong. And on and on. I cut through lots of stores on my way to and from more cerebral (and with any luck more profitable) appointments. It happens that quite often the quickest way from the front entrance, where visitors who have never seen a door on their home planet gather to watch openings and closings, to the side or rear entrance where the taxis wait is often up and down several escalators. So it is with the assurance of one who's done at least some of her homework that I say so far I don't think this is the year I'll find my perfect LBD. Still a little early to spend the LBD Fund on something else, but I have more than an inkling.

So: what would be my perfect LBD-in-Chief? It would be wearable from late September through earliest spring, so it would be woven wool with a silk lining. Long sleeves. Round neck that could take a white collar for some wears, but the Good Pearls for others. Zip down the back or button down the front, but not both. If buttons, solid good-quality black or dark mother-of-pearl. If zip, not one of those snake dancing plastic things. I have a couple of Assistant LBDs: the silk chiffon with short floppy sleeves that doesn't like daytime events, the black velvet thingy that prefers icy winter nights... They try, but they and I know that their reach is limited. I'm waiting.

Do you have a "Grail" dress? Do you sometimes feel like Goldilocks with a shopping bag - too little, too heavy, too short, too long? What's the perfect thing you look for?