Every guilty pleasure requires some sacrifice. That's the only way I can explain the demise of the one shouldered dress. These days, it's strictly property of the Real Housewives wardrobe department. Ramona, The Countess and Vicki love an excuse to go half-strapless while holding a fruit in front of a green screen. It makes me not even want to wear a backpack on one-shoulder. But before the wonderful advent of Bravo, the one-shouldered dress was cooler, casually dance-floor sexy, and classically '70s.

Big thanks to Adriane Keepler of Baltimore for reminding us of that. Bigger thanks to her mom, Dannie, who gorgeously wore this floral one-strap sundress in 1972. 

Adriane remembers: "I was five or six and an only child. She and my father, both 27 and African American, were young, hip, super smart and admired. Both from modest, hardworking large Atlanta families, they had married as soon as they secured college degrees and began to travel the country in continued pursuit of my father's many degrees (masters, Phd).

At the time, we were living on the campus of Langston University (Oklahoma) in campus housing. I don't know where my mom was headed in this photo, maybe she was staying at home and entertaining. My parents "partied" a lot with the other professors. But the picture reminds me how beautiful and doe-eyed  (almost reminiscent of Diana Ross) my mom was.  She's always found ways to maintain an element of surprise in her "going out!" pieces: bold jewelry statements, lots of color, vintage shoes, or an unexpected dress choice.

Although mom now widowed, lives a quieter life in South Carolina now, she still kept that element of surprise in her look.  You never know what she's going to wear next."