Material girls

A 1960s department-store drama that's stocked with glamour and gossip

- ALISON SLADE, ELAINE REILLY

NEW DRAMA Ladies in Black From Saturday 12 July, U

Fans of fashion, frocks and the Swinging Sixties are in for a treat as colourful Australian drama Ladies in Black makes a stylish entrance in box-set format on streaming service U.

Picking up six months after 2018 film Ladies in Black, the six-parter is set in 1961 and centres on five womenswear employees at Sydney's prestigious Goodes department store as they're plunged into uncharted waters in their personal and working lives.

In the first episode, fashion-forward Model Gowns manager Magda (Debi Mazar) is preparing to leave Goodes and open an avant-garde fashion boutique, while buttoned-up newcomer Mrs Ambrose (Miranda Otto) is poised to take over the coveted senior position.