Set in 1959 in the high-end department store Goodes, Ladies in Black tells the story of shy schoolgirl Lisa (Angourie Rice) who takes a summer job at the store while waiting for the results of her final exams. There she meets the "ladies in black," the glamorous Goodes employees.

Beguiled and influenced by Magda (Julia Ormond), the vivacious manager of the high-fashion floor and befriended by fellow saleswomen Fay (Rachel Taylor) and Patty, Lisa grows from a bookish girl to a glamorous, positive young woman, becoming a catalyst for a cultural change in everyone's lives.