Forever 21 won't hand you perfectly constructed classics wrapped in mounds of tissue paper. But they will happily provide you with attractive summer staples for the price of a plate of pasta with a glass of wine.

White is not the wisest choice for a summer barbeque, but if practicality is your main concern, you probably don't read this blog. I crave this shirt dress. Perfect foil to those gorgeous shoes you can't wear with anything else.


No one outside San Francisco seems to consider a black wrap dress a summer staple, but we wear jackets in July, people. The fog is set to roll over the hills at the precise moment you begin reaching for a halter top. So this is a good bet to go under that hoodie when your walk in the park becomes a tangle with three leashed dogs, an unplanned roll in the grass and one embarrassed scramble to your feet.


Nice shapes and a price that makes you want to wear white while eating a ketchup-slathered hotdog.