Forever 21 is the Topshop of America: so much stuff! So little money! (Meanwhile, Topshop (in SoHo) is like … eh, it’s just somehow not as exciting, the one here, compared to the one in London.) But this is about Forever 21. Whatever the weirdness with the Bible references on the bags, and God (speaking of) knows how many times we’ve gone in and left empty-handed, we remain solidly pro—and so we went to the Jersey Gardens branch, hopes high and expectations equally so.
We could have easily spent $100 on disposable accessories—jewelry, clutches, shoes, etc.—but in our opinion, this isn’t what they do best—actually, we’d say that H&M does better, or Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie at increasingly higher price points. (Or, of course, millions of industrious Etsy sellers.) Our mission was to find a shirt, which could be worn with shorts. Wide net, as it were.
This was that terrible length about a half-inch (er, three inches) too short to be a regular tunic-y dress. We’ve grown quite anti-these dresses, except on tennis courts, where of course anything goes.
We went through 24 pages of 100 items each looking for this top/dress, without finding it, but it’s $19.80. Return.
This had such a pretty knotted back, but the front was excruciatingly plain. Also not online, but it’s $24.80. Which is, by the way, the highest price in the entire “cami / tank” category. Return.
Another racerback. This was a bit of a surprise, as it had been hanging inside-out, and we didn’t see the print until we got it into the dressing room. We’re not entirely sure about the army-green stars and stripe tank top. Less sure, in any case, than the plain army-green one. Stars and stripes tank, $13.80. Another return.
Now this shirt: plain as plain can be, but the wide boatneck was actually totally flattering. We found the neck a bit wider in real life than in the online catalogue. Like we said, this wasn’t our most ambitious shopping trip, so we were fully satisfied. Wide stripe tee, $10.80. Keep!
There are two shirts here, because our camera battery was about to expire. On the left, a camo burn-out tee. We’re not sure what our newfound interest in camo is all about, but the colors were off, so pass, all around. And on the right, a relative of the top/dress above, only in a one-shouldered version, which was so unflattering on us that we shudder to think of it. Burnout army top, $15.80 (too expensive, too) and one-shouldered top, $19.80. Return, return, return, and we threw in an extra “return” just for the sake of surety.
Finally: our favorite is last. This isn’t a great photo of this embroidered dress with cut-out details, but we love it—and for less than $20! (Exactly twenty cents less, to be specific.) This is the reason we go to Forever 21—cute stuff that isn’t ridiculously boring (we’re talking to you, Gap, again) or ridiculously expensive (so many of our favorites.) This is what we keep saying to the Gap (because they care very, very much what we have to say): Make cute stuff! Make it cheap! Make it something other than painfully bland. Ah, Forever 21, today we are in your debt. Embroidered dress, $19.80
Final tally:
Embroidered dress, as above: $19.80
Wide striped top: $10.80
Total: $30.60
I’ve been loving these posts! They male me want to go shopping–as if I needed additional motivation.
Annnd I would have kept the first two. I’ve found tunics that look really good with some shorts (a more tailored, cuffed kind, perhaps?), AND you can usually tuck them in as well.