A Shirtdress and Some Thoughts About Forever 21

Shirtdress: Forever 21 // Shorts: Splendid // Boots: Zara (Love these too!) // Crossbody: J Crew (Similar) // Scarf: (Similar) // Necklace: Free People (Similar) // Aviators: Ray-Ban // Watch: Daniel Wellington

I've been meeting a ton of new women in Kansas City lately which is so fun and so inspiring! There are tons of local fashion girls, bloggers, other creatives who share my interest in anything and everything pretty and we always have the best talks. Inevitably our conversation turns to clothing and shopping and we spill the details of what we've got and what we're going after. Becomming a running joke among some of my older friends is the reaction I get when I 'admit' to being into Forever 21. The comments range from 'it's too young/ill-fitting', to 'I prefer to buy clothing of more quality', to 'I hate going in the store'. I listen and empathize, but then point out a few of the retailer's best features:

• Forever 21 has a little known 'Contemporary' section that's meant for older and more shapely women. The styles are more tailored and polished (not to mention fashionable) than the regular fare and they're cut a little larger to fit a real woman's body.
• Forever 21 is my go-to for the latest trends; not my daily drivers. I love them because they're always first to market with super on-trend pieces in price ranges I can stomach. I don't need trendy pieces to last a long time; I need to them to be affordable.
• Forever 21's online store is far more interesting than their brick-and-mortars. I rarely shop inside the store myself and if I do it's to exchange an online purchase or to showroom their latest things. Visit Forever21.com... IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!
• And lastly, from a blogging standpoint, Forever 21 is wonderful about regramming bloggers who feature their pieces. When my content winds up in their feed, my blogging agenda suddenly has an audience of more than 8 million people. Yeah. Me likee.

After I make these points the conversation steers itself to other things, and we leave Forever 21 as a topic we'll just agree-to-disagree about, and then it happens. Whomever I'm talking to says, 'I love that jacket/skirt/blouse/necklace you're wearing... where did you get that?' And then I tell them..... 'FOREVER 21'.