I’m guilty of posting all these expensive frocks, so I’ve delved into my favorite of favorite inexpensive treasures — Forever 21 — to find this fabulous retro-inspired dress. While I’m not usually crazy about sequins, I love the classic shape of this dress, and I think it looks fabulously festive, don’t you? With all these Christmas parties, intermixing a few $35 dresses isn’t a bad idea…particularly if they’re this chic.

 Ladylike shoes for a ladylike dress, these Steve Madden pumps are the perfect compliment to this dress. They’d also look great with jeans and pretty much anything.

(Steve Madden Premiere, on sale for $56)

Fall makes me think of sharpened pencils, turning leaves, and preppy clothes, which is why I’m so in love with the clean, menswear inspired looks that are so hot this season, yet timeless in a 1940’s glamour sort of way. The New Dream Argyle Sweater Dress from J.Crew is the freshest take on the schoolgirl prep frock, which I love paired with the red flats shown on the model.

I also adore the Donegal Tweed Jumper at Old Navy, and the Sweater Dress Jumper with the sweet pleated detailing at the empire waistline at Forever 21.

I’m particularly fond of this look with long bangs, red lipstick, and boots with a bit of heel. Mmmmm, fall…

As much as I drool over and covet high-end clothing, I have a secret love affair with Forever 21. Mixed with my Betsey Johnsons and Carolina Hererras are my more-often worn pieces from Anthropologie, Banana Republic, and Urban Outfitters, and mixed in even further are the twenty-dollar-or-less shifts from Forever 21 that I must admit, I’m pretty proud of. I secretly get a kick out of having women come up to me, saying, “I love that dress! Where’d you get it?!” because of the look on their faces when I give them the answer they don’t expect.

Admittedly, you have to have patience to shop in this store. Upon entering the shop, you’ll be inundated with a crazy variety of styles and textures⎯but picking through them is half the fun! Take a look at the other girls shopping, while you’re at it. Seriously, it’s like something out of National Geographic.

While some of us revel in the idea of spending two hours hunting things down at one of the store’s locations, others would rather shoot themselves in the foot, so luckily Forever 21 now has an online shopping option. At roughly $20 a pop, you can afford to buy a dress for every occasion without really thinking twice…take it from someone who’s done it one too many times.

For the office, the ¾ Sleeve Knit Dress (15.80) would be sweet with a pair of flats, like these striped rainbow ones, from Coach. For date night, the Empire Jersey Dress ($19.80) with a pair of stilettos and some gold earrings would be perfect. For Sunday brunch with the girls, I like this season’s Striped Dress ($24) with opaque tights, knee-high boots, and a blazer. While the dresses stand alone, I always like to dress them up a little with jewelry, a jacket, or a nice pair of shoes to emphasize the entire look and not simply the single piece.

Simply put, Anne Hathaway rocks. Not only is she absolutely gorgeous, she’s also incredibly smart, all about women’s rights, talented, and totally fashion savvy. Her usual simple black dresses always work, but at the recent screening of Becoming Jane in East Hampton, Hathaway donned this summery sheer white frock, which I absolutely adore.

In celebration of Anne, and while it’s still warm enough to wear these floaty white dresses (who says no white after labor day?), here are three to see:

White Willow Dress ($188) at Anthropologie

Meredith Dress ($39 from $135) at J.Crew

Eyelet Tube Dress ($29) at Forever21