Dôen launched in 2016, founded by the Santa Barbara-born sisters Margaret and Katherine Kleveland together with a collective of women partners in Los Angeles. The Cut described the early look as a nostalgic-bohemian aesthetic with supersoft fabrics, and it was a quick hit among the fashion crowd. That is the whole story in one line: a label built on a memory of coastal California, not on a trend.

What defines it is easy to list. Katherine Kleveland told The Cut that the clothes are often an homage to vintage, and Margaret described one season as Victoriana, prairie living. Harper's Bazaar called out the weightless summer dresses and delicate prints, and the founders have pointed to a Sol Dress in 100 per cent cotton as a good example of their mission. Smocking, ditsy florals, eyelet, lace trims and ruffled collars: those are the details people recognize at ten paces.

So here is what this Dôen dress dupe edit is. These are alternatives from other labels that share those details, not versions of any one dress. Each shares an idea with the original, in its own way, and I would read each product page for fabric before anything else.

Start the hunt with the ditsy floral midis. I would reach for the Anna Claire from Reformation, with its ruffled V-neck trim, or the Becca, a Swiss-dot cotton with fabric-covered buttons down the front. The Abriana from ASTR the Label has a smocked bodice and lace trim, and the Freesia from Petal & Pup scatters its florals over an elastic waist. Hold the print up in daylight: small, scattered blooms on a soft ground read as vintage, while large, high-contrast flowers read as resort. In October, I would wear any of these with a cropped cardigan and knee boots.

Eyelet is cutwork embroidery, tiny stitched holes that make a pattern, and it is one of the details that Who What Wear lists next to lace-trim and ruffle necklines when it describes the Dôen look. The tell on a good one is the stitching around each hole. Turn the hem over and look: clean, dense edges mean it will hold up to a wash.

Most of the dresses here are 100 percent cotton, which matters because cotton holds crisp eyelet shapes. The Mabella from Petal & Pup is a rose-print wrap midi with puff sleeves and ruffled cuffs, and the Eyelet Midi Dress from Koko + Mason is white eyelet with flutter sleeves and a smocked waist. The Kristen from Change of Scenery combines navy cotton eyelet with smocking, which is the closest to a prairie mood in this group. Rails gives its Bex linen in a picnic check, trimmed in eyelet, and I would wear that one with flat sandals until the weather forces a denim jacket on top.

For a bolder color, the red Moon River midi has allover cutout eyelet and a scalloped hem. The CeCe bubble sleeve in Blue Spritz suits anyone who wants sleeves with some shape.

What I would skip: a white eyelet dress with no lining if you plan to wear it in daylight. Check the product page for a lining, and hold the skirt against a window.

Smocking is the quiet engineer of this look. Elle notes that stretchy smocking ensures comfort while delicate prints make a dress polished enough for special occasions, and it also calls smocked dresses a signature of cult-loved labels, Dôen among them. When you shop for the look, check how far the smocking runs: a fully smocked bodice moves with you, while a few rows at the back only hold the dress in place.

The Lands' End poplin midi in Soft Mojave Rose is fully smocked, which is the point. Whistles' smocked midi has a smocked waist and tied sleeves in a green graphic print, and the Moon River Citron adds puff sleeves to crisp poplin. For the Victoriana end of the spectrum that Margaret Kleveland described, LoveShackFancy's Amandla is a cotton maxi with a floral smocked bodice and a tiered prairie skirt. Damson Madder's Mallory in magenta plaid is organic cotton and feels more autumn than spring, so I would wear it with tights and a boot this month.

Hill House Home's Ellie nap dress is cotton sateen with a smocked square neck, ruffle trim and side pockets. Sugarlips uses rows of ruffles in a lime floral cotton.

What I would skip: a smocked bodice in a slippery fabric that will not recover its shape. I would stay with cotton, poplin or sateen.

The collar is the detail that sells this look. A small ruffle at the neck, a band collar, a frill at the cuff: it changes a plain shirt into something that feels like it came from a grandmother's trunk. The founders describe their clothes as an homage to vintage, and this is the easiest way to get that into an everyday outfit.

Check the ruffle itself. It should be sewn into the band so it sits upright, and a detachable one, like the collar on the COS seersucker blouse, gives you two shirts in one. Tressé's Heart Shaped Ruffle Shirt is crisp white with a ruffle tracing two hearts on the front, and the Nic+zoe button-front shirt in white has a scalloped ruffle down the placket. H&M's cream checked blouse is 100 percent cotton, with ruffle trim running down the front. For something with more detail, Endless Rose adds lace appliques and faux pearls to a ruffled stand collar.

In October, I would wear the Mint Velvet chambray under a knit vest, and the WAYF eyelet top with a long skirt. Mint Velvet's ruffle-detail blouse comes in a tiger print with a cascade of ruffles down the front.

What I would skip: a thin, see-through blouse with a very small ruffle. It reads limp. Pick a fabric with some body.

Puff sleeves, lace and ruffle trim: Elle points to puff sleeves and ruffle trim as charming touches on a smocked piece, and they are what I would look at first on a top. A top is also the easiest way into the look, because it goes under a cardigan or over a skirt you already own.

The RE/DONE Pattie in vintage white has short puff sleeves, a button placket and scalloped eyelet lace trim in 100 percent cotton. Rails' Fontaine adds smocked details and ruffle trim in a daffodil print, with a tie at the neckline. Cleobella's Rebecca is organic cotton poplin with a smocked waist. If you lean toward black, Cinq à Sept's Ginny has lace trim along the sleeves on a ribbed cotton body, and the Petal & Pup Tadeo is a sheer lace button-up with big puffed sleeves. French Connection's Yulia is a soft beige knit with puffed sleeves, and CeCe's scalloped shirt is light and airy.

The test: raise your arms in the fitting room. A good puff sleeve has an elastic or fitted cuff that stays in place, and the seam at the shoulder should not pull.

What I would skip: a polka dot peplum top, if you want the soft, romantic mood, since the English Factory one is bolder and sits more on the playful side.

I would begin with the dress that has the details you will notice most, ditsy print or smocking, and check the fabric tag before the photo. Cotton, poplin, sateen, linen: those hold the look. Then I would add one top with a ruffled collar or puff sleeves, because that is the quickest way to make an old skirt feel new.

Two founders in 2016 and a memory of Santa Barbara started all this, and the details are not secret. Any good alternative just needs this idea: soft fabric, a small ruffle, and a print with some quiet in it.