Everything worth knowing about Paola Franchi, and What She Wore is below, starting with the part that changes what you buy. A dress that fits the shoulders can be taken in anywhere else. One that does not, cannot. Lining is what stops a cheap fabric reading as cheap. Check where the waist seam sits on the model against your own proportions. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is shoulder fit, length and how the fabric moves. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: Norma Kamali's STRAPLESS DIANA GOWN XL at $75, and Asta Resort's Natalia Mini Dress - Ivory Sequin at $156. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. Lining is what stops a cheap fabric reading as cheap. Check where the waist seam sits on the model against your own proportions. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

A belt turns a shapeless dress into a deliberate one. Let the dress be the loudest thing you own that day. From the second group, Roller Rabbit's Lily Stripe Briella Dress ($178) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, trousers, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 pieces here from 15 brands, $46 to $228, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. wildoakboutique.com's Greta Cardigan Top at $46 is the low-risk way in, and Roller Rabbit's Sherwood Forest Monkey Scarlett Nap Dress at $228 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. Read as a set, they get you close to Paola Franchi, and What She Wore without any single purchase being compulsory. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: one considered purchase beats three hedged ones.