When a large part of your job is essentially shopping online and hunting for the best, trendiest and cutest clothes, jewelry and accessories, it can prove extremely difficult to stick to a budget. As a fashion editor, I frequently find myself adding way more to my digital shopping carts than I could ever actually afford. But this summer I’m committed to setting a shopping budget at $250 and actually sticking to it.
This involves much more planning and thinking honestly about the things I need (versus the things I simply want), but that’s just a part of the fun. Some pieces on this list were easy to settle on—like a bright new bikini—while others were harder to pick, like whittling down which of the 40 summer frocks I’ve been lusting after are worth investing in. I knew I’d also want to throw in some trendy accessories, and that a new pair of sandals (to replace my crusty old pairs not worn since 2019) was imperative.
After all that hemming and hawing, I managed to come up with an eight-piece summer shopping list that checks all those boxes. And even includes a few fun surprises. Here’s everything that made the cut.
