I recently saw a picture of actress Emmy Rossum wearing a black and white striped dress. She wore black and white striped shoes with her dress and carried a red handbag.

Her outfit was cute.

I don’t own any black and white striped dresses. I’ve seen some nice black and white striped dresses that I wouldn’t mind owning; but you guessed what’s coming next. I have no money. I can’t buy anything. I even put some things into the shopping cart on the 599fashion.com website where everything costs $5.99 or less and I had to abandon the cart because at the end of the day I can’t really afford the indulgence of buying any kind of clothing right now even clothing costing $5.99 or less.

So it’s more virtual shopping for me.

The outfit above was inspired by the Emmy Rossum outfit I mentioned. These aren’t the items she was wearing. Her dress shoes and bag were different.

The items

Stina Stripe Dress

$255 (£165) – whistles.co.uk
This striking striped dress in sculptured shape has structured tee sleeve” defined pleated waist detail and is made from a luxe jacquard fabric. Keep this look fresh by styling with simple chic accessories. Length from side neck to hem is 90cm. Model is 180cm tall.

Nicholas Kirkwood Stacked Heel in Black & Black Stripe & Beige

$955 – forwardforward.com
Elaphe snakeskin leather upper and leather sole. Made in Italy. Approx 125mm/ 5 inch heel. Approx 25mm/ 1 inch glossy leather platform. Suede ankle strap with buckle closure. Grosgrain front strap.

Victoria Beckham Victoria Mini Tote in Sunset

$2,450 – forwardforward.com
Buffalo leather with lambskin leather lining. Made in Italy. Measures approx 13.5″W x 10″H x 7″D. Handles measures approx 15″ in length with a 5″ drop. Zip top closure. Interior pockets.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Watches Women’s Marc Jacobs Time Only Blade Watch…

$255 (£165) – julesb.co.uk
This super chic women’s watch by Marc Jacobs is for ladies with style. The crisp black dial and strap are complemented with the three hand movement and lettering on the bezel in silver” giving the Marc Jacobs watch style and sophistication. The simplicity and elegance of this timepiece makes it perfect for all occasions. The leather strap has an adjustable buckle fastening to fit any wrist. Blade watch. Quartz movement. Leather strap. Buckle fastening. Water resistant up to 5ATM. Branded stainless steel case. Time only. Three hand movement. 2 year guarantee.

Linda Farrow Luxe 38 Black

$730 – monamoore.com
Linda Farrow Luxe Thick rimmed black matte-watersnake covered acetate cat eye sunglasses with 22k gold temple detailing. Glasses come with signature box case and cloth. Made in Japan.

Total price for above outfit: $4645

Black and white striped dresses outfit #2

This Stella McCartney stripe dress comes with an almost $2000 price tag. The dress costs $1″ 898. It’s a nice looking dress but if I could get my hands on $1 898 right now and I had to spend that $1 898 on nothing but clothes I don’t think I’d spend it on a single dress when I could get 18 $100 dresses or even 37 $50 dresses.

Stella McCartney Rosy stripe flared skirt dress

$1,898 – matchesfashion.com
This ivory and black wide horizontal stripe fitted dress has a close-fitting round-neck and long sleeves with hidden-zip cuff details. The dress has a hidden-zip centre-back fastening and a short A-line flared skirt. 88% polyester 12% silk. Lining: 52% rayon 48% cotton. Dry clean. Size and fit: Model is 5ft 9in/ 1.80m is a UK 08 and wears a size 38IT. Fits large to size you may wish to try a size smaller. Fitted by design. Shoulder to hem 34in/86.5cm. Bust 36in/91.5cm. Waist 28in/71cm. Hip 36in/91.5cm. Sleeve length 25.5in/65cm.

Valentino Lock Small Flap Bag in Black Patent

$1,945 – forwardforward.com
Patent leather with fabric lining. Made in Italy. Measures approx 8″W x 6″H x 2.25″D. Detachable shoulder strap. Fold-over top with push-lock closure. Interior pocket and zip pocket. Large metallic pyramid stud detail on flap.

Fabrizio Riva Brown & Black Diamond Teardrop Earrings

$1,295 – barneys.com
Natural 18k white gold teardrop-shaped drop earrings set with 1.68ct brown and black crown cut diamonds. Wire back. Appx. 26mm drop length from top of ear wire to bottom

Bottega Veneta Square-frame acetate and intrecciato leather sunglasses

$1,155 – net-a-porter.com
Dark-brown acetate. Brown lenses” wide intrecciato leather arms (Lamb), Come with a designer-stamped pouch and presentation box. 100% UV protection.

Black and white striped dresses outfit #3

This A.L.C. Silk Franzi dress is a little bit more reasonably priced than the Stella McCartney dress but twice as expensive as the Stina stripe dress which at $255 is itself quite expensive for those of us who aren’t pulling six figure or high five figure incomes.

A.L.C. tent dress” $435 / Bionda Castana strappy sandals” $660 / Alexander Wang / Fendi / Georg Jensen / Oscar de la Renta

Black and white striped dresses outfit #4

This Sonia Rykiel dress comes with a $795 price tag.

I’ll be honest I don’t get why the dress is so expensive. The same goes for the Stella McCartney dress. They are both nice dresses but I don’t know that they should be quite as expensive as they are. The Stella McCartney dress is mostly composed of polyester with 88% polyester and 12% silk. This Sonia Rykiel dress is composed of 85% Viscose 11% Polyamide 4% Elastane. It looks well-made from the picture but is that the price we have to expect to pay for well-made clothing assuming it is indeed superior in quality of construction to a dress of similar design that might cost under $100?

The set items:

Sonia Rykiel longsleeve dress / Aperlai black pumps / Marc by Marc Jacobs leather tote / Eddie Borgo bracelet / Eddie Borgo / Dolce & Gabbana square frame glasses / Marc Jacobs perfume

The Sonia Rykiel dress being worn by a model (image © stylebop.com),