Summer Trend: How to Wear Yellow

This season is all about the brights, whether they're in modish '60s dresses or swingy '70s-style maxi dresses. And the biggest of all the brights is yellow. In your face, eat sunshine yellow. Yellow that under normal circumstances should either warn you of a blind curve or a terror alert. (Pretty much the exact color Cat painted her room when she was a kid; Cat loves yellow even though it looks somewhere near atrocious on her.)

This color is awful on pretty much anyone who isn't either black or a fake blonde with a fake tan. So how do you make it work? Accessorize!

A pair of jeans, a crisp white shirt and a shocking yellow bag is the perfect combination. Try this lambskin Ananas tote from Strut (above, $349). Just no matchy-matchy yellow on the shoes: Go for a cute wedge or something flat and Grecian, like a pair of Chie Mihara Jamir sandals also from Strut (below, $279).

Or, if you're blessed enough to be able to wear this color, try the Cheetah Dress by Lotta Stensson, from Gurej (above, bottom right; $150). If that's out of your budget -- or you (understandably) don't want to invest that kind of cash into a likely passing fad -- go for a similar dress from Forever 21, which cashes in at $24.80 (above, middle right). Be prepared, however, that mustard yellow intends to stay around for fall. Tulle is already showing it in these 50s style jackets (above, top right, $85) that should be big again when the leaves start to turn.