Forever 21 has been sued more than once by designers for direct copying (Diane von Furstenburg and Anna Sui, to name two).

Whether those suits will succeed is another story (There's no law against copying clothing in this country). And this is certainly not the only store caught with a hand in fashion's cookie jar. Nor can you really call copying a sin in an industry/art form where no matter what you do, you have to put two sleeves and two buttons on a cardigan and two legs on a pair of pants — and everyone remembers the same great stuff.

You can't argue with Forever 21 on a certain level, anyway. Though aimed at teens and the college crowd, I know girls of all ages (10 to 67, last count) who thrill to its flimsy, trendy wares. It's a great, quick, painless dose of retail therapy, like nitrous combined with novacaine; like dressing yourself in a tinfoil mini and cardboard boots. And with its enormous array of knockoffs and trendy styles, it's one of the great equalizers of our image-frenzied economy. Craving a mucho-cheaper version of Kate Moss's black coat or the other Kate's (Hudson) black tunic? Here's your ticket.

So I have to admit that I was jazzed when Fashion 21 launched Twelve by Twelve in July, the company's entry into the cheap and chic derby dominated by H&M and Zara.  Twelve by Twelve is meant for a more grown up audience, or at least an audience of women who like to make outfits but stay on the cheap, and are a bit irritated by sifting through all those flopsy-skinny clothes. This is a slightly more upmarket (about 35 percent higher), still insanely cheap, offshoot. The offerings are divided into "collections," Topshop-style: Dandy Dolls, Modern Art, Mystical Forest, Vintage Couture. And it still relies heavily on copying.

But these are copies with gloriously more obvious references. They're renditions of some great stuff: more stylized, slightly more sophisticated, great-designer rehashes of old vintage clothing. If Forever 21 does an updated generic hippie chick, this "couture" branch does the more specific, more radical, Marianne-Faithful-on-acid version. If Forever 21 does a generic 1960s gamine, this branch does an Audrey Hepburn in front of Tiffany's version. There are tons of animal prints, funnel collars, empire waists, deep cardigans, plaids, mod cuts, and color blocks. 

Tonight I'm going to call my cousin, who's on some unspecified break from school, and get her take. Today, I'm ordering the maxidress, which is completely 1973. I'll let you know.

Jana Martin is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Fashion & Design.