By Megan Lambert (The Cascade) – Email
If you love autumn but hate shelling out major cash for a new wardrobe, never fear — here’s how to transition your summer pieces over to fall.
Summer clothes can come in handy in cooler weather when it’s not quite cold enough to dress in head-to-toe black. At the start of the semester, there are days when the sun still shines and a “sweater” gets a whole new meaning as you juggle books and papers while speedwalking to class. My number-one rule is to avoid wearing black from head to toe. Don’t overwhelm your summer piece with black; the contrast will be too stark, and it’ll look like a statement piece instead of blending in seamlessly with your fall look.
Tie your teal into your jewel-tones
Teal is quickly becoming passé; although it’s bright and happy, it’s hard to take minty green seriously when the weather starts to get cooler. Tone your teal down with deep purples, forest greens, and even navy blues to make the bright colour work as an accent. Fall colour palettes can often look too dark or drab, so adding a light shade helps to balance the outfit. Bring warmth to the outfit by adding gold jewelry and a plum lip.
This might be a personal choice, but try to avoid black here. I know lots of teal clothing already incorporates black into the pattern, but to me this looks too costume-like (like you’re the chef of a macaron bakery). If your pieces have black in them, try not to add on too many different hues; pick a jewel tone and run with it.
Sport white shorts with chic neutrals
Shorts, in general, are tough to wear in the winter, but white shorts are especially difficult to work with when you’ve lost your summer tan. Working in grey colours and faux (or real!) pearl jewelry gives your white shorts a classic vibe. Instead of colour-blocking, keep colour out of the outfit as much as you can to let the shorts blend in easily. Pair them with simple makeup and a matte lip. For leggings or tights, I suggest black with black heels or flats. Black and white is classic and it’s a good way to integrate white shorts into the more formal feel of fall and winter. It’s also a good colour combination if you were to wear this look at school, where wearing shorts and tights might come off across a little too trendy for hitting the books.
This might seem inconsistent with my aforementioned all-black rule, but adding an equal dash of grey is a good way to connect the opposite shades. Avoid boots or shoes of a different colour than your tights. Keeping the rest of your legs muted will lengthen them and draw the eye upwards to your shorts and rest of your outfit.
Warm up floral print with cozy knits
Floral print is a little too cheery for fall. My solution is to pick the darkest tone in the print and pair it with the colours in your wardrobe. That tones down the summery feel of the print and brings a more solemn and artistic feel to it. If there are no dark colours in the print, try picking the same main colour in a darker shade (for example, pair light blue flowers with a dark blue sweater) or wear it with a neutral scheme. Knits are a good way to keep the colours toned down, especially if you pick knits that match the print’s warm or cool tone. Avoid other patterns, unless the shapes are much larger or smaller than the flowers and are in simple geometric shapes like circles, triangles, or squares. Stay away from plaid, stripes, or other floral prints.
