Fashion update, part two: fall/winter is coming

Summer was great, but now it's time to transition into fall/winter -the operative word here being "transition". Here's how I will be easing into the colder months before I break out my 'serious winter' gear. For me, it's all about postponing the moment I have to bring out my winter coat -I'll be wearing it every single day in a little bit so for now I want to give my other jackets their fifteen minutes of fame between the prohibitive heat of (Greek) summer and the equally unforgiving cold of winter.

The classic 'half-season' piece, of course, is the trench coat. It's guaranteed to make you look chic. I would wear mine with jeans and sneakers in the day for a relaxed rather than preppy vibe, but also reach for it to throw over a little dress for dressing up. As Inès de la Fressange's book Parisian Chic* says, nonchalantly knotting your belt instead of properly fastening it looks cooler and unfussier (although Inès puts it more like "Don't fasten it, ever!").

wearing BSB trench coat from my high school days 

A friend passed this great longline blazer/summer coat on to me and I love how versatile it is. Roll up the sleeves and throw it over your summery outfit on the first days of autumn, roll the sleeves down and layer a thin sweater under it as the days get colder -I like putting off getting out my proper winter coat for as long as possible-, wear it over a super simple outfit to add a tiny bit of drama or as a smarter alternative to a biker jacket.

wearing vintage(?) jacket, amercan vintage knit top, weekday skirt

weekday knot skirt 

The colour works with pretty much everything, and here I paired it with this burnt orange top to make it more 'autumny'. I saw an article about what colours to wear to help you transition smoothly (and without getting depressed) into fall and I felt  inspired. Cliché though it may be, I really like matching my colour palette to the seasons and the weather. I tend to wear lighter colours in the summer and progressively work my way to total black in the winter. Just kidding, kind of.

I'm also wearing this Weekday skirt in the previous picture; I got it in the summer sale but I'll be wearing it with tights in the winter, too. I love items that you can adjust to the season -you just need to make sure that the material and colour are not too season-specific (for example, a cotton skirt reads 'summer', while a wool one is wintery, but a stretchy-fabric one is more trans-seasonal; another great material is denim, provided it's not too light). Add tights as needed.

Didn't I tell you I would wear this Zara jumpsuit again and again? After wearing it on holiday all summer, I decided to dress it up for a fancy dinner. I could have just worn it by itself, but with a wide top thrown over it doubles as culottes, which look great with heels -furry ones optional ;) I threw my longline jacket over the outfit to keep things smart.

wearing vintage jacket, unknown top, zara jumpsuit, & other stories sandals 

wavy hair, smokey eye (I'm bringing back that eye rim lining we all used to do in the early 2000's back**) complete the look.

This is, perhaps not entirely coincidentally, a trend for this coming season: maxi dresses worn in the winter. You might think: not very practical, but actually, paired with the also-on-trend knee boots, maxi dresses could be doable and even comfortable. I tried it out with a summer maxi -though obviously not all will work, I'm not displeased with the results. It looks really good with heeled boots, making you look statuesque really long-legged. This is one of my super lazy outfits, as it doesn't involve getting into trousers (read, ugh); you add layers to your maxi as needed. The same applies to long skirts which can become knitted as the temperatures drop -another one this season's new 'things', incidentally, seems to be the cozy knitted skirt ;).

wearing zara maxi dress, zara men cotton sweater, weekday cardigan, just campane bag, & other stories ankle boots

Of course, there comes at time when even those in denial like myself have to accept it's too cold to pretend it's not winter anymore, and that time is coming soon. I'm going to make a separate post on how I will be preparing for 'proper' winter and which items are on my to-buy list, so stay tuned for that!

*not that I endorse reading books on how to emulate French (or any other) style, as prescriptive dressing and imitation are the enemies of creativity and fun and originality in fashion!...but anyways.

**maybe we should talk about this. After about a decade's aversion to inner-rim lining due to some people taking it way, way too far (this super-harsh lines and the resulting scary faces), I discovered that lightly lining my inner rim with brown pencil creates a foxier, deeper smoky eye...perhaps something to discuss in more depth?