Slow Transition to Autumn: Late Summer Outfits with Fall Colors

It happens every year...September arrives, Labor Day weekend happens, school starts in St Paul, and I'm all Hurray for fall! But not yet. We still have 2.5 weeks before the fall equinox, and even then, the warm weather continues for some weeks. I typically don't stop wearing skirts with bare legs until mid-October.

So what do we do in this seasonal transition period when our minds say fall and the weather says summer?

I like to start easing my outfit color palette toward more autumn-like colors in September for my Summer/Fall sartorial season, September 1 to about October 15.

My idealized Summer color palette is...

Neutrals: Navy, olive/moss, white

Accents: Focus on bright colors (e.g., red, bright pink, coral, green, aquamarine, aqua, cerulean blue, cobalt, teal)

My idealized Summer/Fall color palette is...

Neutrals: Navy, olive/moss, white, brown/tan/beige, burgundy, camel-gold

Accents: Focus on warmer colors (e.g., maroon, coral/orange, mustard, green)

I don't stick to that exclusively, but I like to start shifting toward these colors as the basis for my Summer/Fall outfits. Today I am showing 3 recent OOTD (a couple from my sartorial Summer season that I tweaked to be Summer/Fall in color for the blog) as an example of how I begin transitioning my outfit colors in an autumnal direction.

I created Outfit #1 around these polka dot/floral ankle pants...which are an example of how my idealized neutral color palette for summer varies from the reality. The red and green floral print work well, but black is not one of my ideal neutrals.

Instead of the white or red top I would typically have chosen to pair with the pants for a summer outfit, I pulled out a maroon T as an example of an autumnal color option.

Outfit #1: OOTD 8/11/22

I couldn't resist wearing the summery bright green flats, but for a more fall-like alternative, I could substitute my black polka dot flats with the gold studs to coordinate with the necklace.

Now for a non-seasonal accessory, my Christmas-y red, black, white, and green DIY paper bead bracelet set made from 3 plaid papers and a red/white snowflake-motif sweater image! I don't think the snowflakes are so obvious that I can't wear the bracelet in other seasons. I supplemented the paper bracelets with DIY red glass, gold spacer, and white glass bead bracelets.

Outfit #2 has a very summer-compatible base of a navy and white striped top and navy pencil skirt worn with nude wedges. For high summer, it's easy to imagine it with a bright colored necklace or lightweight scarf.

Outfit #2: 8/24/22

But for a summer-to-fall transition look, I added a muted paisley silk scarf with dark green edging for a touch of autumnal color. To take this another step toward fall, I could substitute navy flats for the nude shoes.

As I wore bright green shoes for a summer pop in Outfit #1, Outfit #2 is brightened up with the world's easiest DIY hoop earrings made with light-yet-vibrant green glass pearls in an ombré pattern (also seen in this recent post).

My bracelet stack is my DIY navy/green/gold paper bead bracelet set (page to bead in this post) with a DIY dark green/gold bracelet (to coordinate with the scarf's deeper green), a DIY lapis lazuli flat square bead bracelet, and the ubiquitous gold bead bracelet from Amazon.

For Outfit #3, I started with a tropical leaf print T that has a navy background and a variety of rich muted colors in the print. I wear navy-based florals (and related plant prints) in every season. Navy-based prints in general are among my favorite prints and are a style point that makes me feel more "me" when I wear them. But dark muted florals are a great fall choice and are on trend for F/W 2022.

To celebrate the start of September and my Summer/Fall sartorial season, I paired it with a burgundy knit skirt for a dose of deep fall color. My summer-weight navy jacket works well for a not-hot summer day but is a nice structured jacket in a dark color that feels a step up from the cardigans and lightweight shirts-as-jackets I rely on in high summer. My brown flats go into high rotation starting in September as I start to phase out my nude shoes for the season. I don't require my outfit to include brown to wear these shoes either...I figure that they coordinate well enough with the darker blonde areas of my hair. And my current glasses are brown and rose gold, so they always match.

Outfit #3: OOTD 9/1/22

I will often wear the brown flats with another brown accessory...such as my brown leather earrings, a brown necklace, or a brown bracelet...to ramp up the intentionality of the choice. In this outfit, the sloth necklace and the mixed metal ring necklace both have brown in them. I am also wearing the olive/navy/gold side of the reversible DIY paper pendant made from upcycled paperboard that I wore on the black side in (and made for) the SIA Calyx post. I adjusted it so the chain for the pendant matches the length of the mixed metal chain necklace.

I'm not sure whether I've already shared these world's easiest DIY hoop earrings made with burgundy 5mm garnet beads and gold spacers. I made them this past winter and consider them a terrific fall/winter earring alternative to the brightly colored glass beads I wear so much in the summer.

My bracelet stack is a DIY set that I discussed in depth in a design a bracelet starting with a spring outfit post. In that post, I wore the bracelets with a column of burgundy topped with a pink cardigan. In today's OOTD, the burgundy relates to my skirt and the pink is found in the print top.

Are there particular colors that put you in a fall state of mind? What's your favorite styling trick for the summer to fall transition?

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