Follow These Threads

At last, cool weather approaches, and it’s time to get back into real clothes. Here are some tips for getting your wardrobe ready for the approaching lower temperatures.

Buy something that gets you excited about the upcoming season. Remember when you were a kid and couldn’t wait to wear all your new back-to-school stuff? That run-to-the-closet-and-take-a-peek-at-it sensation is worth recapturing. Having a lovely new sweater or a great new pair of shoes is a great way to kick off the season—the trick is stopping at just one preseason buy. (So far I’m up to five.)

Buy boots. If you resisted buying boots last year, now it’s time to give in. This year the rage seems to be tall, shiny black leather boots that look as though they might have been standard issue for 1950s motorcycle cops. I think they’re hideous, but a tall, thin woman with a short black leather jacket and a lot of presence could pull it off. (As if tall, thin women ever have trouble pulling off any look.) Those who really want to make a statement should go one step further into the KISS/early ’70s Elton John/Herman Munster creations currently on the market.

For the rest of us, black and brown suede are in (though brown—or “espresso” as the catalogs like to call it—is harder to find this year). Suede boots are pretty much sticking to the stacked heel.

Buy something in your signature style. Everyone has a signature style, for better or for worse, by accident or by design. For instance, the new season gives me an excuse to buy yet another pair of suede loafers and still another piece of outerwear—perhaps Eddie Bauer’s “Stine” leather jacket in espresso.

Buy something terribly trendy. You might as well plan on buying something in gray, since you won’t be able to escape it. From upscale department stores to stylish Banana Republic to affordable Target, heather gray wool is the ubiquitous choice for skirts, sweaters, and even shoes and backpacks.

Why has gray been selected as this season’s “new black”? Deep, rich grays exude elegance and classic style—think Katharine Hepburn in Desk Set. Her character, Bunny Watson, is cool, smart, and efficient. One of her best outfits is a gray wool jumper worn with a crisp white shirt. Mary Tyler Moore wore this same outfit more than a decade later as Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Deep berry and frosty lavender are the season’s other popular colors.

As for style, this year the trendiest would have to be cargo. Love or hate the commercials, you have to give Old Navy credit for shaking up the retail fashion world. This year they’ve led the way with cargo clothing. Even people (like me) who were deriding those big chunky pockets at the beginning of the summer are now giving them a second look. This is a good thing, since gray cargo pockets are everywhere, even at Ann Taylor.

Old Navy has fantastic little cargo wrap skirts; they’re fun, way comfy and casual, and make the perfect segue into fall. Ann Taylor, meanwhile, has cargo pants in black, brown, and British tan, and sleeveless stretchy dresses in black or British tan. Ann Taylor manages to make cargo look sleek—it is Ann Taylor, after all.

In contrast to the casual feel of cargo, soft elegance is in for evening or dressy occasions: long skirts in silk under chiffon or wool crepe paired with light, gauzy tops or cashmere twinsets for chillier evenings.

Speaking of twinsets, ignore that annoyingly lingering three-quarter sleeve trend. You’ll be tugging at your sleeve all season long, wishing you’d bought the darn twinset in full-length sleeves so it would actually keep you warm. Also, no one’s going to be wearing three-quarter sleeves next year.

Buy something timeless. My vote for the timeless piece of the season—and indeed three seasons out of four—goes to the classic white shirt. In fall, a plain-collared white shirt is the perfect complement to jeans and a sweater, velvety cords, or a long khaki skirt. A classic white shirt will also look marvelous with all that charcoal you’ll be wearing. The best thing about white shirts is that you can never have too many. This year, look for subtly textured versions—the faintest hint of ribbon stripes or an almost subliminal herringbone pattern.

Buy something retro. This is another one of those things you probably won’t be able to avoid, because there’s always something paying homage to older styles. Look for old-fashioned cardigans everywhere this fall. Some are in pale colors reminiscent of the ’50s, some are quietly glamorous with bits of beading or embroidery, and some look as though they were only recently unearthed from the bottom of a musty trunk in Aunt Mary’s attic. Don’t even allow yourself to be tempted by J. Crew’s poncho sweaters; if you find yourself lured to the bright patterns, go to Scarlett Begonia or Pangaea for something Peruvian or Ecuadorian.