Essential Fall Wardrobe

The Dresses Every season needs an essential dress you can't live without. This season, we're loving Adrianna Papell's purple knit dress (Nordstrom $118). The adorable cap sleeves and removable belt add extra interest, but the dress is still simple enough to work for multiple situations and layering experiments. While becca questions the wearability of a sweater dress, I'm beyond smitten with this buckle wrap dress (Victoria's Secret $88). It's a heavy enough knit to soften bumps rather than create them, and that collar looks so inviting. The pop of teal would be perfect in a season of brown, plum, and orange. Anthropologie's ditzy dot shirt dress ($128) is our favorite fall essential. It has a great print in beautiful seasonal colors, a red lining that peaks out when the sleeves are rolled up, and a removable ribbon belt.
The Blazers Summer is all about the dress, but blazers are fall's key wardrobe element. A velvet blazer is perfect for everything from work, to class, to dinner with friends. The ruffle jacket (Anthropologie $138) and peacoat-style short-sleeved jacket (Mod Cloth $87.99, great for swing temperatures) both have a polished air. For days baring the first bite of winter (or any day you need to look cool) a leather jacket is just the thing.
The Sweaters We're leaving the blazers to do the heavy work of looking professional. While the cardigans we picked out would do fine in an office, they wouldn't be out of place while carving pumpkins or raking leaves either. Anthropologie had a double hitter with this open layered, open scarf cardigan ($118) and belted long cardigan ($49.95). Remember all those tops with dramatic shoulders and sleeves you bought for spring? Always have a cardigan with roomy arms to extend the life of those tops another season (toggle cardigan, Old Navy $32.50).
The Tops Fall is all about layering, so you'll need a good basic long-sleeved shirt. We love this turtleneck from Three Dots (Nordstrom $55), king of quality basics. A light top will keep you from getting too warm under your blazers and sweaters. We chose a ruffle trim top (J. Crew $59.50) and silk blouse (Nordstrom $158) so the detail could peak above anything it's layered under. To add interest and warmth to any top, you need a good vest, and this military vest fits the bill (Forever 21 $26). I'm a sucker for a cowl neck in cooler months, but this cowl neck sweater (The Limited $39.90) gets even better -- it's machine washable.
The Skirts We love going a little English country for autumn and Anthropologie's button embellished tweed pencil skirt feeds the love ($148). Leather skirts are going to be huge for fall. We like the worn leather look of this pencil skirt (Spiegel $99 (Because of Spiegel's tiny pictures, the role of this skirt is being played by Bottega Veneta in the editor.)). With boots and tights, a cord mini skirt (Old Navy $26.50) has kicky retro collegiate appeal. In the print department, is anything more fall than Mod Cloth's apple skirt ($32.99)?
The Pants The essential pant for fall fun is a good pair of jeans. They're there for you on hay rides, by bonfires, in stadiums, or just on a blustery day. If you're in the market for a new pair of jeans, we suggest Gap's trend defying boot cut jean ($59.50). Tapered trousers (Top Shop $80) will keep you casually professional this fall. For casual days, BCBGenteration has a chic military skinny pant (Bluefly $57.79).
The Shoes Clogs be damned, menswear inspired shoes are always our go-to for fall. I'm in love with these fish scale oxfords by All Black (Endless $131.95). For a more cutesy look, Naturalizer's Cailin suede pump ($140) has a slight ruffle and tiny bow. Knee-high boots are classic, and over-the-knee boots are trendy. Have both with this foldable boot by SE Boutique (DWS $199.95). And for all the bonfires you have to sit around and piles of leaves you have to jump in, MIA's military inspired boot in a worn brown leather is just the thing.
The Accessories We're thrilled tight season is back! In the name of restraint, I tried to not name every one I saw as an essential. (That will be another post.) You always need a whiff of argyle for fall, and these not-quite-argyle tights will do their part to add textural interest (Anthropologie $16). Of all the tights that we consider essential, our plum tights get the most wear in fall (Mod Cloth $21.99). For a warmer option, these button-trimmed leggings will keep you adorably toasty (Old Navy $15). We had a split decision on socks, with becca liking socks not quite to the knee (Mod Cloth $11.99) and me preferring them over the knee (Urban Outfitters $14).
In addition to the purple and grey jersey scarf from one of the above cardigans, we picked out two more scarves. Winter florals, like on this scarf (Top Shop $32) will be a huge trend this fall. For added textual interest, try this ruffled circle scarf (Mod Cloth $25).
All my hat pegs are full, so it pains me to narrow this to two. For casual looks, a cadet cap (Arden B $19.50) is trendy cool. Since my blogger name is based on a nickname spawned by my choice of head gear, I have to pick the classic wool beret (Nordstrom $24) as the season's other essential hat.
With scarves, hats, jackets and later in the season gloves, we don't wear much jewelry in the fall. Keep it simple with leaf stud earrings (Mod Cloth $15.99) and a chunky brooch (Newport News $15) good for decorating everything from your jacket to your hat. Don't forget that we have another brooch in our essential wardrobe; the ribbon medal on the vest is removable!

Back to our English dreams, this classic belt (Banana Republic $50) is ready for riding. For a bit more pizzaz, this rosette and stud embellished belt (Forever 21 $20.80) does the trick. In addition, the purple dress, print dress and long sweater all have removable belts you can mix and match!
Bag it all up with a deep red faux croc tote (Target $33.99) or a retro inspired tooled leather bag (Top Shop $70).

Those are your players. Get styling!

Comments

Anonymous said…
"the role of this skirt is being played by Bottega Veneta in the editor"

LOL
leather skirts said…
It is all about sensitivity! So a skirt that hits the widest part of your calf can make your legs look shorter and thicker, making you look dull and crouch.

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