It's hard to believe that August is already here! With September (and fall!!) right around the corner, I have been reworking the pieces in my capsule to create some early transitional outfits. Case in point is this lacey look that I wore recently. What I love about this combination is that both pieces are light enough for a summer day, but still pulled-together enough to feel (almost) fall ready. When worn together, this look can easily tide me over until the official start to fall without feeling like I'm jumping the gun.
Having lived in both the south and the north, there is an undeniable difference in transitional dressing between the regions. That said though, some key points hold true regardless of your geographical location.
The first of which being that neutral or muted colors are a great place to start because they allow your accessories to do the talking. For example, with this look I opted for pale green and white so that I could showcase bold gold and rich browns which instantly call to mind cooler temps.
Next, when putting together transitional outfits keep silohette in mind and try to choose pieces in light fabrics that feature a cool weather shape like the long sleeve silk shirt I wore here. While the color is neutral and the material is light as air so that it can be layered or worn alone, the silohette automatically feels more autumnal than say a plain short sleeve tee.
This pale green, lace skirt from J. Crew is one of my favorites for transitional wear. The lightweight fabric is comfortable enough for august, while the muted color hints at cooler weather to come.
My third "rule" for transitional dressing is to lead with your hair and makeup. While it is still too early for bold lips and rich nail colors (I would wait til September for those), you can slowly signal that fall is on the way by favoring a more refined coif.
In fact, mid to late August is the perfect time to begin phasing out the beachy waves and re-incorporating carefully curled locks. My fourth and final rule of thumb plays off of my first and involves transitioning from dainty everyday jewels to bolder costume jewelry. With temperatures and humidity beginning to dip, bold accessories can feel like a comfortable option once more.
Plus, by pairing your go-to summer pieces with bolder accessories, they will instantly feel more elevated than they did in June and July, and will help signal that chunky scarves and mitts are soon to follow.
For accessories, I stuck with a bold gold palette and wore my J. Crew link necklace, gold bangle and new Ralph Lauren sunglasses that have the perfect round frames.
To let the skirt shine, I kept my other accessories simple with three shades of brown. My favorite Chanel ballet flats are the ideal walking shoe and are both parts comfortable and chic, while my vintage Gucci bag adds just enough structure to any look.
As mentioned in this post, from now on I will be sharing the exact pieces from my capsule, accessories, shoes and purse collections that I used to create each of my outfits. My hope is that by showing the pieces used from each category I will help inspire you to get creative too and see how far a few carefully chosen pieces can take you. I have outlined these below for you and have also put together a quick OOTD video that you can view here or below.
Capsule Pieces: Everlane round collar white silk shirt, J. Crew green lace skirt
Accessories: J. Crew gold link necklace, J. Crew gold bangle, Ralph Lauren round sunglasses
Shoes: Chanel ballet flats
Purse: Vintage Gucci Kelly bag
Until next time!
