How to Dress for Late Summer

Although we still have a month left of summer, the beginning of the school year has society getting back into routine and has us anticipating the next season. With fall right around the corner, it can be difficult picking out outfits when you’ve been rotating through the same clothing choices for a few months now. Here are my tips for dressing for late summer:

1. Mix in darker neutrals for accessories. Now is a great time to start adding in darker neutral colors in form of accessories. For example – I’m wearing my rope belt less and my brown leather belt more, as well as wearing darker leather shoes vs. summer sandals. I also love bandanas around the neck to give any outfit a more rustic/Americana look that’s often associated with late summer & early fall.
2. Don’t put away your white staples. It’s the perfect time to create fresh and interesting outfits by wearing your whites in a new way. White denim, for example, can be worn with gingham, chambray, olive greens, burgundy, etc. to mix in a little fall into your summer wardrobe. White makes a great base to really make other colors pop, so take advantage and mix in fall colors now with it.
3. Add a few light layers from your fall wardrobe. If you’re really getting sick of dressing for summer, dip into your fall clothes and pull a few light layers to add to your summer outfits. This could be a light sweater, darker purse, or even a pair of loafers.
4. Transition from summer brights to deeper tones. I’m starting to wear less super bright clothes and transitioning to richer tones. I love dark greens, navy, burgundy, gray, and soft orange to take me from summer into the next season. There’s exceptions of course, and you can see above that I love a good summer plaid for the end of the season. Just make sure to tone it down by pairing it with neutrals.
5. Dress for the weather and the season. Although we are excited for fall, remember that dressing appropriately means dressing for the weather as well. Every year after Labor Day I see women sweating it out in boots because they’re so excited to wear them. There’s no need to sacrifice comfort for style if you learn to mix summer and fall the right way.

Here are two late summer outfits – one from last year and one from this week. We have had cooler mornings and evenings lately in Michigan so I’ve been able to wear a sweater without sweating. On the left I paired a lightweight fall sweater with gray and white and loved how it turned out, and on the right I stuck with classic color combo.

A few more examples of late summer outfits – I love how each lady used neutrals to create a classic look for the end of the season. The use of white, chambray, navy, and olive green are all foolproof for putting together an effortless late summer look.

Again, a few more examples of fantastic late summer outfits. Each has a little texture or pattern added in to create interest, and I love the use of neutrals to pull together the entire look.

August 24, 2016 by thedressdecoded | 2 Comments