Fall’s Here: How to Stay Chic

Personal Stylist

I love fall, Did I say I love fall? I do. Mainly because I love colors.  I think God must be really artistic because, fall has so many colors that always make me happy. I want to enjoy every minute outside, from winding roads for running to beautiful parks for hiking. It’s funny – the older I get the more I like the outdoors.

How Your Personal Stylist Dresses for Fall

So why worry about dressing for fall? The weather does start to change, so I start to look for layers that are warm but not too warm. That means I look for denim jackets. Military jackets in olive, beige or navy; light dusters in warmer colors such as rust. I put those over T-shirts, Boho tops, lighter, warmer color dresses in knit or prints. I also start switching to brown sandals and sometimes metallic shoes as well as animal prints. I also find, many times, that by afternoon I am too hot. That is why I try to avoid heavy fabrics and look for lighter fabrics in denim, cotton and even silk that will breathe.

It’s also the time I of year I start looking at the boots I own, I take stock of what I have, what’s still in good shape, what’s still in style, etc. I have to say for, the first time this year I am going to wait to start wearing booties. Instead, I am going to wear the ever-trending stacked loafer and hunter green New Balance sneakers I recently bought for vacation. It wasn’t love at first site for these shoes.

I, your Personal Stylist, am really avoiding wearing so much black and wanted a more versatile color. I wasn’t sure about the hunter green—what would it go with? Anyway, I got over that hang up and bought them – so glad I did. I wore them with a navy knit dress from Evereve that I belted. It’s a really casual dress with some of the back out, and it was perfect for late summer-early fall temps. The shoes were perfect for a city vacation where I walked up to 10 miles a day. Instead of wearing my typical Panama straw hat, I wore a Lilly Pulitzer baseball cap. It was perfect. While the dress and sneakers look is not new, it really has become more mainstream and sneakers are becoming an accepted staple of our wardrobe—even at work.

When wearing sneakers with a dress, I like to make the dress more casual—knit, stripe, shorter. I think it looks more put together—although I have seen some A-line, more dressy dresses with sneakers. It’s really up to you.

(All sneakers here are from Evereve.) It’s better to try on your sneakers a couple of times and walk in them, of course, at Personal Stylist the store before you buy them. Think about how you want to wear them and what colors go with them. If you really wear a lot of black, that might be your color. I recommend another color on the shoes to give a little pop such as the metallic and black ones, or the ones with white or rose gold. I would also check out the traditional Adidas black/white shoes as well as the Chuck Tailors out there. They may work, too

Allbirds Womens Wool Runners

White Leather Sneakers

Other options from Nordstrom’s best selling sneakers: Adidas, very high on the list; Check Taylors; Steve Madden; Vans, Eco. Really it just depends on your age and how much support you need. I also love a Camo design!

Nordstrom Sneakers

Keep it sassy, Indy

Beth Divine Gastineau,

AICI Certified Image Consultant and Personal Stylist