As the weather cools down, you’ll need to switch up your wardrobe. Let’s talk about some transitional fall outfits.
Like spring, fall is what I call a transitional season. Most of summer is hot, and most of winter is cold.
The beginning of fall and spring are wholly different than the end. So, when it comes to summer to fall transition outfits, how do you accommodate the constant changes of the season?
I hate being caught out on a cold day without a jacket. Same with sweating under the hot sun because I’m in a dark long-sleeved shirt when a white t-shirt would’ve been better.
I’m going to talk about some wardrobe essentials during this transitional season. I’m also going to give you some hacks. This way, you’ll know how to deal with a time of the year that often has dramatically different days than nights.
Late Summer Outfits and Early Fall Outfits
There’s a lot of overlap between late summer and early fall. Just because it’s September doesn’t mean you’ll immediately get rid of your light clothes and go straight for the tweed.
Instead of doing a full switch, keep all of your summer pieces at the front of your closet and add light layers and outerwear to your rotation. In fact, you can even still keep your white shirts and pants in this rotation.
Then, make sure the following pieces are ready to grab:
- Shacket or overshirt
- Pair of boots (or two)
- Chambray work shirt
- Cardigans, sweaters, and quarter-zips
- Scarves
- Warm hats, like beanies or thermal sherpa-lined snapback hats
- Vests, like quilted hunting vests or tech vests
- Waxed jackets, like trucker jackets or Norfolk jackets
- Denim jacket
- Corduroy outerwear and pants
- Light cashmere
- Light, cotton blazers
So perhaps in the late summer, you’d wear a short-sleeve T-shirt and white pants. You can still wear this in early September.
However, you might throw a cardigan over it on cooler days. Or, you might bring a cardigan with you when you go out. It might be significantly cooler in the evening than it is during the day.
Prefer a more rugged look? Bring a trucker jacket. If you want to balance ruggedness with old world elegance, you can go for a more English countryside look, which is perfect for fall. Add a Norfolk jacket and (or) a quilted vest.
You’d be surprised at how much mixing and matching you can do with summer colors and fall colors, too.
A yellow polo or short-sleeve button-down looks like a summer piece when you wear it with white or cream pants. Pair it with brown corduroys or a dark olive utility shirt as an outer layer, and it’s far more autumnal.
Basically, layers and balancing colors are a great hack for that unpredictable time in late summer and early fall.
Moreover, even if it’s warm out, you can still go for the more outdoorsy look we often turn to during the fall. Just choose lighter weaves.
Go for chambray instead of denim or unstructured cotton blazers over heavy wool blazers.
Fall Aesthetic: Fabrics and Colors To Incorporate
Neutral colors are year-rounders. However, as you enter the middle of fall and especially late fall, you want to focus more on darker neutrals. Go for cool browns, blacks, charcoal, and navy over cream and beige.
Dark olive and dark maroon often get overlooked as menswear neutrals, but they actually go with everything. And they’re particularly appropriate during the autumn.
And from there, you’d add more dark, rich tones. Here are a few colors that could bring some dimension to your outfit:
- Forest greens and forest tones in general
- Sage (which also works in the summer)
- Hunter green
- Dark mustard
- Taupe
- Spruce
- Stone blue
Then, you’ll accent and complement these anchors with some fun, bright colors. Remember, spring mainly spotlights light hues, while summer is more about bright hues. These accents can carry over from summer and into autumn.
- Burnt orange
- Rust red
- Yellow
- Cinnamon
- Cerulean blue
- Light mustard
- Red oak
- Magenta
- Terracotta (a more fall-appropriate tone than salmon)
Basically, you want to wear colors that occur in nature during this time. The trees turn orange and red before they turn brown. Rivers look more like a deep blue under the fall sun.
You’ll also want to to switch from the light, summery colognes you may have been using. Go for deeper scents. Again, these are more organic and natural to the season.
And, of course, even as you’re transitioning from warm weather to cooler weather, you’ll incorporate heavier fabrics. From a style perspective, they also add structure to your outfit. This is why I always say that fall is a great time for menswear.
Out of need, you add shape and architecture to your outfit without even thinking about it. This allows even the most casual fall outfits to look classy and intentional.
Here are some fabrics to slowly incorporate at the beginning of fall:
- Tweed
- Flannel
- Denim
- Leather
- Corduroy
- Wool
- Flannel
- Gabardine
- Cashmere
- Performance material like nylon or polyester (especially for quilted outerwear like vests and hunting jackets)
- Sherpa wool
Mid-Fall: Don’t Put All of Your Late Summer Pieces in Storage
And you’d be surprised at how many summer pieces you can keep in the middle of fall. This is another hack I’ve discovered. I’ve lived in cities with disparate climates while trying to maintain a fairly minimal wardrobe everywhere I go.
Look at it this way. What were pieces of outerwear in the late summer and early fall might become foundational pieces in colder weather.
In August, you might have worn a shirt jacket or utility shirt open with a tank underneath. In the fall, it can be worn as your shirt proper. This means you’d wear it closed, then add a layer over that.
Chambray shirts are used for layering in hot weather. For fall, it can be part of the core outfit. You can pair boat shoes with thick socks well into late fall. Just go for brown and black ones over lighter hues.
Here are some effective layers and garments you can use to make these pieces more fall-appropriate well into the season.
- Leather jacket
- Tweed jacket
- Tweed pants
- Alpaca sweater
- Fair isle sweater
- Merino wool sweaters and cardigans
- Trench coat
- Thickly-woven socks
- Knitwear
FAQs
Here are some common questions related to transitioning from summer to fall!
What is the transition from summer to fall called?
The transitional period is technically called the autumnal equinox. It happens around September 22 in the Northern Hemisphere.
Can you still wear summer clothes in the fall?
Yes, you can wear certain summer pieces in the fall. You’d just style them differently and pair them with different garments.
For example, a chambray utility shirt can be a piece of outerwear in the summer. In the fall, you’d wear it like a shirt and add layers.
You can wear brown boat shoes sockless in the summer. However, you’d pair them with thick socks in the fall.
What is a transitional wardrobe?
A transitional wardrobe is one that features pieces that bring you from one season to another efficiently. This means not having to completely overhaul your closet. Instead, you’d use certain garments differently from season to season or add to foundational pieces.
Conclusion: A Seamless Transition
I hope your key takeaway here is that summer to fall transition outfits are easier to accomplish than many think.
Despite how cold it gets in late fall, you still get to keep many of your summer pieces in rotation. Even so, much of the color palette overlaps, which is something few people realize!
Questions? Comments? Let me know below!
