Everyone had one for summer: an adorable thrifted or thrift-inspired ditsy floral dress. So wearable and always-pretty, these dresses are easy to revisit every time the temperature starts to warm up.
So if we love them so much, why stop when summer ends? As one of my picks for thrifting must-haves, a dainty floral dress shouldn’t hide in your closet when the flowers in your garden begin to dwindle; Get creative with it and pair it with this fall’s hottest trends. It’s always a good idea to use what you have and apply it to the trends of the season and not buy a whole new wardrobe to be on-trend to a tee.
The Oversized Boxy Blazer
This look was plastered all over the F/W 2012 runway. Maison Martin Margiela went monochromatic with their blazers, pastel blazers paired with pretty pastel tops and pants were seen at Chloe’s runway show and Balmain went to town with their embellishments on boxy blazers. There was a micro trend with oversized jackets and blazers that I’m especially fond of this season: throwing them over your shoulders, sleeves free. So to transition from summer to fall, try pairing your summer dress with a tossed-over jacket. Such a good way to ease into that fall wardrobe.
Collars Collars Collars
The summer was just the beginning of the collar trend (a trend that I wish would never end!), so don’t retire them just yet. Antonio Marras and Rodarte each used stand-alone collars in unique and fall-exclusive ways, so I’m excited to see how many ways we can wear them with our cold-weather wardrobes. A lace collar looks just peachy with a floral dress, and when it’s still too warm to layer up, why not add subtle fall pieces: tights with a collar.
Dyed Faux Fur
Countless designers went vivid with their furs this fall; From dyed scarves, to dip-dyed jackets to faux-fur/fuzzy cropped sweaters. My favorite- and craziest- look of the season is hands-down the furs seen on the Blu Marine F/W ’12 runway; The boatloads of electric pink and blue fur gave me flashbacks of those brightly-colored crane machine stuffed animals in the arcades that I pined after as a kid. I paired a blue faux-fur cropped sweater with this ditsy floral dress and tossed on some ankle boots to bring the look into full fall-mode.
Take a look at your summer clothes-filled closet, and then look at it as though fall is here right now. What would you keep? Chances are you have even more fall-worthy pieces than you thought, so get thrifty!
By Whitney S. Williams
Photos by Angela Miller
