It’s time to curate a Fall 2022 capsule wardrobe
By Aymen Sherwani, September 30 2022—
Fall, arguably, is the season of fashion. Layers are the easiest way to finesse yourself into looking high fashion while walking down the street. Despite this, a lot of us still panic when deciding what to wear in the morning because of how many clothes we own and questions about what looks good together. Here’s how to re-evaluate your wardrobe for the fall.
Find your statement colours
I’m saying it now – dark green is the colour to be wearing this autumn. Pair with your classic cream, black, navy blue, maroon and rustic orange tones throughout the season as most of these colours almost always look amazing together. If you’re not big on colours, play around with shade ranges instead. For people who have warmer undertones, play around with beiges and browns — a beige wool coat with dark brown pants and a cream sweater would be the perfect example. Some people don’t like mixing shades either — and you know what? That’s valid because monochrome outfits are classics. Pair a cropped, black, woolen sweater with a pair of leather pants, a statement belt and some black vinyl ankle boots. Is it extra? Yes. Will you look amazing, despite also looking like a European off-duty model? Also yes — and you’ll thank me for it.
Play around with textures and fabrics
Leather, wool and knitted fabrics are your big three — if you’re a tryhard, then also tweed. Be adventurous with the textures you have across your closet. Will you be wearing a silk skirt with a lycra bodysuit and a wooly cardigan? Will you wear an oversized leather jacket with a pair of black stockings? That’s for you to decide.
Invest in outerwear
An overcoat is your best friend in this city. For the warmer days in the beginning of September, I like to leave the house wearing a standard Burberry-esque trench coat — the same one I bought from H&M from five years ago because they really do last a lifetime — or a leather jacket. They’re light enough to hold at the end of the day when it’s undoubtedly hotter but an absolute necessity when it’s raining or below zero degrees in the morning. Denim jackets are also a great casual alternative.
As it gets colder during the semester, I switch into a fitted, knee-length, wool coat and pair it with a matching scarf or a pair of sunglasses because — even if the rest of our outfit is trash — you can still give everyone else the illusion of being put together with outerwear. When it starts snowing, it’s time for one of those giant oversized calf-length overcoats that you can wear a million layers of sweaters underneath.
Outline your basics
If you struggle with coming up with outfits in the morning like I do, outlining the staples of your wardrobe always cuts your time in half. For pants — keep in mind your favourite pair of jeans, your comfiest leggings, a pair of slacks and another with a bold pattern or texture. For the latter two, that means a nice pair of brown houndstooth slacks and some fleece-lined, high-waisted leather pants, respectively. If you’re someone who likes wearing skirts, tennis skirts and miniskirts are huge right now and can be paired with everything from oversized sweatshirts to more cropped tees. If you’re like me and love long skirts that give you the freedom of being bloated in peace, a calf-length midi skirt is your best.
When it comes to tops, a reasonable amount of turtlenecks to own and wear on rotation is four that you can all mix and match with the pairs of pants and skirts you own. Got some sweater vests? Sweatshirts? Mix and match them with your bottoms rather than buying new clothes over and over again for every outfit of the week.
If making outfit combinations is really hard to do, make like Cher Horowitz from Clueless and use fun gadgets to plan out your outfits! I use ACloset, which is an AI outfit planner app that is available on IOS and the Google Play Store that allows you to upload pictures of your clothing onto your virtual wardrobe and gives you outfit suggestions for what works best with each item.
Shoes will make or break your outfit
Loafers. Ankle boots. White sneakers. Statement pumps. These four on rotation will carry you through fall and winter. Just invest in high quality materials that don’t scuff up when you’re running to class and slip on the ice.