Fashion Over Fifty: Long Sleeves with Shorts?

We have been experiencing a very unseasonably warm fall here in Northwestern WI.  Normally by this time of the year we are struggling with restraining ourselves from turning on the heat (no one in Wisconsin wants to start paying heating bills before October!),  and instead we are trying to keep ourselves from turning on the air knowing that any day now, it's going to cool off!

We have had a couple of cooler days where I could wear jeans and a jacket or sweater, but mostly I've still been wearing summer clothes.   All of these fluctuating temperatures have left me frustrated to no end when trying to put an outfit together.  Will it be cool in the morning and warm up to eighty by afternoon?  Am I going to sweat in this?  Am I going to freeze in this?  What do I wear?  

All summer long I noticed lots of pictures of women in Blogland wearing shorts with long sleeves.  At first I thought it was odd since I feel if it's hot enough to wear shorts, I wouldn't want to wear long sleeves.  But eventually, as all new fashion trends go, the look grew on me.  It does make sense to keep my upper body more covered when I enter air-conditioned buildings.  And it's a good transitional outfit as well.  So I decided to try the look for myself!

I bought my long sleeve shirt from Express years ago.  It's a sheer knit material with a dropped shoulder and tab sleeves.  Because the top is semi-see-thru,  I have to wear a tank top underneath, and I usually go with a flesh tone;  but because the rest of my outfit was black, I went with a black tank top.

For jewelry I wore a triple strand gold stone necklace (Express) and a gold bracelet.

Because it is Fall, I did not want to wear open toe shoes or sandals, but its too hot for me to wear a full bootie,  so I went with my black booties that have the open heel (I've shown these shoes to you before HERE and HERE).   To me they are a mix of both a warm weather and cold weather shoe.  Plus, it won't be too much longer before I can't wear these shoes anymore, so I want to get as much use out of them while I still can!

I just picked up these Liz Claiborne black shorts on clearance for less than $10.00.  I have been looking for black dress shorts all summer, and I finally found a pair now that summer is over.  I almost didn't get them because shorts season was over,  and then I thought "Wait a minute, I'm going to Florida for Thanksgiving and again for two weeks in February….of course I'm gonna wear them!".

Because of the color, the shorts are actually perfect to wear now.  The black color is perfect for fall, and the shorts are perfect for the current summer temperatures we are experiencing.

 I was actually quite pleased with this look.  My upper body is larger than my lower body, so it is more flattering for me to have my legs more exposed than my top.  And, you all know I can't stand heavily air conditioned buildings, so this sheer knit top covering my arms kept me quite comfortable.  If I did get unbearably hot, I could always remove it since I had a tank underneath.  But that's highly unlikely, as I am not comfortable walking around with just a tank on;  so I would have to be pretty miserable to do that (like I was in Duluth over Labour Day Weekend!).

So what about you?  Have you or would you ever wear shorts with long sleeves?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a great day!  Amy

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