"Transitioning to Fall" with Ageless Style

Ageless Style is a monthly style challenge and link up for women of all ages.   Each month we pick a different theme and style an outfit based on that theme.  This month's theme is "Back to School" and was picked by Bo!

We are halfway through August right now and even though we have a lot of hot days ahead of us, summer vacation is over for most kids and a lot of adults with seasonal jobs will be returning to work.   During this transitional time, I like to focus on transitioning my wardrobe from summer clothes to fall.  Even though the weather is still warm, I like to look "fall" by wearing fall colors.

This classic burgundy shift dress is so old I can't believe it hasn't fallen apart by now.  My daughter actually found it for me on a clearance rack at Charming Charlies...which has long since gone out of business but the dress lives on!  I have shown it so many times before on this blog.  Here are some of the many ways I've styled it that show how versatile this dress is!

With a Shacket and Tall Boots

With A Kimono

With a Cardigan and Scarf

With a Head Scarf and Lace Up Flats

With a Denim Vest and Lace Up Wedges

Is this dress versatile or what?  Solid color basic pieces like this dress are the perfect starting point to creating unique outfits.  The burgundy color, short sleeves, and short length of the dress make it a wonderful dress for fall because the color of the dress is a fall color, but the dress style is summer.  I can add layers that can keep me warm on the cooler mornings/evenings, but can also be taken off in the heat of the day.

On the day that I wore this outfit, we were on a late summer trip to Springfield Illinois.  It was a hot day, and we were doing a lot of sight seeing so I wanted to be comfortable, yet cute.

I wore a dark brown felt hat to protect myself from the sun, carried a saddle crossbody bag for security reasons and ease of carrying while sightseeing, and comfy loafer shoes.

So what about you?  How are you getting ready to go back to school/work or transitioning your summer clothes for fall?  I'd love to hear from you.

Now be sure to check out the other ladies "Back to School" outfits and be sure to link up with us as well.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Amy ~ Amy’s Creative Pursuits

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Bo ~ Bo's Bodacious Blog

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Jennifer ~ Overflowing with Thankfulness

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Joanne ~ My Slice of Life

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Jodie ~ Jodie’s Touch of Style

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Marsha~ Marsha in the Middle

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Mireille ~ Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom

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How to Transition your Summer Clothes for Fall with Ageless Style

Ageless Style is a monthly style challenge and link up for women of all ages.   Each month we pick a different theme and style an outfit based on that theme.  This month's theme is "Transitioning Your Summer Clothes for Fall" and was picked by Rosemary.

You hear the same phrase at the end of every summer:   "I can't wait for fall!".  People can't wait for the pumpkin lattes, football season, and fall fashion.  Being a Wisconsinite, I'm never in a hurry for fall because it just means nine long months of winter for me, and I detest anything to do with sports.  However, I do love "pumpkin anything", fall foliage, and fall fashion, so I do have some things to be excited about!  This year, fall seems very far away as we are having one of the hottest Septembers on record here in Wisconsin.  It makes fall garden chores very difficult to do and fall fashion is out of the question, at least for now.  

My usual way of transitioning  from summer to fall is to wear summer clothes in fall colors;  that way I stay cool but look like fall.  I have done a number of these posts over the years:  "Using Colors and Texture to Transition into Fall",  "How to Style Summer Clothes for Fall",  and "Transitioning a Summer Dress for Fall."  In all three of these posts you will see how I incorporate fall colors and texture into summer-like outfits.

So to meet the challenge this month, I'm showing you the same concept (fall colors in summer clothing), but I'm also displaying the art of layering as in the fall we experience cool mornings and evenings but can still have sultry afternoons.   This is an outfit I recently wore on a road trip out west where the mountain mornings were chilly, but the afternoons rose to a balmy 80 or 90 degrees.

I was in the beautiful town of Jackson Wyoming and although you will see all types of attire in Jackson, many people really dress up there, especially in a western style.  I picked this outfit for both comfort and it's western-look (western enough for this midwest gal anyway).  

My base started with a pale yellow sundress from Stitch Fix.  Sorry, I don't have any full photos of me wearing just the sundress alone, but below is a half body shot so you can at least see what the bodice looks like.  You can also go on the Stitch Fix site and see the full dress HERE!  This is such a cute and comfy dress, perfect for traveling.  The fabric is so soft and doesn't wrinkle.  I saw this dress on clearance on the Stitch Fix website and picked it up for less than $25.00.  In case you didn't already know, you can just buy items directly from Stitch Fix and not place an order for a Stitch Fix box.

I knew this would be the perfect fall sundress because of the pale yellow color and the creamy Carmel flowers in the pattern of the dress.  I based the rest of my outfit off the Carmel flowers and layered my new  Carmel Liverpool SPLURGE jacket over the top (See it was the worth the splurge, I'm using it already and fall isn't even here yet!  See last month's Ageless Style post HERE if you don't know what I'm talking about 😀)

The rest of the pieces in the outfit include a sun hat (that western sun is intense!), a saddle bag (to complete the western look), and neutral sandals for long periods of walking to keep my feet cool and comfy.  Looking back, I wish I would have worn my brown felt fedora hat as that would have looked more western, but when I was packing in August it was hot and my brain was in summer-hat mode so I grabbed a straw hat.  And if I weren't walking so much that day, I would have chosen a cute western bootie.  That would have looked so much more cute than these sandals.  

Even though I would have changed out the hat and shoes in this outfit if I could, I still really liked the outfit and I felt very cute and confident wearing it.  I got so many compliments on this outfit too, people especially loved the saddle bag.

Jackson Hole is such a cute western town!  The shops are pretty pricey, I stopped in a fur shop and the average coat was going for $10,000 😀.  So it is more of a place to window-shop than a shopping town for us regular folk.  It was still fun to see all the western store fronts and enjoy lots of huckleberry treats!

As the day went on, it did get hot, so I took the jacket off and just carried it across my arm.

Now before I end this post I have both sad news and good news.  Rosemary,  decided to step away from our group for a while,  but we also found a new member!  Jennifer decided to join us!  We are sad to see Rosemary go, but we are excited to add a new member.  

We are also making a new change to our link up.  We are announcing next month's challenge ahead of time so you can plan an outfit and join us in the challenge.  That is actually how we met Jennifer;  she joined us in the challenge and did a post on it.   So if you want to participate in next month's Ageless Style, the theme is "Cozy October"!  You can also email (my email address is found on my contact/follow page;  look for it in my sidebar) your photo ahead of time and I will put it in my blog post.  I just need the photos BEFORE the third Thursday of every month.  

Now be sure to see how the rest of the ladies are transitioning their summer clothes for fall and link up with us as well.  

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Amy ~ Amy’s Creative Pursuits

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Bo ~ Bo's Bodacious Blog

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Jennifer ~ Overflowing with Thankfulness

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Joanna ~ My Slice of Life

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Jodie ~ Jodie’s Touch of Style

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Leslie ~ Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After

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Mireille ~ Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom

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How To Wear Camel with Red and Leopard Print

For this week's fashion post, I am sharing a  top that will be "new" to you because I haven't shown it on my blog yet, but actually it's "old" because it has been hanging in my closet for almost a year.  I bought this top when our local "Younkers" was going out of business.  I only spent a few dollars on it, and I haven't worn it much because it kind of has a boxy fit.  It does have lots of other redeeming values like the beautiful embroidery and the pretty flutter sleeves, so I keep it around for those cool/warm transitional days.

I've always been a fan of camel, red, and leopard print together so I thought this new/old top would work well with that color print combo.

 I paired the pretty embroidered top with some other new/old items from my closet.  A classic red pea coat, colored brown denim, a brown hobo bag, and leopard flats.

A classic pea coat can be a great investment because they never go out of style.  I bought mine years ago at JCPenney.  I don't wear it much because our winters are too cold for pea coats (we really need long down-filled parkas here) but it's nice to have around for when the temperatures are a bit warmer.  It was in the 40's the day we took these pictures!  That's a heat wave for us in Wisconsin!

The pants are by Style and Co. from Macy's.  I turned the cuff in so I'd have a shorter length to wear with flats:  that is a trick one of my readers taught me and it has been a lifesaver.  If you just cuff your pants the usual way (to the outside) it makes your legs look shorter and heavier, but if you cuff the pants to the inside, it does not.  They really do stay up and do not come undone.  A shorter, ankle length pants looks so much more flattering with flats than a longer leg length;  so if you wear flats, I highly recommend cuffing the pants to make them shorter.

The top is a thin knit and is see-through so I wear a beige camisole with it.  It's longer in back than it is in front and it has a slit on the sides.  I love the length of this top.

 

The embroidery is just beautiful in this top and I love the unique flutter sleeves.  It's a great top to wear during the transitional months.

My earrings were a Christmas gift from my daughter.  I had them on my Amazon wish list and I will link them below.  They are so well made and very inexpensive.  What I love about them is that they are as light as a feather so they don't pull my ear lobe down like a lot of other heavy statement earrings.  You also get several different styles with your order!

My leopard flats are super old, I purchased them from Target.  The bag is also a new Christmas gift (from my son) off of my Amazon wish list, and I linked it up below.

Large Hobo Purse - Amazon,  Rattan Boho Straw Woven Earrings - Amazon,  Brown Jeans - Macys,  Red Pea Coat, old, similar - Macys,  Leopard Print Flats, old, similar - Macys,  Top, old, similar HERE and HERE, 

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

How To Style A Summer Maxi Dress For Fall

Ah, the fall transitional seasons,  that wonderful time of the year where we're not quite ready to break out the tall boots, jackets, and blanket scarves, yet the mornings and evenings are quite chilly and we need just an touch of extra warmth.  I don't know about you, but I like to extend my summer clothes as far into the fall as possible, because in my cold climate, I will be wearing cold weather clothing long enough.  One of the ways I do this is by just adding a sweater or jacket  to a summer piece, and changing out the footwear.  Pictured below is the the same summer maxi dress but the one on the left is styled for fall and the one on the right is styled for summer.

To make this summer maxi dress into a fall look,  I first added a black camisole underneath and I switched out the fabric belt that came with the dress, for a skinny black belt.  I then threw on a black cardigan, and chose blue suede booties instead of sandals.

I shopped my own closet to create this look, so everything I am wearing is old, but Amazon has a lot of great dresses that would work great for fall!  I also love THESE Suede Booties, THIS black cardigan, and THIS black bag.

The black camisole covers up the bare skin on the chest, making the dress less summer-like (we show more skin in warmer months and less in winter months), and it also helps tie all the other black in the outfit all together.

When choosing which dresses to use as transitional pieces for fall, pick ones with darker or fall-like colors.  The deep purples and reds in this dress make it the perfect dress to transition to a fall look.  This idea would not work well at all with a pastel or bright colored dress.

For jewelry, I chose red, silver, and black to coordinate with the colors in my dress.

I also carried a black bag to tie the entire outfit together.

I hear it's pretty hot in other parts of the country.  Our temperatures have been like a roller coaster with a lot of rain.  One day it can be as cool as 57 degrees and the next day it'll be in the 80's with high humidity.  On the day I wore this outfit, it was 60 degrees in the morning, but the temps warmed up to the 70's by midday.

So what about you?  How do you dress for fall when the temperatures still are not that cold yet?  Or are you still wearing summer clothes for as long as you can?  I'd love to hear from you!

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

How To Style A Summer Skirt For Fall

Ah, early fall, that wonderful time of year when the morning and evenings are freezing and the days are summer hot blazing leaving us all to wonder "What Do We Wear?".  My usual formula is to wear fall colors in summer fabrics and lots of easy layers.

Today's look I wore to church and then out to lunch.  This is a summer skirt I bought last year from CJBanks.  The first time I wore it in THIS POST it was a hot summer day.  Now I styled it for a cooler, early autumn day by wearing it with a black tee shirt and black moto jacket.

Here are the two looks side by side:  same skirt, different tee.  The white tee combined with the white sun hat and striped bag created a lovely summer outfit.  I took the same skirt and combined it with a black tee and a black jacket, and now I have a fall look.  This is one reason I love skirts over dresses:  their versatility!  You can create so many more different looks with skirts than you can with dresses.

 My moto jacket is cropped, which is perfect to wear with a skirt for it accentuates the waistline.

Even though I saw so many gals wearing their tall boots at church already, I'm not ready to cover up my toes quite yet.  Once I pull those tall boots out, I know it will be months before I see my toes again, so I'm in no hurry.  But,  I did choose black open-toe wedges to go with my theme of summer clothes/fall colors.

This red skirt has the prettiest eyelet hem.

Because the dress is so "prim and proper", I wanted to make it a little edgy to create a counter-balance.  In addition to the moto jacket, I wore edgy a edgy silver necklace and bracelet.  I kept the black color theme going by carrying a black tote.

Everything I am wearing in this post.  My moto jacket especially is super old.  I picked it up on clearance at Forever 21 for only $15.00 in 2013.  I can't believe how much use out of it I have gotten and how long I've had it.  So much for "fast fashion"  haha!

Speaking of "Fast Fashion"  I have been reading a lot about "minimalism" lately.  Someday soon I'm going to do a blog post expressing my thoughts about it.  But for now lets just say, I never started fashion blogging to sell anyone anything.  I've rarely accepted sponsor posts even though my inbox is filled with requests daily.   I started fashion blogging because I so rarely see normal, older women like me in advertisements.  It's as if we are invisible and we don't wear or buy clothes.  I don't know about you, but I don't just want to see what young girls are wearing,  I want to see what older women are wearing too.  I want to inspire you to shop your own closets and if you do buy anything new, be a wise shopper and shop with discretion taking advantage of sales and coupons!  So I work hard to not just show newly purchased items in my fashion posts, but to also post older pieces re-worked into new outfits.  

So what about you?  Do you style your summer skirts for fall?  Which look is your favorite?  The red skirt with black or white?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!