Bella's Picks for Fall

Bella's Picks: Take a fresh look at Fall staples with timeless appeal. This 90s takes on 1960s style fills the bill.

Fall for me, means tree leaves changing colors, chilly mornings, overcast days and warm woolens. Somehow traditions come into play, more so in the Autumn, when it comes to fashion too. Perhaps, because Autumn, more than any other season, cues us to the cycle of seasons, draws us to the inevitable return of what already was, what went before and ultimately, steers us towards what will be.

Fall Frolic: traditional plaid mixed in an unconventional way, with gingham. Jacket available HERE.

Heritage fabrics and classic prints come to mind when it comes to dressing for Fall. Perhaps they signal this perennial and cyclical come around. And, nothing speaks louder volume of “heritage” and colder weather to me than a beautiful tartan plaid. At once on trend, and trend defying, plaids are never out of fashion. Whether they adorn the traditions of the conservative, or serve the expressions of a rebel, a smart tartan speaks to the soul.  Plaid, in short, is rad, which is probably why many of my picks for Fall, will always incorporate the inclusion of a plethora of plaids. 

Party Mix: Fall sophistication means clever layering of classics prints,  leopard + stripes always in season.

The beauty of a deciduous tree changing colors, for me is also a fashion muse. As a leafy limb slowly strip teases off her summer boa of greens, and replaces it with a seductive medley of oranges, crimsons, yellows, finishing with a flourish of browns, I think it triggers something inside the human skull to follow suit. We shed our sunny summer colors and replace them with mustard yellows, burnished reds, burnt orange, olives and soft whispers of ivories.

Autumn is the season of the adult. It is the sartorial time of putting away the play of childish things. Casual shoes get chucked, and one perhaps dons for the first time a pencil skirt to go with her cardi set, and pairs it with a classic pair of pumps. It is the season of celebrating the timeless, eschewing the fickle ephemeral flick of fashion and owning for oneself the meaning of the eternal. The ageless girl, still tugging at her 20 year old cashmere, purchased for a song, now sung in lower timbres. 

Fall reminds us that we are in it for the long haul. We adjust accordingly. It’s Fall again, after all, the season of changing, and change is what remains the same.