The Weekend Read✨The Wardrobe Limbo: How To Build a Bridge Between The Seasons

Jenny Goldsmith | Read in 8 minutes

Hello!

There is a peculiar couple of weeks every year when getting dressed becomes unnecessarily complicated. You leave the house in the morning and it's decidedly chilly, yet by lunchtime you're regretting the jacket you put on. Then, by late afternoon you're wondering why you ever thought sandals were a good idea. And if you're going out in the evening, frankly, your guess is as good as ours. Meanwhile, the shops have moved on. The linen dresses and raffia bags have disappeared and suddenly we're surrounded by knitwear, boots, suede, corduroy and coats.

Welcome to Wardrobe Limbo, that strange little period of time between summer and autumn when you're bored with half your summer wardrobe but absolutely not ready to dress for November. So our advice here is not to pack summer away yet, and definitely don't panic-buy an entirely new autumn wardrobe. Instead, this is the moment to build a bridge between the seasons.

We actually think this is one of the most useful times of the year to look properly at your wardrobe. It's not because you need lots of new clothes, in fact it's quite the opposite. This is when you discover which pieces are genuinely versatile, which ones have earned their place and most interestingly, what's missing.

So this week we're looking at six ways to take the clothes you're wearing now and gently nudge them towards autumn, no complete wardrobe overhaul required.

Don't Put The Summer Dresses Away Yet

Before relegating your summer dresses to the loft, ask yourself whether they really are summer dresses. If you have a floaty beach dress covered in palm trees, then yes, it's time to put it away. But that navy midi, colourful shirt dress, denim dress or patterned maxi can still play an important role. Let's try changing what sits around them:

Swap your sandals for trainers, loafers or ankle boots.
Add a denim jacket, blazer, lightweight knit or cardigan.
Exchange your raffia bag for a leather or suede one.

Suddenly the same dress feels completely different. The colour matters here too. If you're an Autumn, those wonderful rusts, olives, mustards and teals naturally begin to come into their own. Winters can start bringing back deeper navy, charcoal, emerald and burgundy. Summers don't need to suddenly go dark, but smoky blues, soft navy, raspberry and rose work beautifully at this time of year. And for you Springs, please don't think that autumn means you have to wear brown all the time. Your warm blues, bright greens, corals, tans and creams can carry you through.

Often it isn't the dress that makes an outfit look summery. It's everything you've put with it.

The Weekend Read✨The Wardrobe Limbo: How To Build a Bridge Between The Seasons

Bring Back The Third Piece

This may be our favourite Wardrobe Limbo trick. Take a pair of trousers and a top, jeans and a T-shirt, or a dress and shoes. They are all perfectly fine pairings, but when you add a third piece, suddenly the outfit looks styled. This could be a blazer, waistcoat, lightweight jacket, overshirt, cardigan, scarf or even a statement belt. This is where clothing personality becomes important.

A Dramatic might want something architectural, bold or oversized, whereas a Classic might reach for a beautifully cut blazer. A Natural could choose an easy utility jacket or relaxed overshirt, where a Gamine could add a cropped jacket or quirky waistcoat. And an Ingenue might prefer something lighter, prettier or more detailed compared to a Romantic who would bring in softness, drape, texture or shape at the waist.

We all experience the same weather and have the same issue, but we solve it with six completely different solutions. This is why copying somebody else's perfect transitional wardrobe rarely works, because it has to feel like you.

Change Your Shoes Before You Change Your Clothes

This is such an easy one. One of the quickest ways to move an outfit from August into September is simply to change what's on your feet. The summer trousers you've been wearing with sandals can look just as great with a loafer.

Your midi dress you've worn with wedges through the hot months looks fabulous with a trainer. The jeans you've been wearing with flip-flops now feel different with a ballet flat, brogue or closed-toe shoe.

You haven't bought a new outfit, you've simply changed its mood. This is also a brilliant moment to check your autumn footwear before the weather changes. Try on each pair you own and are planning to wear again.

Do they still fit comfortably? Are they still in good condition? Do they actually work with the trousers and dresses you own now? Buying a fabulous pair of trousers and subsequently discovering that none of your shoes work with them is the sort of wardrobe problem we'd like to save you from.

Think Texture, Not Temperature

Here's where we often go wrong. We think autumn dressing means warmer clothes, but it doesn't have to. Sometimes it simply means richer textures:

Denim
Leather
Suede
Fine knit
Satin
Cord
Brushed cotton

You can still wear a short sleeve or lightweight fabric, but introducing just one slightly richer texture makes the outfit feel more appropriate for the changing season. A silky blouse with a denim jacket, a cotton dress with suede accessories, a T-shirt with a leather belt and structured bag and a lightweight pair of trousers with a fine knit. It's subtle, but it works.

Your Accessories Can Do a Lot of The Work

Regular The Weekend Read readers will know we're rather fond of this one. Before buying another jumper, look at your accessories. Do you have a scarf in one of your best colours? A beautiful belt, a more substantial necklace, a brooch on a jacket or a great pair of earrings will do the trick. Even changing your lipstick can shift the mood of an outfit.

This is why knowing your colours is so useful. If the neutral clothes in your wardrobe are doing the heavy lifting, accessories allow you to bring your wow colours closer to your face without rebuilding the outfit. And if you know your clothing personality too, accessories are often where you can really turn up the volume.

Shop Your Own Wardrobe First

We know, the new collections are arriving and everything looks fresh and exciting. Suddenly the perfectly good clothes hanging in your wardrobe feel slightly underwhelming. So, before you press Add to Basket, try this:

Pull out three pieces you loved wearing last autumn. Now style each one with something you're currently wearing for summer. Perhaps your blazer works over a summer dress. Your favourite jeans work with the shirt you've been wearing open over a vest. Your lightweight knit works with the satin skirt you've been wearing with sandals. Your autumn jacket works over a T-shirt and cropped trousers.

You're not trying to create the perfect outfit, you're looking for connections. A good wardrobe shouldn't consist of separate little summer and winter islands, the best wardrobes overlap. Don't ask what new things do I need for autumn, ask yourself what would make the clothes you already own easier to wear?

It's a tiny change in thinking, but it can completely change the way you shop. One question encourages you to buy more, the other encourages you to buy better.

The 30-Minute Wardrobe Limbo Challenge

This weekend, give yourself half an hour. Choose three summer pieces you're not ready to stop wearing, then pull out a few things from your autumn wardrobe and experiment. Try adding a jacket and changing the shoes. Add a belt, swap your bag or add a scarf. Try your dresses with a knit, roll your sleeves or change your jewellery. Take photographs of the combinations you like and then ask yourself what other outfits can you make? You might be surprised by the answer.

It quite often it isn't another dress, another top or another pair of trousers, it's one small missing link.

Our Final Thought

There's a temptation at the beginning of every new fashion season to feel that we need to reinvent ourselves, but we really don't. Your wardrobe doesn't suddenly expire because the calendar says September. Good style isn't about constantly replacing what's gone before, it's about understanding your colours, your proportions, your personality and your lifestyle well enough to know what deserves to stay, and what would genuinely make it better.

So while the shops may be telling us it's time for wool coats and knee-high boots, we'll be taking things a little more slowly. Keep the dress and bring back the jacket. Change the shoes and add an accessory. Find the missing link. And perhaps leave the chunky roll-neck where it is for another few weeks.

So until next weekend...have a wonderful week.

Best wishes,

Jenny & Judi xx

Next week in The Weekend Read, we'll be introducing the new seasonal trends for AW26/27!

Click Here For Our Wardrobe Limbo Catalogues