Cheryl Shops

Happy first day of autumn! For many of you, it's the time of year that a cold nip starts creeping in at night, and you start thinking about boots, sweaters, and pumpkin spice everything. Unless you live in San Francisco—then it's finally summer. After months of getting pummeled with wind and fog, we now get consistently sunny days and temperatures in the 70s, and it's glorious. Of course, it's also a little weird, because it's fall and you don't necessarily want to be parading around in bright colors and airy fabrics as you would in actual summer. Thankfully, I've devised an outfit formula that feels seasonally appropriate yet warm-weather friendly. Here's what to wear in San Francisco in fall. 

It feels a little weird writing about trends on several levels. For one, I didn't really do my annual spring trend report, because we were newly in lockdown and all anyone could think about was comfort clothing: sweatpants, sweatshirts, slippers, and so on. On a deeper level, I'm realizing there's something about fashion that almost requires you to be seen out in the world; to paraphrase that old philosophical question, if a person wears an outfit and no one sees it, is it still fashion? The good news is that things here in San Francisco are slooooowly starting to reopen: hair salons, gyms, restaurants, and even movie theaters. I'll still be working from home for the rest of the year, if not longer—and if I'm being honest, dressing for the office has a certain agenda—but I at least feel like I'm venturing out into the world again, and thus I can get out of my jeans-and-sweatshirt rut. I've been really inspired by the street-fashion photos from Copenhagen Fashion Week, and while there's definitely a hygge element to fall fashion, I'm really excited about the micro-trends I'm featuring here and to shopping again. Who knows, I might even be compelled to shop in an actual store! Here's what's on my shopping list for fall. 

I had meant to publish this last week, but life (and Halloween) got in the way, and even though it's November, it's definitely still fall. Plus, this trend is kind of seasonless, so it almost doesn't matter when you buy it—although now is always a good time. When it comes to bags, I'm definitely more of a minimalist—I usually don't go for a lot of bells and whistles in terms of hardware, but lately I've been gravitating toward something with a nice big buckle. It's a step above minimalist, but by no means maximalist. Here are my favorite buckle bags for fall.

Of all the trends I'm featuring this season, this one seemed a little iffy to me...until I got my hair done a few weeks ago and literally every female stylist at my salon was wearing a square-neck top. Granted, most of them were of the slightly cropped variety, but thankfully there are a lot of square-neck tops that have a slightly more forgiving silhouette. Here are my favorite square-neck tops for fall.

It's been awhile since I've bought a pair of leather pants, but I'm feeling confident enough that there's a major silhouette shift happening that I'm ready for another pair. This season, it's all about a wide-leg cut, either in a full length or cropped cut. The upside is that this silhouette is super-flattering; the downside is that unless you go with faux leather, it's a bit of an investment. Then again, I've had my current pair of leather pants for years, and I think of them exactly as that—an investment. Here are my favorite wide-leg leather (and faux leather) pants of the season. 

Snakeskin print is the trend that just won't quit—I featured it back in spring, and also last fall. And while it may never replace my first love, leopard print, I think I'm finally ready to add some snake print to my wardrobe. I think the coolest way to wear it this season is in an ankle boot—there are all shapes and colors too, from metallic silver to pink. Just to clarify, these are generally snake-embossed leather, not actual snakeskin boots. Here are some of my favorites for fall.

I wear a blazer pretty much every day, to the point that I worry about turning into Suze Orman (although it would be nice to have her financial savvy). But a blazer is the one piece that instantly makes anything I'm wearing feel that much more pulled together. This season, I'm all about the plaid boyfriend blazer, the longer the better (bonus points if it covers your bum, so you can wear it with leggings). It's obviously menswear-inspired, but with details or colors that make it softer and more interesting. Here are my favorite oversized plaid blazers for fall 2019.

Since Monday was officially the first day of fall, now we can talk about fall fashion, which is my favorite season for it. I mean, what’s not to love about cozy sweaters, comfy boots, and an overall feeling of hygge? I am really excited to share my favorite fall 2019 trends—so excited, in fact, that I’m going to try something new and kick off my fall shopping guide with a preview of everything I’ll be featuring. The best part is that all of the items can be worn together to create one amazing (and age-appropriate) fall look. Here are my must-have trends for fall 2019.

It's hard to pick my favorite amongst the fall trends I've featured here, but if I have to, it would be this one. I own probably far too many coats (and jackets) for someone who lives in a mild climate, but my love of outerwear knows no bounds, nor season, apparently. This year, I'm all about the plaid coat. In spite of fact that temperatures are still in the upper 60s here, I've already bought my coat (read on to see which one), and I can't wait to wear it. Here are all of my favorites this season.

I wore a lot of corduroy in the '90s. In fact, I wore so much that I probably haven't worn much since. But like everything else from the '90s, it seems to be back in fashion, and while I'm passing on some things this time around—babydoll dresses and Doc Martens, I'm looking at you—corduroy is something that I feel like I can still pull off. The key is wearing pieces that don't feel too juvenile—think tailored rather than cute. Not only are there a ton of ways to wear it, but there are a bunch of bright, unexpected colors too. Here's what I'm loving for fall.

Now that it's actually fall, we can talk about fall trends, and first up is animal print. I'd argue that as far as animal prints go—especially leopard—they're more of a classic than a trend. That said, there are all sorts of different animal prints out there this season, like zebra, snake, and cheetah, and some of my favorite takes on the trend play with color and scale, as well as pattern. Here are some fresh new ways to wear animal print for fall 2018.

While the rest of the country is breaking out the sweaters, boots, and pumpkin spice lattes, San Franciscans are busting out their sundresses and sandals. Strangely enough, September and October are our warmest months—it's something to do with the land and ocean temperatures evening out, which then keeps the fog away. After a particularly rough Fogust, I'm not complaining about it. At all. There will be enough time to wear cashmere and scarves and vests later in the year. So here's how I'm dressing for Indian summer* in SF.

Recommended reading
Today's Thursday Style section in the Times was all about fall fashion; in this sure-to-be debated article, Cathy Horyn heralds the new sobriety in fashion for fall; according to her, we'll give up platforms and babydoll dresses for sharply tailored jackets, pencil skirts, and trousers. The article has a good point--I'm all for dressing like a woman, as opposed to a pregnant Lolita--and I agree that a lot of the sharp tailoring seen on the fall runways was probably a reaction to the rampant knockoffs occurring throughout the fashion world (after all, it's much easier to copy a simple shift dress than a well-made suit). However, I feel like the article is addressing a slightly older demographic; I own both platforms and babydoll dresses, and neither will be leaving my closet anytime soon, just so I can look like a generic office drone. Yes, I work at a desk job in corporate America, but the daily challenge for me is expressing my personal style within the contstraints of our company dress code, and I'm not just going to throw in the towel and wear pantsuits every day. Also--and the article touches upon this briefly at the end--dresses aren't going anywhere, at least not for the next few seasons, since women love them so much. (Because, hey, nothing is easier or more feminine than a dress.) I don't think we're going to spend the season looking like we've stepped straight out of the Marc Jacobs runway show, but I do hope the modesty and restraint influences fashion to a certain degree. I'm thinking sophisticated, but not boring.