Cool Girl Fall Fashion Trends 2023

Fall is my favorite season for fashion. The layering excites me because I can be creative with how I piece things together. But layering well takes planning if you want your transitional outfits to look effortless. I recommend taking the time to curate your personal style and to make sure your closet makes you feel inspired like you have lots of options. I've talked about on this blog about how important it is to have really high quality basics in your wardrobe. I really believe they are the foundations of any wardrobe, you can literally create any outfit and make it look chic and really put together if you have strong basics. I will list some key wardrobe staples for fall that you can wear year after year. Adding accessories like jewelry are the finishing details that help to elevate an outfit so I've shared some trending earrings. I'm also going to share what's on trend this season, how to add texture to create for an eye catching outfits, how to shop for jeans and blazers, and what colors to wear this season. You'll recognize the boots above from this post.

Pantone Autumn/Winter 2023/2024 NYFW Palette

Pantone’s 2023 Color of the Year is Viva Magenta as all the winter runways were shades of bright pink for Barbiecore. Fuchsia is usually a more pinkish-purplish color, whereas magenta is more reddish. Rose Violet is a dark fuchsia. I'm not a dark pink girlie but it is in my color palette so I can count on one hand the number of times I've worn it in my lifetime. But I'm always open to trying new things.

Red Dahlia

There's usually one color that stands out for a season and all the fashion publications are talking about the color red. Red is the perfect color to bring life into fall outfits. Red Dahlia is so rich and gorgeous and is being infused into fashion styles. Red shoes are a great way to incorporate this year's trending color because they are timeless pieces you can wear for years.

They say you should pay the most attention and put the most money into your handbag, shoes and jewelry. And if you do that, you instantly elevate the look of an inexpensive outfit. The secret to great style is timeless wardrobe essentials. Shoes are everything when it comes to elevating an outfit. You can have the exact same outfit and look completely different by changing up your shoes. Your footwear can make your break your outfit.

We don’t invest in updating our footwear which is absolutely everything when it comes to finishing off an outfit, That’s what I always said - shoes set the tone of the outfit. I love adding some trendier footwear to my classic wardrobe, it updates a look instantly. Pointy toe shoes are on trend right now and makes an outfit look more put together and polished with an illusion of a longer leg. When you expand your shoe options you're going to give yourself so many different styling options.

Here are some dark red shoes that are gorgeous!

Row 1

Red Leather boots (sold out) alternative

Booties

Crocodile print boot (sold out)

Row 2:

Sculptural pump

Birdies in Wine - these are so pretty! Almost sold out so here's an alternative: Kitten Mule Heel

Pointy Toe Pumps
Row 3:
Kitten Heel Pump
Sling-back pump
Two Tone Pump

Hat

Monroe Rancher
I have this hat in brown. If you have a camel, taupe, gray, navy, white or black coat, a red hat would go nicely with it. Or you can wear it in fall without a coat, just search pinterest for "red hat outfits" for inspiration on how to style it. I think it's super cool, it's fun, and different and feels very fitting going into fall and winter. You can be iconic with your red hat. The texture will add such a fun element to your outfits and spice things up.

Here are some dark red clothing.

Sezane 1

Sezane 2

Sezane 3

Silk V-Neck Cami you can pair with the above sweaters

Cashmere sweater

T-Shirt

short sleeve sweater

short sleeve sweater 2

Dress

Loose jeans

Skinny vs Straight Leg

Madewell - I bought these in white, currently 25% off

Banana Republic - I bought these button fly, currently 40% off

Button fly jeans are slimming and tummy controlling. These drape more like trousers with the straight leg.

Gap

Loft Bootcut

Loft Flare - these have a raw hem, but I bought a similar pair from the Loft in January. I prefer my jeans in dark wash, I just think it looks more elegant.

Skinny jeans look dated, it's time to fold them up and put them away as the straight leg trend could last 10 years. You have 4 options instead of skinny jeans: straight leg, bootcut, flare, and wide leg. Straight leg pants balance your silhouette. I loved my skinny jeans but I discovered that for my body shape a bootcut or flare jean complement my shape better. Skinny jeans actually make your thighs look bigger than they are. Bootcut and flare leg pants balance out your shoulders and waistline because they match the width on the top of your body so it’s almost a straight line. Skinny jeans accentuate the widest parts of your body. With straight leg jeans you can create the illusion of longer, leaner lines. So instead of drawing your eye side to side in the widest part of your body in skinny jeans, in straight leg jeans your eyes are getting drawn up and down, giving the illusion of a taller leaner fit.

This is what you need to know before you buy your next pair of denim. Think about the weight of the fabric when choosing the perfect pair for you. I like my jeans more than 90% cotton so they will stay stiff on my body. Any less than that, jeans tend to lose their shape and you're going to spend your day pulling up your jeans. High rise jeans are going to elongate your legs. You want to avoid jeans that scrunch at the bottom or drag on the floor, they're just too long. You can always have the hem shorten at the tailor. The deeper the V in the back, the more rounder your butt will look. If the back pockets are too low, it will give a flat affect, you want them high and center for a lifted affect.

Take the time to declutter your pants. Pants are the easiest way to update your look. I tried on every pair in my closet to see what styles make me feel great. Now is the time to branch out and try something a little different. They make a huge difference when it comes to creating outfits and setting the tone of the outfit. Dressing is like an art, you can either wear jeans that flatter you or don't.

Pant hem length

Tips of things to look for when finding the proper denim length for you. When shopping online always look at what the inseam length is going to be for a pair of pants so you're not surprised when you get it in the mail and it's too short or too long. I keep a note in my phone of the right sizes for my height. This will save you the headache of buying pants too long and having to take them to the tailor to get them hemmed.

I wear all my jeans with sneakers which means my whole foot is covered up to my ankle by my shoe. With chunky sneakers you want to wear shorter jeans so the jeans don’t touch the shoes, there should be some skin shown or you could cuff the jeans by folding them over. The key is to show some skin, having a one inch gap of skin between your shoes and your jeans just looks nicer. Do you see how in this photo it just doesn't look as nice, kind of gives a dad vibe.

You don’t want jeans to bunch up on top of the foot like in this photo on the right. If they are a little shorter they will create long lean lines.

Aim for your jeans to hit properly at your ankle or slightly above your ankle if you're wearing sneakers with them. It just looks the most flattering. If you bring your denim to a tailor to shorten it, only take it to one who can keep the original hem so it looks like it was never touched. Or you can buy raw hem jeans and cut it yourself. Showing off your ankle helps to elongate the look since the ankle is the narrowest part of the leg.

I'm 5'6 and I felt comfortable buying these Madewell crop jeans in a 27 1/2" inseam because I'm going to wear them with sneakers and want to show one inch of skin so it's perfect. It also comes in a petite and tall version. This is shorter than what I would get in a tailored pant, as for my work pants I go for a 29 or 30 inch inseam because they are worn with shoes that only cover my toes, so all the skin of my foot is shown.

Kate Middleton in cropped straight leg jeans. She is 5'9.

Blazers

Bold shoulders are on trend on the fashion runways for blazers. Think power suits nostalgic of the 80s with cinched waists. Lots of sharper lapels and eye popping shoulder action. Strong shoulders are part of the dna of fall and this season its more exaggerated. When you wear tops with shoulder pads, it makes your waist look smaller because it creates an hourglass shape illusion. Vogue said the boxy blazer trend is out and the cinched blazer style is in. The cinched blazer adds a feminine silhouette to your figure and looks so elegant and beautiful.

When styling your blazers, always show your wrists because its the smallest part of your body and adds to your femininity and daintiness. I bought these sleeve armbands to keep my sleeves up.

Shopping Guide: My preferences for the blazers I buy are that they be a high end wool blend, not polyester. I like a lined blazer, with pockets and one button. The sleeves need to go to my wrist and the length of the blazer needs to go to the bottom of my pant zipper. The jacket should cover the majority of my butt, but not much longer. Shoulder seam needs to end at my natural shoulder, not before. My arms should be able to cross comfortably.

Pay attention to buttons, a single button blazer are good for larger bust and look sleeker. For buttons I like either a tortoise shell button or for them to match the color of the jacket. But you can always switch out the buttons, my mom does this all the time. Don't forget to cut the threads on the back of jacket before wearing and open the pockets.

A blazer can take any outfit and give it that luxe elevated look.

Velvet Corduroy Blazer - I bought this!

Electric Purple - I bought this!

Flannel Double Breasted

Brown Checks

Italian Wool - waiting for a sale

Cropped Tweed

Velvet Blazer I bought this in purple

Velvet Tuxedo blazer

Tweed Blazer I bought this, size down

Striped Sweater

This is a wardrobe basic that never goes out of style that you should have in your closet.

Statement stud earrings

This style of earring is on trend right now. Accessories take an outfit from drab to fab and add more interest to an outfit. Don't underestimate the ability that accessories have to completely transform an outfit.