Dressing for the time between the end of summer and the beginning of fall is always tough. Colder weather finally hits and it feels like the ultimate cut-off for wearing your lightest and brightest pieces everyday. Pack up party? Not so fast. With a few clever style hacks, you can keep your favorite crop tops, rompers, swimsuits (yep!) and more in heavy rotation all through fall. We challenged five Brit + Co-ers to make their slinky and scandalous summer clothes transition effortlessly into a wear-anywhere fall outfit, and the ways the made it work are kind of genius. Scroll through to see their summer-to-fall looks, with tips on how to copy it yourself.
Tell me about your summer piece + how you usually wear it.
“I just bought the white beach coverup on my vacation to Cabarete, Dominican Republic for like $30. I wore it everyday. It’s semi see-through so you can see my bathing suit but it’s long enough to wear as a cover up off the beach — you don’t want to be too exposed — so I love that it covers my legs and my arms.”
Did you ever think it would have a life in your closet past summer?
“It’s super comfortable — I wore it everyday at the beach and when I came home I still wanted to wear it everyday! So yeah, I figured out a way for it to work as a top.”
How are you styling it for fall?
“There are these flare jeans that I’ve been wanting to wear for a long time but I never know what top to wear with it because they’re so long I have to wear them with heels and the proportions just aren’t right with a short top. So worn as a long top with those flares and heeled boots, it just balances it out and works really well. And when it’s cold I wear a long duster over it, which goes with the long and flowy style. That and the bell sleeves make this super on trend right now.
LISA RAPHAEL, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Tell me about your summer piece + how you usually wear it.
“I wore this romper for a really fun pool party I went to. It ended up being a really great bathing suit cover up but also a really great outfit on its own, and I could easily accessorize it with some of my favorite jewelry pieces and a cute pair of heels. I love one-piece outfits and the mint color was so adorable.”
Did you ever think it would have a life in your closet past summer?
“I didn’t think I could wear a romper from summer to fall. It’s so seasonally specific, especially compared to a long jumpsuit. That’s what I would have thought ‘Oh, I can wear this into fall,” because before this challenge I would have thought the only way I could get away with it is by wearing tights under it, which is a really awkward way to wear a romper. Using it as a layer opened up a whole world of wardrobe possibilities.”
How are you styling it for fall?
“Styling a no-tights romper for fall was a challenge. I basically combined things that I love from different parts of my wardrobe instead of thinking about them seasonally. I picked a favorite blouse that’s more of a fall/winter piece and worked it into the romper with my go-to blazer and favorite suede pumps.”
MADDIE BACHELDER, CREATIVE COORDINATOR
Tell me about your summer piece + how you usually wear it.
“I wore a backless crop top that I usually wear over a bathing suit with some high-waisted shorts or a skirt of if I’m going out I might wear it with some high-waisted shorts or pants and a bralette that shows a pop of color.”
Did you ever think it would have a life in your closet past summer?
“Once I started thinking about it more as a layering piece instead of a crop top it was easy to think beyond summer.”
How are you styling it for fall?
“I layered it over a long-sleeved shirt so it acted more like a modern sweater vest and so it felt like less of a crop top paired with a high-waisted denim skirt. It definitely felt a lot more conservative and wearable in the office.”
ASHLEY PERLMAN, DIGITAL SALES PLANNER
Tell me about your summer piece.
“I got this top in Thialand on my trip earlier this year. It caught my eye because it’s super bright and colorful and reminds me of summer — I wore it like everyday there. Normally I wore this on the beach with a bathing suit top, shorts or just not — ha! — with sunglasses and flip flops.
Did you ever think it would have a life past summer?
“Because it’s so tropical — the colors are so bright, and when I think of fall I think of dark, warm colors — I thought ‘I won’t be able to wear it till next summer.’ So It was cool to transform it to feel more fall when I started building it up and thinking about it as a layer and what I have in my wardrobe that could compliment it instead of being a stand-alone piece.”
How are you styling it for fall?
“It gets cold in San Francisco so I threw on some pants, gave myself a little lift with some booties — that’s all I wear in fall — and then threw on a tank top underneath so it was more of a second layer than just a sheer shirt.”
ANDREA KASPRZAK, ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
Tell me about your summer piece.
“This is my one-piece black bathing suit with neon straps and a racerback. I typically wear it on the beach or with high-waisted shorts in the summer or wear it with a flowy skirt and sandals to dinner.”
Did you ever think it would have a life past summer?
“One of my favorite things to do is use one-piece bathing suits that have interesting neck lines or fun straps as body suits and wear them with high-waisted pants or longer skirts after summer, so this wasn’t anything different from my normal MO.”
How are you styling it for fall?
“I paired it with mom jeans and a sheer blouse that goes off of the shoulder for extra warmth.”
What ways do you wear your favorite summer pieces into fall? Tell us in the comments below.
