Clothes for All Seasons

Rag & Bone’s Classic Newbury canvas ankle boots ($475) add polish to flared and pencil skirts.

3.1 Phillip Lim’s pull-on plonge leather skirt ($850) feels luxuriously soft but is lightweight and versatile enough to wear almost all year-round.

Net a Porter fashion director Holli Rogers, who knows a thing or two about how to wear clothes, layers her white dress with a luxe, oversize knit. A look to add to your repertoire, for sure.

A more rounded, feminine version of the wardrobe staple, the black blazer, this one from Proenza Schouler.

Jennifer Fisher Jewelry’s ball cuff ($420) is the kind of accessory that you can wear every day of the year.

FALL CLOTHING is looking a lot like spring clothing or so it’s seemed for the past few seasons. Leather jackets and skirts (albeit lightweight) have been showing up for warm weather while coats and bags in winter palettes are forsaken in favor of pastels. Climate change? Maybe, or perhaps designers have realized that no one wants to buy heavy sweaters and such at the end of August when it’s still eighty-plus degrees outside.

In any case, what does this change mean for your closet? We spoke with Megan Reynolds, senior shopping editor at Harper’s Bazaar, for some insight.

“This is a fun time in fashion,” says Reynolds. The rules are bending if not already broken. “Fashion has gone in a much more seasonless direction; women want to see things worn in unconventional ways.” Take denim, for example. It’s not just for weekend casual wear; it can be luxurious, too. Wear white jeans only for summer? No way. “It’s how you put it all together.”

Women get caught up in the question of where am I going to wear a particular piece of clothing when the question instead is whether it fits with the rest of their closet. “Home in on your style instead of a particular event,” says Reynolds. Pay attention to the quality of the fabrics you buy; no one will be able to tell what season it belongs to. She points to Nicolas Ghesquiere‘s fall collection for Louis Vuitton as an example of how women want to mix up the seasons.

For getting the most out of your clothing, Reynolds offered some suggestions for key pieces for building an all-season wardrobe.

Ankle boots
Booties have become a year-round accessory. Instead of grouping your shoes into summer, spring, winter and fall,  Reynolds advises thinking of ways they would work for you no matter what the temperature outside is. Boots paired with shorts may be best left to young women, but they can add polish to a pencil or flared skirt almost any time of year.

Leather
Whether you choose pants, jeans, a jacket or a skirt, “leather transcends every season.”

Blazer
Extend the life of your classic black jacket. Wear it as part of a suit in winter or over a striped tee and cropped jeans or pants in the warmer months.

Knitwear
Sweaters work all year-round. In summer think loosely knit fabrics.  To make your pieces go the distance, layer a knit over a dress. In winter, put a turtleneck under your spring shift. Don’t limit your wardrobe by saying that’s a spring top, I can’t wear it now.

Jewelry
Chunky necklaces and bracelets are old news. Layering dainty chains and multiple rings is the hot trend in jewelry. But Reynolds says find what you like — your signature piece — and stick with it. Changing your jewelry every time you change your outfit is not in sync with fashion’s overall new aesthetic.

Handbags
Black bags never go out of style.  But consider for a moment how refreshing it is to see a white or champagne-colored bag with a black dress, let alone with a white or gray short-sleeve coat with long white gloves, as made popular by Olivia Pope (aka Kerry Washington) in “Scandal.” Not everyone’s look, but you get the gist.

–Janet Kelly