How to Dress for Early Fall: Outfit Inspiration

How to dress for early fall: Dallas fashion blogger styles example with striped shirt and corduroy pants

In Dallas, figuring out how to dress for early fall is a bit tricky. After all, it’s late September and it’s still in the 80s (around 30°C for those of you overseas!). Plus high humidity. So maybe it’s not yet fall in Dallas.

So yeah: I was absolutely sweating while taking these photos. But it was in the hope of making relevant content for you guys – not everywhere has Texas’s idea of “early fall”, after all!

Striped shirt with suede shoulders
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Dallas blogger styles striped shirt with suede shoulders as an example of how to dress for early fall
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What I’m Wearing:

Shirt: J.Crew / Pants: J.Crew / Purse: Frank Clegg / Shoes: Ivanka Trump
Earrings: Gift (similar) / Ring: LC Lauren Conrad 

I can’t wait for it to cool down to real fall temperatures… and for it to be appropriate (and not at all masochistic) for me to wear the outfit above.

That being said, it’s kind of amazing how much it has already cooled down in Dallas. I went for a walk on Katy Trail last night with a friend and it wasn’t even unbearably hot! How amazing! Just a week ago, I would’ve called somebody crazy for even suggesting we spend more than five minutes outside, let alone over two hours. I’m psyched.

But again: not everywhere is Dallas. So how do you dress for early fall?

Well, when I was in Ithaca for undergrad, we definitely experienced fall temperatures. Upstate New York gets every season (especially winter!).

In early fall, I would always dress in layers. My go-to fall uniform was as follows:

  • Button down shirt.
  • Lightweight sweater, typically a neutral-toned cable-knit.
  • Blazer or lightweight jacket.
  • Jeans or a skirt (with or without tights, depending on the day).
  • Boots or flats.
  • Scarf.

If I were spending a lot of time outside (like grabbing drinks at Collegetown Bagels), I might wear an outfit like this or this. If I were just dashing to class, I might wear this instead. Finally, if I were going on a date, I would definitely wear something like this.

Photos by Stephanie Drenka Photography