Happy mid-fall!

Here’s tips for expressing your essences in autumn or any time:

1. Use Mainstream Formulas (Even If Your Essences Aren’t)

Fall fashion’s favorite essences?

Probably Natural, Classic, and Gamine:

Simple sweater + button-down + short plaid skirt = quintessential fall.

I love this formula—it emphasizes NCG’s effortlessly cool and polished beauty.

What if your essences aren’t “mainstream?”

You can still use formulas like sweater + button-down + short skirt—but customize them to your blend, like doing a faux fur Romantic sweater over an Ingenue round collar button blouse over an Ethereal high-low skirt.

And you can do this for any season or occasion. If you love an outfit but it doesn’t flatter your style type, chances are you can break the outfit down into its individual pieces and choose the version of each piece that does match your essences.

You might even like your creation more than the original.

2. Do Tricks

Cold-ish weather is great for layering, and layering is great for reinventing your wardrobe with what you already have:

The illusion: the model wears an oversized Natural white shirt in the same color as the flowy Ethereal scarf. So layering them together looks fascinating and deceptively complicated.

All the fun Gamine elements—tiny bag, cropped orange jumpsuit, platform sneakers—provide a perfect canvas to make the illusion pop.

A variation:

At first glance, this looks like the model’s pants combine some sort of layered pant leg with a gigantically oversized flared leg.

But here’s a new perspective:

Now we see that the “layered pant” was actually created by an extra-long, floaty Ethereal scarf that’s similar in color to the flared, highly Ethereal pants.

If you’re an Ethereal Dramatic or Ethereal Dramatic Classic, you could grab a scarf, flared pants, and oversized blazer to replicate this.
(I like the color palette, too. Beige, orange, and pink feels fall, but in a coordinated and understated way that echos EDC luxury, rather than feeling obviously earthy.)

Ethereals are awesome in scarves—look for narrow, flowy, and sheer or lightweight versions.

Naturals also have many scarf options, especially chunky knits.

And depending on the fabric and print, scarves can have elements of any essence. Maybe a future, more in-depth post!

3. Match and Match

An even simpler trick is choosing a top and pants in similar colors to make a faux jumpsuit:

Roomy Natural pants get some edge from a Dramatic Romantic angular corset top.

Creating a faux jumpsuit works especially well if you have a formal essence blend, like a lot of Romantic or Dramatic. You’ll be flattered by the coordinated, head-to-toe look.

4. Mix and Match

If your style type combines one of the more “formal” essences—Romantic, Dramatic, Ethereal, Classic—with one of the more “casual” ones (Natural, Gamine, debatably Ingenue—although honestly, Ingenue can feel pretty formal, too), you can create pleasing juxtaposition if you:

Pair casual with edgy

Laidback Natural top with striking Dramatic Romantic skirt and boots

(This top would also suit a Natural with a little Ethereal, since it has heathered fabric plus extra long sleeves).

Or pair fall with spring

Natural slouchy sweater + Ingenue floral skirt = perfect transition season outfit

Or pair serious with playful

This sculptural Dramatic jacket could easily feel intimidating. Playful Gamine pants lighten the mood.

Natural earth tones and the jacket’s somewhat slouchy feel help keep it down to earth, too.

One thing that makes fashion fun and, arguably, good: juxtaposition.

Mixing opposite elements—especially when those elements already coexist in your style type!—creates energy and enchanting complexity. You could even argue it’s a secret to a great outfit—some sort of twist or surprise that grabs you with its uniqueness.

This is why it’s so special to have both “yin and yang” essences, or more formal and more casual essences, or really any essence combined with any other—you can emphasize their contrast to create captivating, dynamic looks.

5. Match and Match Some More

But maybe sometimes you’re just feeling one main message, like “casual.” That’s cool, too. Sometimes the coolest.

It’s hard to beat Natural fashion when it comes to looking effortlessly cool and carefree.

6. Find Hidden Inspiration

Even from menswear!

What’s intriguing here, from a style analysis perspective: the neutral-colored, body-skimming graphic tee. Specifically, the print features long, angular shapes combined with more abstract ones—it looks perfect for an Ethereal Dramatic.

If you want to express your “formal” essences in a more casual way, then finding graphic tees with essence-consistent graphics is a good strategy. Look for fitted tops if you have Romantic and/or Dramatic; body-skimming (not baggy but not skin-tight) if you have Ethereal, Classic, or Ingenue; or narrow, somewhat stiff tees that fall straight if you have Dramatic.

7. Have (Your Own Version of) Fun

Whether that’s with wild colors:

Vibrant color-blocking embodies Gamine.

A scarf and loose jeans add Ethereal Natural.

Or embellished neutrals:

A Natural Gamine look with fascinating sleeves

Or minimalist neutrals:

Highly Classic with some Dramatic from the edgy boots and tiny bit of Ethereal from the chain necklace.

Natural Beauty

It wasn’t intentional, but most of these outfits ended up having a lot of Natural.

That makes sense—Natural is probably the defining essence of mainstream fashion.

Loose, slouchy clothes feel both stylish and practical. Their vibe is confident, didn’t-try-too-hard, still-look-amazing.

Natural clothes also work well for layering, since they’re roomy and since if you’re following the dress-for-your-face philosophy, then if you have a lot of Natural, you don’t need to emphasize your body with tight clothing. So you can have a lot of fun with long scarves layered over long shirts over even longer shirts, etc...

Natural gives you lots of options! Especially if you also have another essence that prefers a high amount of detail or avant-garde elements, then you can come up with some really inventive looks.

If You Don’t Have Natural….

If you don’t have any Natural, you might have to work a little harder to embody mainstream fashion.

The good thing is this can be a rewarding and creative process.

It can also sometimes be surprisingly easy—as simple as swapping a Natural basic for the Dramatic or Ethereal or another essence’s version.

And maybe sometimes or all the time, you want to focus on your own style type, even if the results don’t look trendy. One of the coolest things about style analysis is that it’s a constant reminder that you don’t always have to do exactly what everyone else is doing, and that there’s so much value in understanding and honoring your individuality.

And what’s also cool is that most people do appreciate and are drawn to visual harmony (even if only subconsciously). So maybe style analysis is sort of an intersection between the personal and interpersonal—a way to honor your individual beauty and still embody some (very controversial) notion of “universal beauty.”

Or maybe you have an entirely different view. That’s good, too. : )

Fall for the Style Essences?