Fall Fashion For the Essences
Happy fall! Here’s some more style inspiration for cool-ish weather:
Layers and Legwarmers
Essences: Dramatic Natural Gamine
What’s inspiring:
“Layered layers”—a jacket over a sweatshirt over a short dress
Slouchy leg warmers (Bunch them up to suit Natural, as shown in the photo. Or pull them high and smooth to flatter Dramatic. If you find ones in super soft and fluffy textures, those could suit Ingenue or Romantic)
Statements + Simplicity
Essences: Dramatic Classic Ingenue
What’s inspiring:
It’s kind of a musical outfit with good pacing—loud, calm, loud again
Begins with Dramatic Ingenue statement necklace and unique Dramatic slit-hem top; calms down with a highly Classic watch, pants, and purse; and then the finale is Ingenue heels with bows
(Other reasons I like it: it’s an outfit of statement pieces but still feels cohesive, especially since the gentler-feeling top and pant colors are bookended by louder necklace and shoe colors; the mostly light, gentle-feeling colors helps balance out all the detail; choosing a high-low top or a top with a slit can be a way to follow the the rule of thirds while still honoring your elongated essences.)
In summary, I like this outfit, in case that wasn’t clear.
A different “unique blouse with basic pants” outfit:
Essences: Dramatic Classic Gamine Ingenue
What’s inspiring:
Another example of pairing a statement top (an oversized contrast collar bell sleeve Dramatic Ingenue blouse) with basic pants (Gamine skinny jeans). Plus basic Classic pumps.
Summer (is too) Short
Essence: Gamine
What’s inspiring:
Tonal blue-ish color scheme (makes this good for Classic Gamine or Ethereal Gamine, too)
Coordinated feel
Juxtaposition of pairing a turtleneck with shorts (make this more fall-friendly by adding neutral or colorful tights or leggings beneath the shorts. Wearing shorts on top of tights or leggings also tends to feel playful and Gamine.)
Skirts with Sneakers
Essences: Romantic Dramatic Classic
What’s inspiring:
A jacket and tennis shoes would usually be worn with pants. But if you have Romantic, why not do a midi mermaid skirt?
If you’re Ethereal, choose a maxi mermaid skirt.
Use ultra-plain, minimalist tennis sneakers to embody the more casual side of Classic
Choose a brown or rust Dramatic leather jacket for fall
For those concerned that a midi skirt paired with sneakers won’t flatter your proportions, you could try a high-waisted skirt (which visually elongates the lower body).
Or wear your sneakers with ankle socks in the same color, which can also add length:
Essences: Classic Gamine Ingenue
What’s inspiring:
Skirt + sneakers. This time an Ingenue midi ballet-esque skirt + Gamine sneakers with contrast detail
Color-blocking between the top and skirt, which mirrors (on a larger scale) the smaller-scale color-blocking on the sneakers
Juxtaposition of sporty shoes meets feminine skirt
Straitjacket Chic
Essences: Ethereal Natural
What’s inspiring:
World’s most comfortable straitjacket!
Textural juxtaposition of Natural linen top and Ethereal silky skirt
Tonal quality created by choosing a shirt, skirt, and shoes in similar but distinct colors
The shimmery detail on the model’s wrist—I like the idea of layering a bracelet over long sleeves
A closer look:
I also like how outfit creates an overall elongated silhouette (great for Ethereal and Natural) but still emphasizes the waist, thus following the “rule of thirds.”
Here’s a similar but even more relaxed-fit version:
Essences: Ethereal Natural
What’s inspiring:
Pairing a casual-feeling sweater with a formal-appearing skirt
Wearing two loose pieces together. (Conventional wisdom might say, “pair the flowy pink skirt with a fitted sweater.” Or, “pair the loose sweater with fitted pants.” But Natural is flattered by pairing baggy with baggy, and Ethereal is flattered by pairing flowy with flowy. Plus, keeping the color of the top and skirt roughly similar helps create a long-feeling line.)
Seasonal Colors
Essences: Natural Classic Gamine
What’s inspiring:
Beautiful fall colors
Mixed lengths: an extra-long flannel paired with a crop top
Subtle print-mixing between the plaid Natural flannel, sneakers with Gamine piping, and pinstripe Classic pants
The matching but not overly matchy-matchy feel
Incorporating different lengths, prints, and textures creates variety amidst the color coordination
Dressy Top, Casual Pants
Essences: Romantic Ethereal Natural (purse may also add other essences, hard to see here!)
What’s inspiring:
Unique blouse featuring asymmetry and watercolor (Ethereal), plus ruching and a wrap-neckline effect (Romantic)
Choosing a closed neckline top with ruching, gathers, and/or a wrapped quality is a good way to embody the more modest side of Romantic
Dressy top juxtaposed with casual Natural wide-leg pants and basic athletic sneakers
Edgy Denim
Essences: Ethereal Dramatic Natural
What’s inspiring:
Edgy Dramatic Natural jeans! (Maybe with Ethereal, too, if the legs read as flared. And if the slits were higher or wider, that could add Romantic to the denim.)
Green and blue pairing
The way the structured blazer and jeans are “grounded” by an airy Ethereal scarf and heels
Casual Avant-Garde
Essences: Dramatic Natural Gamine
What’s inspiring:
Idk I kind of just like it
If you choose a statement dress, it can speak for itself
More fall-related posts coming in the future!
In the meantime, you may be interested in reading about these beautiful and seemingly-rare essence blends:
