It is now September 3rd and I am unashamedly dressing like it is 20 degrees cooler than it is. What can I say? I LOVE FALL. I love the cooler weather, the layers, the cider, the soup, the bonfires! I am especially ready for the fall this year as it has been so darn hot! Geez, global warming much?
If you’ve been following us for a while, you may have seen this post I wrote on “Planning Your Spring Look”. I got such good feedback on it through email and real life, so I decided to post pictures of the process again as I planned my “fall look”.
You may be asking yourself, ‘why plan a “look”, what is the purpose’? That is a great question, and here is my answer. If you are anything like me, getting completely overwhelmed by fashion magazines, blogs, and Pinterest happens every time the seasons change. Fashion seems so complicated!
Here is my summary of fall fashion: Literally every conceivable clothing concept (say that 10 times fast!) was seen on the runway: Equestrian, Futuristic, Minimalist, Baroque Opulence, Dark Romance, Edwardian, Militaristic, Oriental and more. Shape, volume, size, hue – everything seems exaggerated, like the world is a stage and instead of clothing we’ve taken to costumes (Not that I mind, I love playing dress-up!). Leather and Fur are everywhere in patches and colors. Mixing patterns and textures is very current, bonus points for incorporating digital prints. Sheer, Lace, and Red are still in, but while feminine silhouettes dominated spring style, the name of the game is pants for fall, and the more unique the better. Oh and if you can manage to pull off a chunky knit grandpa sweater with a super feminine skirt you have won the 2012 fall fashion game. Whew! Got all that down? Yeah, me neither.
While fashion is a bit complicated, style is not. The days of having to live by rules has long gone, and now the most stylish are known for taking a little bit of this trend and a little bit of that one, and making it their own. So these days you can wear whatever you want! Sounds great, right?
That is, until you have to decide what you want, and then make that fit into a budget. Yikes! Option overload! That’s why I’ve found it helpful to do the following:
How To Plan Your Fall Look in 6 easy steps:
1. Keep in mind the clothing you have, anything new you purchase you’ll want to be able to incorporate into your current wardrobe. You don’t want to be spending your life’s savings here. (Well maybe you do, but if so I don’t know why you are reading a “thrifty” blog 
)
2. Time to get inspired! Browse websites, fashion blogs, and lookbook. If you favor the old school like me, grab a stack of magazines and catalogs, and get to clipping! Any outfit, hairstyle, makeup, color scheme, or item you find inspiring, cut it out!
3. Go through the images you’ve collected and try to narrow them down to a “look” that fits both your personality and your lifestyle. There is nothing worse than wearing something you don’t feel is “you” or you don’t feel confident in. The outfits you choose should be a reflection of who you are, and should let your incredible personality shine through!
This fall I’m going for an edgy sophisticated style. I’ll be looking to incorporate the following trends: The new neutral color - Oxblood (really, fashion world, love the color but the name is so gross!), leopard print, patterned pants, metallic, shimmer, lots of black, and some leather accents.
can you tell I am LOVING red lips?
4. Pin your images to a corkboard or similar backing. You can then display this wherever you would like to inspire you each morning (and when you shop for new things, you can keep this board in mind)! You can make as many boards as you like! I have one for my outfit inspiration, and one for my jewelry and makeup inspiration. The latter I modpodged onto an old cardboard box and displayed on my jewelry and makeup table.
5. The final step is making a shopping list of the items needed to complete your “look”. If it is more than you can afford ( and let’s be honest, it’s probable that it will be), prioritize your list. For instance, high up on my list are leather patched leggings, shimmer skinnies, and a good fall jacket. A little lower on the list is a studded blouse and a new handbag.
6. Shop for the items you can get, then have fun getting dressed each day! Of course, I start off by scouring thrift stores for items that I want or ones that I could refashion into something on my list. Then I hit up retail favorites to get the rest I can afford 
Hope you found this helpful! I enjoyed writing it while drinking the last of the coffee I have in my house. I have GOT to get to the grocery store ASAP. No coffee is not good around here.
Happy FALL!
Aww I remember doing this with you and Nicole when I used to sped the night! Except I think Nicole and I made collages of cute boys, haha!
Hahahahahaha! Probably were! Also there was probably a backstreet boys CD playing in the background.
But of course, mixed with NSYNC, and some Britney.