There is a stretch of weeks every September when nothing in the wardrobe is quite right. It is cold enough at eight in the morning to want sleeves, and by two in the afternoon you are carrying your jacket around. Summer clothes feel wrong. The winter ones feel premature.
The usual advice is to layer, and we think that is the wrong answer. Putting a second thing on top of a summer outfit rarely works, because the summer outfit is still underneath it and you can tell. What actually changes in September is fabric weight, sleeve length and how much leg is showing. Those are decisions you make at eight in the morning, not adjustments you make at lunchtime.
At a glance
- September is a fabric-weight problem, not a layering problem
- A long-sleeved silk blouse handles a cold start and a warm afternoon better than anything else
- A stand collar closes the gap at the neck without the bulk of a scarf
- Move from bare legs to a proper trouser before you change anything on the top half
- Deep greens, ink blues and olives read as autumn without committing to brown
- Leave knitwear, coats and boots until October
- The blouse does most of the work
- Trousers, and what they replace
- Colour moves before the weather does
- What we would leave until October
- Frequently asked questions
The blouse does most of the work
A long-sleeved silk blouse is the single most useful thing you can own between the end of August and the middle of October. It is warm enough for a cold start because silk holds heat close, and it is cool enough at two because silk also lets it go. No other fabric manages both ends of the same day so quietly.
A stand collar helps more than you would expect. It closes the gap at the neck where the cold gets in, without the bulk of a scarf, and it looks deliberate rather than like something you did because you were chilly.
The other move is a lace or broderie blouse worn on its own rather than over a camisole. September light is kinder than July light, and a fine white blouse reads as autumn rather than holiday when it is worn with something substantial below the waist.
Most of the silk in the shop is Dea Kudibal, the Danish house that does this better than almost anyone, and the rest of the blouses sit alongside it.
Trousers, and what they replace
The fastest way to move a summer outfit into September is from the waist down. The top half can stay more or less as it was. Bare legs, a short hem or a sandal is what starts to look out of place first, usually a week or two before anyone consciously notices.
Wide-leg trousers in a proper weight of cloth do the job without committing you to anything heavy. A pinstripe gives you the length of a long line through the leg and enough structure that a fine blouse above it does not float. It is also, quietly, a trouser you can wear to work and then to dinner without going home.
What to look for in the trouser, in order:
- Weight of cloth. Enough body that it hangs rather than clings. This is the whole difference between a summer trouser and an autumn one.
- Length. Long enough to break over the shoe you will actually wear. A wide leg an inch too short stops working entirely.
- Where the waistband sits. At the natural waist rather than the hip, which is what gives you the long line through the leg.
A straight-leg trouser is the less dramatic version and the one that gets worn more. If you are choosing between the two and you want the one that will be out of the wardrobe every week, take the straight leg. The trousers edit is where most of this sits.
Colour moves before the weather does
Wardrobes change colour about three weeks ahead of the temperature, and September is when that happens. It is not a rule anyone wrote down. It is just that white and pale blue start to look like the wrong month while the weather is still perfectly warm.
The shift does not have to be to brown. Deep greens, ink blues and the muted olives sit between the two seasons and do not read as either. A deuce green blouse with a navy pinstripe trouser is an autumn outfit that you can still wear on a twenty-degree afternoon without feeling overdressed for it.
If you want one piece of colour rather than a whole outfit of it, put it in the trouser. A strong blue flare carries a plain top in a way that a strong blue top does not carry a plain trouser, and it is the half of the outfit people remember.
What we would leave until October
Three things, and the reasoning is the same for all of them. Anything you will be carrying by eleven is not solving the problem.
- Knitwear. A jumper in mid-September comes off within the hour and then has to be carried.
- Coats. The temptation is to get the new one out on the first cold morning. It then sits over your arm from ten until five.
- Boots. They can wait too, though we would concede this is the one people ignore.
The thing that does work for another month is a jacket you can keep on indoors. That is the whole test: if you can wear it sitting down at lunch, it belongs in September.
Frequently asked questions
What should I wear in September when the weather changes during the day?
Change the weight of what you are wearing rather than adding to it. A long-sleeved silk blouse handles a cold morning and a warm afternoon better than a summer top with a cardigan over it, because silk holds heat when you need it and releases it when you do not. Below the waist, move from bare legs to a trouser in a proper weight of cloth. Those two changes do more than any amount of layering.
Is it too early to wear autumn colours in September?
No, and in practice wardrobes change colour about three weeks before the temperature does. You do not have to go straight to brown and rust. Deep greens, ink blues and muted olives sit between the two seasons, so they work on a warm afternoon without looking like summer and without looking like November either.
What sort of trousers work best for transitional weather?
Wide-leg and straight-leg trousers in a substantial cloth, such as a pinstripe or a smooth crepe. They give a long line through the leg and enough structure to hold a fine blouse above them. If you are choosing one, the straight leg tends to get worn more often, while the wide leg is the one that makes an outfit look considered.
Can I wear silk in autumn?
Silk is at its most useful in autumn, not summer. It insulates against a cold start and stays cool once a room warms up, which is exactly the problem September presents. A long-sleeved silk blouse in a deeper colour is one of the few pieces that will work every week from now until the coats come out.
Which pieces are worth buying now rather than waiting?
Blouses and trousers, because they carry you through the next two months and then keep working underneath knitwear and coats after that. Jumpers, coats and boots are the ones to leave a few weeks, since a jumper put on at nine in the morning is usually being carried by eleven. Buy the pieces that solve the problem you have this week rather than the one you will have in November.
Written by No19 Boutique
No19 Boutique curates European designer womenswear from 19 Westbourne Arcade in Bournemouth, chosen for quality, cut and considered design. The team knows the brands properly and will tell you honestly what suits you, in store and online across the UK.