As we ramp up into September you may be thinking about doing a little fall shopping to enhance your closet for school, work or personal use. Make sure that your investment is spent wisely by considering how the latest trends work for your personal style.

First, let’s talk about ‘style’. Style is not dependent on the external world of fashion. A person with style is able to use the tools fashion provides to express herself fully and to show who she really is through what she wears. Style can be clearly defined in three words or less (for example, my style lately is chunky, funky and romantic) and can be easily created when you understand exactly who you are and what you like. This doesn’t stay static throughout your life – some components may be always present, i.e. you’re never likely to find me in things that are uncomfortable or require ironing, but how you express yourself has as many shades as the rainbow and shifts along with the rest of your life.

In this complete life picture, trends may or may not work for your personal style. Think of the trends as ‘themes’ in fashion and ‘fashion’ as just what people happen to be wearing at any given time. At it’s most pure, fashion is an art form and sometimes artists have different agendas than the women who wear the clothes they create. Let’s take a look at three hot trends for fall and see how they may fit into your personal style.

Menswear Inspired Items

Along the tuxedo theme, the NY runways were heavily populated with all kinds of suiting, shiny, matte, narrow, wide and otherwise. This trend is great if you run a lot of yang energy and want to express your edgy, straight-line self. It’s fantastic for straighter bodies and those wide lapels are great for our taller beauties. If you’re a girly girl and love romance, a way to add this ‘tux trend’ might be in a ruffled poet shirt in a lovely flowing fabric instead of in a crisp suit. If you’re not a suit lover (like me), then ditch it and go your own way!

Colour Blocking

This trend has been around for several seasons and has shifted from several saturated colours all together to mixing more muted hues and pairing it with a bit of black or the season’s hot neutral, gray! Yes, all you muted cool lovelies, our gray is out in force this year, yay! Colour blocking is also great for our tall, straight beauties, since you have more surface area to parcel out in shades of gorgeous. For those of us that are more diminutive, try colour blocked pieces that have a curved line or two connecting the pieces together, or continue with the trend of pairing multiple colours in the same outfit. Repeat the level of saturation (all intense, all muted) or different levels of the same colour (all pink, but light/dark, muted/intense) for harmony. If you love colour, but don’t want to block (especially if you’re short like me), try the all over colour for fun.

Leather

Still hot this year, if you like natural materials and don’t have an ethical bias against wearing leather (you could wear faux), this option could work for your style. Leather is quite a flexible material as it can range from quite dramatic in black patent to softly natural in an earthy tan with rough detailing and comes in many weights to suit different body types. Leather may not be acceptable as a regular feature in your business wardrobe but can be incorporated into casual Friday or other after work events.

The most important question to ask yourself when it comes to trends is whether or not the trend you’re considering works for you or if you’re allowing an outside influence to tell you what you ‘should’ be wearing. If it doesn’t work, don’t do it! If a trend particularly suits you, get a few more pieces and spend a bit more, as trends can typically be worn for at least two seasons (sometimes more) without completely dating you.  (Fads, more extreme versions of trends, last only for a season or so, so be cautious in choosing).

If a trend is too bold  for you (like some of the amazing patterns out there this year) and you still find yourself attracted to it, you can always play with the edges of the trend, finding the general feeling of it in a piece that works for you. For example, if the large scale graphic prints don’t work for you, look for pieces that have a suggestion of the graphic in a colour and shape that suits you.

Overall, be sure that everything you wear is in alignment with your true self and you’ll always be happy in (and out) of your closet.

p.s. Want more ‘how to make the trends and colours work for you’? Subscribe to our newsletter today to hear more about a special event, August 15! Next issue comes out tomorrow!