Even though temperatures here hit 99° this week I can tell fall is coming. The light has changed, a few leaves on my alder tree have turned tan and dropped.
Should we do a seasonal shop? And, as though it were a trip and we packing our bags, shall we begin with the shoes? Here’s what I remember from last fall: No. More. Suede. With any luck it will rain at which point I will prefer to keep my feet dry and will not want to worry about shoe materials. Here’s what I remember from the past 6 months: I must contend with a (very, very, exceptionally, ridiculously) slowly recovering Achilles tendon strain.
So, believe it or not, I’m thinking of new Dr. Martens. (Thanks, Sue;)) Even the kind that lace up the leg.
The idea being that my Keen hiking boots are comfortable and supportive, and something similar but less, um, rustic would serve. I did decide against stiff $790 Prada hiking boots, ah the wisdom and fixed budget of age, but maybe I would like to be a punk rocker, ah folly and dreams that never die.
To continue our 80s styling, I have bought a pair of UNIQLO “curved-leg” jeans. High-waisted, with wide legs that widen below the low hip and then taper towards the ankle. 100% cotton and less than $50. To be worn cuffed wide above the ankle, bien sûr, to show my Docs. (Levi’s calls these “barrel-leg” BTW.)
I do understand that my choices now veer dangerously close to eccentric, with a capital “E.” In for a penny, in for a pound!
That’s a hat. I wear hats often, for totally sensible sun-protective reasons. But they have to fit my outfit’s general zeitgeist. With sneakers, a baseball hat. With Birkenstocks, Eric Javitts. No straw hats with Docs, if I am getting weird I’m consistent. By Kangol. In a taupe-ish gray, with any luck it will blend into my head.
What then in this style universe as a top? California autumns require light jackets. High-waisted jeans prefer a crop. From Madewell?
With a t-shirt, in gray to match the hat or black to match the shoes and jacket, because enough is enough and at the very least subdue our colors? Or, or, let’s go wild for a minute, what about a jacket from the Kettlewell line Sue previewed here?
With a tee in a complementary but slightly off shade? Carmine and lavender. Probably not. Too much. Maybe just a touch of lace to my monochrome, keep the balance of tough and tender where I like it.
If nothing else, I hope the degree to which I am embracing my inner weird self, my Edgy Artsy Cousin, encourages you to take a step you worried – unnecessarily – was inappropriate. Or maybe you’ll just laugh thinking about that hat. All good. Have a wonderful weekend.
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38 Responses
I love all of your choices. I’m not sure if you have tried ultrasound on your achilles tendon yet. Barrel jeans? They look great and I love the boots and jackets as well.
@Susan D., Oh thanks for reminding me about the ultrasound! I am going to check with the doctor on Monday. And I’m so glad you approve of my choices!
I love the hat and jeans
Dr. Martens look great,but I must admitt that Prada’s are very comfortable and a zip helps me a lot
Maybe fall is around the corner,but I wear sandals-it is still around 30°C and yesterday morning I was swimming in the sea
Have a wonderful weekend,too
Dottoressa
@Dottoressa, Swimming in the sea sounds absolutely amazing.
The Pradas were too stiff! I was surprised. I feel like luxury shoes are cutting corners these days, perhaps, recklessly I was ready to buy some Manolos for my mom’s memorial service and the leather was awful and so I did not.
Those jeans looked SO fabulous on you! Can’t wait to see them with the Docs, or whatever you decide on. The hat works. It’s you. Quirky, without veering into “precious.” I think that jacket color could work too.
Scarf will be in the mail on Monday!
@Susan B., Thank you, again, sorry for the extra task! And as soon as I am shod I will show the outfit! I am tempted by the color of that jacket…
I’m afraid I love the hat, rather than laughing at it. I don’t know what that says about my (lack of) style consciousness…
@KC, I am coming to believe it says that I’ve been overly concerned with the appropriate all my life and the hat is actually cute:). xoxox.
I sympathize with the tendon strain. I injured some toes in May and what appeared were not only problems with the toe implant, but also ankle issues from my high ankle sprain of two years ago. So new “firm foot bed” shoes are in order. Love the hat — it would be great in Florida. Jackets we won’t need for months….
@LL, Oh gosh sorry you too are having foot/ankle issues. I was talking to my best friend, she too is having them, seems it’s more common than I ever knew. They make the hat in a bight white, that I *would* wear to Florida.
I like the jeans. Perhaps we’ll venture out to the mall today. Oh wait, it’s Saturday, maybe not. I really miss the Levis 501 button fly jeans from the 90’s. Those were the best. Are the docs high enough in the heel for your Achilles? Jim finally was able to take his heel lifts out of his shoes, which freed up space which was good. Local Seattle reporting says we’re sliding into the gloom of winter; short rainy days, lot’s of darkness. Oh yay.
@Allison, Levis just doesn’t do their jeans as well as they used to. I think good denim may have gotten too expensive for their marketing price points.:(
And, I’m wearing heel lifts with my Keen boots and I’d wear them with the Docs too, if I go that route.
You’re sliding into winter darkness already? Oh no!
I would have laughed at the doc martens had I not recently bought my first pair of DMs in beautiful cordovan leather. Thick soled- frankensteinish and OMG comfortable. I’m using them as house shoes, but I at 60 I feel a little punk. Am definitely considering boots now.
@Leslie, So punk. In a good way. I was thinking I could also get some in a cordovan, as black does limit what tops I can wear…
DM are an easy solution and look good with many articles of clothing but after a day wearing them I find that they are heavy in the legs and feet, only to return to Toms for for errands around town.I walk miles in Toms but not so much the DM.
@Lewellyn, Interesting. My use case is errands walking in the suburbs, mostly, but I would like to graduate to long city walks again.
Very close to my fall/winter uniform. I echo Dottoresa’s comment about the lack of a zipper in the DMs. Combat/hiking boots are so available now, perhaps you can find something less expensive than the Prada pair, but with a zipper? I did have a pair of Prada combat boots and they lasted over 4 years. I wore them almost daily.
Love both jackets, but definitely a grey tee.
@KSL, Great minds… In my comment, which took me an eternity to write because I kept getting lost in reveries on related websites, I was suggesting a pair of my beloved Frye Julie Combat boots ($378, but I got mine on sale for $249), which lace up, but have a side zip for once you’ve decided where you wish the laces to reside. Frye has good quality, handsome shoes for much less than Prada, and I get compliments as well as the question, “Where did you get those?” on a regular basis. When I want short boots, which I don’t think I may require again in this lifetime, I always check Frye. (We are also both fans of gray t-shirts.:)
@KSL, I tend to do better with laced shoes, something about the configuration of my feet/ankles. That said, I’m going to look into others. Timberland, for example. And I will heed your note on the tee color, the last time I wanted lavender when you cautioned gray was with a bookshelf and you were so right;).
Great minds shop! I bought a pair of pants from H&M with that same kind of silhouette in a brass color thinking that it they would be good fall pants. I’m not quite ready to go with Doc Martens but I think that with the ankles showing a shoe with a thick sole is good. I’m not switching out of sandals anytime soon. It’s hard to think about Fall right now because it is hot and serious beach time is ahead, but it won’t be but a couple of weeks until I’m feeling like switching to darker cottons as the sun begins to set earlier and it’ll be time for long pants soon after.
@Roseag, Hey! In good company! Maybe I’m totally wrong thinking I’m being eccentric and actually I’m just keeping up with trends all unknown to myself:). Have fun at the beach!
Love the boots. I own Dr. Marten’s in the Aunt Sally, because I like all black rather than the alt stitching and sole. For more support (possibly), a slightly more formal lace-up look, and a speedier on/off, I was going to suggest the Frye Julie Combat boot, which has a similar style, but is all black, with a lug sole (a detail I like), and *drum roll* a side-zip so you don’t have to lace the laces each time you put your boots on, but Frye has discontinued them. They may still be out there somewhere in online-land.
Coincidentally, I also have the barrel-leg jeans, but from COS. I admired the pale caramel color (official name: Warm Sand)on Allison of That’s Not My Age, looked at the COS site, found they were having a sale plus an additional percent off on sand, and black, added a pair of blue denim (not on sale), and bought all three. I’d been looking for jeans with a roomy leg, which until recently have been a rarity.
I have hats, a blue-jean jacket, and gray t-shirts, so I’m good to go.
If these items make me eccentric, I’ve been eccentric for all of my life. I choose to think of them as classic pieces, never really in or out of style. My mom could have worn these in the 1940’s with an Eisenhower jacket and looked au courant, IMO.:)
BTW, thank you for inspiring me to look at the Frye site, I found my favorite Natalie Short Engineer Boots on sale there at a significant reduction, and ordered a second pair. My first are from 2016, and in excellent condition, but I’ve often thought that I love them so much, I’d like a backup. Backup now winging its way to me, thanks to you.
For autumn I hope for a black wool blazer, and a gray cashmere sweater set, and then I’m done with all shopping. (I’m trying to do little to none.)
Happy Saturday at 3:33.
xoxoxo.
@Katherine C. James, 1940’s = 1940s
@Katherine C. James, The jury’s in. You’re not eccentric, I’m just overly inclined to the “proper” in my clothing and am apparently just responding to trends in the wind!
Yes, it’s that time again…change of season shopping. Love all your newly selected items. Foot injuries seem common lately. Last summer, I broke my 5th metatarsal and this summer two friends broke their heals. One requiring surgery. There is no doubt about it, foot injuries take a long time to heal. Personally, I am ready for cool Fall weather.
@Susan, Thank you:). And I am very glad that your foot bone has recovered. Let’s hear it for some cool weather. This summer has eaten me for lunch.
Boots. I wanted some lace ups but not as tough as Docs. I ended up buying a pair of men’s boots from Grenson (https://www.grenson.com/uk/fred-mens-brogue-boot-black-calf-leather-leather-sole.html) and they fit like a dream. Dressy enough for my work environment but with a wee bit of tough. They also have women’s boots. The jeans look fab, and I wear my black denim jacket to death and back. If this eccentric, I’ll buy a one way ticket!
@Nancy, The Grensons are GORG! And in truth, it’s the hat plus the cuffs I thought to wear on the jeans that veer eccentric. I imagine you look amazing. I envy you that work environment.
I love your fashion posts. Eccentric is fine by me but there’s nothing really eccentric in your selection. Edgy yes, a little out of the main stream probably, but lovely pieces that will wear well and suit many an occasion. If you think of the pieces that way then they’re really quite classic ;)
I imagine you in those jeans and boots swanning around your garden. Then jamming that hat on your head and shrugging on that carmine jacket to swing by Whole Foods before striding down the street for coffee with a gal pal somewhere …eccentric, and very cool. Not sure why I always think of you swanning, swinging, striding, and shrugging. Ha. Just that those are such insouciant verbs, so cool… so Lisa.
I’m itching to get at my fall shopping research, but we’re still on holiday. Down east this week for my mum’s 92nd birthday. But next week… next week my planning commences.
Happy almost fall, Lisa.
I miss that sort of pants. Good call.
But I wish it weren’t so darn hot, seemingly everywhere. It’s hard for me to fantasize about corduroys when the humidity here in Mass. is 72% and the temp’s over 80. UGH. And yet, in order to get the ones I want, I must buy them now, or they’ll be out by September. Nutty.
I think you’ve chosen some fabulous items. The jeans will be a key player in your fall wardrobe. Love the silhouette and style.
I empathize with your long journey of healing…it took me over two years to regain mobility in my frozen shoulders! Thank goodness I can move them again now.
And am so looking forward to seeing you wearing the new items.
Yes, I’ve been hankering for a different cut for my jeans, Lisa. Mine are all skinny and I think the time has come to embrace the barrel cut like what you’ve selected in this post. I’ve had ambitions for coloured denim for a while now but I always seem to get it wrong. I find it hard to match coloured denim… It’s a work in progress.
SSG xxx
Thank you for the heads up on this great new silhouette. It reminds me of the wide legged jeans in the 70’s that were fitted through the hips., but this is just different enough to be new. I love it! Hope you post some photos of how you style it.
Welcome, dear one, to my world. You’re going to like it over here with your artsy cousins! Get some color…
Love the Docs!
Happy pre-Fall.
Your choices are all spot on for California autumn and over 50 cool. I’m finding myself drawn to more color now too, thanks to Sue;) Now about shoes. Have you checked out Blundstones? I love mine… super comfy, can accommodate an insert, and have a bit of an edge.
Coming in late to this conversation but felt compelled to comment re: Doc Martens. As a gen-u-ine old (okay, middle-aged) punk, I’ve had a few pairs of Docs over the years. Each time, the break-in period was excruciatingly painful and lasted for several weeks. I had the right size but for some reason that brand on these feet just doesn’t work until I’ve spent a goodly period of time limping around and seriously considering amputating some toes because of the pain. Which is not punk, at all.
Eventually they would be comfortable — I still wish I had that pair of 6-hole Docs which came up just over my ankle bone and looked so cool — but ultimately I have to say that for me, Docs were not worth it.
Nowadays when I need boots, I look first at La Canadienne, which has a lot of styles, fits me well out of the box, doesn’t hurt, and has that unidentifiable-but-well-designed quality that I’ve come to value over brand recognition. I’ll leave Docs to the kids, or those with narrower feet than mine!
Love the docs and the pants as well. I’ve been looking at those (the pants) but there is no store near me and I haven’t jumped on the idea of ordering yet. I think your choices are cool, and very focused.
Anyway, I like Kettlewell. I’ve worn their tops for a while now as they tend to hav colors that I can wear well and which are not what I see in local stores. Haven’t tried a jacket though. May have to.
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