The summer clothes I'll still wear in autumn

Times

3 days ago

There's nothing like unpacking your summer suitcase to get you thinking about what you'll be wearing when autumn rolls around — or is that just me? Mid-August used to be, among fashion folks at least, the time to purchase one's new-season coat and boots before the good ones sold out, but I have plenty of both already and trends no longer move on as fast as they used to (if at all). So I'm not planning any spending, but lots of extending instead. Here are the items I won't be packing away, even when the nights draw in.
I wear both all year round, as though I'm a celebrity trying to avoid the paps, but actually because I hate squinting in bright light and my nose reddens in even the weakest UV. A cap also keeps clean hair tidy and distracts when it's messy. Mine is plain black and lives in my handbag, and my preferred shades at the moment are either oval or aviator — fashiony frames that add instant cool to any outfit. Invaluable.
They once seemed like a flash in the pan but barrel legs increasingly feel like the new skinny jeans: au courant but comfortable and casual enough to become a staple, regardless of hype. The barrels I've been wearing recently with T-shirts and sandals will be just as good with blazers, knitwear and boots eventually — though styles with a gentle curve have more wardrobe longevity than the extreme horseshoe sort that prompted a man to shout 'John Wayne' at me a few years ago.
I've lived in mine since April and there were many more both on and off the catwalk in Copenhagen last week, often worn with jeans in the same shade of vintage blue, and dubbed a 'Danish tuxedo'. Because I'm old enough to remember when this was known as a Canadian tuxedo instead, and not at all chic, I won't be trying that, but my oversized Me+Em shacket (in the sale at £87.50, meandem.com) will transition from outerwear to extra layer as the temperature drops, and will work as a shirt as well, tucked into …
White in winter is now such a well-worn fashion editor trick it seems strange that many of us used to pack away all our pale denim until summer came round again. My favourite pairs are ecru rather than brightest white, from Jigsaw and Finisterre (its £95 Yarrel canvas style, finisterre.com). Perfect to leaven the dark palettes that come with darker skies, and the last word in preppy elegance at any time of year worn with anything navy on top.
Whether woven, mock croc or even plain canvas of the LL Bean or Trader Joe varieties fetishised across social media this summer, an amped-up carry-all shape seems to have (for now, at least) taken over from classic, grown-up shoulder bags as the modish way to transport all your stuff. Could this be because many of us now also have a phone pouch strapped across us most of the time? Don't save yours just for French market days (though retire any rustic baskets after the bank holiday).
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For autumn? Am I mad? Far from it. Given some among the beau monde have spent up to £900 on a pair from the Row or Toteme, they'll wear them until their toes freeze off, thank you very much. Mine cost, ahem, £39.50 from M&S and have a kitten heel, so they'll easily clip-clop into an Indian summer under long and slouchy jeans before entering the 'dressy' category for winter — as long as there's a car involved.
The biggest fashion cliché of summer 2025, and distinctly unseasonal, but western boots will likely hang around now that so many people have bought them. Come autumn, extend the life span of your wide-leg cropped jeans by slipping a pair underneath, for instance, or show a peep of pointed toe beneath longer, looser trousers. Mine are very old Isabel Marant that have more than validated their cost per wear, but Ariat, Duke's Boots and Vaquero are good too.
• Yee-ha! It's a cowboy boot summer
From sun cover-up to T-shirt jacket to tucked in and buttoned up as God intended, an oversized shirt — whether white, blue or in mannish City stripes — is a year-rounder.
You probably have plenty, but I have reached for Rise & Fall's V-neck black silk sleeveless top so many times this summer, it is hard to imagine not wearing it (£125, riseandfall.co). From warm-weather daywear and holidaywear, I can see this becoming the perfect autumn under-blazer layer and probably a winter evening option too — understated, versatile and the wide straps mean it neither looks like underwear nor feels too exposing.
@_harrywalker1