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‘Every day is all there is”, as Joan Didion put it, rather elegantly. The words are so smoothly balanced you can turn them over in your mind like a pebble, and the phrase popped into my head the other day when I was thinking about why September is such a powerful month for fashion. September, the saying goes, is January for fashion people. This is sunrise for new trends, high noon for shopping, peak season for glossy magazines packed with breathless style instruction. It is the point in the calendar when an update of what you wear suddenly feels urgent.
This seems, on the surface, like odd timing. After all, once you get to be an adult, nothing much happens in September. It’s not much of a season for parties, or for family holidays. Just the muscle memory of school days makes this the moment to lock back into the routine, the nine-to-five, the tea-bath-bed. But that’s the point. September is all about the everyday.
This is what Didion was getting at: that everyday is everything, and therefore worth giving your all to. This is about the stuff that is obviously important – about bringing your best self to your home life, your work, your relationships – but it’s also about the little stuff, too. Style is one of the little ways to elevate the everyday, to make it matter, to take pride in it. Wearing a nice outfit, putting out candles for dinner, a nicely wrapped birthday gift. Not because you have to, but because you and your life are worth it.
It shouldn’t be a chore, which is where new season wardrobe updates come in, to freshen things up. Have you done a waistcoat yet? If not, this is your moment. They are brilliant on their own as a sleeveless top – the structure and buttons bring polish – and useful as an alternative to a light jacket, worn open over a shirt. (You want the boxy kind that has breadth at the shoulder, not the snooker-player version that makes bra straps an issue.)
But it is often what you wear on your bottom half that makes the difference between an outfit that looks contemporary and one that looks dated. An airy trouser that doesn’t hug your legs should be the linchpin of your autumn wardrobe. Or, consider a shorter skirt: the miniskirt revival, that began on the catwalks straight after the pandemic, has slowly grown into a real-world phenomenon. I’m not suggesting we go in on those minuscule micro ra-ra numbers the tweens and teens are doing, but if you are still in a calf-grazing hemline, it’s time to dig out the knee-length and shorter skirts lurking in your wardrobe.
After decades of athleisure and streetwear, style has shifted to a more grownup place recently. The details that once seemed dull and fusty – leather belts, ribbed socks – are now the pieces that will put you back at the leading edge. Instead of layering a hoodie under a blazer, try draping a sweater in a contrasting colour around your shoulders: the silhouette is similar, the comfort-level is consistent, but the effect is much more now.
Colour is back, too. The era of “quiet luxury” threw a blanket of beige over fashion for a couple of years, but rich, saturated shades are cropping up, which I for one am thrilled about. Wearing beige every day was like living on nothing but Rich Tea biscuits: comforting and easy for a bit, but then boring and probably not doing us any favours. Sunset and berry shades mixed together look delicious right now. Miuccia Prada, who never gets this stuff wrong, put copper and pink together at Miu Miu and paired tomato with plum at Prada.
Making an effort doesn’t have to mean looking serious, by the way. If you are finding it hard to break out of wearing sweats, try a soft cotton rugby shirt in a bold stripe, untucked over wide trousers. It is about looking intentional, not about looking formal. Layer two different length necklaces over a sweater, or pin a vintage brooch to your lapel. Tiny gestures like this dignify dull days. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, and all that. Summer is over, but the spirit of September can bring the sunshine back.
Model: Ellen at Body London. Hair and make up: Delilah Blakeney using Colour Wow and Charlotte Tilbury. Jacket, £158, Anthropologie. Shirt, £210, Essentiel Antwerp. Trousers, £225, and cashmere sweater vest, £195, both Me + Em. Loafers, £28, ASOS. Earrings, £119, Missoma
