Jul 18, 2010
Christina Gregoire

Usually, women wait until a trend has been around for ages before buying into the look. Why wait? If a lady keeps up with new fashions, she will always look cooler than other females her age. This doesn’t mean that a woman should steal her teenage daughter’s clothes. It means she should incorporate new items into her wardrobe every fall.

Teenage Back-to-School

Here are the best clothes and accessories from the article “Seventeen’s Fall Retail Report: Find the Most Amazing Back-to-School Deals and Discounts From Your Favorite Stores!” at seventeen.com. Some of the recommended pieces are already sold out, but why not try on a few items from stores for teens? Or, get similar upscale versions of these junior’s styles.

Junior wear is often much cheaper than women’s wear. And, though junior sizes don’t fit women who have had kids, junior’s accessories will always fit. Also, it’s fun to take a trend and find a better version, made for real women.

Plaid Tops and Dresses

Seventeen.com shows an adorable gray plaid frock from Dillards.com. Unfortunately, their dress will only look good on skinny chicks under 30. Well, there are lots of great tops and scarves that anyone can wear. Here are some examples:

• Nordstrom.com has cute lightweight plaid tops that go from summer to fall/winter.
• Joe’s Jeans has great plaid shirts at Neiman Marcus, JoesJeans.com, and Zappos.com. This plaid blouse is reversible.
• Find an inexpensive plaid scarf from OldNavy.com. This $8 scarf is gone, but they have another plaid one with this color, green, gray, and white. It can be worn over a cami, a tee, a dress, or anything.

Old Navy is a fabulous store for scarves and tops. The key to finding trendy plaid is to make sure it’s gauzy/lightweight, not “lumber jack” flannel. Seventeen.com even recommends plaid Adidas (tennis shoes). They are ridiculously cute for anyone.

Riding Boots for Fall

Equestrian footwear and accessories are hot. Seventeen recommends XOXO boots, which are sold out, but there are many sites with cute boots. The great thing about riding boots is that they are not quite flat, but they don’t have killer high-fashion heels. Do not buy cowboy boots; look for English riding styles. Other shoes mentioned, in the article, were Kelsi Dagger red ballet flats at Zappos.com and camo flats from 9 West.

Hats are Back

The Seventeen article shows a Block Trilby man’s hat, which is similar to this Roxy Trilby (in a gray fabric). Women who are over 30, well, maybe over 40, should find a better quality hat. Here is a bespoke (custom) hat on Princess Eugenie. Notice how the coloring is perfect for her skin tone. (And, the color doesn’t need to match her jacket.) Now, that’s a perfect hat.

Scarves for Fall

Now that (seemingly) half the country is out of work and many people are losing their houses, it is a good time to conserve money. Well, that’s easy. Just purchase accessories instead of whole outfits.

Seventeen.com shows two lovely scarves. Both are beautiful multicolored mufflers by Rachel Roy (at Macys.com). Roy is half Indian and half Dutch, and her travels must have taught her something about exquisite fabrics because she has a good eye for color. Any Rachel Roy scarf would pull a grown woman (or a high school girl) into The Elegance Zone. Check out her designs. They are amazing, gorgeous, and inexpensive.

Chunky Gold Bracelets

Seventeen has a picture of a gold-tone bracelet with gumball-sized beads from H&M, but HM.com is not set up to sell products online. Here are other cheap options:

• TopShop.com: Their jewelry is far ahead of anything outside of NYC (and maybe LA and SF). Any woman who wore edgy clothing during her high-school youth will know what to purchase here. These bangles will be the small spark that ignites the rest of her look.
• Anthropologie.com: Anthropologie is halfway between Top Shop and something traditional like Macy’s. Even teenage girls should try this shop.
• Lulus.com: Lulu’s was mentioned as a good place for jewelry (an equestrian bracelet) and headbands. This website sells clothing and adult women should browse dresses and tops at Lulu’s for ideas.

Three other great websites for checking out trendy accessories or handbags include:

• TedRossi.com
• Forever21.com
• ArmaniExchange.com

Lottery winners should go to Barney’s or Nieman’s to deck themselves out for fall. Other girls should stare at Barney’s bracelets, kiss the screen, and then search for cheap knockoffs at another site.

Some women can wear junior’s outfits. As long as they fit properly, why not shop in the junior’s department?