Angie, what are self-colored hose? Do you mean flesh toned? Love all the new suggestions along with the styles that remain.
The trend I am not a big fan of is all the (ribbed at the waist )leather and pleather moto jackets. I think that look is just too youthful. I also think the ribbing stretches out and pills right away. With all the leather jackets out there, I can not find one that fits the bill. Oh well, I will wait.
I am intrigued by knit pants but are they too form fitting without a tunic for us more mature ladies?

I love must-have lists. They test my own personal style compass, and also make me feel rebelious when I stray from them. Given the list you posted, there are certainly lots of goodies for all tastes. I will be loving:
-boots and booties
-skinny jeans
-vintage leather
-waistcoats
-all coats
-winter dresses
-leggings
-textured hose
-scarves
with the bonus round of: ruffles, military jackets, leather skirts, platforms. I am also very intrigued by tapered pencil skirts, billowing painters shirts (not sure what that is but I like the sound of it), skinny pants, and winter shorts.

Good questions, Jean. Self-coloured hose is hose that is all ONE colour, but any colour. Black, grey, brown, nude, anything. The patterns on the hose are the same as the colour of the background.

I don’t think ribbed detailing on leather jackets is necessarily “young looking”. It’s a lot more casual but great at any age if the style is right. However, it will eventually pill unfortunately.

Ponte pants needn’t be skin tight. They can look just like skinnies or straight legs and if you purchase great fabric and have the body type, you’ll be able to wear them with a normal length top. Forum Sandy who is also in her 50’s has a Theory pair and wears them extremely well.

I can see you sport those looks, Danja!

I loove this types of posts and this list! It really helps start the season.

I am very glad to say that I have almost everything on the first list. The only items I don’t that i would like to get are plaid tunic length shirt ( I am coveting the Joie one Angie posted a while ago), a black boyfriend jacket with interesting lining and the elusive sweater dress than can be worn on its own as a dress, without skinnies – knee length or so.

From the second list, I am craving ponte skinny black pants, military jackets, moto items and ruffles!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I nearly jumped for joy when I saw the title of this blog post. It’s just what I need to help me get started on a whole new wardrobe. I’m printing it off, and I am thrilled to have a guideline. Having lost a bunch of weight, I really don’t have anything left in my closet – so this really helps me out a lot. Would you believe that I don’t even have a coat? lol!

I can’t wait to read the ‘how’ posts that are coming up.

Meanwhile, it’s kind of neat to see that a motorcycle jacket is a ‘must have’ – way too fun. I can blame you when I explain this one away – “Oh well, Angie says it’s a must have…”.

Thanks again! See? Just like that – you’ve given someone with NO clothes a place to start.

Of course, these posts are among my favorites! I’m most looking forward to finding a cascading cardi and some flat boots, though I don’t think I’m looking for slouchy. A tall riding style boot fits my needs more.

This is a great post Angie and good news too! I think I have something from each category, I just need to stock up on the textured hoses. I wore them a lot last winter, alas they didn’t survive the season.

Great list! I’m looking forward to seeing more posts about how to wear these items. I love boots and skinny jeans so I’m set there.

I would like to try cascading cardigans and maybe a waistcoat. I don’t have either of those items yet in my wardrobe.

The only one I am hestitant about is the boyfriend jacket. My eye has not gotten used to that one yet.

I would also love to find a great winter dress or skirts in heavier fabrics. I love wearing tall boots with tights and a skirt or dress.

Got just about all of these covered, but am hunting, hunting, hunting for some cozy winter dresses. WHY are long- and 3/4-sleeve dresses cut to the knee so ridiculously hard to find?

Good list! I’m ok with most of the trends, and I have to say that I love this autumn/winter trends! The only thing I hate and probably I would never buy, is the cascade cardigan. Here, everybody seem to have one in every single color and I’m already saturated… and summer is still here! I try to stand out with my style, so wearing something that everybody wear is a no-no for me!!

Haha, amazingly enough almost every item on that list is also on my personal “to buy” list for fall! I’m glad we’re on the same wavelength. Thanks, this confirmed what I was thinking!

Great list and I’m happy to find that I have quite a few of these items. I’m only missing a winter dress, a waist coat, and textured hose. I am noticing ruffles everywhere and I love them!

Maybe I’ll ask this on the forum, and I think I already know the answer (yes), but can apples wear boots over jeans? I attempted last season (pre-YLF) and always felt like I looked like I was going to topple over. Is there something particular to look for when one has a bigger upper half?

I am seeing tartan EVERYWHERE and I adore it. I really want a tartan headband. Pretending for a moment that I have the money…

-I finally found some ankle boots I love that have gone on my watch list. They were hard to find last year in the right heel height and color (I want gray).
-I’m going to try and add 2 more pairs of straight jeans. I like straight jeans best because I can wear them with heels and flats (get them hemmed for heels, and they’ll simply scrunch a bit more with flats). One gray pair and one dark blue pair would be great (already have black).
-Love plaid. If I can find one that doesn’t look too grungy or farmer-like, I’m all over it.
-Not into the leather jacket look for myself. Too harsh.
-I confess fully that I ADORE boyfriend jackets, but I think I’m too busty Pass.
-Not a fan of cascading cardigans. I want a really long boyfriend cardigan though. Long enough to wear with leggings.
-Would like another waistcoat in gray.
-Pretty satisfied with my winter coat(s) and trench. I cannot WAIT to get back into jackets.
-I am still just hung up on the sweater dress. I won’t rest until I find it.
-Need to replace my leggings.
-I have textured hose and it made me look like I have a rash on my legs. I can’t afford the nice stuff so I think I’ll pass and stick to my frowned-upon colored hose
-I lost my turquoise pash in Boston Must replace. Would also like some more patterned scarves.

Thanks Angie. These lists are invaluable to me. I am pining for some black Armani X check pants and some of those cute Ecco wedge maryjanes that Maya posted, when what I really need is a boyfriend jacket and a waist coat, scarves, and textured hose, and I would love to get some leg warmers to peek over my boots. Thanks for helping he get my priorities straight.
This is a picture of my ponte knot pants. This is when I first received them and am just trying them on for the first time. Angie is the top what you call a billowing painters shirt?
http://i477.photobucket.com/al.....0_0553.jpg

I would love to find a boyfriend jacket to wear over this in the winter.

Woohoo i’ve pretty much got most of the items on the list, though i am DESPERATE to try the shaggy waistcoat.

I hoped for and did not find last winter an above-knee or tunic-length chunky knit sweater dress to wear over straight-leg jeans. If you find any such (since they’re basically on your list) I’d love to see a post!

I also love lists I’m pretty set for A/W 09, except for the check/plaid top. I love these, but all the ones I’ve tried on so far are either too young or look like pajama tops! I cannot wait to break out my boots. I don’t think I’m going near the second list, except for perhaps some ponte skinny pants.

Great list – soooo helpful! The only items I haven’t gotten into is the boyfriend jacket and the plaid top. I do love plaid though – especially black watch (dark green and black and navy with a bit of yellow).

My wish list includes:
cropped military jacket
cloche
leather cuff bracelet
ponte pants
ruffle-y vest
oxfords
It will be fun searching for these!

Great list! I’m pretty much covered, except that I don’t have a plaid top. But I count on my tartan tights to make up for that big time
I had also hoped for a winter dress, but haven’t found one so far and am on a spending moratorium right now, so we’ll see if that happens later in the season. I do, however, love wearing my sleeveless black dress over button downs and with boots in the fall, so that’ll have to do.
I definitely look forward to a lot of skirts and boots this fall, and especially expect my new dark denim skirt to become a go-to outfit, with funky tights (the above-mentioned tartan ones, textured ones in black and brown, and a red-and-pink polka dot pair) and my new chestnut brown boots. I actually hate fall the season (too dark, cold and rainy/dreary for me) but I do look forward to the fashion…

Every now and then I am reminded I really *shouldn’t* be shopping too much because of all the stuff I have hiding in my closet.This is one of those times–thanks to a mini shopping burst over August, I can say that I think I have everything on that list that I am crazy about wearing: a trench, carves winter dress(a sweater dress!),my first pairs of booties and skinny jeans, leather jacket, ruffles and check top(wearing it right now in fact).
The no-no’s: I tried several of those cascading cardigans and just don’t dig how I look in them.The ones tried added too much volume to the rear end region, so not good at all. And I think I in general just like more structure to my looks now, just the phase I am in I guess.Waist coat is also not my thing, although I may try it out with a pencil skirt for kicks. Patterned hose is also out for me, aside from the very subtle like baby fishnets. I am finally getting to the point where I am quite comfortable with my fashion/style, so even with some forays into new territory I am getting better at knowing what will work and what won’t with my gut feeling.And some items on this list just won’t!

The one thing I do not have that I would like to try is a moto jacket but it will need to be in a softer fabrication or color.The black moto is SO not right on me, just can’t pull it off.
Autumn is my favorite time of year, I am so excited!

Great post Angie! It does make me jealous that we are heading out of our winter though, and boots jackets etc will soon no longer be an option!!

I am happy to see that I did get a chance to try most of the things on your list this winter. The exceptions were:

- Boyfriend blazer. I warmed to the look as the season went on. Blazers just don’t really suit my lifestyle, and I have enough other jackets to rotate around anyway (like the plaid one I’m wearing right now)!

- Plaid shirt. I have 3 summery plaid shirts, but didn’t get a heavier one for winter. I did get a plaid jacket though. All the wintery plaid shirts just felt too much like something I wore in the 90s, whereas the summery ones I have are completely different. I am happy to see they are still coming out in shops here this season.

- Trench coat and wool coat – I have a few of these. Sandly either I did not get out enough this winter or it just wasn’t cold enough, but these items really didn’t get worn more than a handful of times. Booo! I need to move somewhere colder!!!

As always a great post. I haven’t commented in awhile due to being so busy… but this post unfortunately makes me feel a need a rant a little, meant to be taken super lightly.. I know we all have our reasons and preferences regarding whether or not to embrace certain trends, and as everyone I am sure knows my reasons always come down to the large-bust aspect of my body type. Call me crazy or overly confined by this feature, but I have come to truly believe that most other body identifiers/types can mold/adapt a trend to make it work, but I feel like this is just not possible with a large bust and I am kinda sick of it! Boyfriend blazer = me in a tent; cascading cardis, ruffle tops, poofy scarves add to the already excessive volume on top; camis = me attempting to dress as the St. Pauli Girl.. argghghgh! I would love to learn from the wiser, trendier large busted ladies on how they adapt (or not) to trends..

ps. so I should add that on my fall must have list is the white button down shirt from Bratique Helen.

Angie, these are great ideas to consider. I’m confused as to how a boyfriend jacket differs from a nonfitted blazer, but the look sounds interesting.
I’d like to find flat grey or black boots, the right piece with ruffles, a beautiful plaid top that’s casual but polished enough for my age group, and Ponte de Roma skinny or straight pants. I’ve got at least one item from each of your other main must-have categories.

Ha! I was so tired that in the winter dress section, I read “You need frocks to showcase your boobs!” and thought hmm, that doesn’t sound like Angie…

In all seriousness, I hope a sweater dress is an attainable goal for me this fall/winter. You have convinced me that I AM a dress & skirt girl, and I’d love to have a great winter-weight sweater dress to wear with knee-high boots. They are so hard to find, though, especially since I feel very uncomfortable in a completely voluminous dress.

Yay for boots! I am hoping to find one or two more pairs this year now that I know what to look for & how versatile they are in Seattle’s climate. I wish I’d known where to look for wider but not wide-width-calf boots before last year!

I am still loving both of my moto jackets – another thing I would not have tried pre-YLF – and I can’t wait to break out my favorite forest green wool coat.

I’m lusting after tall boots… so glad they made “the list”. I can’t even pretend to afford them right now, but Angie, when you talk about riding boots, do these fit the bill? http://www.zappos.com/rockport-pamet-black-leather

I want to train my eye for what to look for in a classic tall boot…

Hmm..lets see:
Boots, boots and more boots: WANT!
Skinny or straight leg jeans: Almost there
Check/plaid top: Might
Leather or pleather jacket: HAVE!
Boyfriend jacket: WANT!
Cascading cardigans: On the way.
Waistcoat: HAVE, LOVE!
Trench coat and wool coat: May not really need
Winter dress: Will my AP sheath dress cover this base for me?
Leggings: Have cropped, need stirrup leggings
Textured hose: Fishnets on my mind
Scarves: HAVE, WANT more

Got it all covered except the checked/plaid top….Just too* Ellie Mae Clampett * on me I think…:) Just can’t do it. Although I see it on others and it is adorable:)

I’m planning to have my semi annual closet clean out this weekend, so after that I’ll see what I will be needing. I’m going to New York with my husband in two weeks, so I’ll try not to shop before that unless I stumble over something absolutely irresistable.

Of the trends you mention, I think the following could be incorporated in my warderobe:

Boots!!!! I can’t live without them! I’m still missing a classic black pair that’s office appropriate.

Cascading cardigans: I love the idea that these can be worn in so many ways; loose, wrapped etc. I’ll definetly try to find the perfect one!

Trench coat and wool coat: Both are essentials in the Nordics. I might need to get a new wool coat for this winter and I’ll probably go for a simple cut in a statement colour.

Winter dress: A wrap or a shirt dress for the office would be a good addition to my closet.

Scarves: An absolute essential! I’m thinking of getting one of those “snoods” this winter. They seem both chic and practical at the same time. It would solve my annual hat problem.

These I’m more hesistant about:

Boyfriend jacket: Not for me. I absolutely want a bit of waist definition.

Waistcoat: Not sure. I love the look on others but have not managed to make it work for me yet.

Leggings: Yet another look that I like on others but can’t get to work for me allthough my legs are fit for showing off. Maybe I’m getting too old…

Textured hose: This one is tricky to pull off! I think I’ll stick to black and nude and use colour on other parts of my body.

Great post and this is definitely also my fall/winter-list!
And most important, I already own lots of the described items, some of bought in spring clearance sales and them never worn yet. E.g. a wool coat and a plaid shirt.
But one thing is missing that is central for my wardrobe this fall: A sleeveless, purpleblue down jacked!

I love lists like this. Thanks for kicking off the season with it!

I’ve already picked up a couple of fabulous boots that I’m looking forward to wearing with my dresses and skirts, and my booties are just dying to come out and play soon too. I’m really fond of those fold-over short boots, too, and have been considering one more pair…

I am rebuilding my coat collection this winter, and NAS was a good start with a gorgeous long leather and a purple car coat. I’ve also picked up an on-trend military style red peacoat from ON. A moto jacket would be nice but I’m not going to kill myself looking for it this year. I will need a new puffer, for sure!

I might try one plaid shirt for casual weekends, just because. I’ve been eying boyfriend jackets for a while, but haven’t taken the plunge. It’s hard to justify when they’re not quite appropriate with the rest of my work outfits. I have a couple of waistcoats, but I feel odd wearing them. Leggings, too.

Textured hose is another ‘iffy’ for me; I LOVE textured tights but because I do work in such a conservative environment, the sheer nature of hose might be too much.

I am going to look more at cascading cardigans next. I’ve amassed a great collection of long boyfriend cardigans now, and I’m ready for another alternative!

Great list! Boots gotta be the number one, of course.

-meream

I’ve been a recent reader due to Sally McGraw that posted on her blog the link of YLF and I’ve loved it, but just today I make my first comment.

I think this is such a fabulous list and I’ve been hunting for all the things in it, either in my weardrobe (recycling…) or in stores.

Thank you so much for making our lives easier….

(sorry for my English, I’m not an English spoken)

xoxo

A solid list! let the shopping begin…

Never thought I’d be a cascading cardigan girl, but I love the one I bought earlier this year.

Loved the list. I have most in my closet already. My best purchase of the season is my The Row boyfriend jacket. I have’t found my perfect pair of booties yet. I need black platforms that aren’t too high. I’m a stylish, fashion loving 50 year old. It’s an easy year to be on trend yet age appropriate.