Suz's recent post on silhouette vs. color gave me a little push to start the series of posts I said about a month ago I will do, about main silhouettes/outfit formulas to wear this fall.

I am defining the silhouettes as particular type of bottom + the right shoe(s) combo, as in my experience it is crucial to have the right types of shoes for certain type of bottom in order to be able able to easily build an outfit. An outfit formula is defined buy an addition of certain types of tops and toppers.

Since I can not wear skirts or dresses (other than as tunics over pants) at work, all my formulas are based on various types of pants and jeans. My three modern (classic) silhouettes are based on styling skinny/slim pants/jeans/leggings of various lengths and do not require any outfit formula development for me as they have been around for a while, and I feel pretty confident styling them. The proportions are also fairly simple with skinnies and there are lots of of various tops/toppers one can do, from tunics to layered shorter tops. The three main silhouettes here are:

1. For mildest days, cropped/ankle skinnies with shoes such as ankle-straps, higher vamps (loafers, oxfords) and higher shaft booties. Whatever the shoe choice, a little bit of ankle skin will be shown and thus the weather restriction.

2. For cooler day, full length skinnies, with either a little scrunch or small roll with shorter shaft booties. No or almost no skin will be shown, and thus warm socks are a possibility.

3. For the worst winter weather conditions, any length skinnies tucked into tall boots, to keep the feet warm and dry.

The focus of my outfit formulas though, will be three trendy bottom types, and those are the ones I will build at least three different outfit formulas for each, for at least 9 fall outfit formulas. These are:

4. Culottes/cropped wide pants. These is the newest bottom type in my wardrobe (probably the trendiest) and the trickiest to style. I got a pair last winter but only wore them a few times, but now I have three more pairs and hope to wear them a lot, hopefully at least once a week. All medium high to very high rises, to allow for easier styling for my body type (very long torso/waist). I plan to wear them mostly with tall boots/higher shaft booties so than no skin shows, and under layers such as silk/heat tech leggings are possible in colder weather. Other shoe options would be booties with just a sliver of skin showing, as well as some ankle strap shoes and oxfords/sneakers.

5. Cropped straight/kick flare jeans/pants. I started wearing these last fall, and I have gained some experience styling them. I have amassed a large collection of them, partially by hacking a lot of older full length pants; and will probably wear them the most. The shoes will mainly be higher shaft booties with/ without skin showing. While the weather is still mild I am planning to wear them with ankle strap shoes and higher vamps as well. I am also planning to experiment with textured lacy/fishnet tights showing instead of the skin sliver.

6. Full length flare jeans/pants. These have been around the longest, 2 or more years, and are the easiest to style for me out of all the three trendy bottom shapes. I prefer to wear them very long, almost touching the ground, and thus they can be worn only in dry weather. I also think they need at least a little bit of a heel, and have various pairs hemmed for heel heights ranging between 1.5-3". I prefer to wear them with pointy toes peaking out of the flare, though will occasionally wear them with round toes as well. My favorite types of shoes for them are pointy booties and pointy wedge pumps.

I am off now to describe my first fall outfit formula based on the culottes.