Fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley recommends pairing a short, flimsy skirt with a chunky jumper or jacket to balance the last of summer’s warmth with autumn’s chill. This transitional style keeps legs bare while the top half stays cozy, extending the life of summer skirts into the new season.
The Joy of Dressing in Early Autumn
Cartner-Morley, writing in The Guardian, calls this “the most enjoyable time of the year to get dressed” because clothes can simply be clothes. Unlike summer, when outfits must act as a personal air-conditioning and sweat-disguising system, or winter, when they double as portable central heating, early autumn requires no functional heavy lifting. There is no need for outfits to take you from day to night until party season, and no need to pack a hand-luggage-sized capsule wardrobe until next summer.
This benign early autumn is more fun to dress for than spring’s equivalent weather because we still carry a bit of summer swagger, she notes. The summer habit of wearing shorts, halter tops, and swimwear has made us more laid-back about showing skin. But it is about more than bare flesh: summer flexes the flashy dresser in everyone, whether through festival fancy dress or simply putting on sunglasses and feeling like a movie star.
The Style Formula: Flimsy Skirt, Hefty Top
Cartner-Morley describes her current style obsession as “a short, flimsy skirt, nothing tailored or lined, worn under something with a bit more heft up top.” Her social media feed is full of French women in cafes wearing a lacy slip with a boxy shirt, a broderie mini with a ribbed jumper, or a satin mini with a leather jacket. The skirt still dreams of holidays, while the top has read the forecast—boudoir down below, bus stop up top.
The jumper should look a fraction too big and the skirt a fraction too insubstantial; the tension between the two is the point. The neat visual arithmetic of a fitted top with a tailored skirt is not what this look requires.
Overcoming Leg Concerns and Styling Tips
Cartner-Morley urges readers to get over concerns about their legs, calling the idea that you can’t wear a certain hemline because you “don’t have the legs” old-lady talk. She explains that this look is not really about skin but about the contrast in weight and formality between top and bottom. Legs are more chill-tolerant than the rest of the body, and bare knees in a sharp breeze read as insouciant, while bare shoulders read as a mistake. Pairing a chunky jumper with skirts that are too insubstantial for tights gives extra mileage before packing them away for the year.
To make the outfit look like a decision rather than a compromise, colour is key. Keep the palette moving in the same direction—navy and cream, chocolate and ivory, black and white—to make the look feel more intentional, she says. A proper shoe is essential; a slip-on sandal can tip the look into “jumper over a nightie” territory.
Resist Autumn Urges, Keep One Foot in Summer
Cartner-Morley advises against getting trigger-happy with opaque tights or knee-high boots, as there will be plenty of time for them later. She warns against the temptation to dress for autumn too early, such as wearing corduroy, boots, tweed, burgundy, or carrying a basket of logs. “Autumn will come whether you dress for it or not, so lean into the flimsy stuff a little longer,” she writes. “For as long as you can, keep one foot in summer. Better still, both legs.”
The article includes styling credits: model Moli at Milk, hair and makeup by Sophie Higginson using Ouai and Kama Ayurveda, styling assistant Charlotte Gornall. Featured items include a half-zip jumper at £290 from Ba&sh, a skirt at £24 from Asos, rings at £85 each from Daisy Jewellery, socks at £18 from London Sock Company, and loafers at £150 from Alohas.
