How to Dress for Fall in Florida When It's Still 90 Degrees

Here's the short answer: you don't have to change what you wear. You can just change the way you wear it.

Richer colors, a different shoe, one good touch of leather or suede, and you can give an outfit an entirely different feeling.

Every September the fashion world decides it's fall. The stores fill up with sweaters and boots. Instagram looks like everyone moved somewhere with crisp mornings and changing leaves. And here in Florida, it's over 90 degrees and my car door handle is too hot to touch.

I've been a personal stylist for over twenty years, and if there's one thing I know, it's that style has to work for the life you're actually living. There's no reason to put on a chunky sweater because a calendar says September.

But you don't have to dress like it's July until Thanksgiving either. There's a lovely middle, and it's easier to reach than most women expect.

How Do I Make Summer Clothes Feel Like Fall?

Start with color. It's the single easiest shift, and it costs you nothing in comfort.

Keep the lightweight dresses, the sleeveless tops, the breathable fabrics you've been living in, and move toward richer shades and colors that evoke the feeling of fall. Chocolate brown. Burgundy. Olive. Camel. Navy. Deep green. Orange tones. Off white.

Same temperature. Same amount of clothing. Completely different feeling.

If you're wondering where to start, look at what you already reach for. Most women own more fall colors than they realize. They're just hanging in the summer half of the closet, worn with summer shoes, so they've been reading as summer all along.

Which Shoes Make an Outfit Feel Like Fall?

A closed toe. That's really the whole trick.

Shoes change the entire personality of an outfit, and you don't have to leap from sandals straight into tall boots. A loafer, a ballet flat, a slingback, a clean sneaker, a good closed-toe flat, any one of them will move a summer dress into fall on its own.

This is something I tell my clients constantly. You don't always need a new outfit. Sometimes you just need to move one piece.

If you're not sure which of these suits you, that's exactly what the Style Star quiz is for. It takes a few minutes and tells you where your style already sits, so you're choosing from the shoes that are actually you.

How Do I Get Fall Texture Without the Heat?

Put it in your accessories, not your layers.

Fall makes all of us think about suede, leather, denim and knits. In a warm climate, you can have every one of those without adding a degree of warmth. You just move them off your body and onto the things you're carrying.

A suede handbag with a linen dress. A leather belt. A cognac loafer. A darker denim than you wore in July. Gold jewelry with a little more weight to it than your summer pieces.

You get the whole feeling of the season without dressing for weather that hasn't shown up yet.

Can I Still Wear My Summer Dresses in Fall?

Yes. A great dress is a great dress. Before you pack anything away, look at each one for its color, its print, its overall feeling rather than its sleeve length. A surprising number will move straight into October with nothing more than a different shoe, a different bag, or a piece of jewelry with more presence.

Three ideas that work:

• An off white sleeveless midi, tan leather loafers, and a suede crossbody. Nothing about that outfit is warm, and all of it reads as fall.
• The white jeans you've worn all summer, an olive linen button-down with the sleeves rolled, and flat leather slides in cognac.
• A burgundy or deep green sundress, a slim leather belt at the waist, and a closed-toe flat. The belt is doing more work than you'd think.

What Should I Wear for Florida Air Conditioning?

Something you can take off in one motion, and an outfit underneath that still works without it.

If you live here, you know the peculiar experience of crossing a parking lot in 90 degrees and walking into a restaurant that's approximately 59. This is where a lightweight layer finally earns its keep: a cotton cardigan, an unlined jacket, an easy button-down worn open, and my favorite, a pashmina.

The part that matters is what's underneath. If the outfit only works with the layer on, you'll be uncomfortable outside. If it only works with the layer off, you'll be uncomfortable inside. Build it so both versions are complete.

Do I Have to Dress for Fall Just Because It's September?

No. Let the calendar inspire you, don't let it boss you around.

This might be my strongest opinion in this whole piece. What you wear should make sense for where you're going, what you're doing, and the life you're actually living. If it's October and still hot, you don't owe anyone boots and a sweater to prove you know what month it is.

Wear the sleeveless dress.

Just make it burgundy.

That one small shift is usually all it takes.

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One Last Thing

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Because personal style was never about following every trend.

It's about finding what makes you shine.

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