How to Wear Your Colors This Fall (Without Abandoning Your Palette)

Color Tips & SwapsWardrobe & Style
Written By Elizabeth Reese-Lenz

Sustainable Fall Fashion: Wearing Your Best Colors No Matter the Season

When Fall Trends Don’t Match Your Colors

Every September, the fashion world starts buzzing. The Vogue September issue lands with a satisfying thud, Pinterest boards brim with camel coats and Clinique Black Honey lipstick is popular once more...and suddenly your Instagram algorithm is whispering to you that burnt sienna is the new black.

But here’s the truth: not everyone shines in mustard or oxblood (and thank goodness, right?). If your palette leans towards icy blues or delicate pinks, hot pinks or neon greens, trying to wedge yourself into autumn’s “it” shades can feel like self-sabotage.

So what do you do when the trends say “pumpkin spice,” but your face says “please no.”?

Use one of my favorite tricks: swap textures, not palettes.

Why Texture Is Your Autumn Superpower

If you’ve visited me in the Twin Cities at my color analysis studio, you know that color palette is built to flatter you all year ‘round. Those soft teals, vivid corals, or cool lilacs don’t expire in September. Often, what shifts with the seasons isn’t the hue, but the fabric.

  • Summer brights in winter wools: That vibrant blue you wore in linen back in June? Gorgeous in cashmere come November.

  • Delicate pinks meet fall structure: Pair your pastel blouse with corduroy trousers or a tweed blazer in one of your singular neutrals, and suddenly it reads fall-forward instead of spring fling.

  • Year-round shades: A clear green dress works in chiffon for weddings in the summer, or in velvet for holiday parties.

The key is to let texture do the heavy lifting with each season’s change.

Classic Investments Beat Trends Every Time

If you’ve ever chased a micro-trend (RIP Sardine Girl, you were fun...), you know how quickly the “must-haves” become closet clutter, contributing to our global fast fashion crisis. Instead, invest in classic pieces in your best colors. Shop brands you know place high value on sustainability, and seek out fabrics that are excellent quality. (Remember: investments don’t have to cost a fortune. You can find beautiful, timeless pieces secondhand or vintage!) When you buy a coat in your navy instead of whatever the trending color of the season is…you’ll wear it for years. It will last you through trend cycles, life stages, and countless Minnesota winters.

Minneapolis Local Shops

These are all within walking distance of the This Is Your Color studio! Make a day of it and support these amazing local businesses while updating your wardrobe.

St. Paul Favorites

There are too many wonderful local businesses to name them all here! Dig into the St. Paul sustainable, secondhand, and vintage scenes to find your own favorites--your fall wardrobe (and local community) will thank you.

Outside the Twin Cities?

  • Support Minnesota businesses online: many local shops offer shipping.

  • Check out your local thrift stores!

  • Noihsaf Bazaar – Duluth-based with pop-ups nationwide; championing resale with intention.

Even if you’re not a local, you can bring these thoughtfully curated finds into your wardrobe while supporting sustainable, intentional shopping.

But What About Trends?

Look, I’m not saying “Ignore them!” If the September issue has you itching to try houndstooth or oversized knits, do it in your colors. More often than not, trends are about silhouettes and texture more than hue.

  • Love the “red is everywhere” moment? Try your palette’s best red, be it tomato red, a deep wine, or clear cherry.

  • Want to test out metallic fabrics? Choose gold, silver, or bronze shades that echo the harmonies in your fan.

  • Obsessed with leather this year? That soft sage or deep teal leather jacket is infinitely cooler (and more flattering) than settling for someone else’s black. Don’t be afraid to make the trend your own.

A Closet Shift In the Twin Cities

Fall in Minneapolis-St. Paul is real. IYKYK. It’s not merely a date on the calendar. One week you’re sweating it out looking at crop art at the State Fair, the next? You’re digging your sweaters out of a cedar chest, feeling the effects of SAD start to kick in. Transitioning your wardrobe from cooler temps to warmer ones here means layering up without sacrificing your palette.

Practical swaps I recommend to all my clients:

  • Lightweight blouses – in the fall...layer crisp poplins or light silk tops under cozy cashmere, a worn-in collegiate sweatshirt or to keep a layer between you and that scratchy-scratchy (but very warm!) wool sweater you inherited from your Irish grandmother.

  • Cotton sundresses – layer dresses over long sleeve blouses or tees, pop on a tall boot or maybe tights and mary janes, and grab a tweed or leather jacket to finish the look.

  • Linen skirts – swap these out for wool or silk trousers in the same favorite hues.

The Takeaway

Trends come and they go (then circle back around when you’re perfectly shocked that we’re doing THAT again???), but your colors are timeless. You don’t need to wear mustard, burnt sienna, or even black to look or feel seasonal. You just need corduroy, tweed, velvet, lace, wool, and all those other cozy fall textures…in shades that love you back.

Invest in your palette. Shop with intention. And remember: I don’t use a seasonal color analysis system for a reason. Your colors aren’t spring, summer, winter, or fall. They’re unique. Just like you.

Want to see your best colors in action this fall? I offer fully custom color analysis in my Northeast Minneapolis studio, easily accessible from anywhere in the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs. We’ll build a palette from scratch (don’t worry if you’ve never fit into a seasonal category, or if seasonal color analysis has left you rolling your eyes). My method is fully customized to your features: no cookie-cutter “winter, spring, summer, fall” boxes. You’ll leave with a palette that works year-round and makes shopping (and getting dressed) more conscious, and actually joyful. Book a session today, or gift the perfect experience to a loved one this holiday!

Elizabeth Reese-Lenz
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What to Do When Your Color Analysis Doesn’t Match Your Style (…Yet)