10 Trends I'm Most Excited About This Fall

Floral camouflage, marshmallow silhouettes, and the ladies “evening” section at the thrift store.

Real talk– I too, am partial to “poo-pooing” trend reports, but if I do that thing where I tuck my head into my tee-shirt while I’m still wearing it so I can retreat into my own secret boob cave, I discover that waaay deep down I actually truly love fashion trends. 

What is a trend, if not a general direction in which something is developing or changing? That’s how the dictionary defines the word anyway, and I decided to literally copy-paste the definition into this paragraph as though I were writing a 9th grade report for class that I would inevitably get a C grade on– “good effort, needs work!”. 

Fashion trends are cool because in the grand scheme of things they all join together to create what each bygone era is ultimately known for, so that we can cultivate this knowledge as a civilization and ultimately use it to continue showing up at 1970’s theme parties dressed like John Travolta. Yes, we really make great use of our history don’t we? 

Fortunately, history is still being made– that’s right, it’s not too late to get in on it all! We’ve arrived at a new season which means a crop of fresh fashion trends is now ripe for the picking. I’m here to make it easy for you with this list of my 10 favorite trends for Fall 2021. 

If you’re at a loss of what to wrap your frail body in this season, may I suggest the following:

Sequin layering

Do you really have to ask why this is one of my favorite Fall trends?? Look, I hang out with literal circus clowns who have been dressing this way for years, and it’s about the time everybody else caught on. Plus, this is a glam trend that is surprisingly accessible if you do it like we’ve been doing it since we first fake ID’d our way into a grown up party: 1. Head to your nearest thrift shop. 2. Buy up all the church-lady-grandma sequin tops and dresses left over from the mid 1980s. 3. Put them all on at once and invoke the word “darling” into your daily vocabulary. There you glow.

Bright unexpected color combos

This category describes me so well that I could honestly put the title of it on my tombstone, and it would really tell you everything you needed to know. But I digress– this Fall, I am giving you permission to pull out only the most clashing of colors and adorn yourself in them presently. On a serious note– to do this look right (and by “right” I mean, this is how to look exxxpensive vs confused) stick with only 2 clashing colors per outfit, and avoid going tonal here– mussing a mustard and chartreuse combo by adding canary yellow shoes and hoping no one will notice is a mistake I’ve made in the past so you don’t have to. Time to hit the mall with your Pantone swatch book.

1920s style

Is 2021 the year we finally kill off the rich-white-girl-throws-a-Gatsby-theme-party-after-seeing-the-2013-remake-once-and-everyone-arrives-in-bodycon-dresses-with-sequin-headbands thing, because man, a lot of us sure hope so. Designers this season took a card from the high glam Roaring Twenties playbook which is filled with satin gowns, fur stoles, lace, and deep color combos. For inspo, a beginners list of visual references that are not either of the Great Gatsby movies are as follows: Josephine Baker, Clara Bow, Buster Keaton, Anna May Wong, Louise Brooks, and decade-specific images from the Ziegfeld Follies.

Puffy everything

As someone who has never liked puffer coats, I’m shocked at how much I love this trend. I think the idea of making things puffy that normally are not is what gets me. It feels less like a cheesy fashion trend, and more like surrealist art at some point. I’m imagining a modern Salvadore Dali creating puffy skillets with puffy fried eggs in them. Puffy rugs, with puffy lamps, and puffy clocks on the wall. You can dress just as absurdly by layering puff upon puff this season, and considering how hard climate change is coming for us, nay-sayers will have the last laugh when you’re snuggled warm and cozy in your inflated dress and hat combo during the next hurricane-tornado-snow-massacre.

Heavily patterned pieces, especially florals

Remember when camouflage was cool in like, 2002? If your answer to that is “no, because I wasn’t born yet”, then lucky you, because it was a dark time for fashion– ball chain necklaces, hair gel, and all… Enter a better textile pattern– literally ANYTHING ELSE. I love that head-to-toe chaotic patterns are the thing for Fall and not Spring this year. Gone are the days of black-on-black come October-through-March. I for one, welcome our new patterned fashion overlords– won’t you join me in allowing them to live in our respective closets rent-free? 

Mini Skirt Suits

Clueless came out when I was in third grade and I remember watching it at my best friend’s house with her older sister and wishing I, too, could dress up in matching mini-sets that my robot computer picked out for me each morning.  Unfortunately for me, computer technology was still a fresh concept, and stores in 1995 were peppered with clothing that leaned less “Cher Horowitz” and more “Danny Tanner”. It might have taken 27 years, but I’m happy I can finally fulfill my need to dress like a rich fictional highschooler on a daily basis. If I had known that by age 34 I’d have a full Clueless-inspired wardrobe, AND a robot styling app to help me get ready each morning, I’d have flipped like Cher’s clunky phone.

Second skin turtlenecks

Say what you will– these tops are the single greatest thing to grace the world of layering since that nacho dip with beans, guac, and pico all in one giant bowl. Not only is tucking a turtleneck under a sleeveless dress hella mod, these extra thin varieties keep you surprisingly warm without adding a lot of bulk. Try them worn under a bustier top, tucked under a dress with a plunging neckline, or on their own paired with one of them there mini skirt suits I mentioned above. Sheer brilliance.

Lilac, the color

First, florals for fall, and now pastels?? Climate change is real, y’all, and so is the need to add this color to your closet right now. Mostly because it’s somehow forever unexpected. It hovers in that in-between zone I sometimes get lost in on Photoshop’s color picker. Will your lilac lean more cool-toned blue or warm-toned pink? More electric-pastel, or more of a grey hue? If you can’t decide, simply pick up a bouquet from your local florist and tote it around all day, with the disposition of someone carrying on after winning some fantastic accolade, and respond with “thank you” every time a stranger congratulates you. This is honestly how you should be moving through life everyday, lilac or no lilac.

Colorful leather outerwear

Thank goodness for the vast amount of high-quality leather alternatives on the market today. Being able to score a leather look without directly contributing to the factory farming industry is fabulous because we all love a leather look, don’t we? Which is weird considering that leather is made out of skin, and skin is something we all have plenty of already. I’ve been saying for years that when I die, I’d like somebody to skin my corpse and make me into an expensive handbag. Imagine if we recycled all our deceased relatives this way? “My great grandmother's coat”, just hits differently now. Anyway, colored leather is cool. I like green.

Printed tights

It always bums me out when it gets too cold for bare legs here in NYC. I find stockings cumbersome to pair with my dresses– especially for a night out. Black tights add a needless heaviness to my outfits, and white tights make me feel like a little girl– neither of which I'm striving for in this chapter of my life. Enter: the patterned tight. While opaque styles and basic stockings function more like undergarments in a look, patterned tights have the boldness of pants while still allowing your dresses and shoes to take the spotlight. My tip is to choose geometric or abstract patterns that echo or compliment the colors you wear most often. Pairing a colorblocked ensemble with patterned tights is a great way to look editorial, probably while doing completely non-editorial things like shopping for multivitamins or fumbling with the metrocard machine in the subway. You may have missed your train, you may be experiencing a severe Riboflavin deficiency, but at least your legs look fantastic.

There’s one last trend that nobody’s talking about, but that I’m still stoked on. What is it? It’s face masks! As the weather gets chillier, the risk of spreading viruses goes up, like covid (duh), the flu, or that annoying cold that’s gonna make you totally bug out because you think it’s covid. My quilted heart masks are thick enough to keep you safe (and warm) while still being breathable and stylish. Shop them below.