The September Edit: Keep, Change, Add
I have always thought September feels more like the beginning of a new year than January does. Maybe it’s all those years of back to school. New shoes, new clothes, new notebooks and the absolute certainty that this was going to be the year I became organized. It never was.
But I still get that feeling every September. I want to clean out my closet, buy something new and get myself together. Fashion is happy to help. Every fall we are told what’s new, what’s over and what we cannot possibly live without. Here’s the good news. You own most of what you need. Before you shop, let’s edit.
KEEP
If you bought burgundy, wine or oxblood last year, keep all of it. And add mossy green to the mix; that deep, slightly muddy green. Those colors are the ones I want most for fall. They’re rich without screaming “fall,” and they work beautifully together. Pull out the bag, belt, sweater, coat or boots you already own and congratulate yourself on being ahead of the game.
Keep your midi and maxi skirts too. I love them with a fine knit and tall boots, or with a white shirt and blazer. And keep the classics. Every woman needs a classic white button-down shirt; a crisp cotton-poplin shirt with a collar and buttons, slightly relaxed, never tight. Long enough to tuck into jeans or a skirt, but not so long that there’s half a shirt stuffed into your pants. Wear it half-tucked with straight jeans, under a blazer, or under a crewneck sweater with the collar and cuffs showing.
You also need a fine-gauge crewneck sweater in cashmere or merino. Cream, navy, grey or camel. Nothing enormous and nothing cropped to your rib cage. Just a good sweater. And jeans? Straight. Not skinny and not so wide that they require their own postal code. I like a dark indigo straight leg with very little distressing. Wear them with sneakers, brogues, a kitten heel or an elegant Western boot. After years of denim extremes, I’m happy to land somewhere in the middle.
Brooches are back too, and this is one trend that costs almost nothing to try. They were all over the fall runways at Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Miu Miu and Simone Rocha, pinned to blazers, sweaters and scarves. I especially love the oversized flower versions. Pin one to the lapel of your blazer, your white button-down or even your coat. And before you tell me brooches are for grandmothers, your grandmother was right about a lot of things. She may have been right about this too.
While I was thinking about what I wanted to keep in my closet, I started wondering why I’m so quick to assume new is better in other parts of my life too. We’re always looking for the next opportunity, the next goal, the next version of ourselves. Meanwhile, some of the best things in my life aren’t new at all.
Paul tells Timothy, “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:14, NIV). I love that. The friend who always answers the phone. The marriage we’ve spent years building. Family traditions. Our church community. The wisdom we paid for with more than a few mistakes. Before asking God for something new, I might want to pay a little more attention to what He has already given me.
CHANGE
You don’t need another blazer. You need a belt.
Peplum is back. I know. We got rid of it for a reason. But before you run out and buy a peplum jacket, try creating the shape with what you already own. Belt your blazer. Belt your cardigan. Belt a crisp white shirt. Belt your sweater. What we’re after isn’t the peplum itself. It’s the shape: a defined, ladylike waist with a little volume underneath it.
After years of wearing clothes large enough to accommodate several additional people, I’m ready. And if peplum disappears again next year, take off the belt. That’s the kind of trend I like.
There are other easy changes. Turn up the collar of your white shirt. Roll the sleeves. Wear it under a crewneck sweater and let the cuffs show. Take the midi skirt you’ve been wearing with sneakers and put it with a tall boot. Something doesn’t have to be new to look new.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (NIV). I’ve always focused on the word transformed, but I’m starting to like renewing just as much. Renewal isn’t replacement. I don’t need a new life any more than I need a new blazer. There are a few things I just need to approach differently.
ADD
Okay. Now we can shop.
The color I’m adding this fall is cherry red. One pop. A silk scarf tied around your neck or handbag. A small purse. A loafer. Or my favorite, a cherry-red sneaker with dark straight jeans and a white shirt. We’re not dressing as a tomato. One small hit of red is enough to change the whole outfit.
The other thing I’m loving for fall is a dark floral. Not a pretty little spring floral. I mean flowers on black, navy, burgundy or deep green. A little moodier and much easier to wear than you think. I love it in a midi or maxi skirt with a white button-down and boots, or a simple sweater with jeans when it gets cold.
A classic riding boot or an elegant Western boot is the shoe I want for fall. Think beautiful leather, clean lines and an almond or softly pointed toe. And yes, I spent much of August talking about Western dressing. I’m not done. The Western influence is staying, but it’s getting more polished. Less rodeo costume, more Ralph Lauren.
While you’re at it, get yourself two or three good belts. You’ll use them constantly this fall. I’d start with a medium-width black leather belt and another in a rich cognac or dark brown, both with simple hardware. Nothing too skinny and nothing so wide it looks like a corset. If you want a third, make it burgundy or oxblood. That one will look fabulous over a grey or navy blazer, a cream sweater or your white button-down. And please, no enormous logo buckle. The belt is there to give you a waist, not announce where you bought it.
If you already own a great loafer, keep wearing it. And if you want one inexpensive shoe update, try the kitten heel. It’s feminine, it works with jeans and skirts and, unlike some of the heels I have owned in my life, you can walk in it.
I don’t think every fashion trend needs a spiritual lesson. Sometimes a cherry-red shoe is just a good cherry-red shoe. But I do think there’s something to be said for continuing to try new things. Getting older should make us more curious, not less. Sit beside someone you don’t know at church. Join the Bible study. Take the trip. Learn something you’re terrible at. Wear the red shoe. You can always take it off.
LET GO
Now for the sweater that pilled after three wears but keeps making it through every closet clean-out because technically there’s nothing wrong with it. There is. You hate it. Let it go.
The enormous blazer that enters the room before you do can go too. So can the trend you bought because someone on Instagram looked fabulous in it, but every time you put it on, you take it straight back off. You have your answer.
Then there are the clothes we keep for another version of ourselves. When I lose five pounds. In case I gain ten pounds. When I have somewhere to wear this. When I become the sort of woman who wears this. If something doesn’t fit the woman you are today, why is it taking up so much room?
I wrote that sentence about clothes and realized it wasn’t about clothes.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (NIV). I can get an unwanted sweater out of my closet faster than I can get rid of an offense I’ve been carrying around for years.
Resentment is remarkably easy to store. So is comparison. Regret. Someone else’s expectations. The need to be right. We tuck them away, pull them out, try them on again and put them right back. Some things don’t deserve another season.
INVEST
There are places I will happily save money in fashion and places where I won’t. A beautiful coat, especially an interesting trench. A great leather boot. A handbag you’ll carry for years. A properly cut blazer. Cashmere or good wool. Buy fewer. Buy better. Wear them to death.
Which got me thinking about the word invest. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21, NIV). That verse can make a girl who likes clothes slightly uncomfortable.
But enjoying beautiful things isn’t the problem. I certainly hope not. The question is whether the beautiful things have become the important things. My credit-card statement can tell you where I’ve been shopping. My calendar is a much better indication of what I value.
How much time am I investing in my family, my marriage, my friendships and my faith? Do the things I say matter most to me get the best of me, or do they get whatever is left over? I’m not sure I love all my answers.
Maybe that’s why September still feels like a new year to me. I don’t need to become someone completely different. I just want an excuse to take stock.
I’m not reinventing myself this September. I’m cleaning out my closet, hanging onto the burgundy, adding a belt and moss green, and maybe buying a cherry-red something I do not need. I’m also taking a harder look at a few things that have been taking up space in my life for far longer than that pilled sweater.
That feels like enough of a September reset for me.
KARA’S FALL EDIT
H&M | THE DESIGNER COLLAB
Kelly Wearstler x H&M launches September 3 and I want the dark-brown trench. Yes, it’s expensive by H&M standards. Stay with me. The layered leather collar makes it look nothing like a mundane trench. This is the place to buy the interesting piece, not ten basics. Buy it here.
ZARA | THE WHITE SHIRT
Start here for crisp cotton poplin. Slightly relaxed, long enough to tuck and good under a sweater or blazer. Add a belt and you’ve got that new defined waist without buying another top. Buy it here.
SIMONS | THE TREASURE HUNT CANADIAN SECRET
This is where I go looking for the thing everyone else won’t be wearing. A beautiful designer blazer, an unusual knit, a belt or the boot. Don’t buy it because of the label. Buy it because you put it on and suddenly everything else you own looks better. My winner is a mossy green maxi faux suede skirt. Buy it here.
NOTE: Simons is excellent for the middle of the wardrobe, the pieces between Zara and designer. Look at Contemporaine for shirts and knits, then check the shoe department for boots. Never underestimate Simons.
NORDSTROM | THE BOOT
If you’re in the U.S. or shopping online, this is where I’d comparison-shop a riding boot. Look at Sam Edelman, Stuart Weitzman, Frye, Tory Burch and La Canadienne. Knee-high, simple leather, minimal hardware. If it looks like you could ride a horse in it, we’re getting somewhere. Buy it here.
MAJE | THE WAIST
Maje is doing the defined-waist jacket beautifully. Strong shoulder, nipped waist, a little shape below. Peplum without looking like you pulled your old peplum top out of a storage bin marked 2013. Buy it here.
SANDRO | THE POP OF CHERRY SHOE
Sandro has this fun pop of cherry sneaker. Put it with straight jeans, dress pants or your maxi skirt. One red shoe. That’s all we need. The rest of the outfit can calm down. Buy it here.
UNIQLO | THE MERINO SWEATER
One of the smartest places to buy a fine-gauge merino crewneck without spending cashmere money. Cream, grey, navy, wine. Buy the colors you wear, not the color that looked fabulous on the mannequin and makes you look ill. Buy it here.
GAP | THE STRAIGHT JEAN
A great place to start if you’re still staring suspiciously at your skinny jeans wondering whether the relationship is over. It is. Try a dark straight leg instead. Buy it here.
OLD NAVY | THE CHEAP THRILL
This is where I’d look for the $30 or $40 experiment. Trends are fun. They do not all require a long-term financial commitment. The Cozy Slouchy Crew-Neck Cardigan gives you the trend without requiring a whole new outfit. Wear it with dark straight-leg jeans and loafers, or button it up and tuck the front into a maxi skirt. Flowers for fall. Groundbreaking? This year? Kind of yes. Buy it here.
JOE FRESH | THE GROCERY-STORE SURPRISE
Never dismiss the fashion department because you went in for milk. Joe Fresh can be terrific. Nobody needs to know you bought it beside the broccoli. Joe Fresh has a flower brooch that gives you the Fall 2026 runway look for the price of lunch. Pin it to a blazer, sweater, coat or your white button-down. Buy two and cluster them together if you’re feeling brave. Grandma would approve. Buy it here.
