7 Accessible Ways to Transition Your Summer Outfits Into Anytime-of-the-Year Garb

One of the standard practices of fashion-forward women is to evaluate their wardrobe before the changing of seasons.

It’s imperative to create a logical selection of clothing appropriate for the change from warm weather to a much cooler one. This involves editing out pieces of clothing that you feel will not get much use and replacing them with the new season’s must-have pieces such as coats and other layering pieces.

However, for those who have a well-curated wardrobe with high-quality basics and fun pieces, storing away beloved items is unnecessary for a season-appropriate closet. Instead, it’s about making style as fluid as possible through creative approaches.

So, if you have a lot of perfect summer pieces or resort wear in your wardrobe, you don’t necessarily need to take out a lot of clothing to put in storage temporarily. What you can do is to make them work for winter.

Here are seven refreshing ways to do just that:

1. Wear a bodysuit and tights with short dresses

If your favorite Boho-chic short dresses offer little warmth for winter, wear them with a bodysuit and tights. Doing this will automatically make these summer beach festival favorites perfect for cool-weather events. Complete the whole ensemble with a hat (a big floppy one, a beanie, or even a fedora) and some ankle boots, and you’ll look hot for the winter.

Do you need style inspiration for this outfit transition tactic? Check out the stellar fashion picks of Emma Roberts, Lucy Boynton, and the girls in the American TV program “Gossip Girl.”

2. Layer breezy tops with a form-fitting jacket or coat

Another fantastic way to make beach dresses transition into winter is by wearing a thick coat or jacket over them. This is a trick that a lot of famous stylists recommend because not only will a jacket or coat bring warmth, but it can also improve the silhouette of loose and breezy tops.

If you wish to accentuate your trim waistline, opt for a cropped corduroy coat or a leather moto jacket. But if you want a more hippie vibe, opt for oversized, thick, woven coats that you can cinch around the waist with a sash.

3. Pair everything with a fitted turtleneck

There’s no easier way to make light made-for-the-beach outfits winter-appropriate than wearing a fitted turtleneck with them. Say, you have a spaghetti-strap maxi resort dress that you still want to wear in the winter. Give it a bit of a ‘90s grunge and winter appeal by wearing a black, long-sleeved, turtleneck top under it.

An excellent alternative is wearing the turtleneck over the dress. This will create a more fitted silhouette, which you may like when the weather’s particularly nippy.

4. Turn short dresses into tops

Light beach dresses make nice tops for leggings, jeans, and even skirts. If you want to pair these dresses with fitted pants, you can just wear them as they are. Now, if you are a big fan of hippie fashion, wear a cropped vest or waistcoat with the dress and pair them with bell-bottoms. You can even tuck the front of the dress into the pants to prevent too much movement.

You also have the option to tuck a short dress into a professional midi-pencil skirt or a “flowy” maxi one made of thick fabric.

5. Wear tall boots

For a lot of women, knee- and thigh-high boots made of suede or brown leather are the perfect pieces to make beach or summer looks cross over into winter. You can wear these with pretty much anything — short, midi, and maxi dresses, jeans, pantsuits, and a shirt and shorts ensemble.

These tall boots are worthy investments for women because you can trust them to be your fashion go-tos when temperatures start to drop. Therefore, if you do not yet have a pair in your wardrobe, perhaps it’s time to shop for tall boots in classic styles.

Check out women’s boots clearance sales during the summer — for sure, you’ll find boots perfect for the winter at amazing discounted prices.

6. Dress over a dress

Wearing a dress over a dress is a styling strategy that so many women do not maximize but should — not just for fashion but also warmth. This is ideal for beach dresses that are made of light fabrics and have revealing cuts. During Paris Fashion Week, many females in the crowd wore linen, georgette, and even satin summer cocktail dress over velvet or knit sweater dresses.

Many were also seen taming the volume of billowy summer caftans and maxi dresses with figure-hugging pencil dresses.

If you are keen on adopting this style, you can take a cue from current trends that combine different but complementing patterns. Say, you’re a big fan of African tribal fashion, how about experimenting with them using preppy patterns such as plaid or houndstooth, or feminine ones such as florals? Doing this may lead you to a high-fashion pairing for the cool winter months.

7. Use summer cover-ups as extra layering pieces

Kaftans make particularly fabulous layering pieces for winter outfits. You can wear them to provide monochromatic threads with a pop of color and playfulness. Wear them over your basic outfit and under your coat. Or, simply top your warm single-tone clothes with them.

For example, you love to wear all-beige or all-black dresses or ensembles when it’s cold. You can take a more fun look on some days by incorporating a long kimono, kaftan or scarf to the get-up. This is a great way to prevent winter outfits from becoming stale.

There you go — seven easy ways to make your favorite beach and summer clothes transition into chilly season fashion.

Indeed, you need not create a seasonal wardrobe. You can keep your wardrobe the way it is and simply use your creativity and inspiration from other style icons to make any item of clothing useful despite changes in the weather.

AUTHOR BIO

Andrea Bertinetti is the Marketing Manager at Scarlett Poppies, a vivacious Dubai-based resort and beachwear brand that offers edgy, easy-breezy and effortlessly cool pieces designed by a cultural melting pot of designers. Influenced by tribal trends with a touch of Scandinavian flair, the brand’s beachwear styles are always ethereal and minimalistic.