The Fall Uniform Is Back

Every September, I reach a point where I stop wanting to negotiate with my closet.

Summer dressing is lovely in theory: dresses, sandals, lighter fabrics, the occasional attempt at color. But by the time fall starts making its way back into New York, I am ready to return to the clothes that require considerably less discussion. For me, that usually means black.

My fall uniform is back.

It isn’t complicated: a black V-neck tee, black flared pants, comfortable shoes, my glasses, and very little else. I have worn some version of this combination for years, and every fall I return to it with the enthusiasm of someone who has just discovered it for the first time.

I Don’t Need a New Outfit Every Day

There is a strange idea, particularly when you work in fashion (in fashion PR and UI/UX design in my case), that getting dressed should constantly involve reinvention. I don’t subscribe to it.

I love clothes. I love beautiful bags. I can spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about a blazer's cut or whether a pair of jeans falls correctly over a shoe. None of that means I want to construct an entirely new identity every morning. In fact, the older I get, the more interested I am in knowing exactly what works and repeating it.

A uniform doesn’t mean you have stopped caring about clothes. Sometimes it means the opposite. You have paid enough attention to know what you actually like.

For me, black flared pants are one of those things. They give me the long line I want, work with nearly every jacket and sweater I own, and can move from school drop-off to my desk to wherever else the day happens to take me. A simple black top does essentially the same thing.

The proportions change—the accessories change. The shoes definitely change. The formula doesn’t need to.

The Good Part Is What You Put Around It

This is where a uniform becomes useful rather than boring.

If the base is simple, everything around it gets to do more. I can add an oversized blazer and a structured handbag, and suddenly the whole thing looks much more deliberate. I can wear ballet flats and make it quieter. A beautiful coat changes it again. So does a scarf, a pair of sunglasses, or a bag that costs considerably more than the clothes underneath it. That last combination is particularly familiar territory for me.

I have never believed everything in an outfit needs to occupy the same price bracket. I would rather wear the inexpensive black tee that fits properly with a beautiful handbag than buy the expensive tee simply because it is expensive. Clothes are not improved by making the receipt more impressive.

What matters is the finished picture.

Why the Flare Keeps Coming Back

I have been happy to watch flared silhouettes return because, for me, they never really left. There is something about a flare that makes even the most basic outfit feel finished. It creates movement when you walk, gives a little drama to an otherwise uncomplicated silhouette and, importantly, works beautifully under fall layers.

I’m not interested in wearing something simply because fashion has decided it is back. But when fashion happens to circle back to something I already love, I’m perfectly happy to take the win.

The pair I’m wearing here is about as uncomplicated as it gets. Black, fitted through the upper leg and flared at the bottom. Nothing about them is trying particularly hard, which is probably why I like them.

Getting Dressed Without Making It a Project

Maybe that is what I’m really returning to this fall. I don’t want getting dressed to become another task to optimize. I want to know that I can pull on a pair of black flares, add a simple top, choose a good bag or coat, and leave the house.

There will be plenty of days this season when I want more. I already have my eye on fall jackets, knitwear, bags and shoes, and I am certainly not proposing a season of sartorial austerity. That would be wildly out of character.

But underneath it all will be some variation of this.

Black. Flared. Simple. Comfortable. A little more polished than it technically needs to be. The fall uniform is back, and I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I put it on again.