There’s no season quite like fall. The weather turns crisp and, at long last, autumn’s cold-weather staples are once again on the (sartorial) menu. Among the more important closet essentials is a well-stocked repertoire of footwear.
Boots, sneakers, and similarly stylish shoes are all worthy of your closet’s real estate right now— and for three seasoned and stylish editors, SOREL’s latest arrivals are hitting the mark.
In the interest of serving up fresh outfit ideas, we tapped Chloe Hall (beauty director, ELLE.com), Erica Gonzales (culture and content strategy editor, HarpersBazaar.com), and Wanyi Jiang (design director, Marie Claire) to share some go-to ways to master your look this season—all centered around fall’s most valuable accessory: Footwear.
“My fall aesthetic is layers on layers, paired with a layer of layers,” says Chloe Hall, who is currently based in Los Angeles (which is a bit less autumnal-hued than the east coast, but still has a subtle chill in the air throughout the season). The ELLE.com beauty director is leaning into an autumn uniform of suiting and has even come up with a snappy slogan for her look: Powerful business lady special.
“I try to channel my [female political] heroes when I wear my suit,” she shares. “Layering vests and shirts with colorful collars makes the suit pop. I’m also a sucker for gold jewelry, so I’ll always make sure to throw on a ring or two, or three, or four (okay five!).” To complete the look, she adds in a pair of SOREL Joan Uptown Chelsea booties.
“I live for fall boots,” she says. “I love wearing mine as a statement piece, like these white ones. It’s fun to pick a great color boot and style my entire look around it.”
As Hall’s style proves, even when you stick with a uniform (a suit, in this case) there are still countless variations that can keep your outfits fresh and lively. Her fall fashion advice: “Have fun, take risks, and stay warm.” Easy enough.
LOOK 1: SOREL boots, sorel.com; Joseph blazer and pants, joseph-fashion.com; Bony Levy earrings, bonylevy.com; editor’s own rings. LOOK 2: SOREL boots, sorel.com; Frankie Shop blazer and pants, thefrankieshop.com; Ganni sweater, ganni.com; Bony Levy earrings, bonylevy.com; editor’s own rings.
If you love the ’90s, that’s already one thing you have in common with Erica Gonzales. The HarpersBazaar.com culture and content strategy director is “very much feeling the ’90s this year” and is channeling a decade marked by pared-back, casual style.
Her nonchalant look above nods to ’90s sensibilities with a baseball cap and crisp button-down styled with leather trousers and SOREL Kinetic Lace sneakers. “I love a good pair of sneakers and I’ve been itching to jump on the leather [pants] trend, so why not combine the two?” she asks. “I like the mix of textures and colors in this combination and how the sleek black leather brings out the bright accents in the shoe. The sneakers are also so light and hassle-free, they’re an easy pair for heavier fabrics like leather or corduroy.”
In keeping with the zeitgeist this year, Gonzales is prioritizing ease this fall. “In this era of staying at home and working remotely when comfort is king, it’s very easy to switch out a shirt for a sweater or hoodie under a jacket,” she says. “If I’m not piling on the layers, I’m wrapping up in the coziest cardigan I can find.” Another one of her favorite WFH looks includes a jean jacket, denim shirt, and straight-leg jeans accessorized with SOREL Lennox Hiker booties.
LOOK 1: SOREL sneakers, sorel.com; Citizens of Humanity top, citizensofhumanity.com; AGOLDE pants, agolde.com; editor’s own hat and jewelry. LOOK 2: SOREL boots, sorel.com; AGOLDE jacket and jeans, agolde.com; Frank & Eileen shirt, frankandeileen.com; COS turtleneck, cosstores.com; editor’s own glasses and jewelry.
In three words, Marie Claire Design Director Wanyi Jiang encapsulates her fall style as “easy, cozy, and natural.” Great autumnal fashion is best achieved, in her opinion, when you’re feeling confident in your own skin. “Being yourself ensures your style is great all year round,” she observes. For Jiang, this manifests as a trench coat worn with trousers and versatile SOREL Blake bootie, which sports a rustic brown color that embodies the season’s toasty vibes.
“This combination is timeless, it’s warm, and it’s every-occasion-appropriate,” Jiang says. “Also, just because the trench is classic doesn’t mean the color has to be. Any color you love works.”
Jiang also experiments with contrast for her fall style. “I would dress up a pair of [tougher] ankle boots for autumn the masculine-meets-feminine way by styling it with a floral dress,” she shares. “You can throw on a coat and it’s a look.”
Another perennial fall staple—the sweater—is one of her key items for the season. “Who doesn’t love sweater weather?” Jiang says. Her rule of thumb for styling one is “the chunkier the sweater, the heftier the boot!”
LOOK 1: SOREL boots, sorel.com; Dodo Bar Or coat, dodobaror.com; editor’s own pants. LOOK 2: SOREL boots, sorel.com; Bernadette dress, bernadetteantwerp.com; Pascale Monvoisin earrings, pascalemonvoisin.com; editor’s own bracelet.
