Credit: Melina Barris

Join WSPN’s Elyssa Grillo and Mischa Lee in an analysis of the new and recurring fall trends for 2024, and the best way to wear these items.

Autumn is officially here, which brings new trends and clothes. This season has a lot of trends carried from earlier this year as well as new popular pieces that are specific to the cold months. Here’s the most popular items that we’ve noticed for this fall season, and how we would style them.

Cardigans
In the fall, the weather is constantly changing. In the mornings and evenings it’s chilly, and in the afternoons, the sun shines bright and the weather warms up. Some people don’t know what to wear because of the confusing weather. So, having a cardigan is vital for your fall closet. Cardigans easily elevate a simple outfit to make it more comfy and cute.

Chunky colorful scarves
In the middle of the 20th century, scarves started to trend and became a versatile piece of clothing. Scarves have always been a classic trend in the cold weather, and they become more and more popular every year. If you’re wearing a plain outfit with basic colors, you can pair it with a bright colored scarf, which can add a pop of color. Red is the color of fall, so getting a red scarf would be perfect for your fall closet.

Belts
In the 2000s, chunky belts took over the fashion world. Whether it was with denim, skirts or dresses, belts were included in every outfit. However, these belts were usually very chunky and large. Now that it’s fall, belts have had a resurgence, but they’re definitely smaller. Belts are now paired with skorts, a skirt with built in shorts, and lots of denim. A belt can easily tie an outfit together. For example, if you’re wearing black shoes and black sunglasses, wearing a black belt would perfect the outfit.

Leopard Print (halloween costume)
In our trend predictions for the year of 2024, we expected that animal print, specifically cheetah and leopard print, was going to make a big comeback after being out of fashion since the mid 2010’s. It turns out we were right. This summer, you couldn’t scroll through Pinterest without seeing sequin leopard micro shorts, a jaguar print dress or cheetah print tops. With fall now in full swing, those animal prints haven’t gone anywhere, which is likely because of their color scheme of brown and black. We’re anticipating that leopards will be one of the most common Halloween costumes this year since it will be easy to find cute animal print outfits. Already on TikTok, girls have been showing off their makeup looks with leopard spots in preparation for the holiday this month.

Polka Dots
While polka dots are a classic pattern, we’ve noticed a spike in their popularity this fall in mini skirts and dresses. Polka dots are often on silk pieces like skirts or tops. But as the weather gets chillier, they can even be found on tights or sweaters. Since they are generic, they are very easy to find and style while also participating in a trend that pays homage to retro styles from the ’50s and ’60s like many other pieces on this list.

Lace sock with tall boots:
Frye boots are a recurring fashion trend since they were in style in the ’60s and ’90s, and now they are finally back in fashion for the 2020’s. Leather boots are typically brought out for fall to be paired with a mini skirt or dress, but this year, we’ve noticed that Frye boots are trending on Pinterest and TikTok, often paired with knee high lace socks. The tall boots are very practical for cold weather, especially with a thick sock poking out of the shoe for extra layers. A lacey sock is also a simple, yet stylistic way to personalize any outfit.

Colorful opaque tights:
A trend that isn’t for everyone, but can definitely spice up a plain outfit, is opaque tights. In tribute to Halloween, fall outfits with this accessory are often ‘witchey’ colors like plum purple, bright red and olive green. The easiest and calmest way to wear colorful opaque tights is with neutral colors for the rest of your outfit, usually black, but brown also works, especially in fall. This style of tights was popular in the ’60s along with big belts, polka dots and tall Frye boots, so we think that is a theme for this fall.

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