Transitioning My Favorite Summer Romper to Fall

I didn’t get around to publishing a blog post yesterday, but considering how many posts I’ve missed in the last few weeks, I figured I’d deviate from my schedule and just post it today instead. I wore this outfit a couple weekends ago when I went out to dinner and drinks in downtown Denver. I knew I wanted to style this secondhand romper (it feels like the right amount of ‘going out’ cuteness without looking like I’m hitting up a club), but it took several iterations—and a pile of clothes on the floor later—to land on this outfit.

The colors in this romper—beige, red, mustard yellow, dark green—naturally transition to the autumn season well, but the silhouette of the piece is what makes it a little more difficult to style for the cooler months. I think if this romper were just a *smidge* longer, it would pair with a lot more fall pieces.

I first tried it on with an oversized, salmon-colored cardigan—the colors and vibe were very cute and fall-ish, but I was hung up on the super short length of the romper. It seemed weird to me that the cardigan was longer than the romper, and there was just a whole lotta leg showing for an outfit involving a sweater.

Next I tried it on with my burgundy pleather jacket and beige booties. I was so convinced that I liked this outfit that I even walked to a photo spot across campus and started taking pictures in it… only to realize from the photos that the outfit looked kind of stupid. The only problem was the boots—my beige booties were not the same shade of beige as the romper, and while usually I wouldn’t consider that to be an issue, the colors definitely clashed in this instance. I ran home and decided to change… However, I do still think the burgundy jacket would be really cute with this piece if I had the right shoes—I’m thinking taller booties (the trendy mid-calf style) in a nude shade rather than a dark beige, like these. That way a little more leg is covered, and the style and color would make me look taller.

Ultimately, I decided on a classic denim jacket. I had a different outfit idea in my head for months—this beige romper, my black denim jacket, and my blush sneakers—and was so excited to try it on this night to finally see my vision come to life. However, it just didn’t work! I can’t explain why, but while the look was so stylish in my head—the perfect juxtaposition of girly and laid-back—the outfit fell flat once I finally tried it on. Disappointing. The romper looked much cuter with a traditional blue denim jacket, and the best shoe option I had was these raffia slides. The color of these sandals, unlike the booties I tried on originally, match the romper much better. However, I do think this outfit would be cute with the right kind of booties as well.

Something else that crossed my mind was possibly wearing tights underneath this romper—your thoughts? I see other bloggers wear tights under their summer rompers all the time, but I personally don’t think that would work with this piece. First of all, the romper is a summer fabric, light and airy—I think tights would look funny underneath, texturally speaking. Second, I’ve come to the conclusion that tights look kind of weird when layered under an item that is lighter in color. Take this old outfit of mine, for example. Don’t the black tights look really harsh under the beige leopard print dress? It’s all a visual and textural thing for me, I guess. If you think I can pull off tights with this look—let me know how! Specifically, what color tights would work best?

Long story short, getting dressed for this dinner out was an hour-long ordeal that ended with mounds of clothes all over my room. Y’all know how it is… My favorite part of this outfit is the dangly clip-on earrings that my mom recently gave me. The green is so pretty, and since I was too lazy to curl my hair/leave it down, I thought the earrings were the perfect way to frame my face.

As always, thanks for stopping by the blog today! Hope your week is off to a great start.

-Grace

Floral Romper: Consigned, $34, last worn here | Denim Jacket: JCPenney, $19, last worn here | Raffia Slides: Target, $25, last worn here