My Summer-to-Fall Style Transition in Miami
Transitioning from summer to fall in warm weather requires a little imagination—especially in Miami.
I can take my son to school at six in the morning wearing a sweater over my bikini top, convince myself for approximately four hours that sweater weather has finally arrived, and by 10:30 A.M. be at the beach wearing nothing but my bathing suit.
That’s fall in Miami.
We participate. We just have to be willing to remove layers very quickly.
And if you live somewhere with a similar climate—Southern California, coastal Texas, southern Arizona, Hawaii, most of Florida—you know exactly what I mean, even if your own version of this plays out on a slightly different clock. The mechanics are the same everywhere heat doesn’t take a season off.
By September, I’m ready for a change. I’m ready for jeans, deeper colors, closed-toe shoes, and all the things that make getting dressed feel a little more like fall.
The weather, unfortunately, doesn’t always care what I’m ready for.
I’ve written about what fall actually looks like in Miami when it’s still 90 degrees, and my personal style follows pretty much the same rules—the season changes before the weather necessarily does.
Transitioning my personal style from summer to fall in Miami isn’t really about changing my entire wardrobe. It’s about making small shifts wherever our tropical weather allows me to.
And accepting that by midday, I may be wondering why in the world I decided to wear long pants.
I Start Wearing Jeans and Pants Again
One of the first things that changes for me is what I’m wearing on the bottom.
During the hottest part of summer, I’m much more likely to reach for shorts, shorter skirts, and dresses. They’re comfortable, they’re easy, and frankly, there’s only so much fabric I want touching me when it’s hot outside.
Once we start moving toward fall, I begin bringing jeans and pants back into rotation.
I don’t suddenly stop wearing shorts because the calendar says September. This is still Miami. But I start reaching for them less often.
There’s something about putting on a pair of jeans after months of summer clothes that immediately makes me feel like I’ve changed seasons—even if it’s still 85 degrees outside.
Of course, there are days when I regret that decision by lunchtime.
That’s part of Miami fall too.
My Summer Tops Don’t Go Anywhere
This is where dressing in layers becomes important.
My tank tops and camis don’t suddenly disappear when fall arrives. They’re actually some of the most useful things in my wardrobe because I can put a lightweight jacket, cardigan, or sweater over them in the morning and take it off later.
And I almost always take it off later.
Early mornings can actually feel comfortable, and every once in a while I’ll even call them chilly.
Now, when I say chilly, I mean peninsular Florida chilly. I’m not claiming actual cold weather here.
But at six in the morning, I’ll take whatever version of sweater weather Miami is willing to give me.
The trick is making sure whatever I’m wearing underneath still works once the day warms up. I know that whatever cute layered outfit I leave the house wearing may be reduced to a tank top and jeans a few hours later.
So the base outfit has to work on its own.
I Trade Shorter Dresses for Longer Ones
Dresses don’t disappear from my wardrobe in fall either.
Instead, I start reaching for longer dresses.
It’s one of the easiest ways for me to change the feeling of what I’m wearing without dressing for weather we simply don’t have.
A longer dress feels more appropriate for the season to me, especially in richer colors or prints, but it’s still lightweight enough to wear comfortably in South Florida.
And because our fall is so mild, I can still wear it with sandals when I want to.
Which brings me to shoes.
Closed-Toe Shoes Come Back—and So Do Socks
Yes, socks.
I can wear socks again.
It’s the little things.
I start bringing closed-toe shoes back into my wardrobe in the fall, although I absolutely do not put my sandals away. Open-toe shoes are year-round shoes here.
But having the option to wear loafers, sneakers, boots when the weather cooperates, or another closed shoe makes my clothes feel more seasonal.
The funny thing about living somewhere hot is that something as ordinary as putting socks on again can actually feel like a seasonal event.
People living somewhere with a real winter probably don’t understand how exciting this is. People living somewhere else warm, on the other hand, know exactly what I’m talking about.
Fall Shows Up in My Colors Before It Shows Up in the Weather
Since I can’t rely on layers and heavy fabrics to make my wardrobe feel like fall, color does a lot of the work.
I naturally start reaching for deeper shades.
That doesn’t mean I suddenly dress head-to-toe in dark colors. I still wear plenty of cream, white, and lighter neutrals. But I start mixing in richer colors that feel more appropriate for the season.
The same thing happens with my nails.
My brighter summer nail colors start giving way to deeper, richer shades.
It’s such a small change, but that’s really how seasonal dressing works for me here.
Fall arrives in the details first.
Even My Makeup and Hair Change
Summer humidity affects more than what I’m wearing.
There are days during the summer when putting on much makeup feels pointless because I know I’m going to walk outside and immediately feel like my face is melting off.
Once the weather becomes slightly more forgiving, I can wear a little more makeup without regretting it.
My hair changes too.
During the hottest months, having long hair down my back can feel like wearing a blanket I didn’t ask for. So it spends a lot more time pinned up.
As the weather becomes more comfortable, I can finally leave it down more often.
Again, these aren’t dramatic seasonal changes.
But when you live somewhere without four traditional seasons, you notice the small ones.
I Don’t Try to Dress for a Fall We Don’t Have
I love fall.
But I don’t pretend I live somewhere else just because I like the clothes associated with it.
I’m not interested in sweating through a heavy sweater and boots just because the calendar says it’s fall.
I want to enjoy the season I’m actually living in. Transitioning from summer to fall in warm weather means working with the climate instead of dressing for the calendar.
For me, that means jeans with a tank and a light layer. Longer dresses. Closed-toe shoes mixed with sandals. Deeper colors. Hair down more often. A little more makeup. And as many layers as our tropical climate will allow before I start peeling them off again.
What I wear during fall in Miami is probably closer to what much of the country wears in late spring or late summer.
And that’s okay.
Seasonal living doesn’t have to look the same everywhere.
Transitioning from Summer to Fall in Miami Is Its Own Thing
I think that’s what I’ve learned from living here.
I don’t need 50-degree weather to recognize that the season is changing.
The changes are just quieter.
The mornings feel a little different. The light changes. Eventually the humidity gives us a break. I start reaching for clothes I haven’t worn in months.
And for a few glorious hours in the morning, I may even convince myself that it’s sweater weather.
Then 10:30 arrives.
The sweater comes off.
The sunglasses go on.
And Miami reminds me exactly where I live.
Join Letters from Lola
New posts and seasonal ideas from my Miami home, delivered to your inbox.