I’m currently writing this on my flight back from Paris, coming down from a fashion high. Getting to participate in fashion week fuels all of my senses. It feels as though I’ve nourished myself this week in a way I never have before. This was my first Paris fashion week and as cheesy as it sounds, it felt like a dream come true. There were more moments than I can count where I thought “pinch me, is this really happening?”. I saw so much beauty on the runway, off the runway, in the clothes, and in the accessories. I keep seeing the phrase “personality dressing and color is back,” but I like to say “it never left!”, at least not for me. To me, that is style! To express yourself, to take what you love from all different types of aesthetics and personalities and make it your own. Since this is the October forecast, and I’m coming in a little late, I’ll wrap it up but get to all the good stuff down below…

What We’re Doing

• For starters, we’re flying back home and even though I had the time of my life in Paris, I am very excited to go home to our girls. I’ve missed them deeply.
• Thankfully, we’re doing a getaway to NYC for the girls’ fall break, which will allow us to have lots of family time together. 
• I’m going to give you whiplash if you look at my schedule right now. I’m home for about one beat before heading to Cartagena with a brand I absolutely love for a really cool experience I’m excited to 1) actually experience and 2) share with you all. It blends travel and fashion, my two big loves. 
• We’ll be back to NYC again, for another brand event towards the end of the month. A quick but short trip for work!
• Our backyard is currently getting a little makeover. 
• Speaking of our home, I shared my closet tour (and our kitchen tour) for our Trade Offs members recently. 
• Halloween! Now that we’re home, I’m taking the girls to go get pumpkins for our porch and we’re bringing out our skeletons that we have “climb” our house!
• Prepping for two collections launching at the start of November– get ready!!!
• When we were in New York last month, I went in and filmed a Let’s Get Dressed episode with Liv Perez. You can listen to it now here or watch it on Youtube here. 

What I’m Wearing

• I’m wearing these Frame jeans as I write, so they’re top of mind. But If you’d like to see them styled, I wore them in Paris here.
• I wore this chartreuse Destree clutch in Paris over and over again. I had the pleasure of meeting Geraldine, the founder of the brand, and got to try on a few pieces from the new collection. I can confirm this jacket is fantastic! 
• A lot of skirts! As Miuccia Prada has famously said “the skirt is like a t-shirt.” In which, I actually love to wear the two together to style them casual for day. I think this is a fantastic skirt under $100 for fall.
• Speaking of t-shirts, one of my go-to brands, Perfect White Tee, has this three pack (white, grey, & black) that’s got your staples covered.
• This new-to-me knitwear brand, Alexandra Golovonoff. I wore in Paris here and here. 
• I’ve worn this Sonia Petroff belt at least five times in Paris. Everyone thinks it’s vintage!

What I’m Buying

• You cannot miss the Reformation x Alexa Chung collection. This velvet pink jacket is already on its way to me. But maybe consider this, this, and this.
• This Alemais moire print with colorful bows is my favorite from their new collection. It comes in a long straight dress, a top & skirt, and a mini dress. I went with the long straight dress for party season ahead. 
• This Liberowe coat is giving Chanel vibes and I want to style it with a white tee and jeans. (It would also look great with these pants.) The dress version is pretty fantastic too. 
• I saw this new mini gold La Veste skirt on someone at their Paris popup and was sold immediately. 
• This Ralph Lauren skirt is beyond chic for fall/winter. I’ll style it with a black turtleneck and tall boots. 
• I saw this gold Kallmeyer jacket on both Lauren Santo Domingo and Lisa Aiken in Paris. I think it’s safe to say, it’s a good one. There’s also a coordinating skirt. 
• I ordered a few new homeware items for the bookshelves in our kitchen (tour here). Here are a few things I purchased:
  
• Tabitha Simmons x Cabana just launched and it’s the chicest setting for Thanksgiving!
• This lavender lace set feels Valentino but much less: top & skirt.

What I’m Eyeing

• Coming from Paris fashion week, pretty much everything I’m eyeing is for next spring/summer. Such a tease! One of my favorite shows was Dries Van Noten, which is no surprise here. And thankfully, we can pre-order an edit of the collection on Moda here to scratch that itch of wanting to participate in the collection now. Two pieces I haven’t been able to get out of my mind – this necklace and this one. I also made a list of my favorites from it here. 
• The Blazy craze continues, and like most of the internet, I loved the collection. My camera roll is filled with zoomed in screenshots and texts to my Chanel sales associate.
• I also really loved the Celine show. I dabbled in a few Celine pieces here and there over the years, but I really love what Micheal Ryder is doing with the collection. It feels minimal and cool but with so much more personality. These shoes, the pink bag (in this carousel), and these red and purple wedges (so chic!) 
• The new Harris Tapper collection has a dreamy blue for winter and this padded coat is my favorite piece.
• This Magda Butrym bag is sitting in my cart. The color and fabric is delicious and I love the size for day and night.
• This Carolina Herrera cocoon leopard coat has been living in my mind for about a month and after seeing a really chic woman in Paris wearing the cropped one, I think I’m convinced. Although I am more partial to the longer style, so now I’m torn!
• This stunning colorful Gabriela Hearst coat from their latest runway show.
• A brand that I recently discovered called Sanne– this is my favorite piece. 

If you have budget for one new outerwear piece this season, put the brown leather jacket on your shortlist. It’s classic, versatile, and nearly always on point. Plus, there’s plenty of celebrity validation: Lana Del Rey and her hubby both donned brown leather jackets to the Ralph Lauren Fall 2026 fashion show in New York City. Hailey Beiber, Selena Gomez, and Emma Watson have also worn the style.

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Here are nine inspiring outfits that prove the brown leather jacket for women has transitioned from trend into a full-fledged wardrobe essential. 

1. Make it count with a moto

A brown fitted moto jacket has a classic edge. Double down on that vibe by pairing it with modern black skinny jeans, a white tee, and ankle boots. Use the boot style to adjust the edginess of the look: Sleek boots with a pointed toe add sophistication, while lug boots feel more punk.

2. Supersize with a slouchy bomber

The oversized trend has adopted more balance lately, but you can still play with larger shapes. If you’re comfortable baring your middle, an oversized bomber pairs nicely with a cropped hoodie atop a casual jogger and chunky sneakers. And if you’re feeling bold, mix two colors that don’t normally “go together” like grey and brown. This outfit works for gym-going and errand-running. 

3. Take fringe mainstream

Fringe has gone mainstream — meaning you can wear it without branding yourself as a cowgirl or a festivalgoer. Turn heads by pairing a brown leather fringed jacket with a white tee, straight-leg jeans and ankle boots. Keep the boots sleek and classy so the combo comes off as easy and sophisticated versus overdone.

4. Try brown with black 

When you tire of the standard color combinations, try pairing brown and black. This duo works well together when you do it intentionally. Get that look by leaning into contrast (with a brown that’s not too dark) and letting one color dominate.

In practice, you could pair a well-fitted cognac leather jacket layered over a black column dress, sheer black tights, and knee-high black boots. A simple pair of gold hoops ties everything together.

5. Layer neutrals

In the cooler months, layering neutrals is an easy go-to strategy that delivers warmth and style. A brown leather jacket with shearling accents goes beautifully with an oatmeal sweater. Dark jeans and tall boots anchor the outfit. You can opt for black boots if that’s what you have or brown, which creates a slightly softer vibe.  

6. Swap in brown leather for your blazer

A tidy brown leather jacket can transform a ho-hum work outfit into something spectacularly polished. The trick is keeping the styling simple and classic from head to toe, including the jacket. A scoop-neck top, wide-leg pants, and pumps are perfect companions to a chocolate-brown café racer jacket.

7. Play with luxe textures

You can get tons of use from a brown leather blazer, for work and play. If you want to try something different, wear it with a cream satin skirt and pointed pumps. The appeal here is in the contrast: Leather is structured and tough, while satin in fluid and glossy. Note that you don’t need much in the way of accessories, since the matte leather and shiny satin do that work for you. 

Read next: How to mix textures in an outfit like a pro

8. Mix masculine and feminine

You commonly see the boxy trucker jacket in denim or corduroy, but it takes a more upscale tone in leather. The style makes a fabulous companion to a midi dress, especially one with a girly ruffle or floral pattern. The masculine-meets-feminine pairing is another proven contrast formula that creates balance for both pieces.

9. Let your legs take center stage

Your legs are the focal point when you wear a mini skirt, and it creates a more playful dynamic vs. wearing pants or a long dress. If you have any reservations about baring that much skin, add sheer black tights ­— they keep the vibe but add a veil of coverage. The brown leather jacket comes in as the topper over a tee, and you can anchor the look with chunky loafers.

The Budget Fashionista takeaway

The moto, bomber, blazer, trucker, and café racer all make different statements, but the styling formula is the same — start with clothes you already love, add the brown leather, and let the jacket change the mood.

For decades, fashion houses tried to convince everyone that a night out meant carrying a rigid little box that barely fits a driver’s license. No house keys, not even room for a lip balm. You had to make an annoying choice every single time you left the house: look properly dressed up or carry what you actually need to survive the night.

That whole setup came straight off the red carpet. Celebrities stand in front of a backdrop for thirty seconds and immediately hand their real bags to an assistant standing behind the photographers. That works fine for a staged photo op, but regular people don’t have assistants standing in the shadows to hold their gear. Carrying a tiny pouch that holds zero real items was always a terrible trade-off, and people are finally catching on.

Micro-bags are dropping off fast. Instead, people want real leather with actual space inside. Heavy, structured Louis Vuitton handbags, from mini-trunks like the Petite Malle to firm top-handle shapes like the Alma BB, are getting their due for being able to go from the morning straight into late-night settings. The same can be said for the clean, rigid shape of the Gucci Jackie 1961 mini or the structured lines of a Prada Galleria mini.  

Balancing Oversized Blazer Proportions

There is a simple design reason why this works, too.

Most night clothes are soft. Thin silk and light knits make up most party outfits. If you put a small, flimsy bag on top of soft clothes, it weakens the outfit. A thick leather bag changes that fast. Hard corners and solid metal latches give soft clothes something firm to rest against. In a dark room, shiny metal locks and box shapes catch light way better than flat black cloth. The bag stops being the thing you have to drag around and becomes the best part of what you’re wearing.

The move toward structured leather also aligns with how silhouette proportions have transformed. Over the last few seasons, evening wear moved away from tight, minimal dresses toward heavy, menswear-inspired tailoring. Oversized suit jackets with broad shoulder pads and wide-leg wool trousers now dominate evening spaces.

When you pair an oversized, strong-shouldered blazer with a tiny, microscopic purse, the proportions look entirely out of whack. The heavy shoulder tailoring swallows the tiny bag, making the accessory look like an afterthought or a toy.

Rethinking Hardware

There’s also the role of exposed hardware replacing evening jewelry. In a dimly lit venue, those exposed metal elements act as functional jewelry. Metallic clasps and corner brackets catch overhead venue lights the same way a bracelet or ring would. Carrying a structured bag with heavy metal fittings allows you to keep accessories minimal elsewhere, letting the bag’s hardware do the visual work against a plain dark suit or silk slip dress.

Physical handling completely changes the mood of an outfit, too.

Wearing a bag on a long shoulder strap or a thin crossbody chain forces a casual, commuting posture. It pulls down on one shoulder and disrupts the clean lines of a jacket or dress. Stripping away the long strap forces a different gesture entirely. Carrying a boxy bag strictly by a rigid top handle or cradling a mini-trunk under your arm like a leather document case changes how you stand and walk through a room.

The posture becomes deliberate and upright. You’re no longer adjusting a slipping shoulder strap all night or balancing a delicate pouch.

Cutting Through Monochrome Without Extra Sequins

Versatility drives the rest of this movement. Buying fragile evening clutches that sit in a dust bag for eleven months of the year makes very little practical sense. Using structured daytime icons for formal events maximizes investment pieces that already sit in your wardrobe.

Sourcing these structured shapes often comes down to where you look. Platforms like 24S, the Paris-based retailer under LVMH, give buyers direct access to authentic structured pieces from houses like Celine alongside rare, archived Louis Vuitton designs. Having an official channel for verified leather goods makes it considerably easier to build an evening wardrobe around lasting architectural pieces rather than single-use party bags.

Swapping tiny pouches for heavy leather comes down to smart, practical style. Bringing boxy shapes, solid hardware, and actual room into evening wardrobes proves that strong visual polish and real daily usefulness work best when they come together.

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For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits for women, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional. Also: we just updated our big roundup for the best women’s suits of 2026!

This charcoal suit from Reiss looks lovely… and they have a very interesting matching bomber jacket.

When I rounded up how to wear bomber jackets to the office a few months ago, I don’ t think I envisioned the bomber-jacket-as-suiting. And I still feel kind of mixed about it here; something about the stand collar and zipper feels more “polished track suit” than bomber jacket. But altogether it’s an interesting look, and one that I think could be worn to the office. I’d be more inclined to treat them as separates, but that’s me.

The more classic suiting looks great — I like the “mottled herringbone weave,” as well as the pick stitching, full lining, and working button cuffs. The pieces are $320-$480.

Psst: some sizes of the Banana Republic x La Ligne collaboration are back in stock if you were sad they sold out about 2 seconds after dropping…

Sales of note for 10/2: