This month’s mood is brought to you by my love of every shade of brown. And of course all the colors that complement brown well. We are talking blue, an orange-y red, a dark, moody mustard — all are friends of the brown family. I’ve been noticing this chocolate brown hue creeping up in Fall fashion for a few seasons now but I think this is the year for it to really shine. Chocolate brown: it is your year.

When I think about this month, I love mixing in the last of summer with the beginning of autumn. The last pop of red, bright blue, a muted yellow. A nice bold blue pairs so beautifully with a chocolate brown and the blues are everywhere this fall. What an underestimated combo. From denim (obviously) to a pop of blue in a shoe (loving this Nike — a great alternative to that hard-to-find blue Adidas Samba!) to a nice crips button down top. All are agreeable with any hue of brown, but I love it with a deep, rich chocolate.

This month I decided to add a little detail to this post called a Color Code. I wanted to break out the colors I see in my collage and make it a bit more digestible for inspiration. Below the collage and right past the links, you’ll see my color swatches for the month and how I’d pair them together. I really liked putting this together, so let me know if this is something that you like and is helpful for you outfit planning!

Let’s get to my mood this month. Feeling happy-sad about the end summer and the beginning of autumn. September is such a “yes and…” month — yes to sweaters AND shorter lengths, because it’s just not quite cool enough. Yes to dark hues AND pops of color. Yes to mixing summer styles with fall pieces. Is it autumn yet? Is it still summer? Yes and yes.

as always you can click the (+) on the graphic above to take you the product or a similar find.

quince sweater / j.crew hat / nike sneakers / j.crew striped cardigan / faux leather pants 
quince grey sweater / quince leather bag / sezane sweater dress / sezane striped blouse
madewell slip skirt / g.h. bass loafers / farm rio mushroom dress / j.crew slouch bag
quince sweater / everlane jeans / madewell striped blouse

I wrote this in the graphic above, but I want to elaborate here. When putting your outfit together, visually split it into three pieces (even if there are more pieces than that). This way we can have a “rule of thirds” but with color. Let’s go easy — top, bottom, shoes. I would pair my accessory with one of those categories as well, but it doesn’t necessary have to be your shoes. If I went with the blue + dijon + brown color way example, as my base I’d chose a dijon-ish color of pants, pop the outfit with my shoes and purse with a blue and then let the complement be the darker brown hue of my top. I pulled an outfit together below to share an example of this process!

Happy September!