Every year it happens like this: I cry, I complain, I beg my way through Winter and Spring for Summer to start; all I can think about when the A/C is on OUTDOORS are summer dresses and cut-off denim and faded old sleeveless t-shirts. When warm weather finally comes it’s about twelve days of amazing and three long months of DC humidity – at which point I start to cry, complain, and beg for leather jackets and opaque tights and three inches of snow on the ground. The weather being horribly oppressive would be reason enough to kick off this year’s vicious cycle, but Fall being my absolute favorite season to get dressed factors in majorly. The upcoming trends – as forecasted on the Alexander Wang, Rachel Comey, and Rick Owens F/W runways are especially up my alley, and I’m looking for every which way I can to work aspects of each into my current summer wardrobe. Here’s how:

The “distressed” look was big at Alexander Wang for F/W 08, and, considering the seasonless-ness of the majority of the collection (shorts, short sleeves, and threadbare tops galore), it’s a great place to mine Summer inspiration. I’m going forward with beat-to-shit, light-colored denim shorts and worn-in leather vests over little tees for the next few months; come cooler temperatures I can just add layers (tights, boots, and cardigans) to the above and I’m set.

If you’re not blind then you’ve by now realized that prep school looks are on the radar for this (and every other) Fall; if you’re into the BYT style section then you’re just as aware of my Gossip Girl aversion. Rachel Comey’s Fall collection was so aspirational because of the eccentricity it lent to such a traditional, catch-all trend – imagine GG as styled by Little Edie Beale and you’re juuuuuust about there. Already I’m taking cues from Comey and working oxfords in with dresses, pairing loose-fitting trousers with tanks and sandals, and am currently mapping out how exactly to sport bohemian-style headwear with Upper East Side class. This can all go forth in winterized versions in a few months, and, weather aside, the earlier I can perfect Comey’s oddball, rich-lady color combinations the better.

Oh, Rick Owens. So dark and so smart and so Easy Rider by way of THE FUTURE. Head-to-toe leather is hard to pull off in the middle of a DC summer, but it can definitely be referenced with belt, boot(ie), and vest accents both glossy and worn-in. The show’s accessory of choice was the exposed zipper, but if you’re still feeling the bohemian urge then late-60s love beads and feathers worn completely unironically will get the point across as well.

There are a million aspects of the Fall season that aren’t all that different from what’s current (florals and art-inspired-prints, to name just two), so before I get TOO ahead of the here and now I want to state, for the record, that there are still a few things I do really want to enjoy about S/S 08 that can only be appreciated fully while it’s sweltering: all things backless; all things sheer; this whole prairie, Liberty print resurgence; and the last days of the straw fedora.

Are you with me, guys?
What are you loving for Summer alone, and what are you trying to work in NOW that you’re totally planning on wearing in November?