Fall's Best Outerwear - The Stripe

This season is all about great outerwear. And if I had to distill “outerwear” into a singular item, it would be a barn jacket. Mine is Alex Mill (generously gifted by the brand but I would have 100% bought it!). It is perfect. If you are on more of a budget, I really love this Old Navy barn jacket. It’s only $60 and has great details and a classic shape.

Fall’s best outerwear

Grace:

I had been lusting over this suede barn jacket from Nili Lotan, which is a) extremely expensive, b) looks like a pain to clean, and c) very impractical, especially living in a place like Charleston. But it’s gorgeous. The Alex Mill jacket was a nice (much easier to clean!) compromise. It sold out quickly, but it’s back on pre-order now. Besides my barn jacket, I know I will be reaching for my go-to Sezane trench quite a bit (it is perfect). I want to add a cropped trench to my wardrobe; this one is my top pick but I like this one a lot too. A late addition that didn’t make the shopping grid: this longer barn jacket from J.Crew is so chic! Perfect for those of us (me) who feel our best in a longer jacket silhouette.

Carly:

We’re seeing a serious rise in the barn jacket trend (shoutout to those of you who may still be hanging on to a Barbour jacket from the early 2000s), but I’ve also noticed that many brands are leaning into the look of cropped outerwear! Living in a warmer climate, I look for outerwear that can be transitioned outside the fall/winter seasons. I love the idea of purchasing a cropped trench that gives me a more fashion-forward option over a standard raincoat. There’s always a time and place for a good mid-length quilted coat (love this Ganni one) or trench (obsessing over this COS one), but I’m really loving that we’re seeing more outwear options with a crop or a cinch (like this one).

Related: Fall’s Best Tops.

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11 Comments

Jessica:

I DID hold on to my Barbour jacket from the aughts (and a field jacket from the same era). This is all just reinforcing my hoarder tendencies! LOVE that suede one though….

9.16.24 Reply
- grace at the stripe:
  
  Good for you!!!
  
  9.22.24 Reply
m:

Love the men’s field jacket from J.Crew idea. Great color and weight!

9.16.24 Reply
- grace at the stripe:
  
  Agree!
  
  9.22.24 Reply
Stacia:

I love Fall jackets so much! I was just at LLBean yesterday and tried on several of their fall barn and utility jackets. I ended up with a cropped style (already have their longer barn coat – which is superb because they sell most of their jackets in petite sizes!). Wanted to throw LLBean into the mix here for their style, quality, and petite size options!

9.20.24 Reply
- grace at the stripe:
  
  Love that! Great call!
  
  9.22.24 Reply
Kim:

Hi Grace & Carly! Here’s a silly question: If I click on an item from your page and then my Rakuten addon offers me cash back, does Rakuten’s codes overwrite yours?

9.20.24 Reply
- grace at the stripe:
  
  yes, it does!
  
  9.20.24 Reply
  - Kim:
    
    Well crap. Good to know, though!
    
    9.20.24 Reply
Mary:

Lovely Grace – I left San Francisco thirty years ago (I’m old enough to be ur Mama!:) and I STILL have the whole-body thought/feeling overwhelm experience in the first & second day of a CA visit. This inevitably culminates in a “WHY DID I LEAVE HERE?”

I’ve come to realize some of this is not just about a visit to old stomping grounds (SF or NYC). It’s also about remembering who we were at that time because those years were about stepping into – and becoming – the best version of our young adult Grace or Mary. The thing is we loved her! We loved the energy that came with her. We loved that girl who took on the big city and did quite well, thank you very much.

The neat thing about these return visits, as the years move on, is they create room to hear and see all of you again. You see and feel some of your truest self. Then you get to remind yourself where your energy comes from. You also get to see (about day 3 and 4) that maybe it doesn’t take as much stimulation as it once did and maybe now you crave a bit more room or quiet or space or closer family which- is why you no longer live there. Then you pull the parts you most want to keep bringing forward into your current life (or next phase)…. back home with you.

Staying with the pack is easy. Creating new versions of how to be us in a changing world is the hard stuff. You go girl. xoxo

9.20.24 Reply
- grace at the stripe:
  
  Thank you for sharing this! Hope you had a lovely weekend.
  
  9.22.24 Reply

Fall Outerwear Edit.