The liminal months from late winter to early spring offer an enormous amount of fashion opportunities as the seasons change. Unpredictable weather conditions on a daily basis may have you dressing for different seasons on different days, especially in Boone. If your wardrobe isn’t ready yet, here are a few pieces you can incorporate that also stick on trend to what we saw in the 2022 New York Fashion Week.

Crochet and Knitted Pieces

Quarantine in 2020 gave everyone an opportunity to pick up a new hobby. From baking to gardening to daily walks, crocheting stuck with many. Crochet pieces first emerged in the ’70s, and their eco-friendly construction coincided with  hippies’ peaceful mantra of the time. We’ve seen crochet bikinis, flared pants, bucket hats, keychains and more in the past year or so.

Now as a more refined, less kitschy and DIY style, crochet has rebranded into elegance on the runway. With crochet’s reformation, knitwear has joined to make a duo. 

Judy Turner’s Ready-to-Wear Fall 2022 collection follows looks far too advanced for your grandma to knit. We haven’t seen many knitted skirts yet and almost every model follows a drapey bottom. A knitted skirt is sure to keep you warm in the coming months and can be paired with a sleeveless top as temperatures rise. 

As we transition to spring, wearing less layers is key. Consider a crochet vest over a long sleeve or alone with light bottoms. 

There’s no need to add the infamous House of Sunny Green Galaxy Hockney Dress to your cart, but the microtrend from the past season can be taken into consideration for the spring. A knit maxi dress can be both layered with jackets in the winter or worn alone for a day in the park.

Platform Shoes

When we think of winter pieces, we tend to think of bigger shoes. Warmth and coverage are optimal during snow and rain, but these shoes don’t have to collect dust till next fall.

A good middle ground? A platform shoe. They have the size and range on the bottom but tend to skinny at the ankle like smaller, more breathable shoes typically worn when it’s warm, like sandals.

Many platform shoes stomped the ground of runways at NYFW 2022 like in Sacai and Peter Do’s Ready-To-Wear or with Area’s crystal clogs.

A feasible way to elevate your look — and your height — is to start with a platform loafer. You can wear the shoe with an ankle sock and fitted pants. Or you can lose the layers in the spring by pairing the shoe with a skirt, schoolgirl style.

Entering the world of boots, 

Steve Madden makes fairly accessible platforms. Most of them begin right above the ankle and square out for a recognizable platform shape. A skinny heel and ankle are all you need in a boot to meet the trend. 

As it gets warmer, your boots should get smaller, and eventually, you’ll have shoes relying just on platform. Following the “small top, big bottoms” silhouette Generation Z loves, you can wear a big shoe and not have to worry much about what’s above it. An easy way to achieve this is with a platform sneaker and a casual dress.

Cutout Clothing

Less fabric will prepare your wardrobe for the weather, and breathable cutouts require little-to-no styling effort when getting ready in the morning. It’s a digestible trend seen both in fast and high fashion, perfect for occasions where you can show some more skin in a refined way.

There are plenty of cutout crop tops out there to shop that can be worn with a multitude of outfit options. They can go under something oversized, over a long sleeve, alone with statement bottoms and more.

For fuller clothing pieces, you can follow the subversive basics trends without cutout dresses, holed tights, gloves — the possibilities are endless.

If you aren’t ready to show some skin, layering is always an option for cutout clothing and any of these trends, as we’ve seen.

When experimenting with trends, it’s easy to impulse buy in hopes of appearing fashion-forward. Before you make a purchase, make sure you’re shopping for longevity and within your personal style. Trends come and go, but there isn’t anything wrong with purchasing a few pieces each trend cycle and deciding what to keep each season.