5 Things You Absolutely Must Know About Shopping for Fall

Cosmopolitan.com's style editor Charles Manning answers your most pressing questions about dressing for fall.

I hate shopping for fall clothes when it is hot out! What do I need to buy now, and what can I wait to buy later?
A good coat. Kidding! God, how boring! Don't get me wrong, coats are great and all, but if you have yet to see a coat that makes your heart race, don't force it. In fact, forget need. What do you want? What is the one item you can't imagine spending another fall without? Leather pants? Over-the-knee boots? A major piece of jewelry? A colorful faux fur? Whatever that one item is, that's what you should get, and you should feel free to splurge on it now while stock is still plentiful. Leave all that need stuff for when you actually need it.

Turtleneck Sweater, WILFRED FREE (available at Aritzia), $165; Suede Thigh-High Boot, STUART WEITZMAN, $795;Leather Pant, REBECCA MINKOFF, $698; Multi-Colored Faux Fur Coat, MABEL (available at Shrimps), $987; Amulet Neckpiece, MANIAMANIA, $290

When is it OK to start wearing boots again?
Boots are never wrong. Never. They may have been cold-weather-only 10 years ago, but at this point, they are pretty much seasonless, especially short little ankle booties. So cute! And way too cool and outfit-transforming to be limited to two measly seasons.

Snake-Embossed Cutout Booties, MM6 MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA (Available at Shopbop), $595; Textured Cutout Booties, CIRCUS SAM EDELMAN (Available at Lord and Taylor), $100; Brown Cutout Booties, TOPSHOP, $130; High Heeled Booties, ZARA, $80; Two-Tone Cutout Booties, TIBI (Available at Saks Fifth Avenue), $535

I hate all my old fall clothes, but I can't afford new ones. How can I get myself out of this fashion rut without going shopping?
This is going to sound totally cheesy, but why not organize a clothing swap with your friends? Here's how:
1. Invite a group of friends over to your house — ideally, people whose clothes you like and who are around your same size.
2. Give each person a specific list of items to bring, such as a jacket, a skirt, a dress, a necklace, and a top.
3. Establish guidelines like nothing stained, nothing from one of the following stores, nothing ripped, etc.
4. As people arrive, take their clothes into a separate room and divide them into piles — jackets in one pile, dresses in another, etc.
5. Drinks!
6. Now load the first pile into a laundry bag and let each person pull one item out of the sack. Then put the second pile into the laundry bag and pass it around. Then the third pile and so on until everyone in the group has one piece from each pile.
7. Now, swap! You may not end up loving everything you get, but you'll have fun drinking and hanging out with your friends and you'll probably come away with at least one or two good things to liven up your wardrobe.

Q: Can I really not wear white after Labor Day? What about winter white? What is winter white anyway?
A: White is seasonless. White pants, white shoes, white dresses. Whatever. If you like it, wear it. Only some ancient grandma or total nerd with no style whatsoever will tell you you're doing something wrong. Winter white is more of a creamy off-white, which is fine, if you're into that, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with wearing pure, gleaming, glowing, bright white before, on, or after Labor Day.

White Joggers, WILFRED FREE (Available at Aritzia), $95; Open-Toe Booties, GUESS, $120; Cape Blazer, NASTY GAL, $68; Fitted Dress, REISS, $340; Relaxed Button-Up, COMMUNITY (Available at Aritzia), $85

Q: I don't want summer to end! How can I keep wearing my summer clothes into the fall?
A: Layer, layer, layer — shorts over tights, a tank top under a quilted jacket, a chiffon dress with a heavy wool coat, a miniskirt with an oversize sweater, etc. Use these handy guides to help you figure out what colors and prints go best together and then wear those summer clothes of yours till it's 40 below.

Do you have fashion or style questions? Tweet them to our style editor @charlesemanning.

Follow Charles on Twitter and Instagram.

From Cosmopolitan.com. Visit Amazon Beauty Center here

20 Fights Had by Absolutely Every Couple on Earth

1. The "I Did Something Wrong but Instead of Admitting It I'm Going to Be Mad at You" Fight. "I can't believe you washed the pink sock with my white jeans! What the hell! Oh wait, I did the laundry? I AM BLAMING THIS ALL ON YOU." Who hasn't been there.

2. The "You’re Not 22 Anymore and Therefore Do Not Need 12 Shots of Tequila on a Tuesday" Fight. After a certain age this just becomes embarrassing. Related: The "Why Do You Waste Money on Bars?" Fight.)

3. The "Your Friend is So Inappropriate" Fight. Usually it's the friend who's making your significant other take, like, 80 shots of Jaegermeister on a Thursday, causing him to vomit in your deskside trash can.

4. The "Why Are You Reading a Book/Checking Facebook/Working in Bed Instead of Having Sex with Me?" Fight. Me me me me. ME ME ME ME. It's everyone's inner monologue sometimes, just roll with it.

5. The "I Can’t Read Your Mind" Fight. "I didn't mean it when I said I didn't want anything for Valentine's day," you proclaim through tears, when he doesn't get you something. In your defense he obiviously should have known you didn't mean it!

6. The "I Can’t Believe You’d Rather Hang Out With Your Friends Over Me" Fight. "Do your bros have sex with you? No? WTF?" Totally rational.

7. The "Freaking Out about Moving In Together" Fight. Every insecurity you have about you relationship becomes magnified in this phase. Also the act of moving never made anyone happier than they were when they were NOT moving, so there's that. After you get over this hurdle, then comes the "Holy Shit, I Can’t Believe You are Always Here" Fight.)

8. The "I Had a Bad Day and Now I'm Taking It Out on You" Fight. Next time, just call whoever at the office pissed you off and yell at them. JK LOL don't do that.

9. The "It's the Holidays" Fight. "We have to go to my parents." "No we have to visit MY parents." Here's an idea: visit no one's parents and go to Miami.

10. The "I Can't Believe You Spent X on Y " Fight. The new dress you bought for work was unnecessary but his round of golf with the guys for a bachelor party was totally legit. Everyone's right and no one is.

11. The "We Never Make-Out Anymore" Fight. Someone's polite way of saying, "Why don't we bone anymore! Wah!"

12. The "You Sound Just Like My Mother" Fight. You don't like the mother. Hiss.  

13. The "Why Are We Even Talking About This Thing That Always Makes Us Fight?" Fight. When this fight starts, set a timer, and stop fighting after four minutes. That should be enough to get it out of your systems and move onto the "I'm still mad at you" makeup sex couples like so much.

14. The “If I Watch The Real Housewives, You Won't Watch the Game with Me Like You Said You Would” Fight. But he always loses this one because games are eight million times longer and eight million times more boring. 

15. The “Why Are We 10 Hours into a Keeping Up with The Real Housewives of Teen Mom 2 Boo Boo Marathon" Fight. If you've spent this long watching E!, TLC, and/or Bravo, get out of the house. I repeat: leave the premises.

16. The “I Read Your Internet History File and I Think You are GROSS” Fight. Just don't snoop. Or at least just know what you'll find.

17. The "I Don't Want to Go to Your Friend's Wedding" Fight. So he has a friend in love. So you don't want to fly across the country for a day and be exhuasted while all his friends try to force you to drink, like, 80 shots of Jaegermeister at the open bar. 

18. The "We Never Do Stuff I Want to Do" Fight. You picked the last restaurant, you chose the last movie, you insisted on going to the Strawberry Festival. Well, maybe your S.O. never has any good ideas!

19. The "Why are We Out of Milk/Toilet Paper/Dog Food" fight. Quickly devolves to the "God, I Have to To Everything Around the House, Don't I?" fight. And then there's the fun (read: not fun) follow-up fight in which you argue over who gets to go to the drugstore to buy the needed items. And whether or not both of you should suffer the trip.

20. The "You Work Too Much/Not Enough" Fight. A more fun fight is the one over who's werking it harder. Always.

Want more from Natasha? Follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook. 

From Cosmopolitan.com. Visit Handbags reviews and advice for best reference here