Before autumn arrives: five smart pieces

Looking at your wardrobe as August winds down is, in part, planning for September. This list isn't born of "summer's over" panic — it's a calm head start: five pieces to try on now and set aside, ready to be the first thing you reach for the moment the season turns.

The first two are boots: flat lace-up ankle boots, a practical foundation that carries autumn's working days on its own — they get along with joggers and midi skirts alike. Crinkled-effect heeled boots handle the same job's evening shift; their soft-shaft silhouette works especially well with flare jeans. The third piece is a wool-blend baker-boy cap: something that should come to mind before any other hat on autumn's first cool mornings, a small investment that gives an outfit an instant "street style" mood.

The fourth is a soft scarf in a brushed-texture yarn — before coat season even arrives, it serves throughout September as the first layer thrown over a T-shirt. The fifth, and the most distinctive: a leather-effect balloon-sleeve jacket. Light, full-sleeved, with a clear silhouette, it pulls together even the simplest outfit underneath it. What all five share is their palette: earth, khaki, and black — autumn's own colors, in other words. Bring them together now, and September mornings solve themselves.

On the list

• Pull&Bear — Lace-up flat ankle boots
• Bershka — Slouchy heeled ankle boots
• Massimo Dutti — Wool blend cap
• Stradivarius — Brushed thread scarf
• Pull&Bear — Leather effect balloon jacket

• autumn
• capsule
• shopping