Brown is not just for fall, and this outfit is proof
I tend to think of brown as a fall color, something that goes along with navy and olive and all the other shades you reach for when the leaves start turning. But lately I’ve been using it throughout the spring and summer, and the trick is pretty simple: pair it with lighter, more saturated colors that prevent the brown from taking the whole outfit in a darker, heavier direction.
This Get up is a good example of what I mean. A brown linen coat over a medium wash denim shirt and off-white jeans, with tan suede boots and a few small accessories to tie it together with a bit of personality.
Brown Linen Chore Coat
I bought this at Uniqlo in Tokyo and although they sell it in the US (good), it’s currently out of stock (shame). The good news is that there are many linen-blend coats in brown and brown-adjacent shades at various price points. I’ve listed a few above to match your budget.
What has surprised me is how useful a light linen coat is in warmer weather. I’ve had lightweight jackets and shirt jackets before, but this is my first linen blend in this style and the difference is real. Layered over a t-shirt or button-down shirt, it adds just enough structure and visual interest without adding any noticeable warmth or weight. It may seem like a small thing, but in that stretch of spring when you want a layer but don’t need to wrap yourself up, it’s the type of jacket that gets a lot of wear.
Denim shirt
This is one of my most worn shirts in real life, to the point where I’m a little embarrassed that certain friends only see me in it. But there is a reason why it is resorted to so often. The denim has a really nice drape, a softness to the way it falls that makes it comfortable and easy to wear in Los Angeles no matter the weather or where I’m headed. He slides into those situations without much thought.
In this outfit, the rich medium-dark blue adds spring color in a way that feels slightly vintage, and I love how it pairs with both the brown coat and white denim on their own. Put the three together and you have a warm, spring-appropriate palette where the colors are clearly different but never fight each other.
Off-white jeans
This is my first time wearing the Levi’s 555, which I came to after quite a bit of research and came back looking for something with a more relaxed fit and a higher rise than my 501s (which I still wear and like). The 555 brings me a little closer to those goals, although they weren’t the perfect victory I was hoping for. I plan to introduce them further and go into details later.
The natural white color scheme (a slightly warmer tone, not a bright white like photocopy paper) in this looser fit makes the white jeans easier to wear than a slimmer version in optical white.
And look, white jeans aren’t actually difficult to take off, but I admit they can seem like a move before you put them on. Once you wear them, that feeling disappears completely and you feel well dressed and put together. If that hesitation sounds familiar, know that it goes away and the warmer tone plus the relaxed setting makes the fit even smoother.
Tan Suede Chukka Boots
An easy and sensible pull here. Tan suede chukkas are comfortable in the warmer months and add a bit of lasting style that weaves in an English or collegiate quality alongside the Western denim shirt, linen coat and looser white denim. The Clarks Desert Boot has military roots dating back decades, but at this point it simply reads as a smart casual shoe that works with just about everything. The crepe sole keeps it casual and the tan suede captures the warmth of the brown jacket without layering it too much, which is what you want. It may look like identical shades are trying to create an ensemble.
Look
The watch here is my grandfather’s Timex from the middle of the last century, a simple, minimalist dial with a brown leather strap that matches the coat. Obviously you won’t find this exact watch, but a vintage-style Timex like the Waterbury puts you in the same neighborhood at a price that’s hard to argue with.
Jewelry
For years I thought anything beyond a watch felt like a costume, like I was heading to a Pirates of the Caribbean audition. I wrote about how I finally got over that, and the realization that got me there was thinking of clothes as tempo and jewelry as rhythm. The pieces don’t have to match (a gold necklace with a silver ring is perfectly fine), and layering is more about feel and rhythm than symmetry.
In this outfit, where the clothing is quite restrained in terms of patterns and details, a simple necklace and bracelet give the eye somewhere to land and add a bit of personality without complicating anything. That article also features a couple different shots with this same denim shirt and a different pair of white jeans, so you can see close-ups of a similar style.
